. . . numbers in
biblical Hebrew can be written in either ascending or descending order. Let’s
say we have the number 123, that number could be written as “three and twenty
and one hundred” (ascending order) or as “one hundred and twenty three”
(descending order). Now, some early date defenders say that, when numbers occur
in ascending order (like the 480 in 1 Kgs 6:1), these numbers are always “intended
to be a technically precise figure.” But this only applies with some numbers in
ascending order. The meaning of culturally important fixed numbers and sacred
figures depends upon context, and there is an established range of ways that
numbers in the Bible can be understood. Numbers that should not necessarily be
read literally are numbers with special significance, such as seven, twelve,
forty, and their multiples, and thus would include the 480 of 1 Kgs 6:1.
Moreover, the text of
1 Kgs 6:1 is remarkably similar to other dedication formulas across the ancient
Near East. Assyrian King Tukulti-Ninurta I (ca. 1228-1201 BC) said 720 years
had elapsed between his own reconstruction of the temple of Ishtar and its
foundation by King Ilu-shumma. The number 720 approximates the distant
past using twelve multiplied by sixty, numbers which are highly significant in
the sexagesimal system of Assyrian mathematics.
In Egypt, the Year
400 Stela of Seti I was a dedication stela given to the Temple of Seth at
Avaris, heralding the 400th year, 4th month, and 4th day of a Hyksos King Nebti.
Could this get any more numerological? The problem with the “400 years” is that
the Hyskos had not yet reigned for 400 years. In fact they had only reigned
about 360 years by the time the stela was erected. Again, the number was used
in a non-literal way in order to approximate the distant past.
Yet another example
is the Mesha Stela (erected by the Moabite King Mesha, a contemporary of
King Joram [ca. 852-841 BC]) that ascribes a reign of forty years to King Omri
(ca. 882-874) of the Northern kingdom of Israel. But how can this be, since the
Bible claims Omri reigned twelve years (1 Kgs 16:23)? This should not come as a
surprise since “40 years” was used to indicate an unspecified amount of time.
Second Samuel 5:4 and 2 Sam 15:7 cannot be read as a literal forty years at the
same time. The best explanation is that multiples of forty marked important
milestones. For the Israelites, the 480 of 1 Kgs 6:1 is twelve multiplied by
forty, sacred figures multiplied to mark a new epoch in Israelite history, the foundation
of the Temple of the Lord.
We can see that the “480th
year” of 1 Kgs 6:1 does not need to be read in a modern, literal sense. And by
reading this according to its context, other historic portions of the text—such
as chariot use in Gen 41:43 and 46:29, place names in Exod 1:11 and Num 33:3-5,
and the events of Josh 11—are preserved without resorting to theories that
change the biblical text. (David A. Falk, The Ark of the Covenant in its
Egyptian Context: An Illustrated Journey [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Academic,
2020], 16-17)
