Agape Bible Study

Letter Number Equivalent In Languages in the Bible

Greek Letter Number Equivalent

Name Symbol Value Name Symbol Value Name Symbol Value
Alpha α Α 1 Iota ι Ι 10 Rho ρ Ρ 100
Beta β Β 2 Kappa κ Κ 20 Sigma σ Σ 200
Gamma γ Γ 3 Lambda λ Λ 30 Tau τ Τ 300
Delta δ Δ 4 Mu μ Μ 40 Upsilon υ Υ 400
Epsilon ε Ε 5 Nu ν Ν 50 Phi φ Φ 500
Stigma ς 6 Xi ξ Ξ 60 Chi χ Χ 600
Zeta ζ Ζ 7 Omicron ο Ο 70 Psi ψ Ψ 700*
Eta η Η 8 Pi π Π 80 Omega ω Ω 800*
Theta θ Θ 9 Qoppa ϟ Ϟ 90 Sampi ϡ Ϡ 900*

*The last three symbols are finals not letters.

There are 24 Greek letters but to make up for the necessary number equivalents the final "s" or  ς, called "stigma", was designated for the number 6.  For some unexplained reason it was taken as a number symbol for 6 out of the letter sequence.  Two arbitrary symbols were also added called respectively Koppa, for 90, and Sampi, for 900. All these symbols are now obsolete and are no longer included in the Greek alphabet.

Stigma (uppercase Ϛ, lowercase ς) is a ligature of the Greek letters "sigma" and "tau". The lower case stigma is similar in appearance to final sigma (ς), but the top loop tends to be larger, and extends farther to the right.

Qoppa(uppercase Ϙ, lowercase ϙ) is also an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet and had a numeric value of 90. It has been attested in early Aeolic and Boeotian scripts, but became altogether extinct by pre-Classical times. There are two very different glyphs for qoppa: "archaic Qoppa" (Ϙ, ϙ) used to write words and "Numeric Qoppa" (ϟ, Ϟ) used in modern Greek legal documentation. Qoppa was originally borrowed from the Phoenicians, who had q in their language. It was later imported into the Etruscan alphabet, and was eventually adopted into the Latin alphabet in its current form, "Q". It was also adopted into the early Cyrillic alphabet as koppa.

Sampi (uppercaseϠ, lowercase ϡ) is an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet that had the numerical value of 900 when used as a mathematical character. The name "sampi" seems to come from [o]sàn pî: "like pi." Another name formerly used for this archaic letter was Disigma because of the phoneme it represented, /ss/ or /ks/.

 

Greek Alphabet and English Equivalent

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V O X Y  Z
Α Β Χ Δ Ε Φ Γ Η Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ο Π Θ Ρ Σ Τ Υ   Ω Ξ Ψ Ζ
α β χ δ ε φ γ η ι κ λ μ ν ο π θ ρ σ τ υ   ω ξ ψ ζ

In Greek majuscule (uppercase) JESUS = ΙΗΣΟΥΣ

5 is the number of "grace" in the symbolism of numbers in Scripture.  The 5 Greek words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ  Χριστοζ,  Θεου  ϒιοζ  Σωτηρ form the acrostic phrase "Jesus Christ, God's Son Savior," taking first letter in Greek from each word makes the word "fish": Iota, Chi, Theta, Upsilon, Sigma = ΙΧΘϒΣ (ichthys), FISH, which became an symbol for Christ and a secret symbol for identifying Christians.

Hebrew Letter Number Equivalents

Name Letter Value Name Letter Value Name Letter Value
aleph א 1 yod י 10 qoph ק 100
bet ב 2 kap כ 20 res ר 200
gimel ג 3 lamed ל 30 s[h]in ש 300
dalet ד 4 mem מ 40 tau (taw) ת 400
he ה 5 nun נ 50 koph ך 500*
vau (waw) ו 6 samek ס 60 mem ם 600*
zayin ז 7 ayin ע 70 nun ן 700*
cheth ח 8 pe פ 80 pe ף 800*
tet ט 9 tsaddi צ 90 tsaddi (sadhe) ץ 900*

* last 5 symbols are finals not letters.  The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters.  The 5 finals were added to make up three series of 9 or 27 symbols to provide adequate number equivalents.

 

Hebrew - English Letter Character Equivalents

Hebrew
letter
name
Letter
symbol
English
equivalents
Hebrew
letter
name
Letter
symbol
English
equivalents
1. aleph א ah (') 12. lamed ל l
2. bet ב b, v 13. mem מ m
3. gimel ג g 14. nun נ n
4. dalet ד d 15. samek ס s
5. he ה h 16. ayin ע ah (')
6. vau (waw) ו v 17. pe פ p, f
7. zayin ז z 18. tsaddi      (sadhe) צ ts
8. cheth ח ch 19. qoph ק k
9. tet ט t 20. res ר r
10. yod י y 21. s[h]in ש sh
11. kap כ k, ch 22. tau (taw) ת t