What is the meaning of the number 21 in the bible?
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Below is a list of ALL the biblical passages that mention "21" or "21st".    But I'll state upfront that there is nothing in the context of any of these to suggest a 'special meaning' for this number.   Nor does any passage of Scripture teach us that we should expect every number or any given number we find to have a special symbolic meaning.  \n\nNow it is true that there are a handful of numbers which have special significance --mostly in very general ways -- but Scripture's own use of them (sometimes very explicitly pointing to their significance) is the basis for our saying they have special meaning.\n\nHere is a brief list of most of the numbers that commonly have some special significance  (Often the text makes that significance very clear.  In other cases they were ordinary forms of expression in the culture, as for example, the 'round numbers').  Note too that usage varies.  Not all these special uses are "symbolic."   Nor is there is any reason for thinking that EVERY time there is three of something it has one and the same significance (symbolic or otherwise), or even that every instance of the number three MUST have a symbolic meaning at all!  Rather, we must look at other evidence in the context to see how the writer is using it.\n\n1 - obviously can sometimes be used to emphasize that something is solitary/alone, one-of-a-kind ('only'), unified\n2 - may be used for contrast but also for a complementary pair; also to add assurance, as in the case of 'two witnesses' (required by the law to establish certain matters)\n3 (many stories are patterned in threes, curses may come in threes, lessons may be tripled for emphasis; also a 'three-day' journey may be a round number for 'a few days')\n4 (when connected with the 'four winds', i.e., directions or 'all sides')\n5 (possibly just a small 'round number', used for 'a handful') \n7 and 10 (often to signify a complete number)\n8 (in DATES, the 8th day is the same day of the week as the first, this may explain why circumcision is on the 8th day, since it parallels the first day, that of birth, it may be suggesting the idea of a NEW life/birth to God)\n12 (esp. associated with tribes of Israel, people of God)\n30 -with age: mature (specific applications to priests, a few individuals, such as Joseph, Jesus)\n30, 50 -common mid-sized groups of people (e.g., David's special guard known as "the Thirty"; small military units are often divided into 50s)\n40 (esp.'days' for a period of testing,  and years as a round number for 'a generation', i.e., the time between one generation of people and the next)\n70 (sometimes functions similarly to 7 for fullness; 70 sons = a large,full family; a whole nation [thus Israel has 70 elders];  70 years used for a full life-span)\n100 & 1,000 - large 'round numbers' (may be used for fullness; 1,000 may, at least in Revelation, esp. be used for to suggest the fullness of heaven)\n\nSometimes, esp. in prophetic visions, some of these numbers or multiples of them may have special significance (e.g., 144,000 = square of 12 [people of God] x 1,000 [completeness/heavenly number?]; and '666' which is related to the 6th day, on which man was created [and possibly on falling short of '7', a number of completeness])\n\nBut note that in general there are NOT a bunch of esoteric meanings here -- nothing about abstract concepts of personality characteristics, or things far removed from the text (that you might never have guessed!)-- and when there ARE unusual meanings (e.g., '666', 144,000) the context does something to point that out.\n\nAs for those lists you see, suggesting a special abstract meaning for each number (as someone has already cut-and-pasted above), these have precious little Scriptural justification.  They are often the result of someone counting the number of item
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An exact figure I have yet to find; perhaps this insight can help.\n\nThe Lord, the God of Israel, made a Covenant with the fathers of old in the day that God brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Jer.34:13 below).  Thy time was the time of love (Eze.16:8 below).\n\nALL the fathers of old were under the cloud, and ALL passed through the sea and ALL were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and ALL ate the same spiritual meat and ALL drank the same spiritual drink (1 Cor.10:1-4 below).\n\nI believe that it was these spiritual acts and the passing through the sea at the Exodus that married Israel to their Maker (Isa.54:5, Jer.3:14, Eze.16:8 below).\n\n\nJer.34:13Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:  I made a covenant (Eze.16:8 below) with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,  \n\nEze.16:8Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee (Jer.34:13 above, Jer.31:32 below), saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine (Isa.54:5 below).\n\n1 Cor.10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that ALL our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea (Ex.14:22 below);\n\n1 Cor.10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;\n\n1 Cor.10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;\n\n1 Cor.10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them (Ex.14:19 below): and that Rock was Christ.\n\nIsa.54:5For thy Maker is thine husband (Jer.3:14 below); the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.\n\nJer.3:14Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you (Isa.54:5 above): and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:\n\n\nDivorcement -\n\nIsa.50:1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? (Jer.3:8 below) or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. \n\nJer.3:8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce (Isa.50:1 above); yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. \n\nJer.3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. \n\nJer.3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. \n\nJer.3:11And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel (Jer.3:12 below) hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. \n\nJer.3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever (Isa.43:25 above).\n \nJer.3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God (Isa.54:5 above), and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice (Heb.12:25 below), saith the LORD.\n\nJer.31:32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake (Eze.16:8 above), although I WAS an husband unto them (Isa.54:5, Jer.3:14 above), saith the Lord:\n\nHeb.12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.  For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth (Jesus), much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him (God the Father - Col.1:3) THAT SPE
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The number 666 is used in many different ways. You might be thinking of the Number of the Beast in most versions of the Christian Bible, in the Book of Revelation. Click the link below to find out more about it.
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The Soul According to the Bible:\n\nThe Hebrew word translated “soul” is ne´phesh, and it occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. What does ne´phesh mean? According to The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, it “usually refers to the entire living being, to the whole individual.” This is borne out by the Bible’s description of the soul at Genesis 2:7: “Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” Note that the first man “came to be” a soul. That is to say, Adam did not have a soul; he was a soul—just as someone who becomes a doctor is a doctor. The word “soul,” then, here describes the whole person.\n\nThe word translated “soul” (psy·khe´) appears more than a hundred times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Like ne´phesh this word often refers to the whole person. For example, consider the following statements: “My soul is troubled.” (John 12:27) “Fear began to fall upon every soul.” (Acts 2:43) “Let every soul be in subjection to the superior authorities.” (Romans 13:1) “Speak consolingly to the depressed souls.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) “A few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.” (1 Peter 3:20) Clearly, psy·khe´, like ne´phesh, refers to the whole person. According to scholar Nigel Turner, this word “signifies what is characteristically human, the self, the material body having God’s rûah [spirit] breathed into it. . . . The emphasis is on the whole self.”\n\nin the Bible the word “soul” applies not only to humans but also to animals. For example, in describing the creation of sea creatures, Genesis 1:20 says that God commanded: “Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls.” And on the next creative day, God said: “Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.”—Genesis 1:24; compare Numbers 31:28.\n\n, the word “soul” as used in the Bible refers to a person or an animal or to the life that a person or an animal enjoys. (See box above.) The Bible’s definition of the soul is simple, consistent, and unencumbered by the complicated philosophies and superstitions of men. That being the case, the urgent question that must be asked is, According to the Bible, what happens to the soul at death?\n\nThe Dead Are Unconscious:\n\nThe condition of the dead is made clear at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, where we read: “The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave.” (Moffatt) Death, therefore, is a state of nonexistence. The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (Psalm 146:4) The dead are unconscious, inactive.\n\n When pronouncing sentence upon Adam, God stated: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Before God formed him from the dust of the ground and gave him life, Adam did not exist. When he died, he returned to that state. His punishment was death—not a transfer to another realm. What, then, happened to his soul? Since in the Bible the word “soul” often simply refers to a person, when we say that Adam died, we are saying that the soul named Adam died. This might sound unusual to a person who believes in the immortality of the soul. However, the Bible states: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) Leviticus 21:1 speaks of “a deceased soul” (a “corpse,” The Jerusalem Bible). And Nazirites were told not to come near “any dead soul” (“a dead body,” Lamsa).—Numbers
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666\nRev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. \n\n(James Moffatt translation)\nNow for the gift of interpretation. Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast; it is the cipher of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.\n\nSix hundred threescore and six\nG5516 χξς chi xi stigma khee xee stig'-ma\nThe 22nd, 14th and an obsolete letter (G4742 as a cross) of the Greek alphabet (intermediate between the 5th and 6th), used as numbers; denoting respectively 600, 60 and 6; 666 as a numeral: - six hundred threescore and six.\nG4742 στίγμα stigma stig'-mah\nFrom a primary word στίζω stizō (to “stick”, that is, prick); a mark incised or punched (for recognition of ownership), that is, (figuratively) scar of service: - mark.\n\nBiblical significance of the number 6; WEAKNESS OF MAN - EVILS OF SATAN - MANIFESTATION OF SIN\nBiblical significance of the number 666; THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST ANTI-CHRIST\n\nTYPE OF BEAST\nGoliath whom David slew (I Samuel 17), had the number of a man, 6, 6, and 6.\nItems of Goliath, (1) helmet, (2) coat of mail, (3) greaves, (4) target, (5) spear, (6) shield\nwhose height was six cubits and a span\nhis spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron\n\nTYPE OF IMAGE\nNebuchadnezzar made an image (Daniel 3), had the number of a man, 6, 6, and 6.\nInstruments, (1) cornet, (2) flute, (3) harp, (4) sackbut, (5) psaltery, (6) dulcimer\nwhose height was threescore cubits, or sixty\nthe breadth thereof six cubits\n\nTo further calculate the cipher 666 when Satan will think he is in full control.\nRevelation 6:12   the sixth seal\nRevelation 9:13   the sixth trump\nRevelation 16:12 the sixth vial\n\nOn June 6 the U.S. Senate will vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) which defines marriage as being only between one man and one woman. Because of a power grab by activist judges like the one in Georgia, the MPA is the only way that the sacred institution of marriage will remain between one man and one woman.
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66 - total\n39 in the Old Testament\n27 in the New Testament
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Nothing.\n\n666\nRev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. \n\n(James Moffatt translation)\nNow for the gift of interpretation. Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast; it is the cipher of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.\n\nSix hundred threescore and six\nG5516 χξς chi xi stigma khee xee stig'-ma\nThe 22nd, 14th and an obsolete letter (G4742 as a cross) of the Greek alphabet (intermediate between the 5th and 6th), used as numbers; denoting respectively 600, 60 and 6; 666 as a numeral: - six hundred threescore and six.\nG4742 στίγμα stigma stig'-mah\nFrom a primary word στίζω stizō (to “stick”, that is, prick); a mark incised or punched (for recognition of ownership), that is, (figuratively) scar of service: - mark.\n\nBiblical significance of the number 6; WEAKNESS OF MAN - EVILS OF SATAN - MANIFESTATION OF SIN\nBiblical significance of the number 666; THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST ANTI-CHRIST\n\nTYPE OF BEAST\nGoliath whom David slew (I Samuel 17), had the number of a man, 6, 6, and 6.\nItems of Goliath, (1) helmet, (2) coat of mail, (3) greaves, (4) target, (5) spear, (6) shield\nwhose height was six cubits and a span\nhis spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron\n\nTYPE OF IMAGE\nNebuchadnezzar made an image (Daniel 3), had the number of a man, 6, 6, and 6.\nInstruments, (1) cornet, (2) flute, (3) harp, (4) sackbut, (5) psaltery, (6) dulcimer\nwhose height was threescore cubits, or sixty\nthe breadth thereof six cubits\n\nTo further calculate the cipher 666 when Satan will think he is in full control.\nRevelation 6:12   the sixth seal\nRevelation 9:13   the sixth trump\nRevelation 16:12 the sixth vial\n\nOn June 6 the U.S. Senate will vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) which defines marriage as being only between one man and one woman. Because of a power grab by activist judges like the one in Georgia, the MPA is the only way that the sacred institution of marriage will remain between one man and one woman.
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In the Scriptures, certain numbers have symbolic significance. The number seven, for example, is often used to symbolize that which is complete, or perfect, in God’s eyes.\n\nSix is one short of seven. Would it not be a fitting symbol of something imperfect, or defective, in God’s eyes? Yes, indeed! (1 Chronicles 20:6, 7) Moreover, six repeated three times, as 666, powerfully stresses that imperfection. That this is the correct view is supported by the fact that 666 is “a human number,”. Thus, the beast’s record, its “human number,” and the number 666 itself all point to one unmistakable conclusion—gross shortcoming and failure in the eyes of Jehovah.\n**************\n\nWho is this angel? He must have tremendous power to be able to dispose of Jehovah’s archenemy. He has “the key of the abyss and a great chain.” Does this not remind us of an earlier vision? Why, yes, the king over the locusts is called “the angel of the abyss”! (Revelation 9:11) So here we again observe Jehovah’s Chief Vindicator, the glorified Jesus Christ, in action. This archangel that cast Satan out of heaven, that judged Babylon the Great, and that disposed of “the kings of the earth and their armies” at Armageddon would surely not step aside to let a lesser angel deliver the masterstroke in abyssing Satan!—Revelation 12:7-9; 18:1, 2; 19:11-21.\nWhen the great fiery-colored dragon was hurled down from heaven, he was spoken of as “the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:3, 9) Now, at the point of being seized and abyssed, he is described again in full as “the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan.” This infamous devourer, deceiver, slanderer, and opposer is chained and hurled “into the abyss,” which is closed and sealed off tightly, “that he might not mislead the nations anymore.” This abyssing of Satan is for a thousand years, during which time his influence on mankind will be no more than that of a prisoner in a deep dungeon. The angel of the abyss removes Satan completely from any contact with the Kingdom of righteousness. What a relief for mankind!
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666 as a name or word\n\nAnother interpretation is that 666 is actually some kind of code based on the letters of someone's name or a word. This sparks great public interest since it seems to provide some way to identify the Antichrist. Numerologists like to devise clever ways of assigning numbers to letters so that the letters of a name will add up to this symbolic number. Probably the best-known scheme has A=100, B=101, and so on. With this code, the name "HITLER" adds up to 666. Another commonly cited example is President Ronald Wilson Reagan, where counting the letters of his first, middle, and last name lead to 666. While these ideas are intriguing, they usually require many specific preconditions, like having to start with 100, numbering the surname only, etc. (even though in the former case, you can also number a=1, b=2, and so on and decode his initials 'A' and 'H' as 18, which of course equals 6+6+6.) By adapting the rules however, it is possible to connect most if not all names to the evil number. See also Vicarius Filii Dei. More convincing interpretations invoke more than mathematics to prove their point.\n\n    * For example, scholars who believe the Book of Revelation refers to real people and events argue that the number represents the value of Nero or Neron Caesar (נרון קסר, Nrwn Qsr*, pronounced "Neron Qesar") in Hebrew letters, which also have numerical values under the form of numerology called Gematria (note that Hebrew is written from right to left):
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The world is now 5766 years old.We are now in the 1st month and today is the 20th day of the month.\n\nThe ten commandments were given on the 6th day of the 3rd month in the year 2448.
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The Apocalypse Of Saint John\n Chapter 13 \n\n\n16 And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand, or on their foreheads. 17 And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six. \n\n"Six hundred sixty-six"... The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number.
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http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/deuteronomy/deuteronomy22.htm\n\nThe link didn't work for me, try the one above.
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In the book of Revelations, 666 is given as the number the Antichrist will mark his followers with.\n\n"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is six hundred three score and six."
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Mark of the Beast \nRevelation 13:16-18 states: \n"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast_(numerology)
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Now you're just lying. Sorry.\n\n20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. \n\n 21He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. \n\n 22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. \n\n 23Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! \n\n 24Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.\n\n\nIn context, this means that God chose Israel. Ta-da! He chose not to see anything in them negative. That's love.
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"Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six," (Rev. 13:18).\n\n     666 is the number of the antichrist, the end times figure who will arise with the purpose of opposing God and God's people.  666 is the gamatria of the name of the antichrist. \n     In Greek and Hebrew there are no numeric characters.  There are only alpha characters.  For example, the letters a, b, c, d, e, f, etc. are alpha characters.  The numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, etc., are numeric characters.  They are different -- except for the letter "o" and the number "0".  When the Greeks wanted to write a number, they used letters for numbers.  The Greek letter "alpha" had the numeric equivalent of 1.  The next letter "beta" has the numeric equivalent of 2, and so on.  (CARM has a chart of the Hebrew and Greek numeric equivalents if you are interested in more information.) \n     Therefore, whenever a word in Greek is written, because the letters are also numbers, every word has a numeric value.  This numeric value is called a gematria.  The Greek word for Jesus (IhsouV) has a mathematical equivalent of 888.  Also, the Greek word for fish is 1224. \n     What the Bible is saying is that the future antichrist will have a name that when it is written in Greek, its numeric equivalent will be 666.
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666 is the number of a man's name, according to the Bible (Revelation chapters 13 & 14). It most likely refers to the evil emperor Nero who opposed Christ by persecuting God's Church. The letters of the name Nero, in the original language, equals this number. Nero would be numbered so that his name could be hidden and the writer, John, could live on. Why would God need a number? He wants His identity known.