The Hidden Numbers in Sacred Text: Is God’s Code Hidden in Every Letter?

For millennia, mystics have believed that Hebrew scriptures contain a secret numerical language—a divine code waiting to be deciphered. Known as Gematria, this ancient practice assigns numerical values to letters, revealing hidden meanings that lie beneath the surface of sacred text. But is this the fingerprint of God woven into holy words, or simply an elaborate pattern-seeking game? Explore how a tradition born in Assyria and perfected by Jewish Kabbalists claims that every letter, every word, and every number holds profound spiritual significance—and why scientists and skeptics remain unconvinced.

Gematria: Esoteric Numerology Based on the Hebrew Kabbalah

Having long been fascinated with the mysterious power of numbers, enough to write two books on the topic, we often sidestepped the subject of numerology because of its lack of a true scientific basis. Yet ancient and esoteric traditions looked at numerology as not only a tool for divination, but a method of acquiring knowledge beyond that of the five senses, even as a path to know the divine itself.

W.E.B. DuBois once stated, “When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books. You will be reading meanings.” There are various systems of numerology that examine number associations with names, dates, and locations and then serve to interpret meaning behind them, usually in conjunction with predicting the future or in charting someone’s destiny.

Numerology evolved over time by also absorbing influences of Christian mysticism, Gnosticism, the Vedas, and eastern esotericism, yet is said to have its roots in Pythagorean mathematics. Pythagoras was an ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician (570 to 490 BCE) who became known as the grandfather of mathematics.