Properties of the number 77

---

Symbolism

• According to R. Allendy, this number joins the part of evolution to the whole evolution - report of the cosmic evolution and the individual evolution.

• Symbol of sinners who lived before the arrival of the Christ according to Fathers' of the Church, because this number is the product of 7, the creature evolving, by 11, the transgression.

• For Saint Augustin, it is the last limit of the sin since this number is the product of 11, number of the sin, by 7, number of the perfection.

• According to Jacob Boehme, 77 is the total number of the divine revelation thanks to the Word formed. Because starting from only one Verb speaking and a unique vital spirit, it exit 77 languages of which "five belong to the Spirit of God who speaks by his children when and as He wants; but the sixty-twelve others belong to the persons and to the human particularities by which speaking the own intelligence of the man, telling at the same time lies and truths. Also the sixty-twelve languages, that is to say Babel, must pass by the court of God and the pure has to be separated from the impure and to undergo the test of the fire".

Bible

• Number of times is necessary to forgive offenses (Mt 18,22). However, according to other references, such as NRSV Bible, some Protestant editions, or in the visions of Maria Valtorta, Jesus asks to forgive 70 times 7 times.

• The 77 generations of Adam to the Christ according to the evangelist of Luke. (Lk 3,23-38)

• Cain is avenged 7 times but Lamek, 77 times. (Gn 4,24)

General

• In the mystical Jew, according to a fragment originated from the Merkaba shelema, Jerusalem 1922 (one of the two most important texts of Shi'ur Qoma) it concerns the "greatness" of our Lord: "Rabbi Ismael says: Metatron, the great Prince of the testimony told me: About YHWH, the God of Israel, the living and constant God, our Lord and master, I certify what follows: From the residence of his glory (that is to say from the throne) further down there are 118 myriads. Its height is 236 myriads and thousand miles. From his right arm to his left arm there are 77 myriads. From his right pupil to his left pupil there are 30 myriades. His brainpan is 3 myriads and a third. The crowns on his head are 60 myriads which corresponds to the 60 myriads of heads in Israel." (folio 34a-b)

• The iridium, Ir, atomic number 77, is a white metal which the name is a derivative of the Greek word "iris" meaning" rainbow". It is under the sign of the rainbow that God concludes his Alliance between him and the humanity, and the Christian remains in this Alliance if he forgives 77 times the faults of his brothers (Mt 18,22).

• Zarathustra died at the age of 77 years.

• The twelfth perfect number, number of which the sum of its dividers gives the same number, contains 77 numbers. Let us mention that the first five perfect numbers are 6, 28, 496, 8128 and 33550336. At the present time we know 24 perfect numbers, the last one being 2^19936 x (2^19937-1). That last number has 12003 numbers. All the known perfect numbers are even and we don't know if there is an odd perfect number. But the mathematician Bryant Tuckerman has demonstrated that, if a such number existed, it would be higher than 1036.

• Halley's comet, turning around the sun, reappears approximately every 77 years.

• Birthday of a person in Japan: happy long life - kiju.

Gematria

• In the discussions of Vassula with Jesus, This one often asks her to end the dictation of her letters by the mark of his name, that is to say "fish" written in Greek, icqus. By using the gematria in "n", that gives 77 = 9+22+8+20+18.

• With the gematria in "n", 77 is the sum of two numbers in facing: 34 value of the Hebrew word spirit, 20+6+8=34; and 43, number of the Hebrew word flesh, 2+21+20=43. That reminds us that the Son of God become man (flesh) in order that the man rises up towards God (spirit). The flesh and the spirit are then complementary: the flesh bearing the spirit and the fruit of the work of the Spirit will be the salvation of the flesh which will receive the incorruptibility.

• According to the revelations of Our Lord to J.N.S.R. (just as with other mystics), France is great to the eyes of God because it has and will have a great role to fulfil in the propagation of the Faith. In Hebrew, the word "France" gives 77 = 18+20+17+22 by using the gematria in "n".

• The numerical value of the Hebrew word BGhE, meaning to pray, gives 77.

• By using as correspondence table A=1, B=2, ..., Z=26, we find that the French word "BIBLIQUE" (biblical) = 77.

Occurrence

• The number 77 is used 3 times in the Bible of Jerusalem. However, in others biblical translations, like the NRSV for example, to chapter 8 verse 35 from the book of Ezra, 77 lambs, and not 72, served holocaust to the God of Israel. We also read, always in the NRSV, to Mt 18,22, "70 times 7 times" instead of "77 times".

• The number 50 is used 77 times in the Bible.

• The verb to forgive, the sinner word and the name of Elias are used 77 times in the OT. The words garden and refuge are used 77 times in the Bible.

• The verb "to feed" is used 77 times in the NRSC.

• In the Bible, 77 numbers are used 2 times. Here, the number 280 thousands is interpreted quantitative manner, that is to say 280000.

• In the Bible, 77 numbers are multiple of sixteen by counting "ten thousand times ten thousand" (Dn 7,10) as being an additional number equal to 100000000.

• In the NT, the sum of the occurrences of the numbers located between 17 and 153 (cardinal form only because in this interval there is no ordinal number) gives 77.

---

Return

Last modification: December 20, 1998

sdesr@globetrotter.qc.ca