The Number 7 in the Bible

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Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 07/11/2023

What is the Meaning of the Number 7 in the Bible?

The number 7 is quite significant in the Bible, appearing over 700 times throughout both the Old and New Testaments. In biblical numerology, 7 symbolizes completion or perfection. It is said that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Additionally, there are seven churches in the Book of Revelation, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. The number 7 is also associated with important biblical figures, such as the seven deacons chosen by the apostles and the seven spirits of God mentioned in Revelation. Some scholars believe that the number 7 represents divine intervention or spiritual completeness. Overall, the number 7 holds significant meaning in the Bible and continues to be studied and analyzed by theologians and scholars today.

The Bible was originally divided into seven major divisions. The Divisions were 1) the Law; 2) the Prophets; 3) the Writings or Psalms; 4) the Gospels and Acts; 5) the General Epistles; 6) the Epistles of Paul, and 7) the book of Revelation. Initially, the total number of books in the Bible was forty-nine, which is 7 x 7, further illustrating the integration of seven into the Word of God.

Seven plays a vital role in the stories and meaning of the Bible. Discover the specific Bible verses that reference the number 7 in the collection below!

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2 Kings 5:10

10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
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Deuteronomy 5:12

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
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Exodus 22:30

30 Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.
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Genesis 2:2

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
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Genesis 4:15

15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so ; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
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Genesis 7:2

2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,
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Genesis 8:12

12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
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Matthew 12:45

45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
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Matthew 26:26

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
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Nehemiah 8:18

18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
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Numbers 4:7

7 “Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it.
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John 6:35

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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Revelation 3:1

1 “To the angelof the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spiritsof God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
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Revelation 15:1

1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.
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Revelation 16:17

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
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Revelation 4:5-6

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
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Joshua 6:3-4

3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.
4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.
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Revelation 1:3-4

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
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Genesis 2:1-3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
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Genesis 9:12-16

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
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