300 and 390: The Importance of Numbers in the Bible

Did you know, if you scored a strike in each round of tenpin bowling (ten rounds) you would achieve a score of 300 (twelve strikes)? This is considered a perfect score. 
 
According to Herodotus, 300 Spartans resisted one million Persian invaders during the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). This was the basis of the 2006 fantasy film 300, which saw Rodrigo Santoro as King Xerxes take on Gerald Butler as King Leonidas of Sparta. 
 
In the apocryphal book of Enoch, it is said that 300 angels guard the Garden of Eden, whilst singing and permanently serving God. There is no way of clarifying this since no one knows where the Garden of Eden is, nor is there any mention of this idea in the Bible. 
 
In the Bible, the number 300 is used approximately thirty times depending on which manuscript you study. According to Theobald of Langres, a 12thcentury scholastic teacher, the number represents victory. One reason for this is in Hebrew the letter T represents the number 300, which is a similar shape to the cross on which Jesus was crucified. 
 
Another reason 300 is linked to victory is Gideon the military leader, judge and prophet’s triumph against the Midianites. With only 300 men, Gideon defeated the opposing army.

• Judges 7:6-8 (NIV): Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
• Judges 7:16 (NIV): Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
• Judges 7:22 (NIV): When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath
• Judges 8:4 (NIV): Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.

 
Some scholars claim Noah’s Ark as a form of victory because Noah and his family triumphed over the flood. In Genesis, we are provided with the exact measurements of the ark: “This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.” (Genesis 6:15 NIV)
 
A chief named Abishai became famous for killing three hundred men:

• 2 Samuel 23:18 (NIV): Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three. He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three.
• 1 Chronicles 11:20 (NIV): Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of the Three. He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three.

There is also another record of a chief killing 300 men:

• 1 Chronicles 11:11 (NIV): Jashobeam, a Hakmonite, was chief of the officers; he raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

 
Of course, not all instances of the number 300 refer to victories. The first record of the number is in Genesis 5, which tells us that Enoch lived for a further 300 years after the birth of his son Methuselah. 

• Genesis 5:22 (NIV): After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

 
Other verses containing the number 300 include:

• Genesis 45:22 (NIV): To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
• Judges 11:26 (NIV): For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time?
• Judges 15:4 (NIV): So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails
• 2 Samuel 21:16 (NIV): And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.
• 1 Kings 10:17 (NIV): He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
• 1 Kings 11:3 (NIV): He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
• 2 Kings 18:14 (NIV): So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
• 2 Chronicles 9:16 (NIV): He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
• 2 Chronicles 14:9 (NIV): Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.
• 2 Chronicles 35:8 (NIV): His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the officials in charge of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.
• Ezra 8:5 (NIV): of the descendants of Zattu,Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;

 
The final occurrence of the number 300, however, does link back to victory. The Jews, who had previously been oppressed, triumphed over the people of Susa:

• Esther 9:15 (NIV): The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

 
I would like to finish off this article by taking a look at the number 390. There are only two examples in the Bible and so are not worth their own blog post; however, they are definitely something of which to take note.
 
In the book of Ezekiel, we read the following verses:

• Ezekiel 4:5 (NIV): I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.
• Ezekiel 4:9 (NIV): Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.

 
This chapter explores the Siege of Jerusalem and the instructions Ezekiel was given by God in order to save Jerusalem from her sins. For 390 years, Israel sinned against God, beginning with Jeroboam in 974 BC. “And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.” (1 Kings 14:16). 
 
There is no identified symbolism of the number 390 since it is only written in these two verses. As you would have seen in my article about the number 40, Ezekiel was also required to spend 40 days on his other side in repentance of the sins of the people of Judah, which had lasted 40 years.