Three, no make that four….Understanding Numerical Proverbs

Have you ever read a Bible passage that oddly uses numbers, like these:

 Proverbs 6:16-19

16There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,

19a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 30:18-19

18Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

19the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

 Why would the Scriptures say there are six things God hates, actually, make that seven? Or there are three things too wonderful for me to understand, well, actually four. This is a literary device called a numerical proverb or numerical saying, where numbers are used in an unusual way to arrest our attention.

 We also see this device (or figure of speech) in the first chapters of the Book of Amos:

 Amos 1:3

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.

 Amos 1:6

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom.

 Amos 1:9  

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

 Amos 1:13 

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.

The figure certainly gets our attention because it is not the usual way we would express ourselves. We would ordinarily say, “There are four transgressions for which the Lord will not revoke punishment.” (This same figure occurs in Amos 2: 1, 4, and 6; as well as in Job 33:14, 40:5, Micah 5:5, and other places.)

 Some biblical scholars argue that this figure emphasizes the endpoint in the series, while others say that the figure highlights the totality and completeness of the list.  A third viewpoint asserts that the figure suggests the list is open-ended, inviting us to supply further items. As always, a careful consideration of the context of each of these occurrences will help us to determine where the emphasis may lie.  

 For example, in the case of this figure in Amos 1:3, 6, 9, and 13, the transgressions listed do not even total three or four. So that tells us the sins listed are not literally numbered. The device is to show the “climax and finality by means of numbers in progression,” as one writer puts it.[1]  In these examples, the severity of the transgressions of each city is highlighted.

 Whatever the case, the figure stops us in our tracks as we read, for it’s a highly unusual way to list items in a series.  

[1] Davis, John J. “The Rhetorical Use of Numbers in the Old Testament.” Grace Journal. 8.2 (Spring 1967) 41.