The Meaning of the Number Ten in the Bible—Part 4

Introduction and Review

The number ten in the Bible refers to themes centered on God's commands and humans' responsibility to obey and honor them. It also links with the concept of testing in terms of obedience to God's expressed will and ways. When the number ten appears in Scripture, we will most often find the words command, test, or both very near in the story.

The third part of this series studied Joseph, Pharaoh, the ten scouts who spied out the promised land, and the priestly tithe.

This fourth installment will examine how the number ten and its themes of responsibility and testing are used in narratives about Gideon, King David, King Asa, King Hezekiah, Job, and Proverbs.

Gideon tests God with fleeces.

Gideon's Tests

In the book of Judges, God's people again got into a pickle of disobedience, and God allowed their enemies to oppress them. As was the pattern in Judges, the people cried out to the Lord in their distress, and he sent them a deliverer. In this case, it was Gideon to the rescue.

God's first order of business was removing the false idol from their community. God commanded Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal, cut down the Asherah that belonged to his father, and replace it with an altar to Yahweh. Gideon obeys the command and gathers ten servants to help him.

So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him ...

— Judges 6:27

Immediately following this incident, Gideon is faced with a test of gathering armies coming up against him, and he's terrified. Here, God allows Gideon to test him with wet and dry fleeces.

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said, I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by me, as you said." And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew, filling a bowl with water.

Gideon then said to God, "Don't be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground." That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.

— Judges 6:36-40

Next, God tested Gideon by making sure he understood that the victory would not come through Gideon's strength or military might, so God reduced the army's size. We will see a multiple of ten signaling the test in this case.

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’ Now announce to the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.

— Judges 7:2-3

God reduced the army even further by testing men's drinking habits.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.
— Judges 7:4

The army was reduced to a mere 300, and Gideon passed his test of faith and obedience.

David defeats the giant who tested Israel for forty days.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

David's Test With Goliath

While David was still a shepherd boy, he was sent to check on his brothers during Israel's conflict with the Philistines, which included Goliath. His father sent him ten portions of cheese and ten loaves of bread, signaling an upcoming test in the story. When David arrived, the test of defeating the giant Goliath was offered to anyone who would take on the challenge. The reward for passing the test was great riches and the king's daughter as a wife.

David exhibited total faith in God, which gave him the confidence to volunteer for the task of defeating the giant. Faith in God precipitates doing God's will.

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day, I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."

— I Samuel 17:45-47

Abigail talks David off the ledge by bringing the requested provisions. Had he taken revenge against Nabal, he may have forfeited God's assignment to be king.
Frans Pourbus the Elder (1545-1581)

David and Nabal's Test

While running from King Saul, David and his men sought refuge in Carmel on Nabal's property. Nabal was a rich and difficult man.

... the man was harsh and evil in his doings.

— I Samuel 25:3

Nabal's name means "foolish" and shares a root with another description of him in the story.

... he is such a scoundrel (worthless and vile) that one cannot speak to him.”

— I Samuel 25:17

David sent ten of his men to seek provisions from Nabal, but Nabal was a foolish man who refused provisions to David and his followers despite them protecting Nabal's herds and flocks.

David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: 'Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore, let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.'"
— I Samuel 25:5-8

Nabal fails his test by refusing to provide for David and his men. David almost failed his test by nearly killing Nabal and destroying his household for refusing to help. Abigail intervened to save the day and talked him out of it. King David realized that He had come very close to failing the test and thanked Abigail for intervening.

David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice, and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!”'
— I Samuel 25:32-34

The narrative ends with Nabal having a heart attack and dying ten days later. Nabal was tested in this sense as well. He had a ten-day opportunity to repent.

Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
— I Samuel 25:36-38

Had David failed his part of the test by avenging himself, he would have forfeited God's plans for him to be king in place of Saul.

Stainglass of King Asa

Asa's Ten Years of Quiet

2 Chronicles 14 records that when King Asa came to power, there were ten years of quiet in the land because of Asa's reforms, which included seeking God and doing His commandments.

And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God, for he removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the Asherim in pieces, and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side."

— 2 Chronicles 14:2-6

This pattern matches the ten "God saids" of creation. After everything was obeyed and finished, God rested.

The kingdom was later tested by Zerah, the Ethiopian, who came out against them. Asa passed the test by turning to Yahweh, his God.

Then Asa called to Yahweh, his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.” So Yahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
— 2 Chronicles 14:11-12

King Hezekiah proudly showed the kingdom's treasures to enemy forces that would later confiscate them and take God's people into exile.
Vicente López Portana (1772-1850)

King Hezekiah's Test

King Hezekiah was about to die and pleaded with God for his life.

Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, Remember now, O Yahweh, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.

— 2 Kings 20:1-3

God sent the prophet Isaiah to inform him that He had heard Hezekiah's prayers and would grant Him 15 more years. God also allowed Hezekiah to test Him when Hezekiah asked for a sign. The number ten is included in the test.

Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?” And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or turn back ten steps?" So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to stretch forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh, and He turned the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
— 2 Kings 20:8-11

This account receives five mentions of the number ten. Five is the number of grace.

God passed His test, but Hezekiah did not pass his. In the next scene, Hezekiah proudly showed all his treasure houses to the enemy king, who would soon invade the land. When God confronted Hezekiah, he didn't care about the consequences for future generations who would suffer from his decision, as long as it didn't happen in his lifetime.

Job's suffering included ten interrogations. His experience anticipated a coming righteous mediating redeemer.
Leon Bonnat

Job Is Tested Ten Times

Job is tested ten times by his friend's interrogations, according to Job 19:1-3.

"How long will you torment my soul
And crush me with words?
These ten times, you have dishonored me;

He ended his rant against those who accused him of unrighteousness with a statement of faith in a coming Intercessor and Redeemer.

“Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will rise up over the dust of this world.

— Job 19:23-25

Job's test was to trust God amid suffering unrelated to his deeds and to pave the way for faith in Jesus Christ, the righteous one who suffered for our sins.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
— Galatians 3:13

There are ten mentions of the tree of life in the book of Proverbs.
Raphael Toussaint 2009

Ten Speeches in Proverbs

The book of Proverbs records ten speeches of a father to his son about choosing wisdom (God's instructions) over folly (human desire). The following verses are the beginning of each speech. Each of them includes obedience to commands, instructions, and disciplines. The ten speeches teach that submission to God's commands results in blessing, but rebellion and foolishness lead to destruction.

1. Hear, my son, your father's discipline
And do not abandon your mother's instruction ...

— Proverbs 1:8

2. My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
To make your ear pay attention to wisdom,
Incline your heart to discernment;
For if you call out for understanding,
Give your voice for discernment;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh
And find the knowledge of God.

— Proverbs 2:1-5

3. My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart guard my commandments;
For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you

— Proverbs 3:1-2

4. My son, do not reject the discipline of Yahweh
Or loathe His reproof,
For whom Yahweh loves, He reproves,
Even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.

— Proverbs 3:11-12

5. Hear, O sons, the discipline of a father,
And pay attention that you may know understanding,
For I give you sound learning;
Do not forsake my instruction.
When I was a son to my father,
Tender and the only son before my mother,
Then he instructed me and said to me,
"Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live

— Proverbs 4:1-9

6. Hear, my son, and receive my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.

— Proverbs 4:10-19

7. My son, pay attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them deviate from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them
And healing to all his flesh.
Guard your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

— Proverbs 4:20-27

8. My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my discernment;
That you may keep discretion
And that your lips may guard knowledge
... So now, my sons, listen to me
And do not turn away from the words of my mouth

— Proverbs 5

9. My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not abandon the law of your mother

— Proverbs 6:20-35

10. My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
Keep my commandments and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye ...
So now, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

— Proverbs 7

The Tree of Life is mentioned ten times in Scripture—three in Genesis, four in Proverbs, and three in Revelation— canvassing God's Word from beginning to end. The Torah, meaning instruction, is sometimes called the Tree of Life. Its mentions in Genesis and Revelation express the eternal experience of partaking of the Tree of Life. The tree's four mentions in the book of Proverbs are an exhibit of the natural world, which the number four represents in Scripture.

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who obtains discernment ...

... Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her pathways are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who seize her,
And all those who hold her fast are blessed.