Super number

Numbers can be fascinating.

Some people enjoy searching for some esoteric hidden meaning in numbers. Others just use number for what they were invented for; to count things and calculate things.

Those things may be fascinating, the amount counted may be fascinating, and the calculation method may be fascinating, but for most people, the numbers themselves are nothing more than just numbers.

This page looks briefly at the former, where some people find hidden meaning in the numbers; and one number in particular, 888.

Where the ancient Hebrews used a system called Gematria, the Greeks used a similar system called Isopsephy. To each letter was assigned a number, as shown in the following table. They found this useful for learning arithmetic and geometry.

Today, numerologists discover what they believe to be 'truths' through the use of such tables.

Letter (upper & lower case)	Value	Name	Trans- literation
Α α	1	Alpha	a
Β β	2	Beta	b
Γ γ	3	Gamma	g
Δ δ	4	Delta	d
Ε ε	5	Epsilon	e
Ϝ ϛ	6	Digamma (later Sigma)	w
Ζ ζ	7	Zeta	z
Η η	8	Eta	ē
Θ θ	9	Theta	th
Ι ι	10	Iota	i
Κ κ	20	Kappa	k
Λ λ	30	Lambda	l
Μ μ	40	Mu	m
Ν ν	50	Nu	n
Ξ ξ	60	Xi	x
Ο ο	70	Omicron	o
Π π	80	Pi	p
Ϙ	90	Koppa	q
Ρ ρ	100	Rho	r
Σ σ	200	Sigma	s
Τ τ	300	Tau	t
Υ υ	400	Upsilon	y
Φ φ	500	Phi	ph
Χ χ	600	Chi	ch
Ψ ψ	700	Psi	ps
Ω ω	800	Omega	ō
ϡ	900	Sampi	ts

Thus the Greek for Jesus, transliteration of Iésous Ἰησοῦς (employing the later substitute ϛ for digamma)*
gives us:	I	Ἰ	10
	é	η	8
	s	σ	200
	o	ο	70
	u	ῦ	400
	s	ϛ	200
888
* Numerology often needs a bit of latitude