Patrick Comerford
I have spent much of the day in Birmingham at a training day in Acocks Green for the trustees of almshouses. It has been a long day, beginning with long train journeys, and this evening I am on my way back by train again and bus to Stony Stratford.
I have had time on these journeys to think about my birthday tomorrow and to reflect on the significance of reaching the age of 72.
In number theory, 72 is the natural number after 71 and before 73. It is a pronic number, as it is the product of 8 and 9, it is the smallest Achilles number, as it is a powerful number that is not itself a power.
The number 72 is an abundant number. With exactly 12 positive divisors, including 12 (one of only two sublime numbers), 72 is also the twelfth member in the sequence of refactorable numbers. It has a Euler totient of 24, which makes it a highly totient number, as there are 17 solutions to the equation φ(x) = 72, more than any integer below 72. It is equal to the sum of its preceding smaller highly totient numbers, 24 and 48, and contains the first six highly totient numbers 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 as a subset of its proper divisors.
The number 144, or twice 72, is also highly totient, as is 576, the square of 24. While 17 different integers have a totient value of 72, the sum of Euler’s totient function φ(x) over the first 15 integers is 72. It also is a perfect indexed Harshad number in decimal (28th), as it is divisible by the sum of its digits (9).
In addition, 72 is the second multiple of 12, after 48, that is not a sum of twin primes. It is, however, the sum of four consecutive primes (13 + 17 + 19 + 23), as well as the sum of six consecutive primes (5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 19). Also, 72 is the first number that can be expressed as the difference of the squares of primes in just two distinct ways: 112 − 72 = 192 − 172.
In science, 72 is the atomic number of hafnium, and in degrees Fahrenheit 72 is 22.22 Celsius and is considered to be room temperature.
Biblically, tradition says 72 is the number of languages spoken at the Tower of Babylon. The degrees of Jacob’s Ladder (Genesis 28:10–19) were 72 in number, according to the Zohar, a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature.
The conventional number of scholars involvinged in translating the Septuagint was 72, not 70, with six Hebrew scholars drawn from each of the 12 tribes. According to tradition, Ptolemy II Philadelphus sent 72 Hebrew scholars and translators from Jerusalem to Alexandria to translate the Tanakh from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek, for inclusion in his library.
The Gospel freading tomorrow for the Feast of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, (Luke 10: 1-9), tells of the sending out of the 72, or the 70, depending on which translation you are reading. In the Eastern Christian traditions, they are known as the 70 or 72 apostles, while in Western Christianity they are usually described as disciples. Tradionally they aare said to include Saint Timothy and Saint Titus.
The number 70 may derive from the 70 nations in Genesis 10, but the number 72 may represent the 12 tribes, as in the significance of the number of translators of the Septuagint, the symbolism of three days, and understanding the meaning of 144, to appear again in the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation.
In translating the Vulgate, Jerome selected the reading of 72. In modern translations, the number 72 is preferred in the NRSV, NIV, ESV and the New Catholic Bible, for example, but 70 in the NRSV Anglicised and the Authorised or King James Version.
According to Kabbalah, 72 is the number of names of God. In Kaballah, the Shem HaMephorash (שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ) or ‘the explicit name’ of God is composed of 72 letters. The 72-fold name is derived from a reading of Exodus 14:19-21. Kabbalist legends say the 72-fold name was used by Moses to cross the Red Sea, and that it could grant later holy men the power to cast out demons, heal the sick, prevent natural disasters, and even kill enemies. This, of course, relates directly to the commission of the 72 in Saint Luke’s Gospel.
So, at 72, having arrived at my prime – or, at least, between two prime numbers – perhaps I am best served at room temperature. I am now a powerful number, suited to translation, ready to be sent out.
I once stayed at the Tamworth Arms at 71-72 Lichfield Street, almost directly across the street from the Moat House, the former Comberford family home. The Cock Hotel in Stony Stratford, where the choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church regularly adjourns after Wednesday evening rehearsals, is at 72 High Street.
But what is there to look forward after 72?
When the long-serving Labour MP for Rochdale Sir Tony Lloyd last week at the age of 73, the Guardian reported him as saying some years ago: ‘There’s this recognition that you only have a certain time left … I’m 70, and as such you think, “Well, I’m probably not going to be around in X years’ time, so use these years wisely. Use these days wisely.” That’s good advice for us all.’
Of course that’s good advice for us all. But surely there is more to look forward to than merely counting the X number of years ahead, to something that has more meaning than what is left of my mere temporal existence.
My life is filled with love and with a sense of purpose. I am looking forward not only to my 72nd birthday tomorrow, but, in the words of Psalm 72, to something beyond my own interest at my own age, including justice, righteousness and long life, so that that those with power and in government may defend the poor, deliver the needy and crush the oppressor, so that righteousness may flourish and peace abound. Perhaps the expected general election later this year will result in a promise of that future. I live in hope.
Psalm 72 is a prayer for eternal life, for God’s blessings for ever. It is a song praying for gifts for ‘the king,’ including justice, righteousness and long life, so that he may defend the poor, deliver the needy and crush the oppressor and that righteousness may flourish and peace abound.
Psalm 72 is traditionally seen as being written by King Solomon, but some commentators suggest it was written by David to express his hope for Solomon.
Some commentators say the psalm contains memories of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon and the Temple in Jerusalem, and associate it with the anointing of Solomon as king while David was still living (see I Kings 1: 39-43).
Some commentators see David’s prayers fulfilled in some sense in the reign of Solomon: a temple will be built and there will be great peace and prosperity; yet the language is larger than Solomon: ‘May his glory fill the whole earth’ (verse 19).
This psalm is also recommended in many lectionaries for Sundays in this time of Epiphany. The psalmist mentions the kings of three areas: Tarshish, thought to be present-day Spain; the Isles, which may refer Crete and Cyprus; and Sheba and Saba, present-day Yemen, with its capital at Saba.
They bring together the trade routes across the breadth of the whole Mediterranean, and from Jerusalem to the tip of the Arabian Peninsula at the entrance to the Indian Ocean and the African coast. In this way, they symbolise poetically all earthly rulers.
The psalmist prays these three kings may bring gifts to the one true king, who delivers the needy, hears the cry of the poor, has pity on the week, saves the needy, delivers them from oppression and violence, redeems their lives and saves them from bloodshed.
Psalm 72 (NRSVA):
Of Solomon.
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May he live while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May his foes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
12 For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure for ever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;
may they pronounce him happy.
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
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