GOTTA LOVE 13

GOTTA LOVE 13!

The 13th word in Genesis 22.2 is "love: "And He said, "Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, ... "

"Yea" is used to affirm, emphasize certainty, and underscore God's word and obedience to His commands.

So what is the big deal about "love" being the 13th word? I am about to show you. Let's just start with the Hebrew word for love:

The primary Hebrew word for "love" is אָהֲבָה (transliterated as ahavah or ahava). In Hebrew Gematria (a traditional Jewish numerological system assigning numerical values to letters) the value of אָהֲבָה is 13.

The calculation for אָהֲבָה is as follows:

א (aleph) = 1

ה (heh) = 5

ב (bet) = 2

ה (heh) = 5

Summing them: 1 + 5 + 2 + 5 = 13.

This value of 13 is often noted for its symbolic tie with the word "Echad" in the Shema prayer: 

Deuteronomy 6:4 --"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Echad)."

In that verse, the Hebrew "One" (Echad - אֶחָד) emphasizes love in unity. The gematria value of Echad in Hebrew is 13. 

The word Echad isn't an "ordinary" one. It is a complex unity one. And it is that "one" that is equal to "love." 

Double Ahavah (Shared Love): 13 × 2 = 26, equals the Gematria of YHWH (יהוה), the sacred Tetragrammaton (God's explicit name):

י (10) + ה (5) + ו (6) + ה (5) = 26.

The Bible weaves 13 and love subtly but powerfully. Here are more examples: 

Reciprocal love is seen as a pathway to divine connection, often tied to the idea that "God is love" in both the old and new testament. 

Genesis 2:24: The verse says a man shall leave his parents and become "one flesh" with his wife.

Genesis 11:6: The Lord said, "Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language".

The new testament verse 1 John 4:8 echoes this Jewish insight: "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

I believe these equivalences are NOT coincidental; I view them as deliberate divine encodings.

Unlike 12 (which signifies completeness in multiplicity, like the 12 tribes of Israel or 12 months), 13 adds a unifying "13th" element - LOVE!

12+1 -- The Journey of the 12 tribes bonded by their father Jacob (Israel) into a singular nation reflects the human soul's journey from division to wholeness through love. Similarly, the New Testament has the 12 apostles + Jesus. 

Our body has 12 ribs on either side of 1 heart. 

Exodus 34:6-7: God's 13 Attributes of Mercy (e.g., compassionate, gracious) are invoked in prayers for atonement, linking divine love to forgiveness and unity. Jonah knew God by those 13 attributes.

Psalm 133.1 (1331) emphasizes echoes love's unifying role:  "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!"

Rabbinic literature amplifies this:

• Maimonides' (Rambam) 13 Principles of Faith affirm God's oneness, paralleling ahavah's role in belief.
• The 13 Principles of Torah Exegesis (Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael) show interpretive unity, mirroring love's interpretive depth in relationships.
• Talmudic covenants: 13 pacts tied to circumcision symbolize love's binding commitment.

13 permeates Jewish life as a positive force:

• Bar Mitzvah: Age 13 marks maturity, bonding the child into the community.
• Hebrew Calendar: Leap years add a 13th month (Adar II) to unify the lunar-solar cycle.
• The Hebrew Zodiac has 12 signs + the "13th" (sun/moon binding) reflecting cosmic harmony.

Modern Jewish mysticism views 13 as the "gateway to the infinite," where love transcends ego, fostering global unity.

13 IN SCRIPTURES

Proverbs 13:24 (Old Testament, Wisdom) --  "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them."

2 Samuel 13:1 (Old Testament, Historical) -- "In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David."

Of the fifteen books in the Protestant canon that have a chapter 13, and eight of them mention "love" (or variants) at least once. Checkout these Connections Between the Number 13 and "Love" in the Bible:

John 13:1  (New Testament, Gospel): "It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

1 Corinthians 13:13 -- "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. "The entire chapter (13 verses) is a poetic definition of love (agape). 

John 15:13 -- "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

Romans 13 (New Testament, Epistle) Verses 8-10 (in chapter 13) teach that love inherently obeys God's law:

Verse 8: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law."

Verse 9: "The commandments... are summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Verse 10: "Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."

Hebrews 13 (New Testament, Epistle):

Verse 1: "Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters."

Verse 5: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have..."

CONCLUSION:

What do you think? Coincidence? I think...YOU GOTTA LOVE (13). 

LIFE HAS MANY TROUBLES...NEVER LET IT GET YOU DOWN.