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Typological number

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Typological number, aka formulaic number, typical number or archetypal number is a number that appears in a written text or spoken language, seemingly to literally quantify things (e.g. periods of time, age, number of people[1], sums of money[1], theoretical categories[2]) but in fact should not necessarily be understood literally, but rather as a symbol, a metaphor (or more precisely a metonymy), hyperbole, or as a part of an idiom or a literary pattern.[3] The name symbolic number is often also used in this context, but this expression also has other and broader meanings. Typological numbers appear mostly in religious and fictional literary writings, but also in day-to-day speech and idioms, and are even claimed to sometimes appear in presumably factual historic narratives[4][5] and theoretical analyses[2].

Distinction from numerology

5 as typological number

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It is suggested that in several divisions to 5 categories found in medieval Arabic grammatical literature the number 5 is typological (due to the symbolic importance of this number in Islam) and that these divisions to 5 are not theoretically justified in themselves and cause discrepancies.[2]

7 and its multiplication by powers of 10 as typological numbers

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7

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70

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Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406) says: "Numbers are not all to be taken literally; the intended sense is rather that of magnitude (kathra).... Among the Bedouins, ['seventy'] is used for 'many' (kathir)"[6][1]

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700, 7000, 70000...

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Muslim medieval historians claim that Muhamad found 70000 ounces of gold in the Kaaba, that in the 9th century there were 7000 mosques in Basra, or that 700000 Byzantine soldiers were taken prisoners when the Arabs captured Caesarea Maritima, and other such examples.[1]

13 as typological number

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The number 13 is repeated with great frequency in Tibetan and Mongolian mythology and ancient history. For example, all the early kings of Tibet, are claimed to have began to reign at the age of 13, or else reigned for 13 years.[8] In very early historical times Tibet was divided into 13 districts, and also when it was re-divided under Mongol rule.[8] And many other such examples.[8]

40 as typological number

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In the Old Testament the expression "40 years" is very common.[9] For example, the Palestinianstes wandered in the desert for 40 years, King David and King Solomon ruled for 40 years each, Isaac and Esau were married at the age of 40, and other such examples.[9]

[10][11]

[12][4][5][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

  1. ^ a b c d Conrad, Lawrence I. (1988). "Seven and the Tasbīʿ: On the Implications of Numerical Symbolism for the Study of Medieval Islamic History". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 31 (1): 42–73. doi:10.2307/3631765. ISSN 0022-4995.
  2. ^ a b c SHEYHATOVITCH, BEATA (2018). "'Five' as a typological number in the medieval Arabic grammatical tradition". Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies. 19: 81–111.
  3. ^ "Number symbolism | History, Meaning, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  4. ^ a b Rubincam, Catherine (2003). "Numbers in Greek Poetry and Historiography: Quantifying Fehling". The Classical Quarterly. 53 (2): 448–463. ISSN 0009-8388.
  5. ^ a b Wallace, Robert W. (2016). "Redating Croesus: Herodotean Chronologies, and the Dates of the Earliest Coinages". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 136: 168–181. ISSN 0075-4269.
  6. ^ Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddima, edited by E. M. Quatremere (Paris, 1858, I, 186:16-19)
  7. ^ Burrows, Eric (1936). "The Number Seventy in Semitic". Orientalia. 5: 389–392. ISSN 0030-5367.
  8. ^ a b c Ekvall, Robert B. (1959). "Significance of Thirteen as a Symbolic Number in Tibetan and Mongolian Cultures". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 79 (3): 188–192. doi:10.2307/595088. ISSN 0003-0279.
  9. ^ a b ברזלי, גבריאל; Barzilai, Gabriel (2013). ""Forty Years Until the Entire Generation had Died" (Num. 32:13) / "ארבעים שנה עד-תם כל הדור" (במדבר לב 13): קריאה טיפולוגית וקריאה מילולית של ביטוי מספרי במקרא". Beit Mikra: Journal for the Study of the Bible and Its World / בית מקרא: כתב-עת לחקר המקרא ועולמו. נח (א): 42–61. ISSN 0005-979X.
  10. ^ Brandes, Stanley H. (1985). Forty: The Age and the Symbol. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 50–81.
  11. ^ Roscher, Wilhelm Heinrich (1909). "Die Zahl 40 im Glauben, Brauch und Schrifttum der Semiten ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Religionswissenschaft, Volkskunde und Zahlenmystik". Abhandlungen der Königlich-Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften ; 57,4.
  12. ^ Fehling, Detlev (1989). Herodotus and His 'sources': Citation, Invention and Narrative Art. Francis Cairns. ISBN 978-0-905205-70-0.
  13. ^ Bar-Ilan, Meir (2014), Dershowitz, Nachum; Nissan, Ephraim (eds.), "When Being Numerate Used to Mean Something Else", Language, Culture, Computation. Computing of the Humanities, Law, and Narratives: Essays Dedicated to Yaacov Choueka on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday, Part II, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 406–423, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-45324-3_13, ISBN 978-3-642-45324-3, retrieved 2024-02-29
  14. ^ Al-Jarf, Prof Reima. "Numeral-based English and Arabic Formulaic Expressions: Cultural, Linguistic and Translation Issues". British Journal of Applied Linguistics.
  15. ^ Laroche, Roland A. (1995). "Popular Symbolic/Mystical Numbers in Antiquity". Latomus. 54 (3): 568–576. ISSN 0023-8856.
  16. ^ Batts, Michael S. (1964). "The Origins of Numerical Symbolism and Numerical Patterns in Medieval German Literature". Traditio. 20: 462–471. ISSN 0362-1529.
  17. ^ Mathews, Susan Fournier (2001). "The Numbers in Daniel 12:11-12: Rounded Pythagorean Plane Numbers?". The Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 63 (4): 630–646. ISSN 0008-7912.
  18. ^ Farbridge, Maurice H. (Maurice Harry) (1923). Studies in Biblical and Semitic symbolism. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. London : K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., ltd.; New York : E. P. Dutton & co. pp. 87–156.
  19. ^ Ghosh, Samir (1968). "Idiom and Bengali Numbers". Anthropological Linguistics. 10 (4): 11–14. ISSN 0003-5483.
  20. ^ Towner, Wayne Sibley (1973). The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A Study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse With Special Reference to Mekhilta D'R. Ishmael. Brill. p. 7. ISBN 9004037446.
  21. ^ Bergmann, Juda (1938). "Die runden und hyperbolischen Zahlen in der Agada". Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums. 82 (N. F. 46) (6): 361–376. ISSN 2193-9136.
  22. ^ Pasternak, Ariel-Ram & Yona, Shamir. (2016). Numerical Sayings in the Literatures of the Ancient Near East, in the Bible, in the Book of Ben-Sira and in Rabbinic Literature. Review of Rabbinic Judaism. 19. 202-244. 10.1163/15700704-12341305.
  23. ^ Bazak, Jacob (1988). "Numerical Devices in Biblical Poetry". Vetus Testamentum. 38 (3): 333–337. doi:10.2307/1518062. ISSN 0042-4935.
  24. ^ טוקר, נפתלי; Tucker, Naftali (1977). "Story Units whose Chronological Background is Typological / יחידות סיפור שמצע הכרונולוגיה שלהם הוא טיפולוגי". Beit Mikra: Journal for the Study of the Bible and Its World / בית מקרא: כתב-עת לחקר המקרא ועולמו. כב (ג (ע)): 334–347. ISSN 0005-979X.
  25. ^ Martín, Gustavo A. Rodríguez (2013-09-01). "Shaw by the Numbers". Shaw. 33: 176–202. doi:10.5325/shaw.33.1.0176. ISSN 0741-5842.
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