Introduction

So why Blog about an obscure verse in the Bible? I had some time to read through the Bible and John 21:11 jumped out at me. Of course many other verses also jumped out at me, but this one was peculiar as it mentioned a very specific number. Being an analytical person, I wondered why this was that specific. I wrote a note in my journal hoping that in my next pass through something would come to light. It didn’t – at least in any relevant verses that I came across.

Other specific numbers are easier to explain. Take for example in Genesis where we have 6 days of creation and one day of rest. That is our pattern for our week. It is also how many have come to equate the number 7 with perfection as God saw everything was “very good” in Genesis 1:31. The number 12 comes to mind as Abraham had 12 sons who fathered the 12 tribes of Israel. Some see the number 12 as symbolizing government or even another number for perfection. Ten is a big number as we have the Ten Commandments that were given to Moses.

There are many other numbers of course, but no other mention of a 153. The closest biblical reference to 153 is in 2 Chronicles 2:17, but that is a census with the number 153,600 – a rounded number which is more a coincidence.

Some theologians have tried breaking the number down to come up with some kind of symbolism but again fall short of a clear explanation. One of many I found was that the 100 represented Gentiles, the 50 the Jews, leaving 3 for the Trinity. I’m not sure where they got the numbers for the Jews and Gentiles though.

Another theory is that 153 was the exact number of species of fish known at that time. This could signify that people from all nations were going to be gathered in. But Jesus knew how many species there really were so why limit it to 153?

Some numbers may be there just to provide a confirmation point with events in history, especially when they are rounded numbers. I’ll leave the symbolic explanations for the numerology experts.

Lots of theories, but hard to say why it was these since we can’t talk to John, but even he may not know the reason the holy Spirit had him record that number.

I feel that the 153 fish are the number of people who had a personal experience with Jesus during His time on earth as written in the 4 Gospels.

The above will be a permanent part of the Intro page

Next post will be on Harmonies and Chronologies