Numerical Parallelism

When specific numbers are designed into a text in a sequential, repetitious manner or are used poetically or to show the improbability or impossibility of a certain event by means of exaggeration, the author-prophet has applied a fairly rare Hebrew form known as parallelism of numbers. On the other hand, if he uses numbers to signify an exact amount, with no other attending or parallel number, then the author is almost certainly not using the numerical form. He is simply helping his writings become more interesting and exact.

Numerical parallelisms often communicate the significance or insignificance of an event, problem, or situation.

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An extract from Hugh W. Pinnock, Finding Biblical Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1999), 130.

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