Sacred Number Six And Its Symbolic Significance In Ancient Cultures

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Number Six has an interesting significance; it is one of the few symbolic series in the Christian tradition that are based on the number six.

In the Holy Bible, this number indicates imperfections as it is considered an incomplete seven, which means that something is missing and it has to be fulfilled for the divine seven to come.

The world was created for six days, and the seventh was a day of rest, according to Genesis 2:2 and on the 6th day of the week, Jesus died on the cross.

The number 666 - coded information about the identity of Antichrist - is widely known and mentioned in the Bible.

Revelation 13:18 says:

“Here is wisdom Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six…”

Another verse is Ezra 2:13 is mentioning the sons of Adonikam, 666. Adonikam is a Biblical figure, one of those "which came with Zerubbabel" (Ezra 2:13). His "children," or retainers, numbering 666, came to Jerusalem (8:13).

The Star of David (hexagram) is the six-pointed star, formed of two triangles, which represents a visual symbol for this number, which is also a major symbol in Kabbalah and the symbol which has been chosen for the flag of the Nation of Israel.

See also:

Sacred Number Four – Perfect Number And Deep Meaning Behind It

Number Nine: Sacred Symbol In Ancient Cultures

Number ‘Seven’: Mystical Number Of The Universe And One Of The Most Sacred Numbers

More Ancient Symbols

China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang  (221 BC – 207 BC) chose a six-based system and divided his empire into 36 military provinces; generally, the ‘six’ is a lucky number with wide use in ancient and modern Chinese history. Chinese classical six arts refer to etiquette, music, writing, mathematics, archery, and riding. Father, mother, sister, brother, wife, and children, altogether symbolize – 6.

The Babylonian Talmud (3th-5^th CE), Bava Bathra, 17. 1. says that the Angel of Death had no power over 6 holy persons; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and the Torah mentions that the Israelites had six cities of refuge: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor, on the east of the Jordan River, and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western side.

However, through the ages, 6 also symbolized temptation and sin, for at the 6th hour of the 6th day the first temptation came into the world and for 6 days the Israelites had to collect manna (Exodus 16:1-36 and Numbers 11:1-9).

At the 6th hour of-the 6th day Jesus was sentenced to death, the Flood came when Noah was 600 years old.

Left: A snowflake symbolizes water, which is crucial to all life; Middle: The Flower of Life (Creation Mandala) forms a flower-like pattern with sixfold symmetry, similar to a hexagon. The center of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding circles of the same diameter. Right: Flower of Aphrodite, number six being the sexual number especially sacred to the Goddess Aphrodite

The Pythagoreans (6th BC), who followed the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and were largely influenced by mathematics and mysticism, considered number 6 to be the first perfect number. They said that after a period of 216 years, which number is the cube of 6, all things are regenerated. This was the periodic time of the re-birth of the human being after each death.

When multiplied into itself, six has also always itself in the unit place, for example, 6, 36, 216, 1296, and 7776.

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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