About Janko Expertise I am a qualified minister of Jehovah`s Witnesses and fully capable of answering any or all questions on our faith as well as others too, and the correct understanding of the Bible,which is God`s Word.
Experience My experience with our faith is quite substantial and was introduced to it in the 1960's as a child.
Question Can you please tell me why the number 144,000 is interpreted literally, rather than symbolically? For instance, the number of '24' elders is interpreted symbolically to refer to the 144,000. How is it determined that 144,000 is not also symbolic? Is it because this number is referred to twice? Once at Revelation 7:4, and once at Revelation 14:1. What is the Greek translation of 144,000?
Answer Hello Daphne,
Thank you for your question for me.To answer this question
and to give you the most information on this subject,here is an article that covers all aspects about this:
Questions From Readers
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses take the number 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation literally and not symbolically?
The apostle John wrote: “I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand.” (Revelation 7:4) In the Bible, the phrase “those who were sealed” refers to a group of individuals who are chosen from among mankind to rule with Christ in heaven over the coming Paradise earth. (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; Revelation 5:9, 10; 20:6) Their number, 144,000, is understood literally for several reasons. One is found in the immediate context of Revelation 7:4.
After the apostle John was told in vision about this group of 144,000 individuals, he was shown another group. John describes this second group as “a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” This great crowd refers to those who will survive the coming “great tribulation,” which will destroy the present wicked world.—Revelation 7:9, 14.
Note, however, the contrast that John draws between verses 4 and 9 of Revelation chapter 7. He states that the first group, “those who were sealed,” has a definite number. However, the second group, “a great crowd,” is without a definite number. With that in mind, it is logical to take the number 144,000 to be literal. If the number 144,000 were symbolic and referred to a group that is actually numberless, the force of the contrast between those two verses would be lost. Thus, the context strongly indicates that the number 144,000 must be taken literally.
Various Bible scholars, past and present, reached the same conclusion—that is, the number is literal. For instance, in commenting on Revelation 7:4, 9, British lexicographer Dr. Ethelbert W. Bullinger observed some 100 years ago: “It is the simple statement of fact: a definite number in contrast with the indefinite number in this very chapter.” (The Apocalypse or “The Day of the Lord,” page 282) More recently, Robert L. Thomas, Jr., professor of New Testament at The Master’s Seminary in the United States, wrote: “The case for symbolism is exegetically weak.” He added: “It is a definite number [at 7:4] in contrast with the indefinite number of 7:9. If it is taken symbolically, no number in the book can be taken literally.”—Revelation: An Exegetical Commentary, Volume 1, page 474.
Some argue that since Revelation contains highly symbolic language, all numbers found in this book, including the number 144,000, must be symbolic. (Revelation 1:1, 4; 2:10) That conclusion, though, is clearly not correct. Granted, Revelation contains numerous symbolic numbers, but it also includes literal numbers. For instance, John speaks of “the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:14) Clearly, the number 12 mentioned in this verse is literal, not symbolic. Further, the apostle John writes about “the thousand years” of Christ’s reign. That number is also to be taken literally, as a careful consideration of the Bible shows. (Revelation 20:3, 5-7) Hence, whether a number in Revelation is to be taken literally or symbolically depends on its background and setting.
The conclusion that the number 144,000 is literal and refers to a limited number of individuals, a relatively small group when compared with the “great crowd,” also harmonizes with other Bible passages. For instance, later in the vision that the apostle John receives, the 144,000 are described as those who “were bought from among mankind as firstfruits.” (Revelation 14:1, 4) The expression “firstfruits” refers to a small representative selection. Also, while Jesus was on earth, he spoke about those who will rule with him in his heavenly Kingdom and called them a “little flock.” (Luke 12:32; 22:29) Indeed, those from among mankind who will rule in heaven are few in comparison with those of mankind who will inhabit the coming Paradise earth.
Hence, the context of Revelation 7:4 and related statements found elsewhere in the Bible bear out that the number 144,000 is to be taken literally. It refers to those who will rule in heaven with Christ over a paradise earth, which will be filled with a large and undetermined number of happy people who worship Jehovah God.—Psalm 37:29
Questions from Readers
• Revelation 14:3 reads: “They are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth.” If the elders mentioned here, and in Revelation 4:4, represent the entire body of 144,000 heavenly king-priests, how is it possible for the 144,000 to sing in front of these elders?—Ecuador.
A key to understanding the book of Revelation is provided in its opening words: “A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented it in signs through him to his slave John.” (Rev. 1:1) Manifestly, something that would be impossible in reality can be portrayed by means of signs or symbols. For example, while a man could not sing in front of himself, he could stand in front of his own picture and sing. So there is really nothing contradictory about the fact that the 144,000 are depicted as standing before something by which they themselves are represented or symbolized.
The very background of the one seeing the vision, the apostle John, aids us in determining in what sense the “twenty-four elders” mentioned in Revelation 4:4 are a sign or symbol. Being a Jew, John knew that the “older men of Israel” represented and spoke for the entire nation. (Ex. 3:16, 18; 19:7) Now, the entire congregation of anointed Christians forms the “holy nation” of spiritual Israel, and Christian “older men” or “elders” may stand for or represent that entire “nation.” (1 Pet. 2:9) In agreement therewith, the “twenty-four elders” seated on thrones would represent the entire body of 144,000. The number twenty-four would have reminded John of the twenty-four priestly divisions arranged for by King David to serve at Jerusalem’s temple. (1 Chron. 24:4) This dovetails nicely with the fact that the “holy nation” of 144,000 are to function as a “royal priesthood.”
Note also that John was here being given a vision of future events, “things that must take place.” (Rev. 4:1) Accordingly, the vision of the “twenty-four elders” was a prophetic preview of the arrangement Jehovah God would set up in heaven. At the time the apostle John saw the vision, not a single member of the body of 144,000 was in heaven. Those of that body who had fallen asleep in death were awaiting a resurrection. (1 Cor. 15:20-23, 51, 52) However, the fact that the “twenty-four elders” were seen in vision guaranteed that the positions of eldership would be filled by those for whom they had been reserved. Janko
