Two seemingly meaningless numbers in the Bible are actually quite interesting.
153
"So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish,
a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many,
the net was not torn." (John 21:11)
153 is an intriguing number. Here are two reasons:
153 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17
153 = 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!
(i.e., 1 + (1 x 2) + (1 x 2 x 3) +
(1 x 2 x 3 x 4) + (1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5))
220
In Genesis 32:14, Jacob gives Esau 220 goats and 220 sheep
("two hundred she goats and twenty he goats,
two hundred ewes and twenty rams") as a gesture of friendship.
The Pythagoreans identified 220 as a "friendly" number. Friendly numbers, or
amicable numbers, occur in pairs. 220 and 284 are amicable numbers.
Each of those numbers is equal to the sum of the proper divisors of the other.
Proper divisors are all the numbers that divide evenly into a number, including
1 but excluding the number itself.
The proper divisors of 220 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, and 110.
Add all those numbers and you'll get 284.
Likewise, the proper divisors of 284 are 1, 2, 4, 71, and 142 and they sum to 220.