Talk:Miraculous catch of fish

Unique property ?

There are other numbers. See this link =

sum of cubes digits - OEIS Search Results "FORMULA

A055012(n) = n iff n is in A046197 = {0, 1, 153, 370, 371, 407}. -" http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/?q=sum+of+cubes+digits&sort=0&fmt=0&language=english&go=Search --193.56.241.75 14:57, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I changed "unique" to "rare", thanks for the heads up. Feel free to make changes directly also. --Dv82matt 04:45, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Verifiability

This whole article seems to be based on a single web page. Is there any evidence that this is not an idiosyncratic concept? -- The Anome 07:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I removed the prod notice. I did a google search and it appears to be based on more than just a single web page. [1] --Dv82matt 08:42, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

If you want an earlier reference, you could read Porphyry and Plato which touch briefly upon it (e.g. in Timaeus), Porphyry recounting that Pythagoras caught 153 fish in a single catch of the net from the side of a boat. "On the Measurement of the Cycle" (Archimedes) also mentions "the measure of the fish" in this 153/vesica piscis context. The significantly more modern "City of Revelation" by Mitchell covers this topic, and goes into detail on the gematria and isopsephia aspects. You could also read "Musings on the Vesica Piscis" - an article in "Nexus Network Journal" (ISSN: 1590-5869) Volume 6, Number 2 (a maths + architecture journal). Clinkophonist 17:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

"153 = 1x1x1 + 5x5x5 + 3x3x3"?

Well, I think it should be "135 = 1x1x1 + 3x3x3 + 5x5x5"

I hope someone can notice it and give me an answer before I edited it, thank you very much:) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by LQY (talk • contribs) 12:38, 12 January 2007 (UTC).

I thought the same myself, then realized I was only doing 1x1x1 + 5x5x5 + 3x3 = 1 + 125 + 9 = 135; if you correctly cube 3 you get 1 + 125 + 27 = 153. Fasrad 02:56, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

153?

Where did that number come from. --CPATS1 03:25, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Connections

The Gospel of John has a lot of complex connections. This is simply one of them. The number 153 is a triangular number, as mentioned. If you take the numbers 1 to 17 and add them, you get 153 (1+2+3...+17 = 153). But why 17? The number in John 21:11 refers to a catch of fish. The entire segment, taken as a whole, includes a breakfast "feeding" consisting of bread and fish (v.13), leading to Jesus instructing Peter to "feed my lambs/sheep" (v.15f). This is to connect all the way back to Chapter 6 of John, the only other place where a feeding consisting of bread and fish occurs in this gospel. Chapter 6 is referred to, sometimes, as the "Bread of Life Discourse". Here, there are five barley loaves (and two fish). After this feeding, the "fragments" are collected into twelve baskets. 5 + 12 = 17.

The purpose of this in the author's mind (I believe...I've never seen this in any book or scholarly publication that I know, I must admit) contrasts the 5000 (a military reference) seeking to be "fed" against the disciples of Chapter 21. Contrast the bread "fragments" of Chapter 6 to the net that was not torn in Chapter 21. Perhaps the author was influenced, directly or indirectly, by Pythagorean philosophy, but I think he/she was just being clever. By using a triangular number, the author is able to maintain his/her symbology without it have to explicitly refer to a distinct entity...a number of theories about '153' speculate on the number of individual churches or species of fish in the Sea of Tiberias/Galilee. By using a triangular number, the author remains free to maintain a mystical theology without pinning it to a physical quantity that can and will change.

--Donovan 23:34, 3 October 2007 (UTC)