Symbolic Numerology of the Articles of Faith

1

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

One God

Strong Agreement

2

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

1- men will be punished for their own sins
2– not for Adam’s transgression

Two represents choice, as well as separation, tension, and moral distinction—the condition that makes choice and accountability possible. In Jewish thought, the second day of creation introduces division without yet being called “good,” reflecting a world in which contrast and conflict exist but are not final. This underlies the ancient doctrine of the Two Ways , in which individuals must choose between life and death, blessing and curse, and are held accountable for their own actions rather than inheriting guilt. Deut. 30:19

Strong Agreement

3

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

1- through the Atonement of Christ

2- All mankind may be saved

3– by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel

Three represents established truth and mediated unity—a harmony that resolves tension without erasing distinction. In Jewish thought, three is the minimum structure required for something divided to become stable and enduring. It reflects not perfection, but reconciliation that can withstand time. This is seen in patterns such as the three patriarchs and other triadic structures that preserve covenant across generations.

Three represents established and enduring truth—the minimum structure required for something to stand reliably. In Jewish law and thought, truth is confirmed through patterns of three (such as witnesses or repeated affirmation), not merely asserted.

This is reflected in the three patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—through whom the covenant persists across generations, and in the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), which anchor Israel’s covenantal life in time.

In this sense, three does not signify perfection, but a truth that has been made firm enough to endure, which aligns with the Third Article of Faith’s presentation of the Atonement as the established foundation upon which salvation rests.

Strong Agreement

4

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

1- first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

2- second, Repentance;

3- third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins;

4– fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Four refers to the whole inhabited world—reality ordered into space, direction, and boundary. In Jewish thought, four is associated with the four directions and the four corners of the earth, marking a world that can be entered, oriented, and lived within. It therefore represents the transition from established truth to lived reality.

The letter dalet (value 4) is traditionally associated with delet, a “door,” symbolizing a threshold or passage into ordered life. Related imagery connects dal (the poor or lowly) with the doorway, emphasizing dependence, humility, and the possibility of being lifted up (dilitani)—not as a linguistic derivation, but as a symbolic cluster. Door imagery naturally evokes boundaries and thresholds, by which individuals enter covenantal life not merely in belief, but through embodied, real-world action.

If three makes truth stable, four places that truth into the world where it can be lived. Four is therefore not completion (which belongs to seven), not perfection, and not transcendence. Four is structure and entry.

This is reflected in the fourth day of creation, which establishes cosmic administration—lights, seasons, and times—without yet introducing rest or holiness. Four does not represent Torah itself (which belongs to five), but the framework that allows Torah, covenant, and law to operate publicly within the world.

In this sense, four marks the transition from established truth to how that truth is enacted in reality, where covenant, law, and human action take place within an ordered and habitable world. This directly corresponds to the Fourth Article of Faith, which is not abstract doctrine but a description of what is actually done in the world: faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands—embodied actions by which individuals pass through the threshold into covenantal life.

Strong Agreement

5

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

1- a man must be called of God

2- by prophecy,

3- and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority

4- to preach the Gospel and

5– administer in the ordinances thereof.

Five represents revealed instruction (Torah) given to an incomplete world. In Jewish thought, the Five Books of Moses presuppose human failure and therefore make repentance (teshuvah) and redemption possible within covenant rather than outside it. Torah does not assume perfection; it governs a world in which return, repair, and restoration are expected.

This corresponds to the Fifth Article of Faith, which emphasizes authorized mediation in teaching and administering divine instruction. In both Jewish and LDS frameworks, repentance and redemption are not abstract ideals, but realities that must be taught, transmitted, and enacted through legitimate authority within a structured community.

Strong Agreement

6

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

1- apostles

2- prophets

3- pastors

4- teachers

5- evangelists

6– and so forth.

Six represents human labor and the organized work by which covenantal life is transmitted across generations. In Jewish thought, the six days of creation correspond not merely to effort, but to purposeful activity carried out in time before sanctified rest. Six is therefore the space in which revealed truth is handed on—through teaching, offices, institutions, and disciplined practice—so that what was received in the past can remain operative in the future.

This corresponds directly to the Sixth Article of Faith, which affirms the continuation of the organization of the Primitive Church. The emphasis is not on recreating an ancient moment, but on preserving the same forms of labor—apostles, prophets, teachers, and administrators—by which revealed truth is transmitted, corrected, and sustained across time. In this sense, six names the work that links memory to hope, carrying what has been revealed toward its intended completion.

Strong Agreement

7

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

1- tongues

2- prophecy

3- revelation

4- visions

5- healing

6- interpretation of tongues

7– and so forth.

Seven represents completion within the created order—life functioning as God intends, marked by sanctified time and divine presence rather than ongoing labor. In Jewish thought, the Sabbath, the seven Noahide laws, and other seven-patterns describe a world that is whole and morally ordered, though not yet transcended.

This aligns with the Seventh Article of Faith, which lists spiritual gifts not as mechanisms of organization or authority, but as signs of a living, complete covenantal life. These gifts do not establish the Church, nor do they perfect it beyond the world; rather, they indicate that the community is spiritually whole enough for divine presence to dwell within it.

Strong Agreement

8

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

Eight represents covenantal renewal that transcends the natural order. In Jewish thought, nature completes its cycle at seven, but covenant begins at eight—marked most clearly in circumcision on the eighth day, the dedication of the Tabernacle culminating on the eighth day, the preservation of eight souls through the Flood, and resurrection occurring beyond the weekly cycle. Each case reflects divine action that does not arise naturally from what came before, but is imposed from above to initiate a new covenantal phase.

This symbolism aligns with the Eighth Article of Faith, which affirms additional scriptural witnesses beyond the Bible. Just as covenant does not emerge automatically from nature, a new testament does not arise automatically from an old one; it requires divine intervention. The Book of Mormon is therefore presented not as a natural development, but as a renewed covenantal witness—explicitly described as a “new covenant” (cf. D&C 84:57)—standing alongside earlier scripture in the same super-natural, eighth-day register.

Strong Agreement

9

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

• revealed (past)

• does now reveal (present)

• will yet reveal (future)

 3*3=9. suggests an emphasis of establishment of truth.

Nine is associated with emet (truth), understood not as finalized or fully articulated truth, but as something real that has entered the world and is moving toward completion.

The gematria of the Hebrew word emet (truth) is 441, which reduces to 9. Jewish tradition therefore associates nine with truth, though not with its complete articulation.

The Hebrew letter tet (value 9) is traditionally linked with good concealed within. Rabbinic sources note that it first appears in the Torah in the word tov (“good”), and its enclosed form has been understood symbolically as indicating goodness or truth that is present but not yet revealed.

The image of nine months of pregnancy further illustrates this idea: a state in which something real exists and is active, yet not yet visible or complete. Pregnancy represents a process that has begun and must be brought to completion.

Since ten represents completed and articulated order (for example, the Ten Commandments), nine can therefore be understood as truth prior to its final articulation—truth in the process of being brought forth.

Strong Agreement

10

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

• literal gathering   —  of Israel 
•  restoration   —  of the Ten Tribes;
• that Zion — will be built
• Christ — will reign personally upon the earth;
• the earth  — will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

Ten represents articulated covenantal completeness—order that is fully expressed, accountable, and capable of public judgment. In Jewish thought, ten marks the point at which a community is whole enough to function as a covenantal society, as seen in the Ten Commandments, the requirement of a minyan (Jewish quorum) for public worship, and the symbolism of tithing, which acknowledges that a complete whole belongs to God.

This meaning is reinforced by the parable of the lost coin, where ten represents a complete household order and nine signifies an essential lack.

References to the Ten Tribes similarly indicate a fully constituted covenantal nation, capable of both collective apostasy and collective restoration. This aligns with the Tenth Article of Faith, which describes not a partial renewal or ongoing process, but the restoration of Israel as a complete, ordered society—Zion established, Christ reigning, and the earth renewed. Ten here signifies not mere fullness, but public, accountable covenantal order restored in its entirety.

Strong Agreement

11

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Eleven represents excess beyond articulated order—truth or power that exceeds completion without resolving into stable covenantal structure. In Jewish tradition, eleven often appears as an unstable surplus rather than a fulfilled whole. This is seen, for example, in Esau’s eleven chieftains, which signify political strength and abundance without covenantal completion. Similarly, in later mystical thought, da‘at (knowledge) is sometimes described as a quasi-sefirah—an active awareness that emerges when insight is present but disappears once order is stabilized. In both cases, eleven represents surplus without integration.

If ten signifies articulated, accountable covenantal order, and twelve signifies a stable covenantal community, then eleven stands between them. It is not deficiency, but instability by excess—too much power or truth without covenantal resolution. Eleven therefore marks a boundary condition: something substantial exists, but it has not yet—or must not—solidify into enforced structure.

This symbolism aligns closely with the Eleventh Article of Faith, which deliberately restrains total religious order by affirming freedom of conscience. Even where covenantal truth is fully articulated, it must not be imposed by coercion. The article does not add doctrine, define structure, or describe covenantal fulfillment. Instead, it functions as a limiting principle, ensuring that religious order does not absolutize itself. In this sense, eleven marks the point where order yields to moral freedom, preserving conscience and preventing the consolidation of surplus truth into coercive power.

Strong Agreement

12

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

Three obligations to four types of rulers. 3*4=12

Twelve is frequently divided into 4 sets of 3, so this is not a stretch.

Twelve is the number governance and authority, it represents stable, distributable covenantal order — a structure capable of sustaining a people across time, space, and diversity. In Jewish and biblical tradition, twelve consistently marks the organization of a complete community: the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve stones on the High Priest’s breastplate, the twelve administrators under Solomon, and later the twelve apostles and the twelvefold structure of the New Jerusalem. In each case, authority is not centralized into a single figure but distributed across a unified, enduring framework.

This symbolism aligns with the Twelfth Article of Faith, which affirms respect for civil authority and the sustaining of law. The article does not idealize power or sacralize government; rather, it assumes the necessity of stable order for covenantal life to persist. In this sense, twelve represents not perfection or transcendence, but governance that is sufficiently ordered to endure.

Strong Agreement

13

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

1-honest

2- true,

3- chaste

4- benevolent,

5- virtuous

6- and in doing good to all men;

7- We believe all things,

8- we hope all things,

9- we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.

10- anything virtuous

11- lovely

12- or of good report

13- or praiseworthy

Jewish tradition speaks of thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6–7), by which God governs the world, particularly in moments of covenantal failure. These attributes are revealed after the rupture of the Golden Calf and function not to abolish law, but to preserve the relationship when judgment alone would destroy it.

Israel is structured as twelve tribes, representing a complete covenantal community. Yet Jewish tradition often treats Levi as a thirteenth, set apart not to replace the twelve, but to teach, mediate, and bind them to God. In this sense, thirteen does not negate the order represented by twelve; it sustains it when order alone proves insufficient.

This helps explain why thirteen follows twelve rather than replacing it: law defines what must be done, but mercy governs what happens when the law is broken. Thirteen therefore represents not the end of the system, but its capacity for repair. In this way, thirteen can be understood as a return to unity (echad) at a higher octave—not a naïve oneness prior to covenant, but a restored unity grounded in mercy, love, and relational endurance.

Strong Agreement