'Ninety nine' in the Bible
Now Abraham, was ninety-nine years old, - when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
How, to you, doth it seem? If a certain man come to have a hundred sheep and one from among them go astray, Will he not leave the ninety-nine upon the mountains, and going, seek the straying one?
And, if it should be that he find it, Verily, I say unto you - He rejoiceth over it, more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.
What man from among you, having a hundred sheep, and losing, from among them, one, doth not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go his way after the lost one, until he find it?
I say unto you - Thus, joy in heaven, will there be, over one sinner repenting, rather than over ninety-nine righteous persons, who indeed have, no need, of repentance.