The number 16 is linked to love and the perfection of love in certain biblical interpretive traditions.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, Paul lists a number of characteristics that define what love is and is not. Depending on how one counts and which translation is used, there are approximately 16 traits, which in some interpretive traditions links the number to the completeness of love's nature. In the Old Testament, the number appears, among other places, in connection with the temple—Ezekiel mentions measurements of 16 cubits in his temple vision (Ez 40:36)—and in genealogies and lists of generations. The number 16 is not counted among the most prominent symbolic numbers in Scripture, but as the product 4×4 and the sum 8+8, it can be understood as an intensification of numbers that already carry strong symbolic meaning in a biblical context. The number of characteristics of love in 1 Cor 13:4–8 varies between 15 and 16, depending on whether certain expressions are counted as independent traits or as parallel formulations. The number 16 typically assumes that both the positive and negative descriptions are counted separately. The number 16 can be understood numerologically as 8+8 or 4×4. Eight symbolizes a new beginning (cf. circumcision on the eighth day), and four represents universality and the wholeness of the earth (the four corners of the world). A doubling or squaring of these numbers can be interpreted as an intensification of their symbolic meaning. In gematria, the combination of the letters yod (י, value 10) and vav (ו, value 6) yields the sum 16. These are the first two letters of the tetragrammaton (יהוה), God's four-letter name. In Kabbalistic tradition, therefore, the number 16 can carry an association with the divine name, even though yod-vav is not in itself a common abbreviation for God's name.*