Numerical Symbolism in
Jewish and Early Christian Apocalyptic Literature
by Adela Yarbro Collins, Chicago, Ill.
Contents
|
| I. Introduction |
1222 |
| II. Numbers in the Ordering of Time |
1224 |
A. Impulses to Calculate the Time of the End |
1225 |
1. The Prophecy of Jeremiah and Its Interpretation
|
1225 |
a) The Damascus Document |
1225 |
b) 11 Q Melchizedek |
1227 |
c) Testament of Levi 15-16 |
1228 |
d) Sabbatical Logic |
1228 |
2. Imprecise, Rhetorical Calculations |
1230 |
B. Attempts to Discern a Meaningful Pattern in Time |
1234 |
1. History Divided into Periods |
1234 |
a) Jeremiah's Prophecy and Sabbatical Eschatology
|
1234 |
b) Four Kingdoms or Ages |
1239 |
c) Twelve Periods |
1241 |
d) Ten and Multiples of Ten |
1242 |
2. Numerical Patterns Projected into the
Future |
1244 |
a) Sabbatical Logic |
1245 |
b) A Twelve-part Schema |
1245 |
c) The Thousand Year Reign |
1245 |
d) The Messianic Age in 4 Ezra |
1246 |
C. The Ordering of Revelatory Experience |
1247 |
1. Periods of Seven Days |
1247 |
2. Periods of Forty Days |
1248 |
| III. Numbers as Signs of Cosmic Order |
1249 |
A. The Pythagorean Tradition |
1250 |
B. Points of Contact between Judaism and Pythagorean Tradition
|
1253 |
1. Aristobulus |
1253 |
2. Philo |
1256 |
C. Analogous Ideas in Apocalyptic Literature |
1257 |
1. Order in the Macrocosmos |
1258 |
2. Order in the Activity of Heavenly Beings
|
1266 |
| IV. The Use of Numbers in the Revelation of John |
1268 |
A. Gematria |
1270 |
B. The Prominence of Numbers in Revelation |
1272 |
C. The Significance of the Number Seven |
1275 |
D. The Significance of the Number Twelve |
1279 |
| V. Conclusion |
1285 |
