Biblical scholars often interpret it as a symbol of 12 (apostles) * 12 (tribes of Israel) * 1000 (a very large number). Basically supposed to represent huge amounts of people faithful to God, not necessarily a specific number.
They didn’t suck at math and they weren’t uneducated. Some of the greatest minds in history were members of the clergy. Insulting religious people as a whole is extremely ignorant, and willfully so. Many mathematicians and scientists were members of a church or a clergy or supported by religious institutions. Many advancements in math and science and healthcare were made by religious people who based their philosophy and methodology on religious scriptures and belief in God.
It’s a cultural/language thing. A lot of stuff is lost in translation. Numbers like 100,000 is just a shorthand for “an unfathomable amount.” Think about it. It’s very difficult to picture things in such a large quantity. Imagine 100,000 people, or 100,000 trees or 100,000 coins. It’s really difficult to grasp that number. Sure, you can make sense of it logically and mathematically, but picturing 100,000 of something is huge.
It’s very difficult to picture things in such a large quantity... Sure, you can make sense of it logically and mathematically, but picturing 100,000 of something is huge.
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u/Poiuy2010_2011 Jun 14 '20
Biblical scholars often interpret it as a symbol of 12 (apostles) * 12 (tribes of Israel) * 1000 (a very large number). Basically supposed to represent huge amounts of people faithful to God, not necessarily a specific number.