Chet is the 8th letter in Hebrew alpha-bet. It gematria value is 8.
The number eight in Hebrew is shemonah (שְׁמֹנֶה). The letter chet (ח) also represents the number eight.
The word Hanukkah means "dedicate." While the holiday of Hanukkah is not in the Torah, the word hanukkah (dedicate) is found throughout the bible.
A major theme of the Hanukkah holiday is the number eight - 8 nights, 8 lights. Do we find the concept of dedication and the number 8 associated with one another in the bible? What else is associated with "dedication" in the bible?
The eighth letter of the Hebrew alef-beyt (alphabet) is the letter "chet" ח. It is said that the letter chet is the fusion of two letters: the vav and the zayin with a bridge that unites the two. Think of the fusion as a marriage. In Jewish tradition when two people dedicate themselves to one another, it takes place under a chuppah (חוּפָּה), symbolic of God's presence. The Chuppah חוּפָּה begins with the letter chet (8) and ends with פה, which is the word "here." The shape of a chuppah even looks like the letter ח.
If that marriage produces a baby boy, the Jewish child will have a bris on the 8th day. Bris means covenant (agreement or promise). It is a sign of dedication to God.
In the time of the Maccabees, the Greek Selucide King built a gymnasium where men competed in the nude so it could be seen which men were circumcised and thus dedicated to Judaism.
The first born is dedicated to God on the 8th day in Exodus 22.29 where the Torah says, "On the eight day So shall you do with your cattle and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother, on the eighth day you may give it to Me."
In Leviticus 9.1 God summoned Moses and Aaron to make sacrafices of dedication. "And it was on the eighth day, that Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel."
In 1 Samuel 16.10 it says "And Jesse presented his seven sons before Samuel; and Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these."" It was the eighth son, David, who was to be annointed King. David would dedicate his life to serving the Lord.
Psalm 8 speaks to the what David understands. In Psalm 8.10, another great number, David declares,
"O Lord, our Master, how mighty is Your name in all the earth!"
The number 8 and the letter Chet ח have significance throughout the bible but there is one man whose name actually comes from the same root word as Hanukkah. Enoch's name means "dedicated," "trained" and disciplined." Enoch is believed to have been taken up to God. It says in Genesis 5.24 "Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him."
If we are thinking about the #8 in a New Testament context, we might consider what happens after chapter 8 and after the 7th seal and 7th Trumpet is sounded.
"The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up."
