Sh’moneh - The Number 8 in Hebrew – Part II

Actually, the number 8 in Hebrew is very significant. And for the person who studied and could not find anything to relate to 8 in Hebrew, he might want to study further:

In Hebrew the number eight is hnm# (Sh'moneh), from the root Nm# (Shah'meyn), "to make fat," "cover with fat," "to super-abound." As a participle it means "one who abounds in strength," etc. As a noun it is "superabundant fertility," "oil," etc. So that as a numeral it is the superabundant number. As seven was so called because the seventh day was the day of completion and rest, so eight, as the eighth day, was over and above this perfect completion, and was indeed the first of a new series, as well as being the eighth.

• Eight is 7 plus 1. Hence 8 is the number specially associated with Resurrection and Regeneration, and the beginning of a new era or order.

• When the whole earth was covered with the flood, it was Noah "the eighth person" (2 Peter 2:5) who stepped out on to a new earth to commence a new order of things. "Eight souls" (1 Peter 3:20) passed through it with him to the new or regenerated world.

• Circumcision was performed on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12), because it was the foreshadowing of the true circumcision of the heart, that which was to be "made without hands," even "the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11). This is connected with the new creation.

• The first-born was to be given to Jehovah on the eighth day (Exodus 22:29,30).

• Resurrection is the great truth which is signified. Christ rose from the dead on "the first day of the week," that was of necessity the eighth day. And it is remarkable that the Bible contains the record of eight individual resurrections (other than the Lord and the saints):
3 in the Old Testament, 3 in the Gospels, 2 in Acts 9 and 20

• The Feast of Tabernacles lasted eight days, with a special reference to the Incarnation (John 1:14).

• The transfiguration also took place on the eighth day (inclusive reckoning) after the first announcement of Christ's "sufferings," and it was the showing forth of the "glory" which should follow at His coming again.

• Pesach (Passover) lasted eight days outside of Israel.

• Eight is the first cubic number, the cube of two, 2 x 2 x 2. We have seen that three is the symbol of the first plane figure, and that four is the first square. So here, in the first cube, we see something of transcendent perfection indicated, something, the length and breadth and height of which are equal. This significance of the cube is seen in the fact that the "Holy of Holies," both in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, were cubes. In the Tabernacle it was a cube of 10 cubits. In the Temple it was a cube of 20 cubits. In Revelation 20 the New Jerusalem is to be a cube of 12,000 furlongs. Dr. Milo Mahan is inclined to believe that the Ark of Noah, too, had a kind of sacred Shechinah in "the window finished in a cubit above.”

• The miracles of Elijah were eight in number, marking the Divine character of his mission.

• There were eight songs in the Old Testament outside the Psalms.

• The miracles of Elisha were double in number, viz. Sixteen, for his request was, "Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me" (2 Kings 2:9).

• The use and significance of the number eight in Scripture is seen to recur in marvelous exactitude. It may indeed be said that Eight is the dominical number for everywhere it has to do with the LORD. It is the number of His name, IHSOUS.

• In the book which relates to His great Apocalypse or Revelation, there are in the introduction which sets forth the glory of the Lord, to be revealed in the day of the Lord, eight references to the Old Testament on which the claims of His Lordship are based It will be noted, moreover, that these are not given at haphazard. Our attention is called to their importance by the order in which they are given. They are arranged in the form of an epanodos, the first being from the same book as the eighth, the second corresponding in the same way to the seventh, the third to the sixth, and the fourth to the fifth. Thus the Divine seal of superabundant perfection is there set on the Scriptures, which declare the Lordship of Jesus:

If one is going to write about the scriptures in the Book of Mormon and what is and what is not there, and what is significant, etc., one might want to do a little more studying and make sure they know what they are talking about before they begin pontificating about it.

(See the next post, Sh’moneh - The Number 8 in Hebrew – Part III, for more on the Hebrew alphabet)