50 (Fifty)
Symbolic treatment of this number in the corpus
Bullinger · Jones · Noordzij
Fifty is the number of the jubilee, the Holy Spirit, and liberation. Bullinger describes it as the number of Pentecost: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the fiftieth day after Passover. Jones connects the Old Testament jubilee — falling on the fiftieth year after seven times seven — to the New Testament experience of Pentecost as the firstfruits of the Spirit. Noordzij sees in the groups of fifty at the feeding of the five thousand a numeric sign of the Spirit who feeds God’s people.
Biblical References
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Ex. 26:5 | Fifty clasps join the curtains of the tabernacle |
| Lev. 25:10 | The fiftieth year is holy: jubilee, liberty throughout the land |
| Lev. 25:11 | In the jubilee year there shall be no sowing or reaping |
| Luke 9:14 | Jesus has the five thousand sit down in groups of fifty |
| Acts 2:1 | Pentecost: fifty days after Passover the Spirit is poured out |
Symbolism in the Corpus
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger describes fifty as the number of the jubilee and of the Holy Spirit: the number of freedom and redemption. The formula is 7 × 7 + 1 = 50: after the fullness of seven sabbatical years the year of liberation begins. The fiftieth day after Passover is Pentecost; the fiftieth year is the jubilee. Both are expressions of the same divine principle: the immediate presence of God’s Spirit as a power of freedom and restoration. 1
Stephen E. Jones
Jones connects fifty systematically with the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and the jubilee: “50 — Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Jubilee.” In his prophetic calendar fifty years is the fundamental unit of jubilee reckoning. He develops a three-layered pattern: the fiftieth day (Pentecost), the fiftieth year (jubilee), and fifty jubilees (2,500 years) as a larger prophetic cycle. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is for Jones the firstfruits of the jubilee: freedom, debt cancellation, and the immediate presence of God. 2
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij connects fifty directly to the Holy Spirit as the one who feeds God’s people: “Fifty is the biblical number of the Holy Spirit. He feeds when we sit down.” In the context of the feeding of the five thousand he reads Jesus’s instruction to have the people sit down in groups of fifty (Luke 9:14) not as a logistical measure, but as a numeric sign of the Holy Spirit given to the people through Christ. 3