What Bible verses use algrebraic equations?

Answer 1

A:The ancients had not yet invented algebra, but they had invented numerology, which they thought to give numbers magical meaning through formulas we would recognise as algebraic. Examples in the Old Testament include the way the various ages of the biblical ancestors and patriarchs were arrived at. Most of the lifespans in the Genesis genealogies involve the number 17, for example the Patriarchs:

1. Abraham lived to 175 (5 X 5 X 7)
2. Isaac lived to 180 (6 X 6 X 5)
3. Jacob lived to 147 (7 X 7 X 3)

Here we can see:

• Each lifespan involves a perfect square (5, 6, then 7 in a numeric series),
• the third factor also forms a series (7, 5, 3)
• in each case the sum of the factors is 17.

Joseph, favoured son of Jacob, is sometimes referred to as the fourth patriarch, and his 110 years are the sum of these consecutive square numbers (110 = 52 +62 + 72). Interestingly, the first man in Genesis, Adam, has a life span of 930 years, (= 302 + 30), and the last man in Genesis, Joseph, has a life span of 110 years (= 102 + 10). And Adam's lifespan can also be related to his immediate descendants by another series containing the number 17.

Genesis says Abraham's wife Sarah lived to 127 years, which is the sum of those consecutive square numbers plus 17, or (127 = 52 +62 + 72 + 17).