If you ever wondered what does the number 10 mean in the Bible, you are not alone. The Holy Spirit, when instructing men to write God’s Word, was very detailed, and each word has a world of meaning. The numbers in the Bible are not random. Like many other things in the Bible, we will not understand the depth of the word of God until we are with God in heaven. Nevertheless, God has instructed us to study His Word.
When reading the Bible and finding a number, it is a good practice of study to try and understand the biblical significance of the number mentioned. The study of biblical numerology is not to find a “lucky angel number,” but rather, to understand the spiritual significance of the precise number that the Holy Spirit moved the author of God’s Word to include.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (KJV) The study of Biblical numbers is part of studying God’s Word.
God hints at studying numbers in a verse from the Book of Revelation. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:18 (KJV)
This verse is referring specifically to the number of man. In particular, the antichrist. But the words “wisdom” and “understanding” are both in this verse. If it is wise to study numbers associated with this powerful, but false, world leader, it is also wise to study and understand the symbolism of other numbers found in the Bible.
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — Definition
Bible scholars believe the meaning of the number 10 is the number of completion or divine order. Other scholars believe that the number 10 is the number of divine perfection. Both could be correct since the number 10 is a very significant Bible number.
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — Tithing and Money
The Hebrew word for “ten” is eser. The Hebrew letters that compose the word is very similar, almost identical to the word osher, which means “wealth.” This connection may link the number 10 with money, particularly, the tithe — 10%, which was part of the offering to God in the Old Testament. The first mention of the word “tithes” is in relation to Abraham giving tithes to the King of Salem as an offering to God for His deliverance in battle in Genesis 14:20 “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” (KJV)
This practice of tithing was part of the Mosaic law. The tithe of the harvest was holy to God.
Leviticus 27:30 “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.” (KJV)
God expected His people to honor Him with part of His blessings to help them remember that it was only because of Him that they had anything. As they obeyed His law He blessed them.
The blessing of tithing to God is recorded in Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (KJV)
Giving the amount of 10% of earned money to the work of God continues to be observed by present-day Christians.
Another instance where the number 10 is associated with money is in the case of Jacob, who was hired by his father-in-law, Laban. Jacob complains, quite validly, to Laban in Genesis 31:41 “Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.” (KJV)
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible — The Account of Rebekah
Rebekah became the wife of Abraham’s son, Isaac. Abraham sent his servant to look for a suitable lady to marry his son. After traveling and asking God to provide the right girl, Abraham’s servant met Rebekah. The number 10 is specifically mentioned three times in this story recorded in Genesis chapter 24.
- Abraham’s servant took 10 camels (Genesis 24:10)
- One of the gifts the servant gave Rebekah was two bracelets containing 10 shekels of gold. (Genesis 24:22)
- After Rebekah agreed to accompany the servant back to her future husband, her family wanted her to wait exactly 10 days before leaving. (Genesis 24:55)
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The 10 Plagues of Egypt
God sent 10 different plagues on the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to allow the Hebrews to leave. These 10 plagues were not only God’s judgment on the people of Egypt who held His people as slaves, but also to show that He was the true God. With these plagues, God was also judging the gods of Egypt.
Numbers 33:4 “For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” (KJV)
Here are the ten plagues of Egypt:
- Water turned into blood — Exodus 7:19
- Frogs — Exodus 8:6
- Lice — Exodus 8:17
- Swarms of flies — Exodus 8:24
- Murrain (deadly disease) on the livestock — Exodus 9:3
- Boils on man and animals — Exodus 9:10
- Hail with fire — Exodus 9:23
- Locusts — Exodus 10:13
- Darkness — Exodus 10:22
- Death of the Firstborn — Exodus 12:29
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The Ten Commandments
The most well-known Biblical use of numbers is found in the summary of God’s instructions known simply as The Ten Commandments. God have Moses these commandments, and other parts of God’s law, on Mount Sinai after the children of Israel left Egypt. Read the whole account from Exodus 20:1-17. The summary of the commandments into exactly 10 hints at the number 10 being the number of divine perfection or completeness of order, especially in relation to God’s authority.
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The Tabernacle
The tabernacle was a worship facility for the children of Israel when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. God knows that people need to worship Him, so He instructed Moses to create this movable tent that was used for worship. The specific details of the construction of the tabernacle are recorded in the Bible. On the west side of the outer court, the area around the tabernacle proper, there was a fence composed of cloth. This fence, which supported the cloth hangings, had exactly 10 pillars set into 10 sockets.
Exodus 27:12 “And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.” (KJV)
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The Feasts of the Tribes of Israel
God instituted different feast days for various reasons for the tribes of Israel. These special holy days were celebrated both during the years of wandering the wilderness, as well as when the tribes of Israel finally settled in the promised land.
Passover
The Passover was a holy day when the tribes of Israel commemorated the tenth and final plague of Egypt, that of the death of the first born. All those who feared God obeyed Him by killing a lamb and putting its blood in the prescribed pattern around their front door. This blood protected all those inside the house, causing the death angel had to “pass over” every house and sparing the first born. Passover was celebrated every year, and on the 10th day of the first month the sacrificial Passover lamb was selected.
Exodus 12:3 “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house” (KJV)
Day of Atonement
Leviticus 25:9 “Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.” (KJV)
The 10th day of the 7th month was another holy day. This was the Day of Atonement. This special tenth day was heralded by the blowing of silver trumpets.
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The 10th Generation
God said in Deuteronomy 23:2 “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.” (KJV)
The phrase “the congregation of the LORD” is a reference to the rulers of Israel. An illegitimate man could not be part of this elite council until after 10 generations. King David, God’s choice for the king of Israel, and as king, needed to be part of the congregation of the Lord, and was 10 generations removed from his forefather Pharez — an illegitimate child.
The Holy Spirit made sure the genealogy of both David and his ancestors is recorded in Matthew 1:3-6 — Phares, Esrom, Aram, Aminadab, Naason, Salmon, Booz, Obed, Jesse, David — because both David and Pharez, and all those in between, are in the blood line of Jesus Christ.
The different spelling of the names from the Old Testament to the New Testament is due to the differences of translation from Hebrew and Greek, respectively.
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — Daniel
The Book of Daniel contains both history and prophecy.
Introduction to Babylon
Daniel and his three friends were young Israelite men who were taken as captives to Babylon and were expected to eat food that God had declared unclean. To both please God and still eat, Daniel tactfully asked for a special, but very plain vegetarian diet, so they knew they would not be eating unclean meat that was against God’s dietary laws. When he encountered resistance to this request, he proposed a 10-day experiment. Here is what he asked for and the results:
“Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.” — Daniel 1:12-15 (KJV)
Not only did those who refused to disobey God in a foreign country look better, God gave them special and increased mental blessings.
“And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” — Daniel 1:20 (KJV)
Prophecy in Daniel and Revelation
The number 10 also appears in the prophecy portion of Daniel. The king of Babylon had a prophecy dream in which part of it showed a statue with 10 toes that represented a kingdom.
“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” — Daniel 2:42 (KJV)
Later, Daniel himself had a prophetic dream of a beast with 10 horns. “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” — Daniel 7:24 (KJV)
These 10 horns represented 10 different future kings. Both the 10 toes of Daniel and the 10 kings symbolized the final rule of man on Earth.
This prophecy is seen again in Revelation. Three times there is a beast mentioned with seven heads and 10 horns:
Revelation 12:3 “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” (KJV)
Revelation 13:1 “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (KJV)
Revelation 17:3 “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (KJV)
These three references could be referring to the same entity.
The angel, speaking to John, explained the symbolism of the 10-horned beast. The 10 horns represented 10 kings, just like it did in the dreams of Daniel, which shows that the prophecy of Daniel and the prophecy that John saw are both referring to the same future events.
Revelation 17:7 “And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.” (KJV)
Revelation 17:12 “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” (KJV)
Revelation 17:16 “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” (KJV)
What Does the Number 10 Mean in the Bible? — The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is different from the other three gospels. John presents Jesus as Christ the King, the Son of God. In this Gospel, Jesus describes Himself in 10 distinct ways:
- The Bread of life — John 6:35
- The Living Bread — John 6:35
- The Light of the world — John 6:51
- The Door of the sheep — John 10:7
- I am the Door — John 10:9
- I am the Good Shepherd — John 10:11
- I am the Son of God — John 10:36
- I am the Resurrection and the Life — John 11:25
- I am the Way, the Truth and the Life — John 11:25
- I am the True Vine — John 15:1
What Does the Number 10 mean in the Bible — Other Occurrences
The number 10 appears in biblical text sometimes where it is least expected, but the Holy Spirit put it there for a purpose. Here are some other occurrences of the number 10 in the Bible.
The Evil Report of the 10 Spies
Moses sent exactly 12 men to spy out the promised man. The men were chosen, one man from every tribe. They checked out the land and returned with their report 40 days later. Of the 12 men, only two were convinced that the children of Israel should enter this new land. Ten of the spies gave an evil report (read about it in Numbers chapter 13), which turned the entire congregation of Israel against going forward. God punished their lack of faith by making that generation wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
Ten Loaves and Ten Cheeses
Jesse sent his youngest son David with gifts of food for his older sons who were serving in the Israelite army and their captain. “And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.” — 1 Samuel 14:17-18 (KJV)
It was because David obedience to his father to serve as a delivery boy that when he heard the challenge of Goliath he took the initiative and killed the giant.
Nabal
David, before he was king, had many men who followed him. He asked for help to provide himself and his followers with food, even as they helped some of the farmers. One particular man, Nabal, whose name means “fool,” refused to help David and his men. David was so angry that he was going to go and kill Nabal and all of his household, but Nabal’s wise wife, Abigail, intervened and provided victuals for David and his men. When Abigail told her husband what she did and how she had actually saved his life, Nabal got so angry that his heart quit on him.
1 Samuel 25:37-38 “But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.” (KJV)
After Nabal passed away, David asked Abigail to marry him and she did.
Haman’s Ten Sons
In the Book of Esther, the enemy of the Jews was a man by the name of Haman. He offered the king 10,000 talents of silver if the king would agree to kill the Jews.
Haman said in Esther 3:9, “If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” (KJV)
Haman also had 10 sons. After Haman was hanged, before his evil intentions were carried out, the Jews also hanged his 10 sons.
“And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.” — Esther 9:14 (KJV)
The Ten Lepers
Leprosy was a dreaded disease in Bible times, and lepers were not allowed in regular society. Luke recorded the incident of the healing of 10 men with leprosy in Luke 17: 12-19. A group of 10 men with leprosy asked Jesus to heal them. He told them to obey the law of Moses, which included showing themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean. As they obeyed Jesus, the leprosy left them. Only one of them turned back and thanked Jesus for healing him.
Jesus said, “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” – Luke 17:17 (KJV)
Ten Days of Tribulation
The Bible records that God will give His faithful servants various crowns as a reward. In the Book of Revelation, addressing the church at Smyrna, Christ said, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” — Revelation 20:10 (KJV)
In this verse, the particular time span of tribulation is exactly 10 days. This reference may be symbolic, but it is interesting that an exact number of days, particularly, 10 is stated. Some Bible scholars believe that the number 10 in this verse is referring to 10 particular Roman emperors who horribly persecuted Christians between 64 and 312 A.D.
This article does not include all of the many references of the number 10 in the Bible, or multiples of 10, such as 40, 100, or similar numbers. May this information help answer the question, “What does the number 10 mean in the Bible?”
To explore more of the special meaning of Bible numbers check out the article Remarkable Meaning of the Number 4 in the Bible.
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