Augustine of Hippo : WHAT IS THE MEANING: BECAUSE THERE WERE NO MORE NUMBERS? — And Joseph gathered grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he could not count it, because it was innumerable . The words ‘because it was innumerable’ meant that the amount was so large, that it exceeded any number usually used and did not know what that number was. But how can there be no number to indicate a huge but finite quantity? In spite of everything, this has been said in the form of hyperbole. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 136 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)