The Number 120 in the Hebrew Bible as a Parameter for Time Measurement

Abstract

Some numbers stand out in the Hebrew Bible for their meaning or symbology. The number one hundred and twenty is one of them. In addition to its mathematical qualities, the number one hundred and twenty has unique symbolic qualities. This number appears in the Book of Genesis as a measure of time, when a limit of one hundred and twenty years is decreed as man'shighest expectation of life (Gn 6:3). This number also corresponds to the years of the life of the prophet Moses (Dt 34:7). Moreover, the number one hundred and twenty relates to the hundred and twenty years in which Noah built the ark to survive the flood (Gn 6), the hundred and twenty days Moses was on Mount Sinai in three periods of forty days each, as well as the period of three conventional generations of forty years each, exemplified by God's covenant with the people of Israel: “[...]to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son...” (Dt 6:2). The Hebrew Bible can then be understood as a contract between God and the people of Israel. Therefore, the symbolic content of the number one hundred and twenty relates to its subdivision into three cycles of forty years each, represented by a very important institution of the ancient world: the contract, which is celebrated for three conventional generations, for which the Hebrew Bible assigns the conventional extension of forty years. And three generations of forty years each represent exactly one hundred and twenty years. In addition, it is customary to use the modern Hebrew expression “‘aḏmê-’āh wə-‘eś-rîm”, wishing someone to live to the age of one hundred and twenty, which demonstrates that modern Hebrew is rooted in ancient traditions.