Pi in theBible

This one is pretty silly, but nevertheless significant.

I was looking through Yahoo under a subject having to do with individual word studies, and I came across a study called "Pi in the Bible" by Jochen Katz.  He discussed the measurement of Solomon's Temple's "sea of cast metal," measuring diameter 10 and circumference 30 (not equal to pi), and explained how pi could be derived.  First, mathematically, he took the etymology of the words and (the Hebrew word used in this verse, versus the usual word for circumference), and showed that the ratio of their numeric value (gametria) [(5 + 6 + 100)/(6 + 100)] is 1.0471698, which multiplied by 3 is pi.  Second he proposed that the brim on the "sea of cast metal" was wider than the body, hence accounting for the discrepancy.

When I saw 1.0471698, just for the heck of it, I thought I would look up word number 1047 in the Old Testamen lexicon.  It is Beth Peor, spelled .  Beth is translated "house of," and the first three letters of the last portion, peh, ayin, vaw could very easily be transliterated as "pi."  Hence, "house of pi."  Indeed, truth is stranger than fiction.

by Sterling D. Allan; Mapleton, Utah; December 25, 1998

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Page last updated on February 28, 2002