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What is the biggest number found in Torah? Can be from any work at all, except maybe more recent contemporary works by popular Rabbis, such as R Kaplan or Dr. Schroeder, where they might bring in huge numbers from science or maths.

The most obvious is the one from Berachot 32b:

אָמַר לָהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: בִּתִּי, שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר מַזָּלוֹת בָּרָאתִי בָּרָקִיעַ, וְעַל כׇּל מַזָּל וּמַזָּל בָּרָאתִי לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים חַיִל, וְעַל כׇּל חַיִל וְחַיִל בָּרָאתִי לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים לִגְיוֹן, וְעַל כׇּל לִגְיוֹן וְלִגְיוֹן בָּרָאתִי לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים רַהֲטוֹן, וְעַל כׇּל רַהֲטוֹן וְרַהֲטוֹן בָּרָאתִי לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים קְרָטוֹן, וְעַל כׇּל קְרָטוֹן וּקְרָטוֹן בָּרָאתִי לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים גַּסְטְרָא, וְעַל כׇּל גַּסְטְרָא וְגַסְטְרָא תָּלִיתִי בּוֹ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וְשִׁשִּׁים וַחֲמִשָּׁה אַלְפֵי רִבּוֹא כּוֹכָבִים כְּנֶגֶד יְמוֹת הַחַמָּה. וְכוּלָּן לֹא בָּרָאתִי אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִילֵךְ, וְאַתְּ אָמַרְתְּ ״עֲזַבְתַּנִי״ וּ״שְׁכַחְתַּנִי״?! The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Israel: My daughter, I created twelve constellations in the firmament, and for each and every constellation I have created thirty armies, and for each and every army I have created thirty legions [ligyon], and for each and every legion I have created thirty infantry division leaders [rahaton], and for each and every infantry division leader I have created thirty military camp leaders [karton], and for each and every military camp leader I have created thirty leaders of forts [gastera], and on each and every leader of a fort I have hung three hundred and sixty-five thousand stars corresponding to the days of the solar year. And all of them I have created only for your sake; and you said the Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me?

= 1.06434 sextillion, a number with 18 zeroes (a billion billion):

1,064,340,000,000,000,000 stars

Can we do better? (infinity is not a number)

Rabbi Kaii
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  • https://www.mgketer.org/tanach/1/41/49 – Double AA Feb 01 '24 at 19:04
  • האמר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אני אומר דבר אחד והם אמרו דבר אחד לדברי אין סוף ולדבריהם אין סוף – rosends Feb 01 '24 at 19:16
  • The Gemera in Kiddushin talk about the large number of Mitzvos , that are multiplied multiple times by the number of Neshamos or something like that, I cant find it now. – sam freed Feb 01 '24 at 20:55
  • @samfreed You mean this? – shmosel Feb 01 '24 at 21:08
  • The number from Sotah 37b is only 17 trillion. @RabbiKaii you are still in the lead – sam freed Feb 02 '24 at 03:45
  • Chagigah 13b. There are an infinite amount of servants who serve hashem – Shababnik Feb 02 '24 at 05:31
  • @DoubleAA sand grains on earth are estimated to equal 75 followed by 17 zeros. Yet surely the infinity mentioned there must be an exageration There can't be more cucumbers and wheat than grains of sand or stars. – Shababnik Feb 02 '24 at 06:22
  • @Shababnik it didn't necessarily mean it was infinite, 'merely' that they didn't have a number for it – Lo ani Feb 02 '24 at 12:36
  • @Loani, wouldn't that mean that the answer to the question must be less than the number of grains of sand? Since, as you point out, that the Torah considers too big to number. – Micha Berger Feb 02 '24 at 12:40
  • @MichaBerger, yeah possibly. Though just because the Egyptians stopped counting at whatever number, doesn't mean that's the last possible number (obviously), so maybe later works; NaCh, Mishna, gemara etc. could have a larger number – Lo ani Feb 02 '24 at 13:59

1 Answers1

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When King David orders Yoav to take a census of the Jewish people, Yoav replies (Shmuel 2:24:3):

וְיוֹסֵף ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ אֶל־הָעָם כָּהֵם  וְכָהֵם מֵאָה פְעָמִים וְעֵינֵי אֲדֹנִי־הַמֶּלֶךְ רֹאוֹת

May Hashem your G-d add to the people like them, and like them, a hundred times, with the eyes of my lord the king seeing it!

on which Rashi comments:

כהם כפלים, וכהם שני כפלים, הרי ארבעה כפלים, וכן חוזר וכופל את הכפילה, עד מאה פעמים

"Like them" means double their present number, "and like them" means doubling again - so far, fourfold - and then continuing to double again and again, 100 times.

So in other words, Yoav is giving a blessing that the Jewish people increase to 2100 their current numbers.

Later in that passage (v. 9) the number is given as 1,300,000 men fit for military service, and Rashi there quotes a Midrash which reconciles this with the account in Divrei Hayamim 1:21:5 that records 1,570,000. Taking the latter figure, then (which Rashi and his source states is the true one, the lower figure in Shmuel leaving out some people for various reasons given there), we have Yoav looking forward to David personally seeing 1,990,211,442,358,320,160,349,824,032,440,320,000, or 1.99 x 1036, Jewish men fit for military service, to say nothing of the women and children and older men!

Meir
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