In Numbers 31, 32-47 there are figures that have nothing to do with the subject of that chapter, that is the booty
made by Fineas, son of Eleazar,when he exterminated 5 midianite tribes on Moses' order.
Most probably a Jewish priest, during the exile in Babilon, exploited this chapter to write a "reminder" of some secret knowledge transmitted by the Babylonian priests.
All these figures are related to the 128 years cycle through the units of time established on its base. It was a secret knowledge transmitted in ancient societies amongst the priestly class, which had the task to measure the time. Whoever controls the calendar, in effect, controls the society. It was a tradition still alive in the Middle East 2,500 years ago. As a demonstration we can quote such an authoritative and well known source like the Bible. In Numbers 31, 32-47 we read:
“The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 head of cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and in persons, women who had never slept with a man, 32,000. Half was assigned to those who had taken part in the war, namely 337,500 sheep and goats, of which Yahweh’s portion was 675; 36,000 head of cattle, of which Yahweh’s portion was 72; 30,500 donkeys, of which Yahweh’s portion was 61, and 16,000 persons, of which Yahweh’s portion was 32. … As for the half coming to the Israelites … this came to 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 head of cattle, 30,500 donkeys and 16,000 persons. From this half, Moses took one out of every 50 …”
Figures like 360 and 72 are clearly derived from the solar calendar and we find them in all cultures of the world. But their connection with the 128 years cycle is not immediately evident. Numbers like 32 (=128/4) and 675 (= 86.400/128), instead, are strictly related to the 128 years cycle. Even numbers like 61, 30.500 and 50, apparently not belonging to it, appear to be instrumental for determining figures associated with that calendar. For example:
30.500 + 16.000 +72 + 61 + 50 + 36 + 32 = 46,751, which is exactly the number of entire days contained in 128 years (128 x 365.2422 = 46,751.0016).
Mere coincidence? Could be, but the odds are against this conclusion. The ancient Jewish priests who wrote these verses, probably in Babylon 2,500 years ago, knew the calendar based on the 128 years cycle and utilised this passage of the Bible as a “reminder”; probably encrypted in the text there are other information related to this calendar and its use.
This simple quotation from the Bible, under everybody’s eyes, represents definitive evidence that ancient priests had scientific knowledge higher than those that we think possible for their epoch, which was kept secret, and that’s why it got lost. Hints of their knowledge, however, have survived everywhere as figures that clearly betray their origin, down to the present civilisation, where they play a fundamental role in all the sciences and applications that make use of the unit of time, the second, and the units of trigonometry.