Bible Studies

---

We continue the discussion of symbolic numbers here in Part 8 of this eight part paper.

Regarding the symbolic number twelve and multiples of twelve (12,000; 144; and 144,000), I'll quote REVELATION 21:16, 17 (from the NASB) and then quote most of what I said on these verses in my paper on Revelation 20-22 on my internet site; I briefly commented there on the 144,000 of Rev. 7:4-8 and 14:1 (and 14:3) too: "(16) And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. [[(This double bracket goes on for three paragraphs.) As the NASB says in the margin, the Greek literally has "twelve thousand stadia." As far as I'm concerned, the NASB made a mistake by converting to miles here. (The NIV, KJV, and NKJV all keep the number twelve thousand.) The problem is that the NASB failed to keep the number "twelve thousand," which I believe is a symbolic number. The number twelve can symbolize completeness, even as there are twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, and twelve months. Note that the number twelve was used repeatedly in 21:12-14, 21 ("twelve gates" with the "the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel" written on them; "twelve angels

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR