Significant numbers include twelve, often associated with the full number of God's people, and multiples of ten, especially forty and seventy. Passages gathered in the Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. "Look," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
Meanwhile, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated.
Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and addressed the crowd: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words.
These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons: The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. And the sons of Leah's maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
The twelve stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel. Each stone was engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and a sin offering of 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.
the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
"Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and command them: 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.'"
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel: From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach,
And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and power to cure diseases.
so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus answered them, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.
So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, "It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.
You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
"The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. You are to observe it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with its statutes and ordinances." So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.
Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.
On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to observe the Passover, a feast of seven days, during which unleavened bread shall be eaten.
"Tell the Israelites: 'When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD. Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month, since they had been unable to observe it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.
And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.
Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also.
In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.
On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
"Speak to the Israelites and say, 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day.
On the fifteenth day of this month, there shall be a feast; for seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. So he ordained a feast for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.
During the seven days of the feast that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.'
Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD.
a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.
You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel's army.
and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,
Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me.
"Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by the houses of their fathers—all those twenty years of age or older who can serve in the army of Israel."
David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.
For according to the final instructions of David, the Levites twenty years of age or older were counted,
and to the priests enrolled according to their families in the genealogy, as well as to the Levites twenty years of age or older, according to their duties and divisions.
In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.
Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.
Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.
In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting.
from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.
The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.
He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.
He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.
Now these were members of the Thirty: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD, saying, "Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?" Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three. He was doubly honored above the Three, and he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three. And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.
Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;
Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: "We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you." So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.
This Benaiah was mighty among the Thirty and was over the Thirty, and his son Ammizabad was in charge of his division.
and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?" And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.
Then I told them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them." So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel,
On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!"
For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made."
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.
Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.
So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.
For the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness forty years, until all the nation's men of war who had come out of Egypt had died, since they did not obey the LORD. So the LORD vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways."
And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments. He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.
For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.
He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.
When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest." And the land had rest for forty years.
In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,
As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.
The length of David's reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
The length of David's reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.
So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan. The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines.
And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king's life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: "Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered." And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
For this is what the LORD says: "When Babylon's seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Then the angel of the LORD said, "How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?"
The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.
"Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, 'Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?' Remember that I am your own flesh and blood."
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit.
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name."
Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.