Spiritual Meanings Of The Number 72
In All Religions
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The Number 72 In Religions
Overall, the repeated appearances of 72 in biblical and other religious and spiritual texts suggest a deeper layer of spiritual meaning and significance that deserves further exploration.
There are 72 nations listed in Genesis, representing the diversity and abundance of creation.
In the New Testament, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to preach and heal in his name.
There are 72 elders in the Book of Exodus.
In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon declares that there are 72 paths to knowledge.
72 is the number of languages spoken at the Tower of Babylon, according to later tradition.
In the Book of Psalms, it is said that God’s mercy extends to all corners of the earth, and that there are 72 “languages of praise” spoken by all living creatures to honor God’s greatness.
In the Old Testament, it is said that King Solomon had 72 foreign wives, each representing a different nation.
The spiritual tradition of angelology teaches that there are 72 angels governing the celestial spheres.
The 72 names of God represent specific attributes and qualities of the divine.
72 is the conventional number of disciples sent forth by Jesus in Luke 10 in some manuscripts (70 in others).
In the book of Genesis, the genealogy of Noah’s descendants lists 72 names, symbolizing the ordered and purposeful nature of God’s creation.
72 is the total number of books in the Catholic Bible, if the Book of Lamentations is considered part of the Book of Jeremiah.
The Book of Revelation is 22 chapters, adopted since the 13th century, but the oldest known division of the text is that of the Greek commentator Andrew of Cesary (6th century) in 72 chapters.
72 angels bind the 72 demons as described in The Lesser Key of Solomon (c. mid-17th century).
72 were the number of people in Moses’ Council of Jethro.
According to the Zohar, there were 72 old men of the synagogue.
There are the 72 names / degrees on Jacob's Ladder, on which the Angels of God ascended and descended, according to the Zohar.
The 72 disciples of Confucius who mastered his teachings (alternatively: 77).
Mahavira, the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara of Jainism, is said to have attained nirvana after his physical death at the age of 72.
The Egyptian god Osiris was enclosed in a coffin by 72 evil disciples and accomplices of Set.
In the Vietnamese religion Caodaism, 72 is the number of planets between hell and heaven.
There are 72 stupas which comprise Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple.
72 major temples have been found at Angkor, seat of the ancient Khmer Empire.
72 is the number of companions of Zoroaster who were martyred.
In Islam, 72 is the number of sects or denominations that are doomed to Hell, according to Hadith (sayings of prophet Muhammad).
Pagan Meaning of 72
72 is the number of magic heptagrams, which are known among neopagans as the Elven Star or Fairy Star. It is treated as a sacred symbol in various modern pagan and witchcraft traditions.The heptagram, sometimes referred to as a septegram, is a symbol of magical power in some pagan spiritualities.
72 is the number of degrees in the central angle of a regular pentagon, which is constructible with a compass and straight-edge.
Additionally, 72 is closely linked to the concept of completeness, as it is a multiple of 12, which is itself a symbol of divine perfection and completion. In numerology, 72 is also seen as a powerful number of spiritual transformation and enlightenment.
Meanings and Importance of 72 In Kabbalah
Three verses written in the Torah Scroll each containing exactly 72 letters. They are thus the basis for what is called the Name of 72 (triads). The first triad is formed by taking the first letter of the first verse, the last letter of the second verse, and the first letter of the third verse. This same pattern — straight, backwards, and straight — is followed for the remaining 71 letters in each verse, to form 72 triads.
The three consecutive verses from Exodus 14:19-21 each contain 72 letters, an obviously rare phenomenon. The letters of these three verses can be arranged as 72 triplets of letters. In Kabbalah, if we reverse the order of the letters in the middle set, the 72 triplets become 72 "names" of God.
In Kabbalah, the Shemhamphorasch (alternatively Shem HaMephorash) means "the explicit name of God." It is a term to describe the Tetragrammaton or the Tetragram (the proper name of a deity) — for example, YHWH or YHVH.
Shemhamphorasch can include 4, 12, 22, 42, or 72 letters (or triads of letters) — 72 being the most common. The 72-fold name is important in the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh (A grimoire of Practical Kabbalah from the Middle Ages written primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic). 72 reflects the multifaceted nature of the divine and the various qualities attributed to God.
To speak the 72 names requires the ability to read “boustrophedonically.” Boustrophedon is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the left.
Kabbalist legends state that the 72-fold name was used by Moses to cross the Red Sea, and that it could grant holy men the power to cast out demons, heal the sick, prevent natural disasters, and even kill enemies.
Example of Reverse Boustrophedon In Easter Island
Glyphs in the Rongorongo writing system on Easter Island are written in reverse boustrophedon. The reader begins at the bottom left-hand corner of a tablet, reads a line from left to right, then rotates the tablet 180 degrees to continue on the next line from left to right again. When reading one line, the lines above and below it appear upside down. However, the writing continues onto the second side of the tablet at the point where it finishes off the first, so if the first side has an odd number of lines, the second will start at the upper left-hand corner, and the direction of writing shifts to top to bottom.
Great research. Thank you for sharing. What does it all mean is the question. Your research seems to get us a little closer to the answer.