Meaning of Numbers: The Number 9
The English word "nine" used for number 9 appears 50 times in 49 King James Bible verses. While the word occurs 45 times in the Old Testament, it is only written 5 times in the New Testament. The Old Testament writings that use the word the most are Genesis (12 times) followed by Joshua (6). The New Testament books that use the word are Luke (3 times) then Matthew (twice).
The number 9 symbolizes divine completeness or conveys the meaning of finality.
Christ died at hour 9 of the day, or 3 p.m., to make the way of salvation open to everyone. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is the only one of God's annual Feast days of worship that requires believers to fast. This special day, considered by many Jews to be the holiest of the year, begins at sunset on day 9 of the seventh Hebrew month (Leviticus 23:32).
The number 9 also represents the fruits of God's Holy Spirit. These fruits are faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, joy, kindness, long suffering, love, peace and self-control (Galatians 5:22 - 23).
Appearances of the Number Nine
The Scriptural chapters that have exactly 9 verses are Joshua 20, 2Chronicles 27, Psalm 8, 20, 28, 47, 52, 98, 99, 113, 122, 137, 149, Isaiah 15, 31, Hosea 14 and Zechariah 13. The book of the minor prophet Amos is the only one in God's word that has nine chapters.
Hoshea, who was Israel's last king before the kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 723 B.C., reigned for just 9 years (732 to 723 B.C.).
The destruction of Jerusalem's first temple, built by King Solomon, began on Ab 9 on the Hebrew Calendar. It was also on this day that the second (also known as Herod's) temple was burned to the ground by the Romans in 70 A.D.
There are 9 people recorded in the Bible as having leprosy. They are Moses, Miriam, Naaman, Gehazi, King Azariah and the four lepers of Samaria found in 2Kings 7:3.
Biblical History and Nine
Jesus' birth took place between August 27 and September 9 in 5 B.C. Given the rich symbolism of the Day of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the first day of the Hebrew civil year, it like occurred on September 2. On the eighth day after his birth, September 9, Jesus was circumcised in obedience to God's law (Leviticus 12:3, Luke 2:21).
Luke is the only one of the four gospel writers to record anything about Jesus' life between shortly after his birth to the age of thirty! He is also the only one to record what the Lord said before his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. Luke writes about Jesus when he was 12 years old in 9 A.D. (Luke 2:40 - 52).
Mary and Joseph, after the spring Holy Days of 9 A.D., rush back to Jerusalem to find Jesus after wrongly assuming he was with relatives. When he is found Mary chides her son (Luke 2:48) and receives a response that is incredibly revealing!
Why is it that you were looking for Me? Don't you realize that I must be about My Father's business? (Luke 2:49).
This event shows, among other things, that at twelve Jesus was aware of his calling and the God was his true Father.
Two of God's annual Holy (Feast) days fell on the 9th during Jesus' ministry. The first, Passover, took place on April 9 in 27 A.D. It was followed by the Days of Unleavened Bread. It was just before or during this spring Feast season that Jesus famously cast the money changers out of Jerusalem's temple!
And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money exchangers sitting there; And after making a scourge of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with both the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money exchangers, and overturned the tables.
And to those who were selling the doves, He said, "Take these things out of here! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise." (John 2:14 - 16, HBFV).
On September 9 in 28 A.D., in the second full year of his ministry, Jesus celebrated the Feast of Trumpets.
Sunday April 9 of 30 A.D., when the Wave Sheaf ceremony was carried out, was the first day the Lord showed himself alive to humans after his resurrection! He first appeared to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9), then to two men traveling to Emmaus (Luke 24:13 - 33), then finally to ten of the remaining eleven disciples (John 20:19 - 23).
Friday March 31 in 30 A.D. (Nisan 9 on the Hebrew calendar) fell within the last week of Jesus' earthly life. It was the day he threw the money changers out of the temple just like he had done at the start of his ministry (Luke 19:46). It was also the day children shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" when they saw him (Matthew 21:15).
In 30 A.D. Jesus appeared alive on 9 separate occasions from April 9 to May 18. He appeared once to Mary Magdalene and once to two men traveling to Emmaus, a group of 500 believers and his half-brother James. He miraculously showed himself five other times to various groupings of the apostles.
The Ungrateful Men
Jesus, in the early part of 30 A.D., is traveling south through Samaria when he runs into ten leprous men. After the men cry out to be healed, they are sent to show themselves to the priests. On their journey they are miraculously healed of their wasting disease! Yet of the ten men only one of them returned to thank the Lord.
Then one of them, seeing that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. . . Jesus said, "Were not ten cleansed? But where are the other nine? Are not any found returning to give glory to God except this stranger?" (Luke 17:15, 17 - 18).
Number 9 and Sorcery
In the Old Testament there are at least 9 groups or individuals who practiced sorcery. Although modern culture and entertainment tend to paint those who practice such black arts in a benign or positive light, the motives of Old Testament sorcerers were evil to the core.
1) God promised to punish the Egyptians and to destroy the counsels of their charmers, conjurers, magicians and those who cast spells (Isaiah 19:3,11 - 12).
2) Egypt's Pharaoh called upon his sorcerers and magicians to confront the miracles God was doing through Moses and Aaron (Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:7,18).
3) Balak employs the services of Balaam, who is a well-known soothsayer, to curse the newly freed Israelites (Numbers 22, 23).
4) Jezebel, the wife of Israel's evil King Ahab, used witchcraft and the evil arts to get her way (2Kings 9:22).
5) God promised to punish Nineveh for enticing a number of their neighbors like a "mistress of witchcrafts" to indulge in idolatrous practices (Nahum 3).
6) The Babylonians were well-known for using the services of magicians, astrologers and sorcerers (Isaiah 47:9 - 13, Daniel 2:2,10, 27).
7) Belshazzar called upon his astrologers and wise men to interpret the "handwriting on the wall" done by the finger of God (Daniel 5:7,15).
8) God warns his people not to be troubled by "the signs of heaven" as the pagans are with their astrologers (Jeremiah 10:2, Micah 3:6 - 7).
9) False prophets use divination to deceive others into thinking that they are speaking for God (Jeremiah 14:14, 27:9, Ezekiel 13:6 - 9).
Adam and Jesus
The Greek word adam, Strong's Concordance #G76, is recorded 9 times in 7 Greek New Testament verses. The word, left untranslated in the King James Bible, is the name of the first human created by God. The gospel writer Luke traced Jesus' lineage, through his mother Mary, all the way back to Adam.
Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God (Luke 3:38, KJV).
The Greek word Melchisedek (Strong's #G3198) is written 9 times in 9 New Testament verses. It is translated as "Melchisedec" in the King James and "Melchizedek" in other translations.
Melchisedek was the mysterious King of Salem and Priest of God who greeted Abraham after his victory over Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14). The Apostle Paul states that Jesus is a priest after "the order of Melchisedec."
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec . . . Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 5:6, 10, KJV).
Interestingly, Jesus is also referred to as "the last Adam" by Paul (1Corinthians 15:45).
Prophetic Gemstone
The ninth wall foundation in the future New Jerusalem created by God will be made of topaz.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst (Revelation 21:19 - 20, KJV).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 9
One of the many kings the ancient Israelites had to overcome to claim their Promised Land inheritance is Og of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:11). Og was a giant of a man who needed a bed that was 9 cubits long (roughly 13 1/2 feet or 4.1 meters) by 4 cubits wide (6 feet or 1.8 meters)!
The act of executing a criminal through stoning is believed to have originated with the ancient Hebrews. The witnesses of the crime were required to cast the first stone (John 8:7).
The first 7 of 9 people recorded in Scripture as being stoned are a Sabbath-breaker (Numbers 15:36), a blasphemer (Leviticus 24:14), Abimelech (Judges 9:53), Achan (Joshua 7:25), Zechariah (2Chronicles 24:21), Adoram (1Kings 12:18) and Naboth (1Kings 21:10). The two New Testament people stoned were Stephen (Acts 7) and the Apostle Paul (Acts 14:19).
The English word "thanksgiving" or its plural occurs nine times in nine King James New Testament verses. Three occurrences are found in 2Corinthians, two are in both Colossians and 1Timothy, and one is recorded in both Philippians and Revelation.
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God (2Corinthians 4:15, KJV).