Another Fish on the Fire: John 21:9, 11

The 153 fish of John 21:11 should be seen as a "name in numbers" puzzle and should be solved with that category's conventions in mind. Previous solutions have failed to explore and evaluate the knowledge a would-be puzzle-solver would need. In 1990, in an article in Expository Times I proposed adding the one fish Jesus is roasting on the coals (John 21:9) and used isopsephy to solve the new total, 154, as the word "Day," an early title of Jesus. Two new arguments support that solution: the numerical sum of the name Jesus is reflected in the three Sunday appearances—"on the first day of the week" (John 20:19); "after eight days" (20:26); and the final Sunday that solves the numerical puzzle (21:1-14)—and the fishing scene imitates a wellknown gathering of eight men in book 2 of the Iliad. The elementary arithmetic of triangular numbers suggests a hypothesis. If the epilogue to the Gospel of John used the nomen sacrum [inline-graphic 01] for the name Jesus, the nomen as the number 18 and its triangle 171 also belong with the triangular 153 and its base of 17. The letter-numerals of η ογδοη η add up to 171. As letters joined with ἡμέρα, they form a phrase familiar from Leviticus, ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ὀγδόη, which equals 153 plus 1 plus 171. The solution: Jesus is "the Eighth Day."