but in other instances, e. g. in reference to the promises {Gnomon, at Rev. ii, 7), the distinction is not so well es- tablished ; and even if it were, an explanation might be found in the adaptation of such a division to the subject in hand. The attempt to discover such a distinction in the Mosaic writings — as, for instance, where an act is to be done on the third day out of seven (Numb, xix, 12) — appears to be a failure. (2) It would be difficult to show that any associations of a sacred nature were as- signed to three and four previously to the sanctitj' of seven. This latter number is so far the sacred number Kor' t^oxnv that we should be less surprised if, by a process the reverse of the one assumed, sanctity had been subsequently attached to three and four as the supposed elements of seven. But (3) all such specula- tions on mere numbers are alien to the spirit of Hebrew thought; they belong to a different stage of society, in which specidation is rife, and is systematized by the ex- istence of schools of philosophy.
We turn to the second class of opinions, which attrib- ute the sj'mbolism of the number seven to external as- sociations. This class may be again subdivided into two, according as the symbolism is supposed to have originated in the observation of purely physical phe- nomena, or, on the other hand, in the peculiar religious enactments of Mosaism. The influence of the number seven was not restricted to the Hebrews; it prevailed among the Persians (Esth. i, 10, 14), among the ancient Indians (Von Bohlen, Alt. Indien, ii, 224 sq.), among the Greeks and Romans to a certain extent, and proba- bly among all nations where the week of seven days was established, as in China, Egypt, Arabia, etc. (Ideler, Chronol. i, 88, 178; ii, 473). Cicero calls it the knot and cement of all things, as being that by which the natural and spiritual world are comprehended in one idea (Tusc. Qucest. i, 10). The wide range of the word seven is in this respect an interesting and significant fact : with the exception of" six," it is the only numeral which the Shemitic languages have in common with the Indo-European; for the Hebrew sheba is essentially the same as tTrra, septem, seven, and the Sanscrit, Per- sian, and Gothic names for this number (Pott, Etym. Foisch. i, 129). In the countries above enumerated, the institution of seven as a cyclical number is attrib- uted to the observation of the changes of the moon or to the supposed number of the planets. The Hebrews are held by some writers to have borrowed their notions of the sanctity of seven from their heathen neighbors, either wholly or partially (Von Bohlen, Iiitrod. to Gen, i, 21G sq. ; Ilengstenberg, Balaam [Clark's ed.], p. 393) ; but the peculiarity of the Hebrew view consists in the special dignity of the seventh, and not simply in that of seven. Whatever influence, therefore, ma}' be assigned to astronomical observation or to prescriptive usage, ia regard to the original institution of the week, we cannot trace back the peculiar associations of the Hebrews fur- ther than to the point when the seventh day was con- secrated to the purposes of religious rest.
Assuming this, therefore, as our starting-point, the first idea associated Mith seven would be that of reliy- ious periodicity. The Sabbath, being the seventh day, suggested the adoption of seven as the coefficient, so to say, for the appointment of all sacred periods; and we thus find the seventh month ushered in by the Feast of Trumpets, and signalized by the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles and the great Day of Atonement; seven weeks as the interval between the Passover and the Pentecost; the seventh year as the sabbatical year; and the j-ear succeeding 7X7 years as the jubilee year. From the idea of periodicity it passed, by an easy tran- sition, to the din-ation or repetition of religious proceed- ings ; and thus seven days were appointed as the length of the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles; seven days for the ceremonies of the consecration of priests; seven days for the interval to elapse between the occasion and the remov.al of various kinds of legal uncleanness, as af- ter childbirth, after contact with a corpse, etc.; seven
SEVEN
699
SEVEN SLEEPERS
times appointed for aspersion either of the blood of the victim (e. g. Lev. iv, 6 ; xvi, 14) or of the \vatcr of pu- rification (xiv, 51; comp. 2 Kings v, 10, 14); seven things to be offered in sacrifice (oxen, sheep, goats, pig- cons, wheat, oil, wine) ; seven victims to be offered on any special occasion, as in Balaam's sacrifice (Numb. xxiii, 1), and especially at the ratification of a treaty, the notion of seven being embodied in the very term ("3'l33) signifying to swear, literally meaning to do seven times (Gen. xxi, 28; comp. llerod. iii, 8 for a sim- ilar custom among the Arabians). Tlie same idea is further carried out in the vessels and arrangements of the Tabernacle — in the seven arms of the golden can- dlestick, and the seven chief utensils (altar of burnt-of- ferings, laver, showbread table, altar of incense, candle- stick, ark, mercy-seat).
The number seven, having thus been impressed with the seal of sanctity as the symbol of all connected with the Divinity, was adopted generally as a cyclical num- ber, with the subordinate notions of perfection or com- pleteness. It hence appears in cases where the notion of satisfaction is required, as in reference to punishment for wrongs (Gen. iv, 15; Lev. xxvi, 18, 28; Psa. Ixxix, 12; Prov. vi, 31), or to forgiveness of them (Matt, xviii, 21). It is again mentioned in a variety of passages too numerous for quotation (e. g. Job v, 19; Jer. xv. 9; Matt, xii, 45) in a sense analogous to that of a "round number," but with the additional idea of sufficiency and completeness. To tlie same head we may refer the nu- merous instances in which persons or things are men- tioned by sevens in the historical portions of the Bible ■ — e. g. tlie seven kine and the seven ears of corn in Pharaoh's dream, the seven daughters of the priest of Midian, the seven sons of Jesse, the seven deacons, the seven sons of Sceva, the twice seven generations in the pedigree of Jesus (Matt, i, 17); and, again, the still more numerous instances in which periods of seven days or seven years are combined with the repetition of an act seven times; as, in the taking of Jericho, the town was surrounded for seven days, and on the seventh day it fell at the blast of seven trumpets borne round the town seven times bj' seven priests; or, again, at the flood, an interval of seven days elapsed between the notice to enter the ark and the coming of the flood, the beasts entered by sevens, seven daj'S elapsed be- tween the two missions of the dove, etc. So, again, in private life, seven years appear to have been the usual period of a hiring (Gen. xxix, 18), seven daj-s for a marriage - festival (vcr. 27; Judg. xiv, 12), and the same, or in some cases seventy days, for mourning for the dead (Gen. 1, 3, 10 ; 1 Sam. xxxi, 13).