"Mathematical miracles" within the Gospels

When Rashad Khalifa had first brought forth the idea that the Quran possessed a mathematical miracle within its contents ( by means of the removal of 2 verses) thus proving its divine inspiration and preservation, many Muslims took it upon themselves to discover new numerical patterns and miracles within the text as well. The following are just a few examples of such patterns/miracles which those within the Islamic community take as proof of divine intervention:

The word for man (ar-Rajul) and the word for woman (Imra-ah) occur 24 times each.

The word for satan (shaytaan) and the word for angel (malaa-ikah) occur 68 times each.

The word for this life (dunya) and the word for the next life (aakhirah) occur 115 times each.

The word for month (shahr) occurs 12 times.

The word for two months (shahrayn) occurs 30 times.

The word for day (yaum) occurs 365 times.

The word for dry land (barr, etc.) occurs 13 times when contrasted with the word for sea (bahr) which occurs 32 times. Now 13 to 32 happens to be the approximate ratio of land to water on the surface of the globe.

Shabir Ally, one of the most famous Muslim debaters says that if you add up every verse with its chapter number, you find that 57 chapters provide an even number and the other 57 provide an uneven number.

These, along with many other examples are brought forth in an attempt to prove that the Quran's author was none other than the almighty.

Within the following paragraphs, I am going to display a few examples of mathematical "miracles" and patterns found within ALL the gospels, not really as proof of their divine inspiration, but as a means to demonstrate that such patterns and "miracles" are not really the requirements and qualities of a divine text. In order to remain consistent, if the above numerical patterns are evidence of the Quran's divine authorship, then the following ones within the gospels should also qualify them for divine authorship as well.

Lets begin.

In the opening part of the gospel of Matthew, 1:18-25, we find the story of Christ' birth. Within this section alone, there exists a numerical pattern of the number 7.

1  The number of words in the seven word passage is 161 (7x23 = 161)

2  The number of Vocabulary words is 77 (7x11 = 77)

3  Six Greek words occur only in this passage and never again in Matthew. These six Greek words contain precisely 56 letters (7x8 = 56)

4  The number of distinct proper names in the passage is 7

5  The number of Greek letters in these seven proper names is 42 (7x6 = 42)

6  The number of words spoken by the angel to Joseph is 28 (7x4 = 28)

7  The number of Greek forms of words used in this passage is 161 (7x23 = 161)

8  The number of Greek forms of words in the angel's speech is 35 (7x5 = 35)

9  The number of letters in the angel's 35 forms of words is 168 (7x24 = 168)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
[19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
[20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
[21] And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
[22] Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
[23] Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
[24] Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
[25] And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the 1st chapter of the gospel of Matthew, we see that Jesus is a descendant of king David. When we view Christ’s genealogy, we see that they are divided into 3 groups of 14 generations each. The consonants of the name David as found in the Hebrew language is DWD (4+6+4). David’s numerical value equals to 14. This shows the division of generations until Christ: 3 divisions of 14 generations, 3 consonants which equal to a value of 14. This also highlights Christ’s descent from the King.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[17] So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the 12th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in verse 45,  we come to find that the 7th word of this passage is actually the number 7 in Greek.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Τότε πορεύεται καὶ παραλαμβάνει μεθ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ ἑπτὰ ἕτερα πνεύματα πονηρότερα ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ εἰσελθόντα κατοικεῖ ἐκεῖ, καὶ γίνεται τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου χείρονα τῶν πρώτων.

[45] Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A similar example can also be found within the same Gospel, chapter 4 verse 25. What we find within this passage is quite interesting. We see that the 10th word is Decapolis which comes from the Greek word DECA which means 10.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

καὶ ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ ὄχλοι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ Δεκαπόλεως καὶ ῾Ιεροσολύμων καὶ ᾿Ιουδαίας καὶ πέραν τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου.

[25] And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the gospel of Luke, we read of a couple whose names were Zechariah and Elizabeth. For those who are not familiar with the bible, these were the parents of John the Baptist. In reading the Greek, what we come to find out is that their names appear the same number of times:

Zechariah     Elizabeth

1:5                    1:5

1:12                  1:7

1:13                  1:13

1:18                  1:24

1:21                  1:36

1:40                  1:40

1:59                  1:41

1:67                  1:41

3:2                    1:57

9 times          9 times

The reason why these names occur for the equal number of times in the Gospel of Luke is most likely because of the following: they were a couple, they are the first mentioned couple in the Gospel of Luke and they were related as they both descended from the Levites.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following passages which also hold a numerical pattern/miracle are found within the 21st chapter of the gospel of saint John. This tells of the story of Christ appearing unto his disciples after his resurrection, where he tells them to let down their nets for a catch.

According to theomatics.com:

“This bizarre passage has taxed the minds of many a Bible student. But theomatically, everything to do with fishes and fishing in the entire Bible is based on the number 153. Just a few examples. The following words and phrases have numerical values divisible by the number 153.

FISHES = 153 x 8

THE NET = 153 x 8

MULTITUDE OF FISHES = 153 x 8 x 2

FISHERS OF MEN = 153 x 14”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[4] But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
[5] Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
[6] And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
[7] Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
[8] And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
[9] As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
[10] Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
[11] Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is another example within the gospel of Luke concerning the term Galilee:

According to answering-Islam.com:

“The word Galilee occurs for the first time in 1:26. After the infancy narrative Luke recounts the period of Jesus’ baptism at the age of 30 and makes another reference to Galilee. To compare:

᾿Εν δὲ τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ἕκτῳ ἀπεστάλη ὁ ἄγγελος Γαβριὴλ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς πόλιν τῆςΓαλιλαίας, ᾗ ὄνομα Ναζαρέτ (Luke 1:26)

Ἐν ἔτει δὲ πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, ἡγεμονεύοντος Ποντίου Πιλάτου τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας, καὶ τετραρχοῦντος τῆς Γαλιλαίας ῾Ηρῴδου, Φιλίππου δὲ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ τετραρχοῦντος τῆς ᾿Ιτουραίας καὶ Τραχωνίτιδος χώρας, καὶ Λυσανίου τῆς ᾿Αβιληνῆς τετραρχοῦντος (Luke 3:1)

In both of these verses Galilee is the 17th word.

Besides, the word Galilee occurs in the infancy narrative for the first time in 1:26 and last time in 2:39. The difference between 39 and 26 is 13. In 2:39 the word Galilee is amazingly the 13th word!

Καὶ ὡς ἐτέλεσαν ἅπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον Κυρίου, ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίανεἰς τὴν πόλιν ἑαυτῶν Ναζαρέτ. (Luke 2:39)”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the 6th chapter Mark, 6th verse, we see that the number of words within this passage is 12. (6+6)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kαὶ ἐθαύμαζε διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν. Καὶ περιῆγε τὰς κώμας κύκλῳ διδάσκων.

[6] And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another such similar code which we can find is within the gospel of saint John chapter 10 verse 10. The number of words within this passage equals to 20. (10+10)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ὁ κλέπτης οὐκ ἔρχεται εἰ μὴ ἵνα κλέψῃ καὶ θύσῃ καὶ ἀπολέσῃ· ἐγὼ ἦλθον ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχωσι καὶ περισσὸν ἔχωσιν

[10] The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to Masud Masihiyyen who is a writer for the answering-Islam page:

“To refresh our knowledge, Luke is the only Evangelist to mention Zechariah and narrate the story of John’s miraculous birth to an old man (Zechariah) and his barren wife (Elizabeth). Thus, Zechariah’s story resembles that of Abraham’s in that Abraham had miraculously fathered Isaac despite his old age and his wife’s sterility. This parallelism is related by Luke through an intricate mathematical code. First, the name Zechariah occurs for the first time in Luke 1:5. If we count the words from the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the name Zechariah becomes the 55th word. The name Abraham, on the other hand, appears for the first time in the 55th verse of Luke’s Gospel.

Zechariah: 55th word in Luke 1.

Abraham: First occurs in Luke 1:55

Let’s keep this significant point in mind and proceed to the analysis of Luke 3.

As I briefly stated above, the name Zechariah occurs for the 9th and last time in the third chapter of Luke (3:2). The numbers of this reference (3 and 2) are miraculously connected to Abraham. 3 is the number of times the name Abraham occurs in this chapter whilst 2 is the number of times John the Baptist, Zechariah’s miraculously born son, refers to Father Abraham.

Abraham (three times in Luke 3, two of these references by Zechariah’s son)
3:8

3:8

3:34

If we remember that the name Abraham occurred for the first time in 1:55, we discover another mathematical miracle: in the third chapter of Luke on the genealogy of the ancestors Abraham appears as the 55th person! This also makes Zechariah and Abraham more similar as they both are related to number 55. More strikingly, both Zechariah and Abraham turn out to be related to numbers 5 and 55 at the same time. In the first chapter of Luke the name Zechariah is in the 5th verse and appears as the 55th word whilst in the third chapter of Luke Abraham appears as the 55th person on the genealogical list and this is simultaneously the 5th time of his occurrence in the Gospel of Luke:

Abraham

1:55

1:73

3:8

3:8

3:34

Five times. The fifth time he occurs as the 55th ancestor.

Finally, the first time Zechariah mentions Abraham (1:73), the name Abraham is the 5th word! In this verse there are totally 11 words. 11 times 5 makes 55, which is again the number related to both Zechariah and Abraham."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the last example of mathematical patterns within the gospels, we will look within the genealogy of Jesus Christ, in the opening section of the gospel of Matthew. The numerical pattern which we will see is, as the first one mentioned, 7:

The number of words which are nouns is exactly 56, or 7 x 8.

The Greek word "the" occurs most frequently in the passage: exactly 56 times, or 7 x 8.

Also, the number of different forms in which the article "the" occurs is exactly 7.

There are two main sections in the passage: verse 1-11 and 12-17. In the first main section, the number of Greek vocabulary words used is 49, or 7 x 7.

Of these 49 words, The number of those beginning with a vowel is 28, or 7 x 4.

The number of words beginning with a consonant is 21, or 7 x 3.

The total number of letters in these 49 words is exactly 266, or 7 x 38-exactly.

The numbers of vowels among these 266 letters is 140, or 7 x 20.

The number of consonants is 126, or 7 x 18-exactly.

Of these 49 words, the number of words which occur more than once is 35, or 7 x 5.

The number of words occurring only once is 14, or 7 x2.

The number of words which occur in only one form is exactly 42, or 7 x 6.

The number of words appearing in more than one form is also 7.

The number of 49 Greek vocabulary words which are nouns is 42, or 7 x 6.

The number of words which are not nouns is 7.

Of the nouns, 35 are proper names, or 7 x 5.

These 35 nouns are used 63 times, or 7 x 9.

The number of male names is 28, or 7 x 4.

These male names occur 56 times or 7 x 8.

The number which are not male names is 7.

Three women are mentioned-Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. The number of Greek letters in these three names is 14, or 7 x 2.

The number of compound nouns is 7.

The number of Greek letters in these 7 nouns is 49, or 7 x 7.

Only one city is named in this passage, Babylon, which in Greek contains exactly 7 letters.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
[2] Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
[3] And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
[4] And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
[5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
[6] And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
[7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
[8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
[9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
[10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
[11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
[12] And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
[13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
[14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
[15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
[16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
[17] So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

----------------------------------------------------------------------