Meaning of Numbers: The Number 1
The English word "one" for the number 1 is recorded 1,969 times in 1,697 King James Bible verses. This breaks down to 1,361 occurrences in the Old Testament and 608 times it appears in the New Testament.
The number 1 is only divisible by itself. Its meaning in the Bible centers on the unity and primacy of the God family being one. What is known as the Shema (or Shema Yisrael), which is taken from Deuteronomy 6:4, attests to this fact. This verse, twice, contains the tetragrammaton which is the four consonants used to designate God's name in the Old Testament.
Hear, O Israel. Our one God is the Lord (YHVH / YHWH, Strong's Concordance #H3068), the Lord (YHVH / YHWH) (Deuteronomy 6:4, HBFV).
The number 1 also symbolizes the unity between God the Father and His Son Jesus (John 10:30). Jesus, by his singular sacrifice, has made possible the forgiveness of all our sins. He is the one Mediator and Shepherd (1Timothy 2:5; John 10:16) in the life of a Christian.
The Old and New Testaments have an incredible unity of one (1) between them. More than a third of the New Testament is composed of Old Testament quotes. Many writings from the prophets and Psalms could not be understood without the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.
Prophecies in places like Isaiah 53 would not be correctly understood as referring to the Messiah if the Gospels did not exist. Such examples are a testament to the unified nature of the Scriptures and offer proof of its direct inspiration by God.
Appearances of the Number One
Of the ten shortest books 2John, 3John, Philemon, Jude and Obadiah are the shortest with only 1 chapter.
Words that show up only 1 time in the King James Version translation of Scripture include Reverend (Psalms 111:9), Grandmother (2Timothy 1:5) and Eternity (Isaiah 57:15). Other words such as Forgetfulness (Psalm 88:12) and Lukewarm (Revelation 3:16) also appear only one time.
The first English translation of Scripture was in 1382 A.D. by John Wycliffe. The first printed Bible using movable type was produced by Johann Gutenberg in 1456. William Tyndale (1494-1536) was the first person to translate Scripture into English from its original Greek and Hebrew.
The first thing designated as Holy is God's Sabbath Day (verses 1 to 3 in Genesis 2). The first person called a prophet is Abraham (Genesis 20:7).
The first of the ten commandments, on which all others are founded, and without which is chaos, destruction and death, is "Worship no god but me" (Exodus 20:3).
The patriarch Jacob ultimately had children through four different women (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah). Although he produced twelve sons, which became the twelve tribes of Israel, he only had one daughter. The daughter's name is Dinah (Genesis 30:21).
The Apostle Paul penned fourteen writings that were included in the canon of the New Testament. In each of his books, except for one, he introduces himself to the reader. The only book which doesn't directly state he wrote it is Hebrews.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets . . . (Hebrews 1:1, KJV).
Israel's kingdom split in 930 B.C. forming the Kingdom of Israel (northern ten tribes of Israel) and the Kingdom of Judah (three tribes). The northern kingdom was ruled by twenty kings during its existence. The Kingdom of Judah, however, during its 344 year history, was ruled by nineteen kings and one queen. The singular female ruler was the devilish Queen Athaliah who seized Judah's throne and ruled by violence for six years (841 to 835 B.C.).
First Words
Between his birth and the beginning of his ministry at age 30, the scriptures record only 1 sentence Christ spoke. He spoke it at the age of twelve right after he and his parents kept the Passover in Jerusalem. When asked why his parents could not find him after the Feast he said, "Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49).
What was Jesus' very first public message? Did he chastise the religious leaders of his day for hypocrisy? Did he rail against sin? Did he correct people for disobeying God? Did he promise torture for all eternity to sinners? No, Jesus' first sermon had nothing to do with these subjects. He began the public part of his ministry with a reading of verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 61 which proclaimed a Jubilee message of hope and a brighter future (see Luke 4:18 - 19)!
Number 1 and Jesus
Jesus is called the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15) and the firstborn not only of the dead (1:18) but also among many brethren (Romans 8:29). He is also called the "first of the firstfruits" (1Corinthians 15:20, 23), meaning that he is the first one of many to be resurrected to eternal life (especially those in the first resurrection, see Revelation 20:6).
Christ referred to himself as the first or Alpha (the first letter of the Greek language) several times in the book of Revelation (1:11, 17, 22:13).
The apostle Peter tells us bluntly that it is through the one name of Jesus Christ, and him alone, that a person can receive salvation and live forever (Acts 4:10 - 12). There is no other name in all creation, in spite of the sincerity of countless billions who believe in other paths to salvation, eternal life and so on, by which mankind can connect to the true God and fulfill their destiny.
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 1
There are 4,649 words and phrases in the Bible's original languages that are recorded only 1 time.
The Old Testament writings that use "one" for number 1 the most are the book of Numbers (193 times) then Ezekiel (125) followed by Exodus (115). The New Testament books that use the word the most are Luke (85 times) followed by Matthew (80) then the book of Acts (70). Its first use in found in Genesis 1 and its last is in Revelation 21.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so (Genesis 1:9, KJV).
And the twelve gates (of New Jerusalem) were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass (Revelation 21:21).
The number 1 cannot be a prime since primes are defined as any integer greater than 1 that is not the product of two smaller integers.
In Gematria, the value of 1 is represented by the Hebrew letter Alef. In the Greek alphabet it is represented by the letter Alpha.
Galatians, written in Syrian Antioch, may have been the only one of Apostle Paul's books he wrote with his own hand (Galatians 6:11). Most, if not all, of his other books were written by others as he dictated them (see 1Corinthians 16:24 and Philippians 4:23 in the KJV, Romans 16:22, etc.).
The Greek word abaddon, Strong's Concordance #G3, is used only once in the entire New Testament. Left untranslated in the King James, the word means "a destroying angel." The word is another name for Satan the devil.
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Revelation 9:11, KJV).
There are eight Biblical writings that are distinguished in their name by using a 1. These are 1Samuel, 1Kings, 1Chronicles, 1Corinthians, 1Thessalonians, 1Timothy, 1Peter and 1John. There are also, not surprisingly, eight book titles that begin with 2. Only one writing in God's word, 3John, begins with a three.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, emphasized the uniqueness of the Christian calling when he stated there was only one (1) true spiritual body of believers where all share a singular spirit (the Holy Spirit).
There is one body and one Spirit, even as you were also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:4 - 5).