sheva · seven

What it means

sheva (שֶׁבַע) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “seven”.

The number of fullness; also "seven times".

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The number seven.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Seven. From this number come שְׁבִיעִי, “seventh” (H7637), and שִׁבְעִים, “seventy” (H7657).

• Seven days Genesis 7:4
• Seven things or persons Genesis 41:2
• Seven times Genesis 33:3Joshua 6:4
• “Seven Sabbaths of years” Leviticus 25:8

Historical and cultural background

Leviticus 25:8-10 counts seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years, and declares the fiftieth year holy, the jubilee. In Genesis 21:28-31 Abraham hands over seven ewe lambs as a witness to an oath, and the place is called Beersheba.

How we translate it

“Seven” 368 times, “seventeen” 11, “seventh” 10, “seventeenth” 4. The English form depends on the number it goes with; in larger figures (“seven hundred”) it is part of the number.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• seven ×368
• seventeen ×11
• seventh ×10
• seventeenth ×4

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×62
• Exodus×19
• Leviticus×46
• Numbers×46
• Deuteronomy×12
• Joshua×15
• Judges×13
• Ruth×1
• 1 Samuel×7
• 2 Samuel×8
• 1 Kings×18
• 2 Kings×18
• 1 Chronicles×22
• 2 Chronicles×23
• Ezra×13
• Nehemiah×12
• Esther×8
• Job×7
• Psalms×1
• Proverbs×5
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×3
• Jeremiah×7
• Ezekiel×19
• Daniel×1
• Micah×1
• Zechariah×5

• Genesis 4:24

  If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy and seven fold.”

• Genesis 5:7

  And Seth lived after he fathered Enosh eight hundred and seven years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:25

  And Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years and fathered Lamech.

• Genesis 5:26

  And Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:31

  And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years and he died.

• Genesis 7:2

  Of every clean animal you shall take for yourself seven and seven, the male and its female; and of the animals that are not clean, they are two, the male and its female;

• Genesis 7:3

  also of the birds of the sky seven and seven, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

• Genesis 7:4

  For in seven more days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe out all that exists, which I have made, from the face of the ground.”

• Genesis 7:10

  And it happened after the seven days that the waters of the flood came on the earth.

• Genesis 7:11

  In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the springs of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

• Genesis 8:4

  And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

• Genesis 8:10

  And he waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

• Genesis 8:12

  And he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove, and she did not return to him again.

• Genesis 8:14

  And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

• Genesis 11:21

  After he fathered Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 21:28

  Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

• Genesis 21:29

  And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What are these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”

• Genesis 21:30

  He said, “You are to take the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”

• Genesis 23:1

  The life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.

• Genesis 25:17

  These are the years of the life of Ishmael: a hundred and thirty and seven years. He breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people.

• Genesis 29:18

  Jacob loved Rachel, and he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

• Genesis 29:20

  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they were in his eyes like a few days because of his love for her.

• Genesis 29:27

  Complete the week of this one, and we will give you that one too, for the service that you will serve with me yet another seven years.”

• Genesis 29:30

  He went in to Rachel also, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah; and he served with him yet another seven years.

• Genesis 31:23

  He took his brothers with him and pursued him a journey of seven days, and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

• Genesis 33:3

  He himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

• Genesis 37:2

  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought bad reports about them to their father.

• Genesis 41:2

  And look, from the Nile there came up seven cows, beautiful in appearance and fat in flesh, and they grazed in the reed grass.

• Genesis 41:3

  And look, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly in appearance and thin in flesh, and they stood beside the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

• Genesis 41:4

  The cows ugly in appearance and thin in flesh ate up the seven cows beautiful in appearance and fat. Then Pharaoh woke up.

• Genesis 41:5

  He fell asleep and dreamed a second time, and look, seven ears of grain were coming up on one stalk, plump and good.

• Genesis 41:6

  And look, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them.

• Genesis 41:7

  The thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh woke up, and look, it was a dream.

• Genesis 41:18

  and look, from the Nile there came up seven cows, fat in flesh and beautiful in form, and they grazed in the reed grass.

• Genesis 41:19

  And look, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly in form and lean in flesh; I have never seen any like them in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

• Genesis 41:20

  The lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

• Genesis 41:22

  I saw in my dream, and look, seven ears coming up on one stalk, full and good.

• Genesis 41:23

  And look, seven ears, withered, thin, scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them.

• Genesis 41:24

  The thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. I told it to the magicians, but there is no one who can declare it to me.”

• Genesis 41:26

  The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one.

And 353 more times.