153
153 is a narcissistic number — 1³ + 5³ + 3³ = 153 — and also the 17th triangular number.
- Odd
- Composite
Where 153 fits
Why 153 is special
153 is the richest of the three-digit narcissistic numbers: raising each of its own digits to the power of three and adding them returns 153 itself, and it is simultaneously triangular (the sum of every whole number from 1 to 17). Separately, the Gospel of John's account of a miraculous catch specifies 153 fish, which has made the number a subject of long-standing commentary within Christian tradition.
Same number, different meanings
How 153 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
153 is the richest of the three-digit narcissistic numbers: raising each of its own digits to the power of three and adding them returns 153 itself, and it is simultaneously triangular (the sum of every whole number from 1 to 17). Separately, the Gospel of John's account of a miraculous catch specifies 153 fish, which has made the number a subject of long-standing commentary within Christian tradition.
- History
The precision of the figure in John 21:11 has drawn commentary since antiquity. Jerome reported a claim that Greek zoologists recognised 153 species of fish, so the catch stood for all nations — the claim does not correspond to any surviving Greek source. Augustine derived it as the sum of 1 to 17. Modern scholarship generally treats these as later attempts to explain a detail whose original purpose is unrecoverable, and none has become the accepted reading.
- Religion & belief
The Gospel of John (21:11) specifies that the disciples' catch numbered 153 fish — an unusually precise figure in the text that has attracted centuries of commentary within Christian tradition, with no single interpretation regarded as settled.
153 is part of
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (6)
- 1, 3, 9, 17, 51, 153
- Prime factorisation
- 3^2 × 17
- Digit sum
- 9
- Digital root
- 9
Representations
- Decimal
- 153
- Scientific notation
- 1.530 × 10^2
Roman numerals
C L I I I
Binary
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
1 × 128 + 0 × 64 + 0 × 32 + 1 × 16 + 1 × 8 + 0 × 4 + 0 × 2 + 1 × 1 = 153
Octal
2 3 1
2 × 64 + 3 × 8 + 1 × 1 = 153
Hexadecimal
9 9
9 × 16 + 9 × 1 = 153
Read as powers of two: 128 + 16 + 8 + 1 = 153.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
1 coil of rope, 5 hobbles, 3 strokes
1 × 100 + 5 × 10 + 3 × 1 = 153. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Babylonian
2 vertical wedges (sixties place), 3 corner wedges + 3 vertical wedges (units place)
2 × 60 + 33 = 153. Places are separated by a space on the tablet, with the higher place written first.
Greek (Ionic)
rho, then nu, then gamma, marked as a numeral
rho-nu-gamma + keraia
rho + nu + gamma written in descending order and added — the letters carry their values wherever they stand, so this is addition, not place value.
Hebrew numerals
qof, then nun, then gimel
qof-nun-gimel
qof (100) + nun (50) + gimel (3) = 153, written in descending order.
Maya
1 bar + 2 dots (upper, twenties place) over 2 bars + 3 dots (lower, units place)
7 × 20 + 13 = 153. Places stack vertically with the smallest at the bottom, so the upper group is worth twenty times the lower.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Triangular number
- Deficient number
- Narcissistic (Armstrong) number
- Hexagonal number
- Harshad (Niven) number
Related numbers & connections
153 is 9 × 17 — and, relatedly, the 17th triangular number (the sum of 1 through 17).
View 17 →Both equal the sum of their own digits raised to the number of digits. 153 is the three-digit case and 9,474 the four-digit one.
View 9474 →History
The precision of the figure in John 21:11 has drawn commentary since antiquity. Jerome reported a claim that Greek zoologists recognised 153 species of fish, so the catch stood for all nations — the claim does not correspond to any surviving Greek source. Augustine derived it as the sum of 1 to 17. Modern scholarship generally treats these as later attempts to explain a detail whose original purpose is unrecoverable, and none has become the accepted reading.
DisputedHistoryPeriod: 4th century CE onwards
Religion & belief
The Gospel of John (21:11) specifies that the disciples' catch numbered 153 fish — an unusually precise figure in the text that has attracted centuries of commentary within Christian tradition, with no single interpretation regarded as settled.
DocumentedReligion & beliefCulture: Christian tradition
Mathematics
153 = 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5! = 1 + 2 + 6 + 24 + 120. Together with its narcissistic and triangular properties this makes 153 unusually crowded for a three-digit number, and the three facts are independent of one another rather than consequences of a single structure — which is why it turns up in recreational mathematics more often than numbers with a deeper single property.
DocumentedMathematics153 is a narcissistic (Armstrong) number: the sum of the cubes of its own digits returns the number itself, 1³ + 5³ + 3³ = 1 + 125 + 27 = 153. It is also the 17th triangular number, the sum of every whole number from 1 to 17.
DocumentedMathematics
Common questions
Why does the Gospel of John specify 153 fish?
Nobody knows, and the attempts to explain it are themselves the interesting part. Jerome reported a claim that Greek zoologists recognised 153 species of fish, so the catch stood for all nations — no surviving Greek source says that. Augustine derived it as the sum of 1 to 17. Modern scholarship generally treats these as later explanations of a detail whose original purpose is unrecoverable. The arithmetic is settled: 153 is the 17th triangular number, the sum of the cubes of its own digits, and 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5!.
Is 153 a prime number?
No, 153 is not prime.
What are the factors of 153?
The factors of 153 are 1, 3, 9, 17, 51, 153.
What is 153 in Roman numerals?
153 in Roman numerals is CLIII.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 4 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026