This devotional series is from intriguing new books you’ll want to read. Today’s is by Rabbi Jason Sobel

When Jesus taught His disciples the true meaning of forgiveness, he may have been saying more than we Westerners realize. Peter asked Jesus: “‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven’” (Matthew 18:21–22, NKJV).

Peter thought he was being very spiritual by being willing to forgive someone up to seven times. So Jesus’ response—commanding him to forgive someone up to 490 times—must have been quite a shock! Everything Jesus did and said was very purposeful. He never wasted a word. So the number of times He instructs us to forgive must have some deeper significance. But what is it?

Every word in Hebrew has a numerical value, and these values frequently communicate deeper spiritual insights. That is certainly the case here.

The number 490 is the numerical value of the biblical Hebrew word tamim, which means “complete,” “perfect,” or “finished.” A person who can’t forgive will always live an imperfect and incomplete life that lacks a true understanding of the “finished,” gracious work of the cross. The number 490 is also the value of the Hebrew phrase “Let your heart be perfect” (1 Kings 8:61 KJV). Forgiving helps make us complete, and it is key to perfecting our hearts before the Lord.

But there are some even deeper connections. In Hebrew, the word for “my nativity” (moladati) and Bethlehem (Beit Lechem)—the city where Messiah was born, which means “House of Bread”—each Individually adds up to 490. This makes perfect sense, since Jesus was born so that we might be forgiven. And forgiveness is associated with bread in the Lord’s Prayer, which says: “Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:11–12 NIV). Just like a person can’t live without their daily bread, an individual can’t survive without forgiveness.