I agree that it is a vexing subject. My uncle wrote about it in 1940, so
for a while I was interested in it, but I must admit I did not keep up with
the literature on this particular subject. My uncle was an OT theologian,
but also a historian. He sought the answer in the Hebrew use of numbers
and thought that these numbers were sometimes used to show:
1.a trial to "objectively" repair a corrupted text using "gematria." (The
name of a person and his age as total number of the value of the numbers..0Or:
2.a symbolic indication to ? Or:
3.trying to come to even periods for certain periods (Say the using of the
number 40 or 7 or 77)
etc.
For me one of the clearest examples is, the archeological findings about
the falling of the walls of Jericho. Those findings gave a size of the
city, which was fastly smaller than a presentday village. Compare that
witth 600.000 men plus their families marching around the city, seven
times, and then when they hear the trumpets all shouting together. The
size of the city was so small, that it is already a miracle that they
wanted to defend themselves. Then calculate how 600.000 men plus wives
etc. march around a town in formation. Cleraly, something has a different
meaning than we read into it. What is it?
Studying the numerical material in the bible is certainly a wothwhile
occupation.
Jan de Koning
Willowdale, Ont.
Jan de Koning
Willowdale, Ont.