Proof a tax-collector knows his numbers

What clues would prove that the gospel written by the tax-collector Matthew has intended "LORD" to be the 666th word of the Greek Testament? Why does today's Greek text arrange Joseph to be the 666th word? (Luke identifies Elizabeth as his 666th gospel word.)

In such documents as biblical writings, word order is paramount. Every word is positioned to conform to an ordinal number according to several factors: number of words in the book; number of words in a verse; number of words in a speech or parts of a speech.

We shall show the veracity of Matthew's agenda by studying his use of the verb "to give."

There are 53 simple forms of the verb and 51 compound forms (for example, beside-give is translated "to betray") for a total of 104. Seven are in the future passive ("it shall be given" | δοθήσεται). Five are affirmative but both the negative verses concern whether a sign or miracle will be given to an "adulterous" generation, a word used only seven times by five authors in the Greek Testament.

The seven occurrences of the verb are at 7:7, 10:19, 12:39, 13:12, 16:4, 21:43 and 25:29. The preliminary ordering of the simple forms (no prefix such as beside-give) are the 6th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 25th, 37th and 42nd. The ultimate ordering of all forms are the 13th, 24th, 28th, 32nd, 40th, 68th and 77th.

Since we are counting sevens, note the first and last figures. The first verb of seven is in the seventh verse of the seventh chapter and the seventh is the seventy-seventh occurrence of all the conjugations used by Matthew.

Now consider how many times you just read "seven." Do you think a money-man such as Matthew would be ignorant of his own design? Incidentally, three nouns associated with this verb occur in groups of seven: Fruit, seven times; Fruits, seven times; Sign, seven times; and Need, seven times (six nouns plus the adjective as explained below).

Let us expand the scope of our forensics and study the first and last occurrences of the verb "it shall be given." [Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive."]

Preceding 7:7 is a verse of 26 words and four of them are numbered as follows: dogs 688; pigs 444; them 288; and you 644. These are all generated by the seven levels of subject matter in the sermon.

Preceding 25:29 are 13 words of which two also have similar figures: the talant 444 (τὸ τάλαντον) and the ten talants 44 (τὰ δέκα τάλαντα). The singular occurs four times in the parable and Matthew is the only author to use this money-word in the Greek Testament.

Coincidentally, in the next verse is a word that is used once by two authors and its Strong's Dictionary number is 888. Luke 17:10 is in the plural and in Matthew 25:30 "the Lord" gives the command to out-throw "the un-needful slave" into outer darkness. Matthew places this person in his book as the 15,444th word.

Furthermore, a word that occurs eight times in the Greek Testament is used once at Ephesians 4:29, twice by Luke, and five times by Matthew. The description of the "fruits" of a "rotten tree" positions the adjective in the third level of the sermon as word 888.

Clearly, dogs and pigs need money! The precision of all these fours and eights associated with the first and last "it shall be given" are simply more proofs that LORD is word 666 of the Greek Testament.