Mathematical Phenomena: The Bible’s 24 Books

The following article is part (#10) of the planned introduction to HaRav Ginsburgh’s upcoming teachings on the Book of Proverbs. It focuses on the Bible’s structure from a mathematical perspective. It will be continued in an upcoming issue of Wonders. The original teaching was delivered in English on the 14^th of Sivan, 5785. It is being published here for the first time.

Let us consider some mathematical, numerical phenomena regarding the three parts of the Bible. The Five books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings.

The Five Books of Moses, as their name states, consist of 5 books. The Prophets, the second part of the Bible, consist of 8 books, and the Writings, the third part, consists of 11 books. So what we have here is known as a linear series or sequence of numbers: 5, 8, 11.

The differences between these numbers are 3 and 3, revealing an implicit relationship between the Bible’s three-fold structure and the number of books in each part of the structure. Mathematically, 3 is revealed as the base of the series, the number that drives the series forward: from 5, to 8, to 11.

It is simple to continue the series backwards and forwards. Before the number 5 we have 2, and after 11 comes 14.

2, 5, 8, 11, 14

What is the significance of the 2 and the 14? The entire Bible began with the giving of the 2 Tablets of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. That was the first part of the Torah given. All subsequent 24 books of the Bible, begin with the 2 Tablets. The importance of the Tablets can be found in the popular liturgical poem titled, “Who knows one?” which is sung on the first night of Passover, the Seder night. We have written about the mathematical phenomena related to this poem, but the point we are now raising is that the number 2 is associated archetypally with the Tablets, “Who knows 2? I know 2! [2 is for] the two Tablets of the Covenant.”

With respect to Torah, what is the significance of the number 14 that follows 11? After we have completed the Written Torah, i.e., the Bible, the next step is to advance from the Written Torah to the Oral Torah, which is the halakha—the laws of the Torah as expounded in depth by the sages. The scholar who compiled all the laws of the Torah in a very orderly and ingenious way was Maimonides. He organized all the laws and their related topics into 14 books, which, because it is the value of the word “hand” (יָד), he called his work, “The Strong Hand” (יָד הַחֲזָקָה), referring to the strong hand with which God redeemed us from Egypt.[1]

If we continue the series to nine places, we will get: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26. The ninth number in this sequence is 26, which is the value of God’s essential Name, Havayah (י–הוה).

Squares and Inter-inclusion

Let us now take the series we have developed and operate on it by squaring each number in the series. To square a number means to reveal its aspect of inter-inclusion by which each unit reveals its inclusion of all the other units. For example, 5 squared is like saying that each of the 5 parts has all 5 parts in it. Inter-inclusion is a sign of rectification, whereby each individual element of the whole reflects all the elements of the whole and then the inter-included elements become one and the same with the entire whole, as one.

If we now examine the numbers in our sequence this way, we find:

The sum of the squares of all 9 numbers is 2304, which amazingly is itself a square number, 48 squared. How is 48 related to our sequence? It is 2 times 24, which is the number we began with—the number of books in the Bible, the 24 bridal ornaments, etc. So, when we divided the 24 into 5, 8, and 11, then expanded the series from 2 to 26, and then squared each number (i.e., inter-included each number in itself), the sum is 2 times the number we started with.

We saw a similar phenomenon with regard to the 7 verses from Isaiah[2] that describe the 24 ornaments of the bride, which correspond to the 24 books of the Bible. Those 7 verses contain exactly 48 words.[3] There are 24 ornaments, but they are described in 48—2 times 24—words. Another instance of the number 48 in relation to learning Torah appears in the Ethics of the Fathers, the Tractate of Avot, which states[4] that the Torah is acquired through the practice of 48 attributes, all of which are then enumerated. We may say that these 48 attributes correspond to the 48 words that describe the adornments of the bride (i.e., we, the Jewish people), that is receiving the Torah from God.

So far, we only have indirect connections (though beautiful ones) between 48 and the number of books in the Bible. In our next installment in this series, we will see how 48 is directly related to the number of books in the Bible.

[1]. Exodus 13:9. See Wonders, issue 158.

[2]. Isaiah 3:18-24.

[3]. The original Hebrew reads: בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יָסִיר אֲדֹנָי אֵת תִּפְאֶרֶת הָעֲכָסִים וְהַשְּׁבִיסִים וְהַשַּׂהֲרֹנִים. הַנְּטִפוֹת וְהַשֵּׁירוֹת וְהָרְעָלוֹת. הַפְּאֵרִים וְהַצְּעָדוֹת וְהַקִּשֻּׁרִים וּבָתֵּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהַלְּחָשִׁים. הַטַּבָּעוֹת וְנִזְמֵי הָאָף. הַמַּחֲלָצוֹת וְהַמַּעֲטָפוֹת וְהַמִּטְפָּחוֹת וְהָחֲרִיטִים. וְהַגִּלְיֹנִים וְהַסְּדִינִים וְהַצְּנִיפוֹת וְהָרְדִידִים. וְהָיָה תַחַת בֹּשֶׂם מַק יִהְיֶה וְתַחַת חֲגוֹרָה נִקְפָּה וְתַחַת מַעֲשֶׂה מִקְשֶׁה קׇרְחָה וְתַחַת פְּתִיגִיל מַחֲגֹרֶת שָׂק כִּי־תַחַת יֹפִי.

[4]. Avot 6:6.