Meaning of Numbers: Number 10000
The English phrase "ten thousand," used for the number 10000, is recorded 48 times in 41 King James Bible verses.
The number 10000 in the Bible derives part of its meaning from the fact that it is sometimes used to denote a group that is innumerable or countless. It also has a relationship with several Judges of Israel.
Haman, Prime Minister of Persia, was willing to pay the empire's king 10000 talents of silver (worth around $180 million today) to defray the cost of murdering all the Jews in the kingdom!
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries (Esther 3:9, KJV).
Appearances of Number Ten Thousand
King David, just before his death, provided a massive amount gold, silver, bronze and other materials for the building of God's temple (1Chronicles 29:1 - 5). He then called on all the leaders of Israel to follow his lead and make a generous donation towards the massive project (verse 6). The leaders collectively gave 10000 darics (gold coins) and 10000 talents of silver toward God's house of prayer.
And they gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand darics, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron (1Chronicles 29:6 - 7, HBFV).
One talent, using modern weights, weighs about 75 U.S. pounds (34.3 kilograms). 10000 talents of silver, therefore, weighed an incredible 750,000 pounds (343,000 kilograms)!
War and Peace
God made a unique promise to the children of Israel. If they obeyed him, keeping his commandments and statutes, he promised to do something miraculous concerning their enemies.
And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand (10000) to flight. And your enemies shall fall by the sword in front of you (Leviticus 26:7, HBFV).
Moses, in another place, uses a variation of this promise in his final admonishment of the Israelites before his death.
How shall one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand (10000) to flight, unless their Rock had sold them and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges (Deuteronomy 32:30).
Deborah, a prophetess who was Israel's Judge, summons a man named Barak. Inspired by God, she charges him with gathering 10000 men to fight King Jabin's army in order to free Israel of his twenty-year oppression (Judges 4:1 - 7, 14).
Barak agrees to lead the army into battle only if Deborah comes with him (verse 8). After Israel defeats their oppressor, the people enjoy forty years of peace (5:31).
And she (Deborah) sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? . . .
And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him (Judges 4:6, 10, KJV).
Gideon is called by God to free his people from Midianite domination. He sends messengers to four Israelite tribes asking men to volunteer to fight (Judges 6:1 - 35). About 32,000 men show up. Those who are afraid or fearful are told to go back home, leaving an army of 10000 (Judges 7:2 - 3). God ultimately whittles down the army to only 300 before it can win a mighty victory (verses 4 - 7).
And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand (Judges 7:2 - 3, KJV).
God called Ehud, a rare left-handed warrior, to save his people from the oppression of the Moabites (Judges 3:12 - 15). After killing Eglon, Moab's king, Ehud rallies the Israelites to fight against their enemies. He leads God's people to slay 10000 men which are "all lusty" and men of valor.
And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man (Judges 3:29, KJV).
King Nebuchadnezzar's third and final attack of the Kingdom of Judah and its capital city Jerusalem, in 586 B.C., was his worst. He destroyed Jerusalem and not only pillaged but also burned its beloved temple to the ground. He carried away 10000 people into Babylonian captivity which included King Jehoiachin as well as leaders, soldiers, skilled craftsmen and others. The only people spared captivity were the poorest in the land.
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the mighty men of war, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land (2Kings 24:14, HBFV).
Apostle Paul and Number 10000
Paul loved the church at Corinth in spite of their many difficulties and the tremendous effort he expended on their behalf. He expressed his special spiritual relationship with them using 10000.
For you might have ten thousand tutors in Christ, but you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I did beget you through the gospel (1Corinthians 4:15).
Apostle Paul, several chapters later, again uses 10000 to illustrate a point. He utilizes it to show the overwhelming importance of speaking words that others can understand versus the overrated gift of speaking in tongues (other languages).
But in the church, I desire to speak five words with my understanding rather than ten thousand (10000) words in an unknown language, so that I may also instruct others (1Corinthians 14:19).
The Cost of Discipleship
In 30 A.D., just a few months before his death, the Lord has a huge crowd of people following him on his journeys. One day he turns to the multitudes traveling with him and warns them, using the number 100000, to consider the true cost of becoming one of his disciples.
And great multitudes were going with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, and, in addition, his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
And whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple . . .
Or what king, when he goes out to engage another king in war, does not first sit down and take counsel, whether he will be able with ten thousand (10000) to meet him who is coming against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:25 - 27, 31, HBFV).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 10000
The English phrase "ten thousand," used for the number 10000, is written the most in Ezekiel (10 times) followed by Judges (8) and then 2Chronicles (7).
There are 0 words and phrases in the Bible's original languages that are recorded exactly 10000 times.
10000 is the product of 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (2 to the fourth power) x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 (5 to the fourth power). Both 2 and 5 are prime numbers.
In the Bible, 10000 is used in its last book to describe the vast quantity of righteous spirit beings that surround the Eternal's throne. If taken literally, the verse in question is likely delineating the largest number recorded in God's word!
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands (Revelation 5:11, KJV).