Introduction

In the course of Cheri's and my courtship, we found many amazing correlations between the events of our courtship and word and number definitions in the Old and New Testament lexicons and the English Dictionary.  The following is a glimpse of what we found.

Ring Price Foretold in New Testament Lexicon

The following quotation from Zodhiates' Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament shows an astonishing correlation between word number 1147 and page 1147 and the amount Sterling paid for Cheri's engagement/wedding ring:  $1147.00(after trade-in credit).

165 W.; 106 W.; 395 W.; $1147; and a Ring

After becoming engaged, I rented a new apartment at 165 West 400 North, across the street from Cheri's mother's place at 106 West 400 North, where Cheri is currently residing. 

Word number 165 [our apartment address] is on page 106 [Cheri's Mom's address] of Zodhiates New Testament dictionary.   The word means, "An indefinitely long period or lapse of time, perpetuity, ever, forever, eternity." [e.g. eternal marriage.]

Then on page 165 of Zodhiates is word 395, which is the address of where I was living in Mapleton before moving to this apartment.  The first full definition on the page means, "to spring up as the sun" (393), which brings to my mind Cheri's last name:  Moon.

The first word on page 165 of Gesenius' Old Testament lexicon  means, "(1) A lot; (2) what falls to any one by lot, especially part of an inheritance, land which falls to any one by inheritance" (1486).

Word 165 in Hebrew means, "where?"  It is found on page 16 of Gesenius.  Sixteen is Cheri's favorite number.  Also on that page are the words for "love" (157-160) and "joining together" (164).  The second-to-last word on the page means "to be bright," and gives a scriptural example, "behold even the moon..."  (167).  Moon is Cheri's last name.

When I first moved to Mapleton, the Springville post office assigned me P.O. Box 397.   Half way between pages 395 and 397 in Zodhiates is word 1147, which is the amount I paid (after trade-in) for the ring I gave Cheri at that house when we got engaged.   Word 1147 means, "Finger."  It derives from word 1146, "a finger-ring," which derives from word 5554, "a golden finger ring."

That fits.

There's more.  Let's look at page 1147 in Zodhiates.   There we find a word that means "roundabout" (4038) with synonym listed, "a ring or circle all around" (2945).  And the last word on the page means, "costly," (4041), mentioning the word "treasure." And on the previous page is word 4034, which means, "to shine around," with synonyms listed: "to glisten" (4744), and "to flash around" (4015).

Another word on page 1147 that is relevant to marriage, though not specifically to the idea of a diamond ring, is word 4037.  It means, "To wait around; to wait for," with synonyms,

Seeing as I have always been anxious to marry, that I am now 35 and finally doing it, says something about the applicability of this word in relation to this wedding coming up.

Two other words on page 1147 which have application, actually dual application, are words 4039 and 4040, which mean, "To dwell roundabout, ...meaning their neighbors" (4039); and "Someone living near a neighbor" (4040).   First, shortly after getting engaged, I moved down to Manti across the street from Cheri, so that now we are neighbors. Second, 1147 E. Briar was my street address ("neighborhood") for a time when I lived in Provo.

I find it interesting that this page 1147 would have far more to do with an this wedding than with what took place while living at the 1147 address -- where I was heading the American Study Group and publishing Greater Things magazine.

The amount I would have paid for the ring without a trade-in (from previous engagement) was $1530.  Word 1530 in the New Testament lexicon means, "To leap into," with synonyms meaning "to rush; to run in."  We knew each other a month and a half when we got engaged.  This word is one page away from page 529.   May 29 [5/29] was the first date we looked at for our wedding.  We ended up choosing May 22.

-1625, Cherish & Stir

Manti telephone company lets their customers choose their phone number.  We selected 1625 because 16 is Cheri's favorite number, and 25 is mine.  Of course we were curious what this number would mean when we looked it up in the lexicons.

Word 1625 in Greek means, "To nurture, rear, to bring up to maturity such as children. To nourish or cherish . . . in the sense of to train or educate."  Cherish is a close derivative of the meaning of Cheri's name, and is right next to it in its alphabetical sequence in English.  Though she is nineteen and I am thirty-five, I must be sure to cherish her as my equal.  She may not have as many years of experience in this life as I, but she's a strong spirit.  I've as much to learn as she.

Word 397 [my Mapleton P.O. box #] also means, "To nourish up, nurse, bring up, educate," and lists word 1625 as its first synonym.

The word prior to 1625 gives the definition, "to stir up" as its first synonym.  Word 1624 in Hebrew gives as one of its definitions, "stir up . . . "  Ster is the nickname given me in childhood.

-1625 & 400 N. & Food Provisions

Word 1625 in Hebrew deals with "food," just as Cheri and I will be dealing with food in our home business, JosephPrep.  Analogously, the synonyms for word 1625 in Greek begin with "(1006), to feed literally or figuratively."

16 X 25 = 400.  That was a fun discovery I made several weeks after moving into this apartment, which is located on the street, 400 North.

Word 400 in Hebrew means, "(1) an eating; (2) food; (a) provision."

"Pioneer Provisions" is the name of Jerry Mower's food storage line that I decided to represent in order to support this new family of mine.  This was the beginning catalyst of what soon became JosephPrep.com, which we hope to see eventually become the premier preparedness site on the web. For now we will just feature quality food storage.

On page 400 of Gesenius' Old Testament lexicon is the word "sustenance" (3633).

On page 400 of the LDS Topical Guide is the heading "Provision (see also Food)."

The first word on page 1625 of Webster's III_61, dictionary, hence the heading on the page, is

I'd say there has been some repetition here.

Two words prior to word 1625 in Greek is 1623, hektos, which means "Sixth."  Our phone prefix in Manti is 835.  Ironically, word 1835 [i.e. 1-835] in Greek means "Sixty."  Word 8353 in Hebrew means "six; plural, sixty." Word 709 [license plate number of truck Cheri has been driving] is the name of a city, Argob,  "in which were sixty cities."

Click here to see an extensive study on Manti and 835.

Reception Centers: 5/22, 5/29; 187 W.; 710 E.

In selecting a reception center for our wedding, our choice was narrowed down to two locations with two different wedding dates.  One was the Chillon center in Spanish Fork on May 29, and the other, which we ended up choosing was The Historic Colonial House in Lehi on May 22.  (See comments on 522 [May 22] below.)

Word 529 in Greek means "A meeting.  In 1 Thess. 4:17, the expression ... indicates that the Lord will be coming from one direction and we shall be coming from another to meet together in the air."  An antonym listed is word  647 "divorce," whose corollary opposite would be marriage.  We liked that reception center because of the raised platform on which the marriage and reception line would take place.

The next word means, "Once; one time; once for all," which is a wonderful description of an ideal attribute of marriage.

Page 529 in Zodhiates Greek NT dictionary has word 1534 that means, "Then," which is a fun word in relation to the idea of choosing a date:  May 29 or May 22?

Word 529 in Hebrew means "faithfulness."  The word after it means, "firmness, security."

Likewise, the word just before 187 [Colonial House address] in Greek means "steady" with synonyms, "secure, steadfast, firm."  The word just after it means, "The most fitting time," with synonym "now."   These are found on  page 111 [cool number].  Word 185 means "without any defiling material," which is the meaning of the word sterling.

The first three words on page 187 [Colonial House address] of Zodhiates mean "lawless," or "Without law; not having, knowing or acknowledging the law" (458-460).  This is very curious seeing as we do not intend to have the traditional "legal" marriage, recognized by the state, but will acknowledge God as our sovereign.  Ironically, the last word on the page, appropriately means: "To make straight or upright again.  To stand erect; in the sense of to confirm, strengthen, establish" (461).  Another word on page 165 [our apartment number] in Zodhiates means "To subvert, overturn" (396). (See Ezekiel 21:27.)

There are two words on page 187 in Gesenius' Old Testament lexicon.   The first word begins a couple of pages prior and means, "setting in a row, ranging in order; to bring into order; to speak together." The second is the word for "Word," with its various nuances of meaning such as "a promise."   I think of the wedding vow.

Likewise, word 392 in Greek, which spills onto page 165 [our apartment address] in Zodhiates means, "To compose in an orderly manner."

The street address of the Chillon reception center in Spanish Fork is 710 East.   I've noted this number elsewhere inasmuch as it is right next to 709, which is the license plate number on a truck Cheri drives.  Page 709 in Zodhiates, for example, means "We."  Page 709 in Gesenius includes the definition, "a shining plate" (6731) and "to go" (6737), which depict the idea of a license plate and a vehicle.

"Marriage" in Webster's and 1210

At on point in our courtship when I was having cold feet, I looked up "Marriage" in my huge English dictionary.  My misgivings about the relationship had to do with wondering whether or not Cheri, at her young age and different upbringing, could be up to all that life with me would entail.

Seeing that "Marriage" came on page 1384 in my huge dictionary, I then looked up word 1384 in Zodhiates NT Greek to see if there might be any insight on the subject. Word 1384 means:

The etymology of word 1384 lists "dechomai (1209), to accept, receive." The definition of word 1209 is

In the margin, I wrote, "Take this woman to be thy wife."

The very next word, 1210, is Cheri's birthday, December 10.  It means, "To bind," with the example, "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." A further commentary by Zodhiates states, "This means that we as believers on earth can only confirm what has already been decided in heaven."

Four of five words on page 1210 [Cheri's B-day] in Zodhiates make reference to "Age" (4242-4245).  But it is not just the idea of age but of "Seniority."  Quite ironic.

Word 4241 on page 1210 means, "To be eminent, distinguished, to excel."   It lists a synonym as "dei (1163), it is necessary."  1163, or November '63, is when I was born. So my birthday and Cheri's birthday are on the same page, with words that mean "age." In appropriate juxtaposition, the word just prior to 4241 means "meekness." The eminence of godliness is not about arrogant pride but meekness and service.

While I was at it, looking up things in relation to 1384, the page where "Marriage" is found in my huge Webster's dictionary, I looked at page 1384 in the LDS publication of the New Testament.   The key verse from the story on that page is Acts 10:34,35

"God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."

Remember that "Accepted" is the meaning of word 1384 in the Greek lexicon.

On page 1384 of Zodhiates is definition 5093 timios, "Held in esteem, respected, honored."   (Remember that "honorable" was part of the description of word 1384 in Greek.)

My perception of these words is that they present the principles of honor and acceptance as being integral to marriage. As to my particular situation, I have come to hold Cheri in very high esteem -- not just because of the way she is encoded in the words of scripture, but because of the person she is deep inside.

Pages 522 (May 22) in Webster's Dictionaries

{5/20/99} I wrote the above material on April 15, 1999.  Then on the evening of May 19, prior to retiring to bed, I opened my huge Webster's III61 dictionary to page 522, to see what commentary it might supply for May 22, our wedding date coming up here in three days.  The page was marked up from my having been there on April 14.  I didn't recall having recorded what was there in this write-up, so I resolved to do so the next day.

Webster's III '61

Webster Encyclopedic '71

In the process of writing that up, my curiosity spurred me to look up page 522 in another dictionary I have, one which has been around my home since I was a child.   Here is what was on page 522, beginning with the header on the page reading, "matrimony."

Webster's II Riverside '84
Eternal Marriage of an Unusual Variety

Having seen the above connections, I thought to try the one other dictionary I have here.

p.s. 523 = Social Security Number Prefix

By the way, the very next number, 523, is the prefix of my social security number.   To see a write-up I did on this, see "My Social Security Number in the Dictionary."  For example, the very first word on page 523 of my Webster's II Riverside is "personnel." The last word on that page is "petit four," the name of a cake, but also Cheri's size.

by Sterling D. Allan; Manti, Utah; April 15, 1999

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Page posted by SDA April 15, 1999
Last updated November 04, 2007
 visits since Sept. 30, 2003

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