Probably the most significant symbolic number in all of the Bible is the number 7, which represents completion and perfection. If you start reading the Bible from the beginning, literally the first thing you will read about is the seven days of creation, including the seventh day on which God rested, setting up the elevated status of the Sabbath in Judaism. Expanding out from there, 7 reappears in Judaism as the number of Laws of Noah, the number of Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah), the number of branches on the Temple menorah, and the length of several significant holidays like Sukkot and (kind of) Passover. The holiday of Shavuot comes 49 days (seven sevens) after Passover. Additionally, groups of seven years are at the heart of the agricultural cycle and the forgiveness of debts.

Christianity also uses the number 7 as a common symbol, with the number appearing in Revelation alone 54 times, featuring seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, and so on. When Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone, he expects Jesus to say seven (the number of completion), but Jesus says seventy times seven (or 77, depending on the translation) to essentially indicate infinity. Additionally, there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit named in 1 Corinthians: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

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