THE NUMBER SEVENTEEN IN THE BIBLE

Numbers in the Bible are often used in the same manner as we would, as literal realities. But in addition, there can be occasions when they serve a symbolic or figurative purpose. And almost all of these latter examples involve numbers which can be derived mathematically from only three key numerals: three, four, and powers of ten. Therefore, we see many Scripture passages in which 3-1/2, seven, twelve, six, eight, twelve, forty, seventy, 666, or 144,000 appear with more than a mere literal meaning attached.

But in this post I would like to concentrate just on the number 17. It would seem to be an ideal number to represent completeness since it is the addition of two symbolically perfect numerals, seven and ten.

Genesis 

In the flood narrative of Genesis 7-8, God's action in 7:11 in initiating the flooding of the earth is matched with the subsidence of the water in 8:4. Interestingly, both events take place on the 17^th days of their respective months.

In Hamilton's commentary on this book, he says the following regarding Genesis 47:28, “Genesis is as silent on Jacob's last seventeen years as it was on Joseph's first seventeen years (37:2). The reference to seventeen years advances the Joseph narrative into a more distant time frame. The famine is over by now. Joseph is even further consolidated in his position of authority, and the text is now ready to describe Jacob's last days.”

It seems too much of a coincidence that these two key missing time periods happen to be exactly the same in length. More likely is that the actual expired periods were both rounded off in the text somewhat so that the time frames could symbolically stand for a “sufficient” or “perfect” amount of time to accomplish God's plan.

Historical Books

This ubiquitous number also pops up in this portion of the Old Testament as part of the descriptions of key kings over Judah and Israel, especially in the introductions to the reigns of each one. Thus, we have the following verses:

I Kings 14:21 // II Chronicles 12:13 These parallel passages state that Rehoboam reigned for seventeen years. But the first thing to note is that the Greek Septuagint version reduced that time period to only twelve years. And according to W.F. Albright, that time period only makes sense if it is truncated even further.

I Kings 22:51 Ahaziah reigned over Israel starting in the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

II Kings 13:1 Jehoahaz reigned over Israel for seventeen years according to this verse. However, Cogan and Tadmor state: “The synchronisms with Joash of Judah in vv. 1 and 10 show that Jehoahaz reigned only fourteen years.”

II Kings 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah, Ahaz began his reign over Judah. But again, as Waite says, “His age at the time of accession and the length of his reign (2 Ki. xvi. 2; 2 Ch. xxvii. 1) both give rise to chronological problems.”

The generally conservative commentator Scot McKnight concludes regarding the above: “The 'histories' of 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles are more fundamentally shaped by theological and political concerns ['than chronological synchronomy of two sets of kings, and historical flow'].”

Thus, we can see that in several cases, the historical data has been changed somewhat in order to insert the symbolic “seventeen” into the text, as an indication that it is God, and God alone, who determines the fate of rulers. Of course another way in which that goal can be accomplished is to choose between the various dating formulas [i.e. age of the ruler when coming to rule, number of years served as king, or by reference to the Northern or Southern Kingdom rulers at the time] so that the number 17 arises.

Jeremiah 32:9 “The prophet buys a plot of land for seventeen shekels. Jeremiah's purchase illustrates his confidence in the future of Judah.” (Biddle) The number seventeen here can also be figuratively the prophet's way of assuring the people of his perfect or complete assurance from God on that point.

John's Gospel John is a prime example of an author who utilizes 17 in a figurative manner. In his Gospel, there are 17 quotations having an introductory formula; exactly 17 occurrences in the text of the words “sign(s)” and “see/believe” (blepein) and the phrases “eternal life/life eternal” and “Simon Peter.” In addition, there are 17 references in the Gospel to the “hour / time coming” (erchomai). It is also stated 17 times in the Gospel that God “sent” Jesus. Taken together, these references practically define the major themes of the book. To these examples can perhaps be added, at least by one count, the 68 (i.e., 4x17) appearances of the designation “the Jews” in the Gospel, especially since the idea of Jesus replacing the Jewish institutions is one of the more pervasive themes of the book.

Romans 8 But perhaps the most subtle appearance of “17” in the Bible appears in this chapter. Commentators note the extremely high concentration of reference to pneuma (“spirit”) here, twenty times by count, compared to the chapters that precede and follow it..

At this point, it is necessary to back up and explain that Bible manuscripts can be divided into two basic types: uncials written in capital letters and produced in the 4th-8th centuries AD and minuscules (from the 9^th Century on) which were written in lower-case letters, often connected to one another. Thus, in neither case was it possible to tell whether a word was meant to be capitalized or not.

This could pose a major problem in trying to distinguish between words such as Lord and lord, Spirit and spirit, and God and god. Sometimes the context is enough to distinguish which was intended by the author. But there is a reasonable consensus among English translations that the lower-case designation 'spirit' is only appropriate to the word's occurrence in vv. 15a-b and 16. That leaves exactly 17 times in the chapter that the Holy Spirit appears.

Thus, we might conclude that whereas the places in the Old Testament mentioning “17” refer to actions of God the Father, John's Gospel uses the number 17 mainly in relation to Christ while Romans 8 does the same thing regarding the Holy Spirit.