Meaning of Numbers: The Number 900
The English phrase "nine hundred," used for the number 900, is recorded 15 times in 15 King James Bible verses.
The possible meaning of the number 900 is derived from Biblical history and the Hebrew calendar.
Five out the first six men in Jesus' lineage lived to be more than 900 years old. They were Adam (930, Genesis 5:3 - 5), Seth (912, verses 6 - 8), Enos (905, verses 9 - 11), Cainan (910, verses 12 - 14) and Jared (962, verses 18 - 20). Mahalealel, the firstborn son of Cainan, almost made it into the 900 club by living to the age of 895 (Genesis 5:3 - 20, Luke 3:37 - 38).
The only other ancestors of Jesus that lived more than nine hundred years were Methuselah (969, Genesis 5:25 - 27) and Noah (950, Genesis 9:29).
Appearances of Number Nine Hundred
The children of Israel, after they entered the Promised Land, frequently indulged in evil such as idolatry. God, when they sinned, would then allow some of their enemies to dominate them and make their life miserable so that they would repent and turn to Him.
From 1212 to 1192 B.C., the sins of the people caused them to be harshly treated by King Jabin of Canaan. Their twenty-year long suffering under the king, who had military superiority over them with his 900 chariots, finally led to the people crying out to the Lord.
And the children of Israel cried to the Lord, for he (Jabin) had nine hundred chariots of iron. And he mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years (Judges 4:3, see also verse 13, HBFV).
The Israelites were ultimately freed of their enemy by the godly-inspired Judges Deborah and Barak.
The letter Sampi (ϡʹ) was used by the ancient Greeks to represent 900. If the Hebrew letter Tsade (צ), the 18th letter of its alphabet, appears at the end of a word, it is changed to the letter called Final Tsade (ץ). This letter was also used to represent the number 900.
The city of Corinth was visited by the Apostle Paul during his second and third missionary journeys. Two of his letters to the church in Corinth are in the New Testament with at least one other wrote but not included in God's word (1Corinthians 5:9). The history of Corinth, a wealthy first century city located about 48 miles (77.2 kilometers) west of Athens, goes back at least to 900 B.C.
Calendars and the Number 900
The first year on the Hebrew (Biblical) calendar begins late 3761 B.C. (Julian). Year 900 on this calendar system runs from late September 2862 B.C. to the middle of September in 2861.
BibleStudy.org’s Old Testament timeline, unlike the Hebrew calendar, dates the creation of man in 3969 B.C. This date also differs from Ussher's famous Biblical chronology that places Adam's creation in 4004 B.C. 900 years after 3969 is 3069 B.C.
The year 3069 B.C. is part of a unique period in Biblical history as many of the first patriarchs mentioned in Scripture were alive at the time. Adam was alive at 900 years old (Genesis 5:3 - 5). Seth, his son, as well as Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah and Lamech were also alive (verses 9 - 31).
Even Enoch, who ultimately died at the then relatively early age of 365, was alive at the age of 278 in 3069 B.C. (Genesis 5:21 - 23)! The period between Lamech's birth (3095 B.C.) and the death of Adam (3039 B.C.), spanning 56 years, is the only time in human history that representatives of man's first nine generations were alive at the same time!
God commanded ancient Israel to keep a Sabbatical year, also known as the land sabbath (Leviticus 25:2 - 6) or year of release (Deuteronomy 31:10). This year was the seventh in every seven-year cycle. Seven cycles of these sets of seven years (49 years total) were needed before the Jubilee year (50th year) could be celebrated.
September 27 in 900 B.C. (Tishri 1 on the Hebrew calendar) began a Sabbatical year. This special year ended on September 16 in 899 B.C.
Coincidently, another Sabbatical year began on August 28 in 900 A.D. This special year ended September 17 in 901.
Unique Words
Definition 900 in the Hebrew section of Strong's Concordance is the word bogdoth. The word, which means "treacheries," is translated as "treacherous" in the King James. It is found only in the Hebrew Old Testament book of the minor prophet Zephaniah. His ministry ran roughly from 640 to 609 B.C.
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God . . .
Her prophets are light and treacherous (bogdoth) persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law (Zephaniah 3:1 - 2, 4, KJV).
Definition 900 in the Greek section of Strong's Concordance is the word bathuno. The word refers to something that is deep in depth. It is found only in the Greek New Testament version of Luke's gospel.
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep (bathuno), and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock (Luke 6:47 - 48, KJV).
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 900
The English phrase "nine hundred," used for the number 900, is found the most in Genesis (7 times) then Nehemiah (3) then both Judges and Ezra (2 each).
There is 0 words in the Bible's original languages that are recorded exactly 900 times.
The number 900 is equal to 30 x 30 (or 30 squared).
900 is also equal to 2 x 2 (2 squared) x 3 x 3 (3 squared) x 5 x 5 (5 squared). All three numbers, 2, 3 and 5, are primes.
The smallest translation ever published was the Mite Bible produced by Oxford University Press in 1896. It was nine hundred pages with each page being 28 x 41mm (1.62 x 1.12 inches) and 13mm (0.5 inches) thick.
The Holy Bible, a Faithful Version (HBFV) is used extensively by this Web site due to its accurate translation of Scripture's original text. The HBFV's Old Testament is based on the (Moses) Ben Asher Masoretic Hebrew Text (HBFV, Second Edition, page v.). The second codex (manuscript pages stitched together like a book) produced using this text is called the Aleppo Codex. This early book format of the Hebrew Scriptures was produced between 900 and 950 A.D. (ibid. Chronology IV).