Count God In: Theological Numbers in the Song of Songs

By Loren F. Bliese

This study of Song of Songs uncovers many patterns related to the numerical value twenty-six and related numbers for the divine name YHWH. Patterns are so unique that they clearly show authorial intent. They involve the numerical value of root forms of words, their sequences, and their totals in the book. The beloved man is highlighted by special patterns, which indicate that a typology for God is intended. Deer names in the refrain have number patterns that confirm intention for being circumlocutions for divine names. The disputed presence of the divine name YH in 8:6 is confirmed by the value of its full word. One of the most striking patterns found with the help of a computer is that the totals of root words are all arranged to point to theological numbers in a beautiful intricacy. Besides describing these patterns, this study discusses numerical competence within a proposed Hebrew literary circle, and what steps they might have gone through to create these amazing phenomena. These theological numbers confirm intentionality for allusions to the Hebrew Bible and support a hermeneutic of spiritual applications. A literary analysis of each poem focuses on the use of numbers among other features of prominence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532642869

Loren F. Bliese

Loren F. Bliese served as a translation consultant in Ethiopia for twenty-five years for the Bible Society of Ethiopia helping in over twenty languages. He also taught biblical courses part-time at Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa for twenty years. Previously he initiated literacy and mobile clinic medical services among the Afar nomadic people. He has published A Generative Grammar of Afar and articles on Hebrew Bible discourse analysis and Afar linguistics, culture, and songs.

Book preview

COUNT GOD IN

THEOLOGICAL NUMBERS IN THE SONG OF SONGS

Loren F. Bliese

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COUNT GOD IN

Theological Numbers In The Song Of Songs

Copyright ©

2018

Loren F. Bliese. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Resource Publications

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-4284-5

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-4285-2

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-4286-9

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Preface

Abbreviations

Hebrew Alphabet with Numerical Values

Chapter 1: Theology and Song of Songs

Theoretical Basis of This Analysis—Symbolic Numbers in Biblical Literature

The Evidence for Theological Word Patterns in Songs

Theological Patterning of Lemmas with Large Total Occurrences

The Six Basic Theological Numbers and the Theological Words behind them

Theological Numbers with Lemmas in 5:4, the Central Line of the Book

The Central Peak Poem 5:2–6 and Structural Patterns with 26 and 13

Theological Numbers in 5:10–16 and its Connections with 5:2–6

Cryptic Reference to Deut 6:4–5 in the Central Line 5:4

Inclusio of NAME and YH in Songs in the Context of Love

The Noun LOVE, the Key Word in the Structure of Songs

Sequential Patterns of Significant Numbers with Gazelle and Stag

Sequence of All Lemmas in Patterns with Dwd

Sequence of All Words in Patterns with Dwd

The Verb Love

God-like Statuary in the Description of the Man 5:10–16

Theological Patterns in the Poem of Love 8:6–7

Evaluation of 4:6–8 in regard to Poems with Multiple 26-letter Lines

Mechanics of Producing a Text with Theological Number Input

Chart of the Use of Lemmas in the Theological Code in Songs

Examples that are not as obviously patterned and may be chance:

Structural Patterns with Theological Numbers, and the variations in 2:16 and 6:3

Songs as a Holy of Holies

Chapter 2: Literary Structure of Song of Songs

The Key Word the Noun LOVE Chiastically in the Seven Parts

Word Numerical Patterns in the Seven Parts and the Book Total

Lemma Numerical Patterns in the Seven Parts and the Book Total

Lists of Lemmas Arranged by their Total Occurrences

Table 2.1 The Twelve Lemmas with Thirteen or More Occurrences

Table 2.2 Twelve Groups of Lemmas with Twelve or Less Occurrences

The Central Poem 5:2–6 as Peak within the Central Part 4

A Proposed Sequence for Creating the Various Number Patterns

Table 2.3 Significant Sequential Numbers for Lemmas in 5:2–16

List of Theologically Significant Lemmas in 5:2–16

Poems with High Counts of Theological Lemmas

Poems with Low Counts of Theological Lemmas

Flow of Narrative and Relationships between the Seven Parts

Chart of the Chiastic Relationship of the Seven Parts of the Book

The Use of Euphemism and Metaphor for Preserving Decorum

Table 2.4 Erotica and Repetitions Which Suggest Cryptic Meaning

Table 2.4 Summary of Numerical Strategies to Show a Theological Goal

Table 2.6 Theological Number Grid with 23 
Dwd as Lemmas and Words

Chapter 3: Theological Applications

A Spiritual Reading of Song of Songs

YH and Other Lexical Clues to a Theology of Songs

Love Based on Unconditional Acceptance

The Wilderness as the Setting for Love

Opening the Door, a Human Response

Courtship, Marriage and Sex in This Sequence

Mountain Dangers and Theology in 4:6–8

Don’t Awaken Love before it is Ready—Be at Peace

Chapter 4: Translation of Text and Literary Features at the Poem Level

Key to Formatting in Displaying the Translation

BOOK: 221 (17x13) lines of poetry

1:1 Title

PART ONE 1:1—2:7

1:2–4 Chiasm 66 3 66 with a final bimeter line

1:5–6 Chiasm 44 5 44

1:7–8 Chiasm 8 55 8

1:9–11 Two Pentameters and a Final Hexameter Peak

1:12–17 Chiasm 57 77 75

2:1–3 Chiasm 5 77 6 (long final line)

2:4–6 Chiasm 5 7 5

2:7 & 3:5 Two Tetrameters and a Final Pentameter Peak

PART TWO 2:8—3:5

2:8–9 Chiasm 44 6 44

2:10–13 Chiasm 57 44 75 and an Initial Trimeter

2:14 Chiasm 5 4 5

2:15–17 Five Tetrameters and a Final Pentameter

3:1–2 Two Hexameters, a Final Septameter and a Trimeter ending the first strophe

3:3–4 Chiasm 43 8 34

3:5 Two Tetrameters and a Final Pentameter Peak

PART THREE 3:6—4:8

3:6–11 Eleven Pentameters and a Trimeter Beginning the Second Strophe

4:1–5 Eight Pentameters and an Introductory Trimeter and Final Octameter

4:6–8 Chiasm 46 66 64

CENTRAL PART FOUR 4:9—5:16

4:9–11 Chiasm 36 10 63

4:12–15 Chiasm 76 55 67

4:16—5:1 Chiasm 56 44 65

5:2–6 Chiasm 66644 7 44666, Central Poem of Part 4 and of Book

5:7 Chiasm 4 2 4

5:8–9 Chiasm 44 3 44

5:10–16 13 Lines (11 Tetrameters, Opening Trimeter, Final Pentameter)

PART FIVE 6:1—7:6[7]

6:1–7 Chiasm 55545 44 54555

6:8–9 Chiasm 6 10 6

6:10 Two Tetrameters and a Final Bimeter

6:11–12 Two Pentameters and a Final Hexameter

6:13[Hebrew 7:1] Two Tetrameters

7:1–6[2–7] Nine Pentameters, and a Central and Penultimate Trimeter

PART SIX 7:7[8]—8:4

7:7–9[8–10] Chiasm 65 4 56

7:10–12[11–13] Six Tetrameters

7:13[14]—8:2 Six Pentameters

8:3–4 Two Tetrameters & a Final Pentameter Peak

PART SEVEN 8:5–14

8:5 Chiasm 6 3 6

8:6–7 Chiasm 55 44 55

8:8–10 Chiasm 54 66 45

8:11–14 Chiasm 535 9 5(1)35

Chapter 5: Application to Translation

Appendix

Table 5.1 Summary of Poem-level Structures Indicating Peaks

Table 5.2 Features of Prominence in Peak

References

To Edith my Loving Wife on our

60

th Wedding Anniversary

And to our Beloved God whose Love is Eternal

Preface

This study shows many patterns based on numerical values related to the divine name YHWH in Song of Songs. ¹ The patterns have great variety including counts of words and word roots (lemmas) that occur in the book, in the seven parts, and in individual poems and lines. There are also patterns based on the sequence of lemmas. Many of the patterns are significant as non-chance by chi-square probability statistics. Proposals are made as to how these could have been produced by an author or redactor. The presence of so many numerical patterns with a theological orientation is proposed as being evidence of authorial intent to relate these songs of human love to the love between God and God’s people.

Chapter 1 of this study will be a presentation of basic theological number patterns as evidence of theology in Songs. The theoretical basis of the use of theological numbers will be explained and illustrated in important poems. Chapter 2 focuses on literary structures, and will show how numerical patterns in the macro-structure also support a theological reading. Chapter 3 gives theological applications. Chapter 4 is a literary analysis of the individual poems, pointing out symbolic number patterns and prominence within each poem. The textual display in this fourth chapter Translation of Text and Literary Features at the Poem Level may be referred to in order to better follow the details in the other parts. Chapter 5 discusses application to translation. The Appendix is a tabular summary of literary features relating to prominence as discussed in chapter four.

I have included references to many studies of Song of Songs, incorporating scholars’ viewpoints that may help to understand this presentation. I have also added charts and tables to visualize the details. Because of the intricacy of this study, details are sometimes repeated as they come up in different contexts. I hope the added clarity from such repetition will offset their tedious nature and reinforce the background needed to understand the analysis and proposals.

Sexual innuendos are made explicit in the discussion. This is not intended to be bawdy, but to clarify allusions that the authors or redactors of Songs have carefully disguised in order to keep propriety in the text. I hope that this will contribute to a fuller understanding of how the text shows the fullness of human love and lovemaking to be symbolic in what I see as the message of Song of Songs, to love God with one’s whole heart, soul and might. In a 2016 publication Schwienhorst-Schönberger (Allegory, 27) notes the importance of recognizing these innuendos for understanding the unique message of Songs, "The truly innovative aspect of the Song lies in its development of the love between God and His people in erotic-sexual metaphoric language."

Quotations from other biblical books than Songs of Songs are from NRSV unless otherwise marked, while those from Song of Songs often include my adjustments to clarify points in the Hebrew text. Those in Songs from NRSV are so marked. Besides BHQ, BHS, and BHK, the data of Westminster Hebrew Morphology (WHM, 1991) was used in the analysis. I thank my grandson Joel Meyers, who designed an Excel program to calculate the numeric value of the lemmas I extracted from its data, and my son Paul Bliese for help with chi-square statistics that indicate probability for numerical patterns.

1. Earlier versions of this study were presented at the United Bible Societies Triennial Translation Workshop in Chiang Mai in

1994

and the Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting in Dublin in

1996

. A short version was published in Amharic by Yemissrach Dimts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in

2002

with the title Yefiqr Qine: Yemehaliye Mehaliye Tinat, meaning Poem of Love: A Study of Song of Songs. A short revised version of these was presented to the Pacific Northwest Region, Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Portland, Oregon, in

2015

.

Abbreviations

ANE Ancient Near East

BCE Before the Christian Era

CEV Contemporary English Version

CE Christian Era

GNT Good News Translation

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

LXX Septuagint

MT Masoretic Text

NEB New English Bible

NIV New International Version

NJP New Jewish Publication Society Translation

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

BDB Brown, Driver, Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament

BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Edited by K. Elliger and W. Rudolph

BHK Biblia Hebraica. Edited by Rudolph Kittel

BHQ Biblia Hebraica Quinta. Canticles edited by P. B. Dirksen

GCL Gute Nachricht, German Common Language

REB Revised English Bible

RSV Revised Standard Version

WHM Westminster Hebrew Morphology (1991)

Hebrew Alphabet with Numerical Values

Chapter 1

Theology and Song of Songs

As a part of the canon of scripture the Song of Songs has teased the imagination of both Jews and Christians. Does such an obvious love song speak theologically in its literary form, or only by the allegorical interpretations that have been popular for two millennia to Jews and Christians? The debate that began in the first century CE with the formation of the canon of the Hebrew Bible goes on.1 Since the rise of historical criticism, faithful exegesis aims to base interpretations as much as possible on the message that writers and redactors are believed to have intended. On the surface Songs has no theological discussion, and it has only one debated reference to God in a flame of YH in 8:6. Many modern interpreters therefore doubt that there is an exegetical basis for a theological interpretation of Song of Songs.² Haupt (Difficult Passages, 52) wrote, The Song of Songs is neither allegorical, nor typical, nor dramatic; indeed it is not the work of one poet but a collection of popular love-songs. There has also been a reaction to this view with an increasing number of interpreters seeing theological intent evidenced by allusions to the Hebrew Bible.³ This study agrees with this, but also shows how the use of theologically potent numbers were used by the author/redactor to stamp it with a seal that gives a spiritual motif to this love story. Labuschagne (Use of Number, 584) notes that numbers are a means of adding depth to a text and to imbue it with symbolic significance. The use of double entendre for decorum in sexual scenes in Songs is widely acknowledged. The assumption here is that Songs also has cryptic numerical associations that give a third level of theological meaning. We will especially deal with this deeper 3-D level of meaning.

The traditional religious approach has a very long and rich allegorical history in which these songs have often been interpreted by Jews as a picture of the relationship between God and his people.⁴ For example, Rabbi Akiba designated Song of Songs as the Holy of Holies at the council of Jamnia in 90 C.E. (Fishbane, Commentary, xxii; Murphy, Song of Songs, 13; Ogden and Zogbo, Song of Songs,1; and Davis, Song of Songs, 240–41, who gives the source as Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Akiba and the many rabbis and Christian interpreters after him, found things in the text that point to a spiritual interpretation.⁵ I will point out possible evidence such as allusions to the Hebrew Bible as they have been described by others, but I will also add my research aided by computer technology on theological numbers in Songs. I see these together as supporting an exegetically faithful theological reading.

Theoretical Basis of This Analysis—Symbolic Numbers in Biblical Literature

Hebrew does not have a separate set of numbers distinct from letters. Instead, the sequence of the 22 letters of the alphabet was used to give values to each letter. The use of Hebrew letters in math seems to have developed late. The Hebrew Bible has all numbers written out as words, rather than using the letters as numbers. Greek and Egyptian numbers were normally used instead of Hebrew letters for numbers in most cases. However, Lieberman (Measures, 198–98) cites archealogical evidence from the fourth century BCE that shows some likely use of Hebrew letters as numbers. Although the use as numbers was limited, the recognition of the numerical value of the letters is clear.

The strongest theological markers relate to the divine name YHWH, especially by use of its numerical equivalent 26, where Y=10, H=5, W=6 and H=5. An example of how 26 was used is with 26-letter lines. For example, the central poem of the book 5:2–6, and the last poem 5:10–16 of the central part four, and the Poem of Love in 8:6–7 by my analysis each have two 26-letter lines.

In addition to the value ten for י Y, the first letter of YHWH was also recognized with a counterpart אּ ʾalep with the value of one. This makes the sum 17 for the four letters of the divine Tetragrammaton. The background to the short count 17 is that God’s name ’HYH in Exod 3:14 is read as an archaic form ’HWH analogous to YHWH (see Labuschagne, Numerical Secrets, 89–90, and Christensen Deuteronomy, 9). 6 Other numbers related mathematically to 26 (13, 39, 52, 78) and multiples of 17 (34, 51, 68) are also used in Songs to enhance literary structures.

Besides 26 and 17 for YHWH, the numerical values associated with כבוד kbwd ‘glory’ are used extensively in Songs. When counting k with the mathematical value of 20 used historically later in calculations, kbwd is 32 (20+2+6+4). When counting k as 11, based on its sequence in the Hebrew alphabet, its value is 23 (11+2+6+4). The theological importance of kbwd is related to its construct form kbd, which is used with suffixes. It has the value of 26 when k represents the mathematical value of 20, and 17 when k is has the alphabetical value of 11. These are the same 26 and 17 totals as with YHWH, and obviously put kbwd into the theologically symbolic set. See Labuschagne (Numerical Secrets, 91–92, and Logotechnical Analysis, 4). Their frequent use in Songs shows that both 23 and 32 were recognized in the literary circle of the author/redactor as having a close numerical affinity with YHWH. However, in the analysis of the numerical value of lemmas (lexical roots) with theological significance, there is a preference for the original values following the 22 letters of the alphabet.

A hierarchy of numbers can be observed in Songs based on the various counts of YHWH—first: 26, second: 13 and 39, third: 17, fourth: the full counts of kbwd (23 and 32), fifth: multiples of any of the above. In some restricted places shown below the values of Y=10, H=5 and W=6 and their multiples are also used, which makes a sixth level of theological prominence.

Studies have shown that many biblical authors were aware of and used numbers to enhance style or give emphasis. Jacob Bazak (Numerical Devices, 333–37) noted patterns with 26, 52 and 23 among others, and states (334), The study of numerical devices could make an important contribution to the analysis of literary structure in biblical poetry. Bazak (Ibid., 336) summarizes, that the evidence substantiates the claim that the psalmists deliberately employed numerical devices in order to emphasize central sentences and also to make use of symbolic numbers. Rand (Numerological, 55–56) notes several Psalms with patterns with 26 and 52. Cohen (Psalm 47: Numerical, 258–63) notes patterns with 26 and its multiples 52 and 78. Labuschagne (Logotechnical Analysis, 16-21) has lists of numerous key words and structural patterns in the Hebrew Bible with theological numerical values, espececially 26 and 17.

Different sets of numbers are related to (a) 22 of the Hebrew alphabet such as in acrostic psalms, (b) those relating to 7 fullness, and (c) theological numbers relating to the numerical value of the divine name YHWH with 26 and 17 (including limited use of 10, 5 and 6), and to 23 and 32 as the values for kbwd ‘glory’.⁷ The extensive use I have found in Songs shows that a theological numerical motif was a tool of the author or redactor of Songs. Most numerical patterns in Songs which I will describe below, are based on the theological numbers 17, 26, 23 and 32, and only a few on 7 or 22 especially on numbers like 77 that use both sets. This indicates a design that encourages a theological reading of the book. The significance comes not in a random use of the numbers, but in the location of many of them in recognized high points of the text that are especially important in a theological reading. Theological numbers thereby were a literary tool to give prominence to texts.

The methodology used here is one that I have developed over a number of years of study in Hebrew poetry in the areas of metrical chiasmus and preferred numerical patterns.⁸ Overall structures are normally chiastic with the central section prominent as the high point of the book. The last section of a book is also a normal place of prominence. Numerical patterns using preferred numbers have been observed in overall structures in various ways including the number of surface words, poems and/or lines in a book and/or in each of the parts. (Bicola are counted as a normal line.) Similar numerical patterns are observed at the poem level in the number of lines, words, lemmas, and word-stress units⁹ in a poem. Numerical marking is also found at the line level with the number of letters per line. Significance of the total number of occurrences of lemmas (word roots or lexical units), and of their sequential placement is especially strong.

I am convinced that Songs of Songs shows evidence of a literary tradition that recognized the numerical value of lemmas in general along with the semantic value, and used this in conveying a theological sub-message. In this study the numerical value of the underlying lemma value is the one found to be most often significant, rather than the surface word value, which varies when grammatically modified. For example, the lemma mlʾ ‘fill’ in 5:2 has the value of 13+12+1=26, but the passive surface form nmlʾ is not theologically significant with the value of 14+13+12+1=50, nor its participle mmlʾym in 5:14 with the value of 13+13+12+1+10+13=62. These are the only two occurrences of mlʾ with its important lemma value of 26, and they are placed with one in each of important theological poems in lines referring to the Beloved. This is significant since he relates typologically to God in a theological hermeneutic. The easier recognition of the numerical value of lemmas in contrast to surface forms made it easier for an author or literary circle to become competent in reading and producing theological double entendre based on numbers. There are exceptions to this, including the key word dwdy ‘my beloved,’ which comes 26 times. It should also be noted that the original Hebrew text has only consonants, and vowels are not included in lemmas.

When were these numerical patterns in Songs done? I propose that the period when Songs was finally compiled was a time when Jewish literary tradition included a special interest in, and competence to recognize the numerical values of words, and to use these values for emphasis, style, and theological marking. Gerhards (Allegory, 58) proposes as a timeframe, most likely in the Hellenistic period. On page 92 he adds, the time of the editors, most probably around 200 BCE. On page 75 he further notes, the understanding of the book as a religious allegory in the Hellenistic period will perhaps be corroborated by text-immanent indications. I see theological numerical patterns as a very strong text-immanent verification of the religious intent of the author/redactor of Songs. The use of both the older alphabetical 22-number sequential system for the value of lemmas, and only occasionally the later mathematical system, gives evidence of a late period when the mathematical system was known but had not replaced the alphabetical system in literary circles.¹⁰

The Evidence for Theological Word Patterns in Songs

Theological Patterning of Lemmas with Large Total Occurrences

An ingenious numerical pattern is found with all lemmas with thirteen or more occurrences in Songs. They all relate to the set of symbolic numbers noted above that relate to YHWH and kbwd. Most lemmas in Songs have from one to twelve occurrences.11 Two lemmas, yph ‘beautiful’ and mh ‘what,’ come thirteen times. Thirteen is significantly one-half of the 26 of YHWH. There is then a striking gap with no total occurrences of any word until 26, which also has two occurrences, ʿl ‘on’ and ʾt ‘with’ (ʾt is also the object marker). The divine name YHWH is brought into focus by this gap between the two 13s and two 26s in the list of lemmas. The next number of occurrences after 26 in the list is 32 (the value of kbwd) for the relative pronoun š. This is followed by 39, or one and a half times 26. There are also two lemmas with 39 occurrences, the key word dwd ‘beloved,’ and mn ‘from.’ The significance of the sequence of 13-26-32-39 in the list of total occurrences of lemmas in my opinion is one of the strongest pointers supporting a theological motif for the book. This is emphasized in that there are two 13s, two 26s, and two 39s but no other doublets of any lemma totals repeated more than twelve times. By interpreting numbers semantically, 13, 26, and 39 when they come together as in this list point to the unique theological significance in the Shema of Deut 6:4 that YHWH=26 and אחד ʾḥd =13, which together mean God is one, total 39. (See Labuschange, Numbers, 97). The list of numbers continues upwards after 39 with 46 (23x2) k prepositions, 66 b prepositions (66 is the sum of the three numbers that count values by alphabet sequence that are used to refer to YHWH, 17+23+26=66). Next comes 78 (13+26+39 the three numbers with doublets, or 26x3, or 39x2) l prepositions,¹² then 79 w conjunctions (the sum of the first four theological numbers 13+17+23+26=79), and finally 98 h written definite articles (amazingly the sum of the next set of four 17+23+26+32=98), which are the basic four numbers referring to YHWH in biblical literature. The numbers 66, 79, and 98 are especially clever, making use of the basic numbers 13, 17, 23, 26 and 32 in the theological set, which are grouped with adjacent numbers from the set and added to make their totals in all three cases. This extraordinary list has twelve lemmas with each of their totals having theological significance. It goes beyond the recognized practice in biblical literature of selecting one key word or a few words, and giving them numerical significance by total counts.¹³ The large counts for these small lemmas is remarkable since normally they are suppressed in Hebrew poetry. Freedman (Pottery, Poetry, 6) writes, "The particles ʾet (the sign of the definite direct object), ʾšer (the relative pronoun), and ha- (the definite article) all have been identified as prosaic elements, not common in or suitable to poetry." This indicates a conscious plan in Songs to develop these particles. For those in a literary circle used to having the total occurrences of key words or lemmas of books related to significant numbers, this list would be seen as an ingenious innovation. It gives prominence to dwd, the male Beloved who represents God in a theological reading of Songs, by surrounding dwd with twelve numbers all related to the theological set. Note that dwd and mn, both with 39 occurrences, are the sixth lemmas from each end of the list of twelve large count lemmas.

The Six Basic Theological Numbers and the Theological Words behind them

The six basic theological numbers will be listed here with the theological words behind them that make them theological. This is done to give a visual presentation of the earlier discussion about their use in the rounded-out totals of lemmas with 13 or more occurrences. It will be recalled that the totals are defined by limiting them to either multiples of the six basic numbers, or sums of consecutive numbers in the series of six basic numbers. These six numbers are the basis of the set used in Songs to show a theological goal. For totals based on multiples four numbers (13, 17, 23 and 32) cover all of them since 26 and 39 are multiples of 13 and do not add any new numbers. (The use of 13 as the base for 26 follows the same principle of using 11 as the base of the alphabetic set of 22 for multiples such as 33, 55 and 77.) However, all six are necessary to fill the numbers based on addition.

13 ʾḥd ʾ=1, ḥ=8, d=4, ‘one’ in Deut 6:4 (and ʾhbh=1+5+2+5=13 ‘LOVE’ x 11 in Songs)

17 the short form of YHWH with Y as ʾ =1, H=5, W=6, H=5, see Exod 3:14 with ʾhyh

23 the alphabetical count of kbwd k=11, b=2, w=6, d=4, (in its construct form kbd=17)

26 the normal long form of YHWH with Y=10, H=5, W=6, H=5

32 the mathematical count of kbwd k=20, b=2, w=6, d=4 (in its construct form kbd=26)

39 YHWH=26 plus ʾḥd =13 from the Shema in Deut 6:4 YHWH is one

Theological Numbers with Lemmas in 5:4, the Central Line of the Book

5:4 in my analysis is the central line of the central poem in the central part four of Songs. I translate it, My-Beloved channeled his-hand through the=hole and-my-belly moaned/thrilled over-him! The first word of the line is דוד dwd ‘beloved/lovemaking,’ coming the 17th time, thereby marking it theologically. Furthermore, the total occurrences for dwd in the book are 39, or one and a half times 26. And as Tournay (Song of Love, 112) notes, dwdy with the suffix ‘my’ comes 26 times in the book. Kingsmill (Eros of God, 40) has seen what I also found to be true when she identifies the 26 occurrences of dwdy as the principle clue to the meaning of the Song.14 Schwienhorst-Schönberger (Allegory, 39) also suggests similarly: dwdy appears exactly 26 times in the Song of Songs. This is the numerical value of the divine Name YHWH—is this mere coincidence? (Also see Heereman, Symbolic, 186 who credits G. Barbiero, Cantico, 3 as her source for the 26 dwdy.) Another way dwd is marked theologically is by the sequence of all lemmas in Songs. In 5:4 it is the 897th lemma which is the product of 23x39. The factor 23 is a clear marker relating dwd to YHWH. The number 39 relates to the combination of 26 and 13, which is important in Songs as a pointer to the Shema YHWH is one. The only other lemma with 39 occurrences, mn ‘through/from,’ significantly comes as one of the central words of the same 5:4. This is further enhanced in that the last lemma of the line is ʿl ‘over’ with the value of 26, and it is attached to the suffix him referring to dwdy, the first word of the line also coming 26 times. Added to these double 26s, the two 39-valued lemmas, which come first and central in the line, give a strong allusion to Deut 6:4–5, which is brought in focus by a cryptic acrostic to be explained later. In fact, the central hyphenated unit through the hole with its allusion to sexual intercourse, also has the definite article h attached to hole, and it comes 98 times. It will be recalled that the four basic numbers that refer to YHWH are 17+23+26+32=98. Furthermore, the phrase and my belly moaned has the clitic w ‘and’ with 79 occurrences, which is significant since the four smallest of the five theological numbers are 13+17+23+26, which equal 79. (All four are based on the older alphabetical system of counting, while the larger number set of four uses the mathematical 32 to get 98.) The lemma to which w is attached is mʿh ‘belly’ with the value of 34 (17x2), or if the lemma is mʿym (as in Westminster Hebrew Morphology) the value is 52 (26x2). This is followed by hmh ‘moan’ with the value of 23. The first two words in 5:4 My-Beloved channeled are also marked theologically by their sequence among all words. They are the 689th with factors of 13x53, and the 690th with factors of 23x30. All of these theological numbers in the central line of the book coming together with the only cryptic description of sexual intercourse is, as I see it the work of a genius inspired to show the height of human intimacy as a model for loving God with one’s whole heart, soul and might.

The Central Peak Poem 5:2–6 and Structural Patterns with 26 and 13

The whole central poem 5:2–6 has both the most allusions suggesting a sexual encounter of the couple and the most convincing theological number patterns. 5:4–6 is an account of a missed night encounter, but the vocabulary is suggestive of coitus. Kingsmill (Eros of God, 217) describes 5:4 as the line which, of all lines in the Song, is the most redolent of eros—at whatever level one might understand it. The most intimate line 5:4 is also the line with the most theological markers as shown above. As noted by others, sexual allusions in Song of Songs are given decorum by double entendre.15 Theological numbers add a third level of meaning to the double entendre of (1) a surface missed encounter and (2) underlying allusions to coitus from suggestive meanings. This theological motif becomes triple entendre. Allusions to the Hebrew Bible are already recognized by many as a way that Songs gives a theological message that is not obvious to the surface reader. The associations become more meaningful when they are seen as intentional. Recognizing the theological number patterns gives legitimacy to a theological intent. A more complete understanding of Songs is thereby realized. Lieberman (Measures, 183) notes, The best exegesis of a text flows from the methods actually used by its writer.

In this third level of meaning the high point of intimacy in the central poem 5:2–6 is taken beyond human sexual union, and elevated to a theological representation of divine-human love by the concentrated use of 26 and related theological numbers. Besides the lemma patterns, structurally there are 26 letters in the central line 5:4. There are also 26 word-stress units before and after it according to my analysis. Word-stress units of 5:2–6 are analyzed as 26+7+26.¹⁶ There is also another 26-letter line in this poem in 5:2c, the last word of the Beloved in the poem: for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night (NRSV), with its suggestions of his sexual arousal. It will be shown below that the poems in Songs with more than one 26-letter line are especially significant theologically. (See Evaluation of 4:6–8 in regard to Poems with Multiple 26-letter Lines.)

It is also worth noting that the first and last cola of this central poem 5:2–6 both have 13 letters, making an inclusio for the poem totaling 26, and in fact the second cola by my lineation of the last four lines all have 13 letters each, giving more references to ʾḥd ‘one’ and ʾhbh ‘love.’ This plethora of 13 along with 26 gives a strong pointer to not just any spiritual message, but to the Shema. (See the display of 5:2–6 in chapter 4 Translation of Text and Literary Features at the Poem Level.)

The speech of the Beloved to his darling in 5:2 is especially interesting. Nine times in the book, the Beloved calls her rʾyh, literally ‘friend,’ NRSV translates my love. It has the value of 51 (17x3). In 5:2 it comes as the second of four love names, all with alliteration of ti. The fourth is tm ‘perfect’ with the value of 13. There are also two words in 5:2 with the value of 39 (mlʾ ‘filled,’ and lylh ‘night’). This gives four occurrences of lemmas related to 26 in this speech of the Beloved in the central poem. It also begins the sexual innuendoes, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. (NRSV).¹⁷ The four theological lemmas in 5:2 make up 36.4% of the 11 lemmas with a value of 13 or more in his speech compared to the book average of 25.84%.¹⁸ The preposition l ‘to,’ which comes 78 times (13+26+39 or 13x6 or 26x3 or 39x2), and the 23rd š of 32 occurrences (in what looks like a contrived occurrence) on my head also add theological marking in his speech. I see this as an intentional placement of theological lemmas in the Beloved’s speech, cryptically pointing to a typology of the Beloved representing God.

There are other theologically based numerical examples in 5:2–6 of which I’ll note a few that look intentional. In 5:6 "my soul/spirit went out at his word/deed, dbr ‘word/deed has the value of 26, and npš ‘soul’ has the value of 52 or double 26. The preposition b ‘at’ comes the 39th time here with b-dbr ‘at his-word/deed’. Dbr is the 936th lemma in Songs, which has the factors of 26x36, 39x24, and 78x12, giving one of the highest theological markings. The combination of soul and word suggests the word or command in the Shema to love God with one’s whole npš ‘soul.’ Furthermore, the mid-point of the 26 occurrences of dwdy comes at 5:5–6a where the first lines of each verse repeat