99/Historical Note

Historical Note on $99$ (Ninety-Nine)

The number $99$ is associated with the word amen, used at the end of prayers in the Christian, Judaic and Muslim traditions to denote a strong sense of affirmation: verily or truly with perhaps a sense of let it be made to be so.

The attribution arises from the Greek transliteration $\alpha \mu \eta \nu$, which bear the numerical values $1$, $40$, $8$ and $50$ respectively, totalling $99$.

Hence, in many old editions of the Bible, instead of amen at the end of a prayer, the number $99$ can often be found.

Sources

• 1980: David M. Burton: Elementary Number Theory (revised ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Some Preliminary Considerations: $1.3$ Early Number Theory