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In the following Pseudosibylline verses, God is represented as addressing Noah under one of his names ænigmatically expressed by the number 1697:

Εννέα γράμματ' ἔχω, τετρασύλλαβος εἰμὶ, νόει μὲ
Αἱ τρεῖς αἱ πρῶται, δύο γράμματ' ἔχουσιν ἐκάση,
Ἡ λοιπὴ δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ, καὶ εἰσὶν ἄφωνα τὰ πέντε.
Τοῦ παντὸς δ' ἀριθμοῦ ἑκατοντάδες εἰσὶ δὶς ὀκτὼ,
Καὶ τρεῖς τρὶς δεκάδες, σὺν γ' ἑπτὰ. γνοὺς δὲ τὶς εἰμὶ,
Οὐκ ἀμύητος ἐσηθείης περ' ἐμοῖ γε σοφίης.

Sibyllin. Oracul. Lib. i, v. 146-151.

I have nine letters; I am composed of four syllables; weigh it well in your mind. The three first syllables have each two letters; the remaining letters are in the last syllable; and there are five consonants. The whole number consists of twice eight hundreds, and three times three tens, with the addition of seven. If thou knowest who I am, thou shalt not be by me destitute of wisdom. *

The name of Jesus was considered by the primitive heretics to be highly mysterious, because it contains the very remarkable number 888. From this circumstance the ogdoad, or eighth number, evidently came into great repute; and the heretics appear to have assigned to it great mysteries from the parallel example of the Beast's number + being 666; for there is not the least evidence that the

* I have not been able to determine what name of God is here alluded to: sòs, Ewryp, God, a Saviour, appears to answer the enigma in every thing but the number, which is five deficient, 1692 instead of 1697.

+ See Irenæus adversus Hæreses, Lib. i. c. 12, sect. 2.

number 888* was found in the name of Jesus, or at least was considered remarkable, till after the publication of the Revelation of St. John. The name of Jesus is ænigmatically expressed in the following Pseudosibylline verses:

έν

Ἥξει σαρκοφόρος θνητοῖς ὁμοιούμενος ἐν γῇ
Τέσσερα φωνήεντα φέρει τὰ δ ̓ ἄφωνα δὲ ἀυτῷ
Δισσῶν ἀςφαγάλων· ἀριθμὸν δόλον ἐξονομήνω.
Ὀκτὼ γὰρ μονάδας, ὅσσας δεκάδας ἐπὶ τούτοις,
Ἠδ ̓ ἑκατοντάδας ὀκτῶ, ἀπιςοκέροις ἀνθρώποις
Οὔνομα δηλώσει. Η

.

He will come upon the earth, clothed with flesh, like mortal men; his name contains four vowels, and two consonants; two of the former are sounded together. I will declare the entire number; for he will manifest to incredulous men his name containing eight units, eight tens, and as many hundreds.

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The Venerable Bede speaks of the name of Jesus, with respect to his number, in words to the following effect; " Not only the etymology of this very sacred name of Jesus, but also the very number which is contained in the letters, comprehend the mysteries of our salvation; for it is written, according to the Greeks, with six letters, the numbers of which are 10, 8, 200, 70, 400, and 200. These together make 888; and is an illustrious type of the resurrection. For the eighth number in the Sacred Scriptures is adapted to the glory of the re

* The number in the name of Jesus is thus computed: , 10, 4, 8, σ, 200, 0, 70, v, 400, s, 200,=888.

+ Sibyll, Oracul. Lib. i. prope finem.

surrection; because the Lord rose from the dead on the eighth day, that is to say, on the day after the Sabbath. And we, after the lapse of six ages, and also of the seventh, which is the sabbath of the souls in a separate state of existence, shall be raised, as it were, in the eighth time."* Irenæus

finds fault with those who attach so great a mystery to the name of Jesus from its containing the remarkable number 888; for, says he, the word is of Hebrew origin, and therefore ought not in this case to be numbered, but its corresponding Greek word Zorgt But this, he adds, will not suit their purpose, as it consists of only five letters, and contains the greater, but less remarkable number 1408. He also tells us, in vindication of the word wrng, that the number five may be more fairly proved to be mystical than that of six adduced by the heretics, on account of the numerous passages

* Hujus sacrosancti nominis Jesu non tantùm etymologia, sed et ipse, qui literis comprehenditur, numerus perpetuæ salutis nostræ mysteria redolet. Sex quippe literis apud Græcos scribitur 'Inocus, quarum numeri sunt X, et VIII, et CC, et ÈXX, et CCCC, et CC, qui fiunt simul DCCCLXXXVIII; qui profectò numerus figuram resurrectionis adauget. Octavus enim numerus in sacris literis Resurrectionis gloriæ convenit: quia Dominus octavâ die, hoc est, post septimam sabbati, resurrexit. Et ipsi post sex sæculi ætates, et septimam sabbati animarum, quæ nunc interim in aliâ vitâ geritur, quasi octavo tempore surgemus. See Iren. adversus Hæreses, Lib. ii. c. 40, p. 163, note 3, Edit. Oxon. 1702, à Grabe.

+ Σ, 200, w, 800, 7, 300, 7, 8, p, 100,=1408. Iren. Ibid. p. 163.

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in Holy Writ with which it is connected; for instance, our Saviour fed the multitude with five loaves; the number of wise virgins, mentioned in one of Christ's parables, was five, that of the foolish was also five; the books of the Law are five; the altar of burnt-offering was of the height of five cubits, &c. &c. * It was a saying of the ancient heretics, that all numbers under a hundred are of the left hand; and, consequently, that all things containing any of these numbers are material, and subject to corruption. But Irenæus disproves this opinion, and produces two examples against it, viz. åɣáry, love, and άîýdeα, truth, the former containing the number 93, + and the latter 64. ‡ The Marcosians fancied that the word Ἀμὴν, Amen, containing the number 99, § has a reference to the 99 sheep which went not astray, but were under the special care of the Saviour. They also deemed it remarkable, that the sum of the numerical values of the letters of the Greek alphabet, from alpha to lambda, should be equal to the said number 99, || and that the last of the letters thus cast up should be lambda, the initial of Aóyos, The Word. I The Basilidians, a sect of heretics of the

* See Iren, adv. Hæreses, Lib. ii. c. 42, pp. 166–168, where the reader will find many more examples of this kind, if he think the above extract insufficient.

+ α, 1, 7, 3, ∞, 1, π, 80, 4, 8,—93.

‡a, 1, λ, 30, 7, 8, D, 9, ɛ, 5, 1, 10, α, 1,=64. See Iren. ibid. p. 168.

§ A, 1, μ, 40, 7, 8, v, 50,#99.

a, 1, 6, 2, 7, 3, 8, 4, 8, 5, 4, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 1, 10, x, 20, λ, 30,99, Iren, adv. Hæreses, Lib. j. c. 13, p. 78.

second century, gave the name of Abrasax, or Abraxas, to the Supreme Being; and attached to this name a great mystery, because it contains a number equal to the days in a common solar year. Some writers allege, that the Basilidians concealed the doctrine of the Trinity under this word; and that the initials a, ß, g, stand for the Hebrew words Ab, Ben, Ruach, that is, Father, Son, and Spirit. Wendelin of Tournay, improving upon this, explains the whole word thus: +

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Tertullian, after giving an account of the heresies which sprung up among the Christians previously to those denominated the Marcosian and Colobarsian, proceeds to inform us, "that there were not wanting after these, certain men, named

*A, 1, 6, 2, p, 100, a, 1, σ, 200, a, 1, 2, 60, 365; and A, 1, B, 2, p, 100, a, 1, E, 60, a, 1, s, 200,-365. See further upon this subject, Iren. adv. Hær. Lib. i. c. 23. The ancients have also found this number in Neλos, the Nile, or river of Egypt, and in Mapas, Mithras, a Persian name for the sun. Thus N, 50, ε, 5, 1, 10, λ, 30, 0, 70, s, 200,=365; and M, 40, E, 5, 1, 10, 9, 9, f, 100, a, 1, 5, 200,-365. See upon these words, Basnage's History of the Jews, Lib. iii. c. 26, § 10. · + Encyc. Perthensis on the word Abrasax.

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