The Significance of the Number 17 – Part One

In this post you will learn the significance of the number 17 within subjects such as mathematics, language/literature, religion, architecture, secret societies, government, and entertainment such as music, movies and TV shows. I will try to cover as much as possible in one post, but this may be split into multiple parts for readability.

First, I will show you the significance of the number 17 to mathematics. I want to start by defining the term prime number. For those who don’t know, a prime number is a number that does NOT DIVIDE into any number other than itself and one. Here is a list of the first eight prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19. It is also important to remember that one is said to NOT be prime, and counting it as such will mess up the order.

The prime numbers would have been very obvious to the ancients, as all four base math operations were being used by them, so all it would take is dividing the first couple of numbers to discover the primes. We have physical evidence that the ancient Egyptians knew about prime numbers from the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, but it was possibly a much older discovery, as evidenced by the Ishango bone, as well as the highly advanced Sumerian numerology system. Given the significant trade of knowledge and items from Sumeria to Egypt, I’m guessing that they were discovered first in Mesopotamia and then spread to Egypt and elsewhere (along with much other knowledge as well).

The reason I want you to know prime numbers were an ancient discovery of these old civilizations is because I want you to know that THEY KNEW that the 7th prime number is 17. Not only did they know this, but they also knew that the sum of the first 4 prime numbers is 17, meaning that “2+3+5+7” = 17. Notice also that 7 is the 4th prime number. I will do a separate post about the significance of the numbers 74 and 47, but for now I want to show you the importance of the numbers 4 and 7 to the ancients.

Starting with the number 4, this number represents the square with 4 sides. The base of a pyramid is square, with 4 triangular sides. Mathematics also has 4 base operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The number 4 also most importantly represents the “Tetragrammaton“, which is the four-letter name of God in Hebrew. Here is a picture below:

So not only does this name of God consist of 4 letters, with the sum of the first 4 prime numbers equating to 17, as well as 17 being the 7th prime, and 7 being the 4th prime, but also using Hebrew gematria, the name of God actually equates to 17 as well. This is because “5+6+5+1” = 17. Yod is counting as 1 instead of 10 using the reduction cipher because “1+0” = 1. In English, God has the same gematria value because G is 7, O is 6, and D is 4, as seen below:

Now that you know the significance of the number 4, lets move on to the number 7. The significance of this number should be more obvious given that we divide each week into 7 days, and the Jewish story of creation is that YHWH created the world in 7 days.

The number 7 is a very symbolic number to the ancients in many ways, not only because its the 4th prime number, but also because “3+4” = 7, with the number 4 representing the square on the Pyramid, and the number 3 representing the triangle on the Pyramid, as seen above. Also, for another connection to the number 17, “17 x 2″ = 34. Don’t forget Kansas is the 34th state remembered for the 34th president, with 34 stars on its flag, with the 34 the highest population, and the 34th most number of coronavirus cases in the United States, with the government headquarters that equates to 34. “Topeka, Kansas” = 34.

Anyway, before I get too off topic, please see this article if you want to learn more about the number 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolism_of_the_number_7

The most important takeaways from this article are that:

1. Seven is considered a “God Number” by the Pharaohs of Egypt.
2. There are seven astronomical objects visible to the naked eye that move, which include the: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
3. There were seven degrees of the Cult of Mithras, with the seventh being the Saturnian degree.
4. There are supposedly seven colors in the rainbow, with this being a famous Judaic and ancient symbol for the rainbow serpent.
5. Greek philosophy began with the “Seven Sages”.
6. In Judaism and Mesopotamian mythology, the universe is made of exactly seven heaves.
7. Inanna/Ishtar is said to have descended to the underworld through seven gates.

Now that you know the significance of 4 and 7, as well as their mathematical relationship to the number 17, we can now focus more specifically on the ancient significance of the number 17 apart from these mathematical reasons.

As I have already mentioned, the name of God sums to 17 in the contrived languages of both English and Hebrew. This is not the only religious or mythological connection however. In the Bible, the patriarch Jacob lives 17 years after his son Joseph goes missing, and lives for another 17 years after their reunion in Egypt. Abraham is said to have lived to 175 years old, and the factors of 175 sum to 17. The same pattern can be observed with Jacob, who is said to have lived to 147 years total, and the factors of 147 sum to 17. Further, in Egyptian mythology, it is said that Osiris’s life came to an end on the 17th day of the month, and in Freemasonry the 17th degree is known as the “Knight of the East and the West”, corresponding with the fact that Freemasonry began on a Catholic holiday in the year 1717. This was the 175th day of the year, also known as 6/24/1717 or Saint Johns Feast Day, and I have already mentioned that the factors of 175 sum to none other than 17.

In conclusion, in this post I covered part of the significance of the number 17, from its anciently known mathematical relationship to the numbers 4 and 7, as well as to parts of history, religion, language, and secret societies that clearly utilize this number. In the next post, I will expand upon what you have already learned here, and show you the specific usage of 17 numerology, which I call the “God number”, with numerous examples of architecture, government, and especially the entertainment industry.