Page 247 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
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226 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
The history of π has been monitored in a book by Petr Beckmann (1971).
An interesting reference is given in the book to a certain quotation from the
Bible (1 Kings 7:23). This is the only place where the Bible relates to how the
circumference is related to the diameter:

“He made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; it was
round all about, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits did

circle it round about” (1 Kings 7:23).
(The same quotation is repeated in 2 Chron. 4:2, in the same context, yet with-
out the “clue” to the real magnitude of π, as will be shortly expounded.)

Beckmann (1971) presents a photocopy of the Hebrew original quotation and

some translations thereof. The interpretation Beckmann gives to these sentences
and his own conclusions are as follows (ibid., 14):

“The molten sea, we are told, is round; it measures 30 cubits round about
(in circumference) and 10 cubits from brim to brim (in diameter); thus the
biblical value of π is: 30/10 = 3. The Book of Kings was edited by the ancient
Jews as a religious work about 550 B.C., but its sources date back several
centuries. At that time π was already known to a considerably better accuracy,
but evidently not to the editors of the Bible.” In the next page, Beckmann
summarizes the state-of-the-art at the time: “Returning to the determina-
tion of π by direct measurement using primitive equipment, it can probably
safely be said that it led to values no better than: 25/8 = 3.125<π<3.143 =
22/7.”

Blatner (1998) is relating to the same subject. In a section titled “Pi and the

Bible,” under the subtitle “Here are several additional dubious rationalizations,”
Blatner (1998) displays succinctly the coincidence that is to be addressed in this
section.

While the interpretation given by Beckmann to the apparent contents of the
quotation from the Bible is accurate, the conclusions he reaches about the π accu-
racy imparted by this quotation are probably wrong. So is Blatner’s conclusion
expressed by reference to “dubious rationalizations.” Perhaps the importance
attributed in Jewish tradition to the special letters in the Bible, as expounded in
section 16.1, was unknown to both.
The “pi coincidence” regards a key word in the above quotation from 1 Kings.

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The word is kav (literally, “line,” but also used in the Bible for “yardstick”). This
word is differently read than written. Recalling the earlier quotation from the