Meaning of Numbers: The Number 5
The English word "five" used for the number 5 is recorded 345 times in 270 King James Bible verses. 300 of these appearances show up in the Old Testament while 45 of them are written in the New Testament.
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The number 5 many times symbolizes God's grace, goodness and favor toward humans. Since five represents grace, when its multiplied by itself, it produces 25 which means "grace upon grace."
John (the Baptist) bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace (John 1:15 - 16, KJV).
Jesus is born in the fall of 5 B.C. His birth highly likely occurred, due to it symbolism, on Saturday, September 2. This Saturday is extra special, as it is not only the weekly Sabbath, but also the high Holy Day known as the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah). This feast in 5 B.C. is the first day of Hebrew civil year 3757.
The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God with the remaining one concerned with our relationship with others humans.
There are 5 primary types of offerings God commanded Israel to bring to him. They are the Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1; 8:18 - 21; 16:24), Sin (Leviticus 4; 16:3 - 22), Trespass (Leviticus 5:14 - 19; 6:1 - 7; 7:1 - 6), Grain (Leviticus 2) and Peace Offering (Leviticus 3; 7:11- 34).
Appearances of the Number Five
The Book of Psalms is divided into 5 major sections. Section 1 (Psalm 1 to 41) refers to the Passover, Israel's beginning, and the start of the God's plan of salvation that centers on Christ. Section 2 (42 to 72) sings about a unified Israel in the land and pictures the creation of the New Testament Church.
Section 3 (73 to 89) bemoans the destruction of both God's Temple and Jerusalem. This section also hints at prophecies regarding the End Time Great Tribulation. Section 4 (90 to 106) rejoices over the 1,000 reign of Jesus and shows Israel gathered again. Section 5 (107 to 150) pictures a time when Judah (representing all Israel) shall again be delivered.
There are five books of God's Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) commonly referred to as the Pentateuch ("Penta" means five).
The 4 Gospels plus Acts equals five books that, as a set, can be designated as "the New Testament Pentateuch." They reveal Jesus' teachings concerning the Law and the Prophets. The apostle John wrote 5 books centered on the grace of God and eternal life (the gospel of John, 1John, 2John, 3John and Revelation). Jesus multiplied five loaves of barely to feed 5,000 (Matthew 14:17).
The Number 5 and God's Tabernacle
Holy anointing oil is mentioned in Exodus 30:23 – 25. Its ingredients, which were given directly by God, were used to consecrate the furniture of the tabernacle. It was comprised of 5 parts, as it was a revelation of pure grace.
The proportion of spices used in making the oil were a multiple of five, which then had a Hin of olive oil added to it.
Pure Myrrh, 500 shekels
Sweet cinnamon, 250 shekels
Sweet calamus, 250 shekels
Cassia, 500 shekels
The "tabernacle in the wilderness" profoundly reflects God's grace in its use of 5.
This tabernacle, whose design was given directly by God, contained five curtains, bars, pillars and sockets (Exodus 26:3, 26 - 27, 37) and an altar made of wood that was five cubits long and five cubits wide (Exodus 27:1). The height of the court within the tabernacle was five cubits (Exodus 27:18).
Prophecy and World Empires
Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar was given, by God, a dream where he saw a giant statue of a man. This statue, according to the interpretation given by the Eternal to Daniel, represented distinct periods of world-ruling empires.
The statue's head of gold represented Babylon (Daniel 2:32, 38). The Chest and Arms of Silver symbolized the Persian Empire (Daniel 2:32, 39).
The Belly and Thighs of Bronze (brass) represented the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great. The Two Legs of Iron symbolized Rome's Empire (Daniel 2:33, 40 - 43).
Period 5, the final prophetic period, is represented by ten toes of iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2:41 - 44). This symbolizes the successors of the Roman Empire.
The Devil and Demons
The Greek word antidikos, Strong's Concordance #G476, is written 5 times in 4 Greek New Testament verses. It is found only in the books of Matthew, Luke and 1Peter. The word means "adversary" or "opponent" and although it is usually used of humans it can also reference the devil.
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary (antidikos) (Luke 18:3, KJV).
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary (antidikos) the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1Peter 5:8, KJV).
The Greek antichristos, Strong's #G500, is written 5 times in 4 Greek New Testament verses. It is only found in the books of 1 and 2John. The word, translated as "antichrist" in the King James, refers to someone who is an opponent or adversary of the Messiah.
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist (antichristos) (2John 1:7, KJV).
The Greek daimon, Strong's #G1142, is recorded 5 times in 5 Greek New Testament verses. It is found only in three of the gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and the book of Revelation. It is a word that refers to one or more evil spirits.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils (daimon), and the hold of every foul spirit . . . (Revelation 18:2, KJV).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 5
The Old Testament writings that use the word "five" the most are Numbers (68 times) followed by Ezekiel (53) and 2Chronicles (28). The New Testament books that use the word the most are Matthew (14 times) then Luke (11) followed by John (6).
There are 604 words and phrases in the Bible's original languages that are recorded exactly 5 times.
Five is the third prime number, occurring after primes two and three.
Five books in the Bible contain only one chapter (2John, 3John, Philemon, Jude and Obadiah). Moses wrote 5 books, the most of any Old Testament writer. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote fourteen books.
The five shortest books in terms of number of verses (2John, 3John, Obadiah, Philemon, Jude) have 98 total verses.
There are only 5 individuals in the King James whose names begin with the letter V. They are Vajezatha, Vaniah, Vashni, Vashti and Vopshi. Vashni was a son of Samuel the prophet (1Chronicles 6:28).
Vashti was the beautiful queen of Persian King Ahasuerus (Esther 1:9) whose disobedience to her husband, and subsequent dismissal, would allow Esther access to the royal court where she could save the Jews from slaughter.
Five Amorite kings, during the time of Joshua, agreed to fight against the city of Gibeon as punishment for it making peace with Israel. Their alliance caught God's attention and led to their armies being soundly defeated by Joshua's forces.
The 5 kings, however, were able to slip away from the battlefield and hide in a cave. Their hideaway was soon discovered, and the kings were executed (Joshua 10:1 - 26).
The Greek arguros, Strong's #G696, is recorded five times in five Greek New Testament verses. The word refers to silver or anything made of the precious metal. Silver, before 500 B.C. in the Middle East, was considered harder to find and hence more valuable than gold. Businesses in the prophetic end time will mourn the destruction of "Babylon" as it was their greatest customer.
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver (arguros), or stone, graven by art and man's device (Acts 17:29, KJV).
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver (arguros), and precious stones, and of pearls . . . (Revelation 18:11 - 12, KJV).
Israel's first Judge, Joshua, died in 1380 B.C. From his death to the time when the last Judges, Samuel's two sons (1Samuel 8:1 - 2), completed their service in 1050 was 330 years. The Israelites were oppressed for five distinct periods during this time for a total of 93 years.
Paul is referenced as an apostle in nine of his fourteen New Testament books. The 5 writings that do not use this label for him are 1 and 2 Thessalonians (his first two writings), Philippians, Philemon and Hebrews.