N i n e
9 - Nine - 9
By Andrew Harris 22 January 2000 ©
Nine is not yet the full or complete, number ten, but it does mark the ending. It is the last of the single digits, in our decimal numbering system. Thus it can represent the conclusion or ending of a matter. Bullinger also notes that it has a link with the number six. In that the sum of its factors is six (3 x 3 = 9, 3 + 3 = 6). Thus nine can particularly represent the conclusion of mans works. We see that the numeric value (gematria) of the word Dan is 54 = 9 x 6. Dan means a judge. The number nine represents finality or judgment.
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.
The phrase "my wrath", in the Greek is th orgh mou. This has a numeric value (gematria) of 999.
The Word Nine
The Hebrew word for nine is [v'Te tay’-shah or (masc.) tish-aw’. It is probably derived from a word meaning, to look at or to, regard, gaze at or about. Through the idea of a turn to the next or full number ten. This Hebrew word is used 58 times in the Bible(1). The Greek word for nine is e@nnea en-neh’-ah. It is used 5 times in the Bible(2). Thus together we have 63 (= 7 x 9) occurrences of the word for nine in the entire Bible.
The Hebrew word for a ninth is y[iyviT] tesh-ee-ee’. It occurs 18 times in the Old Testament(3).
The Hebrew word from which nine is derived occurs 15 times in the Bible(4). The Hebrew word for ninety occurs 20 times in the bible(5). The Greek word for ninth occurs 10 times in the Bible(6). Thus taken together we have 45 (= 5 x 9) occurrences. The total number of times nine or its derivatives and its root occur in the Bible is 126 = 14 x 9.
Nine People Stoned
10And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; 11And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) 23And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 24:10-11, 23
32And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. 35And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
20And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:20-22, 25
50Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. 52And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
17But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
1 Kings 12:17-18
7And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
1 Kings 21:7-13
20And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. 21And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. 22Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.
2 Chronicles 24:20-22
54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
19And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Words Used Nine Times
The Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name of Adam is used only nine times in the New Testament. However it is used only in seven verses. This is interesting in the light of what the New Testament has to say about Adam.
Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45
For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
1 Timothy 2:13
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1 Timothy 2:14
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Phrases Used Nine Times
The prince of this world
Nine times we are told that our adversary is a ruler of this world. He rules here but will be judged with the rest of this world.
33And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. 34But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
23And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
14And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
The word translated as chief in Luke 11:15 is the Greek word a[rcwn ar’-khone, which means a ruler, or a commander, or a chief or a leader. It is the very same word that is translated as prince the other times. The Greek word translated as devils is daimovnion dahee-mon’-ee-on, which among the pagan Greeks signified an inferior diety. Apparently the Jews adopted the term to mean any spirit not of God and therefore by definition an evil spirit. It is always used in the New Testament to mean an evil spirit. Thus we are told four times that our adversary is the prince of evil spirits.
We are told three times that our adversary is the prince of this world. This should not surprise us because Jesus said:
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Which makes it clear the our adversary has no power in any heavenly realm, so his power must be confined to this world alone. Since he is the father of lies, it is no wonder that he has power in this world, for it is only in the presence of absolute truth (The Word of God) that his subtil mix of half truths, lies and "deeper teachings" can be seen for what they are. It is this very truth that the world rejects in favor of the lies and deceits, that ask for nothing in return.
Once the curious phrase the "prince of the power of the air" is used. The word power comes from ejxousiva ex-oo-see’-ah, which has a wide variety of meanings but is predominately concerned with the idea of power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, or the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege). Thus his power would seem to be connected with influencing us, giving us choices that we might not have seen without his tempting wiles. The word air comes from the Greek ajhvr ah-ayr’, which is derived from a word meaning to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire, by analogy, to blow. It would appear that his power to influence is so pervasive in human society that it is likened to the air that we breath. So many things in society around us that seem like good things on the surface, have a corrupting effect on the spiritual life of the Christian and are not in accordance with God's Word. We need not fear the adversary, for Jesus defeated him, but:
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
2 Corinthians 2:11
We are not ignorant of his wiles and his methods and so we should not be complacent about them. We are also told once that he is the god of this world. This is also not surprising, the prime target of his lies from the beginning has been to alienate humans from God. There could be no better way to do this than to have people worship him rather than God. To this end he has made so many mixtures of half truth and lies about true religion, true Christianity, the true Word of God, and the true Gospel, that no amount of merely human intellect can discern the truth amongst the multitude. Also from the beginning he has been the master of "I want". He promotes, materialism, and avarice, he is indeed the god of "I want" in this world.