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The Book of Numbers (from Greek Αριθμοί, Arithmoi; Hebrew: במדבר‎, Bəmidbar, "In the desert [of]") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch.^[1]

Numbers begins at Mount Sinai, where the Israelites have received their laws and covenant from God and God has taken up residence among them in the sanctuary.^[2] The task before them is to take possession of the Promised Land. The people are numbered and preparations are made for resuming their march. The Israelites begin the journey, but immediately they "murmur" (complain or kvetch) at the hardships along the way. They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send spies into the land, but on hearing the spies' report the Israelites refuse to take possession of Canaan and God condemns them to death in the wilderness until a new generation can grow up and carry out the task. The book ends with the new generation of Israelites in the plain of Moab ready for the crossing of the Jordan River.^[3]

Numbers is the culmination of the story of Israel's exodus from oppression in Egypt and their journey to take possession of the land God promised their fathers. As such it draws to a conclusion the themes introduced in Genesis and played out in Exodus and Leviticus: God has promised the Israelites that they shall become a great (i.e. numerous) nation, that they will have a special relationship with Yahweh their god, and that they shall take possession of the land of Canaan. Against this, Numbers also demonstrates the importance of holiness, faithfulness and trust: despite God's presence and his priests, Israel lacks faith and the possession of the land is left to a new generation.

Secular scholars believe its final form was probably due to a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic original text some time in the early Persian period (5th century BCE).^[4].

Contents[link]

priest, Levite, and furnishings of the Tabernacle

Structure[link]

Most commentators structure Numbers in three sections based on locale (Mount Sinai, Kadesh-Barnea and the plains of Moab), linked by two travel sections.^[5] This view has the advantage of anchoring Numbers to the Pentateuch as a whole,^[5] but an alternative is to see it as structured around the two generations of those condemned to die in the wilderness and the new generation who will enter Canaan, making a theological distinction between the disobedience of the first generation and the obedience of the second.^[6]

Summary[link]

God orders Moses, in the wilderness of Sinai, to number those able to bear arms—of all the men "from twenty years old and upward," and to appoint princes over each tribe. 603,550 Israelites are found to be fit for military service. In chapter 26, a generation later and after approximately forty years of wandering the desert, the Lord orders a second census. 601,730 men are counted.

The tribe of Levi is exempted from military service and therefore not included in the census totals. Moses consecrates the Levites for the service of the Tabernacle in the place of the first-born sons, who hitherto had performed that service. The Levites are divided into three families, the Gershonites, the Kohathites, and the Merarites, each under a chief, and all headed by one prince, Eleazar, son of Aaron. Preparations are then made for resuming the march to the Promised Land. Various ordinances and laws are decreed.

The first journey of the Israelites after the Tabernacle had been constructed is commenced. The people murmur against God and are punished by fire; Moses complains of the stubbornness of the Israelites and is ordered to choose seventy elders to assist him in the government of the people. Miriam and Aaron insult Moses at Hazeroth, which angers God; Miriam is punished with leprosy and is shut out of camp for seven days, at the end of which the Israelites proceed to the desert of Paran. Twelve spies are sent out into Canaan and come back to report to Moses. Joshua and Caleb, two of the spies, tell that the land is abundant and is "flowing with milk and honey"; the other spies say that it is inhabited by giants, and the Israelites refuse to enter the land. Yahweh decrees that the Israelites will be punished for their loss of faith by having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

Moses is ordered to make plates to cover the altar with the two hundred fifty censers left after the destruction of Korah's band. The children of Israel murmur against Moses and Aaron on account of the death of Korah's men and are stricken with the plague, with 14,700 perishing.

Aaron and his family are declared by God to be responsible for any iniquity committed in connection with the sanctuary. The Levites are again appointed to help in the keeping of the Tabernacle. The Levites are ordered to surrender to the priests a part of the tithes taken to them.

Miriam dies at Kadesh Barnea and the Israelites set out for Moab, on Canaan's western border. The Israelites blame Moses for the lack of water. Moses is ordered by God to speak to a rock but disobeys, and is punished by the announcement that he shall not enter Canaan. The king of Edom refuses permission to the Israelites to pass through his land and they go round it. Aaron dies on Mount Hor. The Israelites are bitten by Fiery flying serpents for speaking against God and Moses. A brazen serpent is made to ward off these serpents.

The Israelites arrive on the plains of Moab. A new census gives the total number of males from twenty years and upward as 601,730, and the number of the Levites from a month old and upward as 23,000. The land shall be divided by lot. The daughters of Zelophehad, their father having no sons, are to share in the allotment. Moses is ordered to appoint Joshua as his successor. Prescriptions for the observance of the feasts, and the offerings for different occasions are enumerated.

Moses orders the Israelites to massacre the people of Midian. The Reubenites and the Gadites request Moses to assign them the land east of the Jordan. Moses grants their request after they promise to help in the conquest of the land west of the Jordan. The land east of the Jordan is divided among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Moses recalls the stations at which the Israelites halted during their forty years' wanderings and instructs the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites and destroy their idols. The boundaries of the land are spelled out; the land is to be divided under the supervision of Eleazar, Joshua, and twelve princes, one of each tribe.

Composition[link]

A Plague Inflicted on Israel While Eating the Quail (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible)

Historical background[link]

The key event in the formation of the Old Testament was the fall of the kingdom of Judah to the Babylonian empire in 586 BCE.^[7] The Babylonians destroyed the city and the Temple of Solomon, executed the king's sons in front of him before putting out his eyes, and took him and many others into exile.^[8] These events represented a major religious crisis: why had their god allowed this to happen? What had happened to the promise that the descendants of David would reign forever?^[8] The answers were recorded in the works of the prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Second Isaiah, and in the Deuteronomistic history, the collection of historical works from Joshua to Kings: God had not abandoned Israel; Israel had abandoned God, and the Babylonian exile was God's punishment for Israel's lack of faith.^[9]

The Babylonian exile lasted approximately 48 years, from 586 to 538 BCE, and ended with the conquest of Babylon in that year by the Persians. The new Persian ruler decided to allow the exiles to return home. According to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah they did so under the joint leadership of a descendant of the last king and the last High Priest, rebuilding the Temple and reconstituting Judah (now called Yehud) as a holy community ruled by priests. It was in this period that the Pentateuch (or Torah, to give the Hebrew name) was composed, by detaching the book of Deuteronomy from the Deuteronomistic history and adding it to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.^[10]

The Pentateuch (or Torah)[link]

Ascribed by tradition to Moses, the Pentateuch had no single author, and its composition took place over centuries.^[11] Its oldest layer, called the Yahwist, may date from the time of Solomon,^[12] although many scholars now believe that it should be dated considerably later. It was given its current form by a group of authors and editors who lived in the Persian period, called the Priestly source, and Numbers therefore reflects the program of this group.^[13] The text of Genesis-Numbers leaves no doubt as to the central concern of the priests: the cult of Yahweh was to be under the control of "Aaron and his sons" forever, and to the exclusion of all other priestly lines (such as Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who meet terrible fates in Numbers 16-17 for challenging Aaron, but also the lines of David's priests Abiathar and Zadok, as well as the low-level Levites).^[13]

Themes[link]

Balaam and the Angel (illustration from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle)

David A. Clines, in his influential The Themes of the Pentateuch (1978), identified the overarching theme of the five books as the partial fulfilment of a promise to made by God to the patriarchs, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The promise has three elements: posterity (i.e., descendants - Abraham is told that his descendants will be as innumerable as the stars), divine-human relationship (Israel is to be God's chosen people), and land (the land of Canaan, cursed by Noah immediately after the Deluge).^[14]

The theme of the divine-human relationship is expressed, or managed, through a series of covenants (meaning treaties, legally binding agreements) stretching from Genesis to Deuteronomy and beyond. The first is the covenant between God and Noah immediately after the Deluge in which God agrees never again to destroy the Earth. The next is between God and Abraham, and the third between God and all Israel at Mount Sinai. In this third covenant, unlike the first two, God hands down an elaborate set of laws (scattered through Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers), which the Israelites are to observe; they are also to remain faithful to Yahweh, the god of Israel, meaning, among other things, that they must put their trust in his help.^[15]

The theme of descendants marks the first event in Numbers, the census of Israel's fighting men: the huge number which results (over 600,000) demonstrates the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham of innumerable descendants, as well as serving as God's guarantee of victory in Canaan.^[16] As chapters 1-10 progress the theme of God's presence with Israel comes to the fore: these chapters describe how Israel is to be organised around the Sanctuary, God's dwelling-place in their midst, under the charge of the Levites and priests, in preparation for the conquest of the land.^[17]

The Israelites then set out to conquer the land, but almost immediately they refuse to enter it and Yahweh condemns the whole generation who left Egypt to die in the wilderness. The message is clear: failure was not due to any fault in the preparation, because Yahweh had foreseen everything, but to Israel's sin of unfaithfulness. In the final section the Israelites of the new generation follow Yahweh's instructions as given through Moses and are successful in all they attempt.^[17] The last five chapters are exclusively concerned with land: instructions for the extermination of the Canaanites, the demarcation of the boundaries of the land, how the land is to be divided, holy cities for the Levites and "cities of refuge", the problem of pollution of the land by blood, and regulations for inheritance when a male heir is lacking.^[18]

Weekly Torah portions[link]

In modern Judaism the Torah is divided into weekly Torah portions, so that the Torah is read publicly over the course of a year in the Shabbat morning service. The "portions" from Numbers are:

*Bamidbar, on Numbers 1-4: First census, priestly duties

*Naso, on Numbers 4-7: Priestly duties, the camp, unfaithfulness and the Nazirite, Tabernacle consecration

*Behaalotecha, on Numbers 8-12: Levites, journing by cloud and fire, complaints, questioning of Moses

*Shlach, on Numbers 13-15: Mixed report of the scouts and Israel's response

*Korach, on Numbers 16-18: Korah’s rebellion, plague, Aaron’s staff buds, duties of the Levites

*Chukat, on Numbers 19-21: Red heifer, water from a rock, Miriam’s and Aaron’s deaths, victories, serpents

*Balak, on Numbers 22-25: Balaam's donkey and blessing

*Pinchas, on Numbers 25-29: Phinehas, second census, inheritance, Moses' successor, offerings and holidays

*Matot, on Numbers 30-34: Vows, Midian, dividing booty, land for Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh

*Masei, on Numbers 33-36: Stations of the Israelites’ journeys, instructions for conquest, cities for Levites

See also[link]

• Balaam
• Book of the Wars of the Lord
• Inverted nun (only appears twice in the Book of Numbers and seven times in the Book of Psalms)
• Priestly Blessing
• Torah
• Weekly Torah portions in Numbers: Bamidbar, Naso, Behaalotecha, Shlach, Korach, Chukat, Balak, Pinchas, Matot, and Masei
• What hath God wrought
• Wilderness of Sin

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

Translations of Numbers[link]

Numbers

Commentaries on Numbers[link]

• Ashley, Timothy R (1993). The Book of Numbers. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6hBSceHiuAAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=book+of+numbers#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Fretheim, Terence E (1998). "Numbers". In John Barton. Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=3surkLVdw3UC&pg=PA110&dq=The+Oxford+Bible+commentary+Numbers+Fretheim#v=onepage&q=The%20Oxford%20Bible%20commentary%20Numbers%20Fretheim&f=false. 

• Knierim, Rolf P; Coats, George W (2005). Numbers. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com/books?id=3knG1LJEiTsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Knierim+Numbers#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Olson, Dennis T (1996). Numbers. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Rus0KUTNUg4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Numbers+Dennis+T.+Olson#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Stubbs, David L (2009). Numbers. Brazos Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Rus0KUTNUg4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Numbers+Dennis+T.+Olson#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

General[link]

• Bandstra, Barry L (2004). Reading the Old Testament: an introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vRY9mTUZKJcC&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=Bandstra,+Barry+L+%282004%29.+Reading+the+Old+Testament:+an+introduction+to+the+Hebrew+Bible#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2004). Treasures old and new: essays in the theology of the Pentateuch. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wq0YsOpTjKIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Treasures+old+and+new:+essays+in+the+theology+of+the+Pentateuch#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Brueggemann, Walter (2002). Reverberations of faith: a theological handbook of Old Testament themes. Westminster John Knox. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=dBJQ71RIpdMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=theological+handbook+of+Old+Testament+themes#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Campbell, Antony F; O'Brien, Mark A (1993). Sources of the Pentateuch: texts, introductions, annotations. Fortress Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=cwhICpcHBsQC&pg=PR3&dq=Sources+of+the+bible&cad=3#v=onepage&q=Sources%20of%20the%20bible&f=false. 

• Clines, David A (1997). The theme of the Pentateuch. Sheffield Academic Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Z45ullcFRG8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Clines+Theme+of+the+Pentateuch#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Dawes, Gregory W (2005). Introduction to the Bible. Liturgical Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=UX9RsDHKp7wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Introduction+to+the+Bible+Gregory+W.+Dawes#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Gilbert, Christopher (2009). A Complete Introduction to the Bible. Paulist Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=q9XUv3KAVIUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Complete+Introduction+to+the+Bible+Christopher+Gilbert#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Knierim, Rolf P (1995). The task of Old Testament theology: substance, method, and cases. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com/books?id=nE-xfAGv3ScC&pg=PA381&dq=Knierim+Numbers#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Kugler, Robert; Hartin, Patrick (2009). An Introduction to the Bible. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=L8WbXbPjxpoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Robert+Kugler,+Patrick+Hartin#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• McDermott, John J (2002). Reading the Pentateuch: a historical introduction. Pauline Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Dkr7rVd3hAQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Reading+the+Pentateuch:+a+historical+introduction#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Van Seters, John (2004). The Pentateuch: a social-science commentary. Continuum International Publishing Group. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=T-Vi9eK_vS0C&pg=PA7&dq=Sources+of+the+bible&cad=3#v=onepage&q=Sources%20of%20the%20bible&f=false. 

• Van Seters, John (1998). "The Pentateuch". In Steven L. McKenzie, Matt Patrick Graham. The Hebrew Bible today: an introduction to critical issues. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=owwhpmIVgSAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Hebrew+Bible+today:+an+introduction+to+critical+issues#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Ska, Jean-Louis (2006). Introduction to reading the Pentateuch. Eisenbrauns. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7cdy67ZvzdkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Introduction+to+reading+the+Pentateuch+Jean+Louis+Ska#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links[link]

• Original language:
  • במדבר Bamidbar - Numbers (Hebrew – English at Mechon-Mamre.org)
• Jewish translations:
  • Numbers at Mechon-Mamre (Jewish Publication Society translation)
  • Numbers (The Living Torah) Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation and commentary at Ort.org
  • Bamidbar - Numbers (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
• Christian translations:
  • Online Bible at GospelHall.org (King James Version)
  • oremus Bible Browser (New Revised Standard Version)
  • oremus Bible Browser (Anglicized New Revised Standard Version)
  • Numbers at Wikisource (Authorized King James Version)

Professor Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy D.Phil. (Oxon), O.B.E.
Born	(1965-08-26) 26 August 1965 (age 46)[1][2] London, England
Citizenship	British
Fields	Mathematics, Science Communication
Institutions	University of Oxford
Alma mater	Wadham College, Oxford (DPhil)
Doctoral advisor	Daniel Segal
Known for	The Music of the Primes
Notable awards	Berwick Prize (2001), OBE (2010)

Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy OBE (born in London, 26 August 1965)^[3] is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Formerly a Fellow of All Souls College, and Wadham College, he is now a Fellow of New College. He is President of the Mathematical Association. He was previously an EPSRC Senior Media Fellow and a Royal Society University Research Fellow. His academic work concerns mainly group theory and number theory. In October 2008, he was appointed to the Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science, succeeding the inaugural holder Richard Dawkins.^[4] His surname is pronounced  /dʉˈsoʊtɔɪ/ (doo-SOH-toy).^[5]

Biography[link]

He grew up in Henley-on-Thames and was educated at local comprehensives Gillott's School and King James's College (VI Form, now Henley College) and Wadham College, Oxford where he obtained first class honours in Mathematics, although he "messed up" his first year, only attaining a second class grade. He went on to complete his DPhil in mathematics. He currently lives in London with his wife and three children. He plays football and the trumpet.

In March 2006, his article Prime Numbers Get Hitched was published on Seed Magazine's website.^[6] In it he explained how the number 42, mentioned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the answer to everything, is related to the Riemann zeta function. He has also published an article in the scientific magazine New Scientist.

In December 2006 du Sautoy delivered the 2006 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures under the collective title The Num8er My5teries. This was only the third time the subject of the lectures had been mathematics — on the first occasion in 1978, when the lecture was delivered by Erik Christopher Zeeman, du Sautoy had been a schoolboy in the audience. The venue for the 2006 Christmas Lectures was the Institution of Engineering and Technology's headquarters at Savoy Place, London.

Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews English mathematician Marcus du Sautoy

Du Sautoy is an atheist, but has stated that as holder of the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science his focus is going to be "very much on the science and less on religion."^[7] He has described his own religion as being "Arsenal - football."^[8] Du Sautoy is a supporter of Common Hope, an organisation that helps people in Guatemala.^[9]

Popularisation of mathematics[link]

He is known for his work popularising mathematics. He has been named by The Independent on Sunday as one of the UK's leading scientists. In 2001 he won the Berwick Prize of the London Mathematical Society, which is awarded every two years to reward the best mathematical research by a mathematician under forty. He writes for The Times and The Guardian and has appeared several times on BBC Radio 4 and on television. He presented the television programme, Mind Games, on BBC Four. He has also written numerous academic articles and books on mathematics, the most recent being The Num8er My5teries. Du Sautoy is also on the advisory board of Mangahigh.com - an online maths game website and has appeared on Channel 4 News and on BBC Radio 4's Today programme promoting the service. He is a regular contributor to Radio 4 programme "In Our Time" where he routinely bends Melvyn Bragg's mind. He also appears on the TV series School of Hard Sums with Dara Ó Briain, where he sets three mathematical questions with a real world application, for Dara O'Briain and a guest to solve, using mathematical and experimentation methods respectively.

Honours[link]

Du Sautoy was awarded the Berwick Prize in 2001 by the London Mathematical Society for the publication of outstanding mathematical research. In 2009 he won the Michael Faraday Prize from the Royal Society of London for "excellence in communicating science to UK audiences". Du Sautoy was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.^[10]

Popular publications[link]

Books[link]

• The Music of the Primes (Fourth Estate 2003)
• Finding Moonshine (UK title, Fourth Estate 2007)
• Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (US title, 2008)
• The Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (Fourth Estate 2010)

Television[link]

• Mindgames (UK TV series) (BBC 4, 2004-5). Presented 20 episodes of puzzle gameshow with regular guests Kathy Sykes and Michael Rosen.

• The Music of the Primes (BBC 4, 2005, BBC 2 2007). One hour documentary based on his book.

• Painting with Number (Teachers TV 2006). Four fifteen minute programmes covering numerous topics from risk and probability to concepts of infinity, from codes and cryptography to flowers and football.

• The Number Mysteries: Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (Channel 5, 2006). 5 Lectures about the great unsolved problems of mathematics.

• The Story of Maths (BBC Four, 2008)^[11] is a four part series first broadcast on BBC Four. In this series he discovers techniques and theories from different times and cultures.

• Horizon: Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply (BBC 2, 2009). Alan Davies embarks on a maths odyssey with the help of mathematician Marcus du Sautoy.

• Horizon: The Secret You (BBC 2, 2009). Marcus du Sautoy investigates self-awareness.

• Horizon: How Long is a Piece of String? (BBC 2, 2009). Alan Davies attempts to answer the proverbial question: how long is a piece of string? Featuring Marcus du Sautoy.

• Horizon: What Makes a Genius? (BBC 2, 2010). Marcus du Sautoy asks if geniuses' brains are fundamentally different from his.

• The Beauty of Diagrams (BBC Four, 2010). Produced by Michael Waterhouse and directed by Steven Clarke, Marcus du Sautoy discusses influential scientific diagrams, starting with Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci's iconic anatomical drawing which follows the geometrical ideas of the Roman architect Vitruvius.

• The Code (BBC 2, 2011). A three-part documentary series. This programme began being broadcast on July 27, 2011.

• Faster Than the Speed of Light? (BBC 2, 2011). Marcus du Sautoy discusses the recent discovery, the faster-than-light neutrino anomaly, that neutrinos may travel faster than light. First broadcast on October 19, 2011.

• Horizon: The Hunt for AI (BBC 2, 2012). Marcus Du Sautoy asks how close mankind is to creating computers or robots that can think for themselves - artificial intelligence, AI. First broadcast on April 3, 2012.

Radio[link]

• On the relationship of music and maths Marcus du Sautoy speaks on BBC The Forum
• The Museum of Curiosity, "Meeting Five", BBC Radio 4, 2008.
• A Brief History of Mathematics (BBC Radio 4, 2010). du Sautoy presented a ten-part series profiling famous mathematicians.

Articles[link]

• Prime Numbers Get Hitched, Seed, 27 March, 2006

Personal Life[link]

Du Sautoy was a post-doc at the Hebrew University. It was there he met his Israeli wife Shani. They have three children, a son called Tomer and adopted twin daughters Magaly and Ina who are being raised Jewish.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marcus du Sautoy

Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews English mathematician Marcus du Sautoy

• University of Oxford - Dr Marcus du Sautoy
• Marcus du Sautoy's mathematical site
• Marcus du Sautoy on Twitter
• The Music of the Primes website
• Music of the Primes lecture, at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, April 27, 2007
• Marcus du Sautoy at the Internet Movie Database
• Dr Marcus Du Sautoy - Keynote Speaking
• Marcus du Sautoy's Fundraising Page
• Marcus du Sautoy: Symmetry, reality's riddle talk given at TED_(conference) (since October 29, 2009 on Youtube)
• Finding Moonshine Pulse Project Podcast: Finding Moonshine (18 Jun 2008, Oxford)
• A Brief History of Mathematics podcast
• The Mathematical Association

Joseph Prince (born May 15, 1963, Singapore) is the senior pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, one of Asia's biggest churches.^[1] He was one of the young pioneers who founded the church in 1983.^[2]

Background[link]

Joseph Prince, the son of a Sikh priest of Indian origin and a Chinese mother, ^[3]spent his primary school years in Perak, Malaysia.^[3]

Prince changed his birth name to Joseph Prince during his previous occupation as an IT consultant. ^[3]

Prince has been invited to preach at churches in Australia, London, USA, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, South Africa and Indonesia.^[4] Notably, he was invited to preach at the Grace & Favour Seminar at Hillsong Church^{[1][dead link]} Sydney and Hillsong London^[5] in 2006. In 2007 and 2008, he was invited to speak at the Hillsong Conferences in Sydney and London. In 2009, he was invited to speak, alongside Joel Osteen from Lakewood Church, at the 2 Days of Hope Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa.^[6]

Prince's TV program "Destined to Reign" is broadcast in more than 150 countries. ^[7] His broadcast program is also streamed online through Internet and podcasts for viewers.^[8]

Prince publishes books, CDs and DVDs.^[9] In 2007, his book Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living, which contains teachings from his ten years of preaching from 1997 to 2007, was published in Singapore ^[10] and the US. Six months after the book's US release, it was listed as one of Christian Retailing's Top 100 Books.^[11] In 2010, Prince's latest book "Unmerited Favor" was published worldwide by Charisma House.^[12]

Prince was featured in the cover story of the June 2010 issue of the Charisma (magazine), which covered his preaching and teaching ministry.^[13]

On October 29th 2011, Prince ministered in the US for the first time at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He also preached at two more services the day after.

Questions about his church salary[link]

In 2004, Prince asked New Creation Church to stop paying him a salary. The church's council members,however, refused his request.^[14][15]

On 5 October 2008, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Prince, the executive chairman of the church council, while acknowledging that he was "well-paid", added that "money doesn't have a hold on me". He dismissed allegations that his salary was $50,000 a month, saying "It could have been $50,000 if I had not voluntarily taken all the pay cuts through the years. There was a system of payment that would actually enrich me greatly but as the church grew, I refused to accept that system of payment."^[3]

On 30 March 2009, The Straits Times reported that a check revealed that New Creation Church paid one employee between $500,001 and $550,000 in its last financial year of 2008. Singapore's Code of Governance for charities ^[16] requires all charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore to disclose top executives' salaries to the Commissioner of Charities. While the church would not confirm that the amount in question had been paid to Prince, church officials told The Straits Times that the church's policy is to "recognise and reward key contributors to the church and Senior Pastor Prince is the main pillar of our church's growth and revenue."The New Creation Church's income was reported to be $55.4 million for the financial year ending March 2008.^[17]

On 7 June 2010, The Straits Times and Channel News Asia reported that Joseph Prince has not been on the church payroll since 2009.^[14][15]

Personal life[link]

Joseph Prince is married to Wendy Prince.^[3] They have a daughter, Jessica Shayna Prince, and a son Justin David Prince^[18]

References[link]