Symbolism of the number 7

As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has been associated with a great deal of symbolism in religion, mythology, superstition and philosophy. In Western culture, it is often considered lucky.

Pythagoras

The Pythagoreans invested particular numbers with unique spiritual properties. The number seven was considered to be particularly interesting because it consisted of the union of the physical (number 4) with the spiritual (number 3).[1]

Classical world

Classical antiquity

Religion and mythology

Old Testament
  • Seven Hebrew words of Bereishit 1:1 / Genesis 1:1 (28 letters).
Seven Days of Creation - 1765 book

The number seven in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in the Bible. These include:

  • Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1) e.g., God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Sabbath).
  • Anyone who dares to kill Cain "will suffer vengeance seven times over" (Genesis 4:15).
  • Lamech in his "Song of the Sword" claims that "if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold", he himself shall be "seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:24).
  • Noah is commanded to bring seven pairs of every clean animal onto the ark (Genesis 7:2).
  • Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41).
  • In regards to the sin sacrifice, the anointed priest was to sprinkle the bullock's blood seven times before the LORD (Leviticus 4:6).
  • Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3–10).
  • Seven-day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16).
  • The Menorah (Hebrew: מנורה‎), is a seven-branched candelabrum lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem (Exodus 25).
  • Seven-year cycle around the years of Jubilee (Leviticus 25).
  • Jericho's walls fall on the seventh day after seven priests with seven trumpets march around the city seven times (Joshua 6:8).
  • King David had seven older brothers (1 Samuel 16).
  • The child sneezed seven times after Elisha raised him from the dead (2 Kings 4:35).
  • Seven things that are detestable to the LORD (Proverbs 6:16–19).
  • Seven Pillars of the House of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1).
  • The woman with seven sons in 2 Maccabees.
  • Gad, whose name means good luck, is the seventh son of Jacob. Areli is the seventh son of Gad (Genesis 46:16). Chronicles lists David as the seventh son of Jesse (1 Chronicles 2:15). An unnamed eighth individual appeared among the seven in 1 Samuel 16, then David as the youngest is brought before Samuel.

New Testament
Seven lampstands in The Vision of John on Patmos by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860.
  • Seven loaves multiplied into seven basketfuls of surplus (Matthew 15:32–37).
  • Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive up to seven times; Jesus responded by saying to forgive them "seventy times seven times", alluding to the Curse of Cain and the Song of Lamech in Genesis 4.[3]
  • Seven demons were driven out of Mary Magdelene (Luke 8:2).
  • The seven last sayings of Jesus on the cross.
  • Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6:3).
  • In the Book of Revelation, seven is a central figure of quantities: Seven Spirits of God, Seven Churches (to which the book is addressed);
  • Seven of the following appear in Revelation: golden lampstands (1:12), stars (1:16), torches of fire (4:5) Seven Seals (5:1), angels and their trumpets (8:2), last plagues (15:1), golden bowls (15:7), thunders (10:3), horns and eyes (5:6), diadems (12:3) and kings (17:10). See Category:Seven in the Book of Revelation.

Other sevens in Christian knowledge and practice include:

  • The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
  • The Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy and Seven Spiritual Acts of Mercy of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
  • The Seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.
  • The Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
  • The Seven Sacraments in the Catholic Church (though some traditions assign a different number).
  • The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
  • There are seven suicides mentioned in the Bible (OT and NT).[4]
  • The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin).
  • The Seven Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility.
  • In the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is 77th name in a direct line.
  • The number of heads of the three beasts (7 × 10 × 7 + 7 × 10 × 10 + 7 × 10 = 1260) of the Book of Revelation, and the seven seals.

Hinduism
  • The Sanskrit word sapta refers to number seven.
  • Indian Music has "Saptak Swaras", seven octats (sa re ga ma pa dha ni) which are basics of music, using which hundreds of Ragas are composed.
  • Celestial group of seven stars (7 Classical Planets) are named as "Sapta Rishi" based on the seven great saints.
  • Seven Promises [Saptapadi], Seven Rounds in Hindu Wedding and Seven Reincarnation.
  • According to Hinduism, there are seven worlds in the universe, seven seas in the world and seven Rishies (seven gurus) called sapta rishis.
  • Seven hills at tirumala also known as Yedu Kondalavadu [in Telugu], ezhu malaiyan [in Tamil] means "Sevenhills God".
  • The seven virgin goddesses (or Saptha Kannimar ) are worshipped in temples in Tamil Nadu, India.
  • There are 7 Chakras in the basic model used in various eastern traditions and philosophies.

Islam
  • The number of ayat in surat al-Fatiha.
  • The number of heavens.
  • The number of hells.
  • The number of circumambulations that are made around the Kaaba.
  • The number of walks between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah pilgrims perform during the Hajj and the Umrah.
  • The number of doors to hell is seven (for heaven the number of doors is eight).
  • In Verse 12:46 (see Islamic view of Joseph) of the Quran, Joseph (Yusef) is asked to interpret the King's dream where seven fat cows were dreamt to have been devoured by seven skinny cows and seven green spikes, and others shrivelled.
  • The number of the big sins or vices is seven which are from a Hadith of the prophet Mohamed: "Avoid the seven sins polytheism, witchcraft, the killing of the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right, consuming riba, consuming the wealth of the orphan, to escape from the battles and slandering chaste women".
  • A naming ceremony is held for babies on their seventh day of life.

Judaism
  • Shiv`a (another pronunciation of the Hebrew word for 7—(Hebrew: שבעה, "seven")), is the number of days of mourning. Hence, one sits Shiva. As in Shiva (Judaism).
  • The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven Jewish men (or boys over the age of 13 who are considered men; Bar Mitzvah) are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.
  • Seven blessings are recited under the chuppah during a Jewish wedding ceremony.
  • A Jewish bride and groom are feted with seven days of festive meals after their wedding, known as Sheva Berachot ("Seven Blessings").
  • The number of Ushpizzin (also known as the "Seven Shepherds") who visit the sukkah during the holiday of Sukkot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.
  • The number of nations God told the Israelites they would displace when they entered the land of Israel (Deut. 7:1): the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
  • In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears, and the mouth) are called "The Seven Candles."
  • The 7 Sephirot of primary conscious emotion that are attributes of the creator.

Chinese Taoism
  1. Golden Star
  2. White Clouds
  3. Blue (Heaven) Sky
  4. B-lack (of Colors) Moon Empty Infinity Space / Earth (where grown Trees)
  5. Green Wood
  6. Red (Hell) Fire

Astrology

Others
Deity, being, or character
The Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology
  • The Seven Lucky Gods refer to the seven gods of good fortune in Japanese mythology.
  • The number of archangels according to some systems.
  • In Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth.
  • In Khasi mythology, the seven divine women who were left behind on earth and became the ancestresses of all humankind.
  • The number of sleeping men in the Christian myth of the "Seven Sleepers".
  • The number of sages in Hindu mythology; their wives are the deities referred to as the Sapta Matrka or "Seven Mothers".
  • In Iran,[5] German, Spanish, and other cultures that speak Romance Languages, cats are said to have seven lives as opposed to English, where cats are said to have nine lives.
  • In Irish mythology, the epic hero Cúchulainn is associated with the number 7. He has seven fingers on each hand, seven toes on each foot, and seven pupils in each eye. In the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, Cúchulainn is 7 years old when he receives his first weapons and defeats the armies of the Ulaidh and his son Connla is 7 years old when he is slain by Cúchulainn in "The Death of Aife's Only Son".
  • In Galician folklore, a seventh son will be a werewolf. In other folklores, after six daughters, the seventh child is to be a son and a werewolf. In other European folklores, the seventh son of a seventh son will be a child with special powers of healing and clairvoyant seeing, and in other cultures that seventh son of a seventh son would be a vampire.
  • In Guaraní mythology, the number of prominent legendary monsters.
  • In the eponymous British folk tale, Thomas the Rhymer went to live in the faerie kingdom for seven years.
  • Mahatma Gandhi's list of the destructive Seven Blunders of the World that cause violence: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice and politics without principle.
  • The cosmogony of Urantia[6] gives an explanation to the sacredness of the number 7 in some religions, including those based on a triple deity: 7 indeed is the number of all the possible combinations of three elements taken one by one, two by two, or by three. It therefore expresses all the associative possibilities of the three fundamental aspects of the absolute (Christian Trinity, for example, or Trimurti in Hinduism) which organizes the Creation. The seventh of these combinations being the one that combines the three aspects, 7 therefore also expresses spiritual achievement.
Place
  • The number of main islands of mythological Atlantis.
  • The number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into the underworld.
  • Cibola was one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold the Spanish thought existed.
  • In the Bahá'í faith, the text The Seven Valleys, by the Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh, relates the journey of the soul through the seven "valleys" of Search, Love, Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Wonderment, and finally True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness.
Scripture
  • Circle Seven Koran, the holy scripture of the Moorish Science Temple of America.
Thing, concept, or symbol
  • The Seven-Branched Sword in Japanese mythology.
  • The Theosophical teachings of Alice A. Bailey divide the human race into seven psychological types called the Seven Rays, which she calls "the basis of New Age psychology".
  • The minor symbol number of yang from the Taoist yin-yang.
  • The number of palms in an Egyptian Sacred Cubit.
  • The number of ranks in Mithraism.
  • The number seven is of particular significance within Cherokee cosmology.
  • Most likely to be chosen as a favorite number by people around the world.[7][8]
Time

References
  1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/number-symbolism/7
  2. Mark, Joshua. "Pharaoh". Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  3. 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven."
  4. "Sermon Illustrations". Bible.org. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  5. "''Encyclopædia Britannica'' "Number Symbolism"". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  6. "Chapter I. The Creative Thesis of Perfection by William S. Sadler, Jr. - Urantia Book - Urantia Foundation". urantia.org. 17 August 2011.
  7. Bellos, Alex (8 April 2014). "'Seven' triumphs in poll to discover world's favourite number". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  8. "Is seven your favorite number? We thought so. Here's what it says about you". Public Radio International. 2014-04-08. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.