The FASCINATING ROLE of the NUMBER 7 in the CREATION ACCOUNT | Genesis 1 & 2 | Bible Study

Did you know that the NUMBER 7 is literally EVERYWHERE in the CREATION ACCOUNT in Genesis 1 & 2? Find out more on this episode of Masterpiece!
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VIDEO NOTES
When it comes to the creation account in Genesis 1-2, most people will associate the number seven with the days mentioned in the story. But the fascinating thing is that that’s not the only place you can find the number seven here. In reality, the number seven is everywhere in the creation account and one of the ways to see this is to count words and phrases and even letters.
👉🏼 The word “God” occurs 35 times or 5 times 7 times
👉🏼 The word “heavens” and the word “firmament” together occur 21 times or 3 times 7 times
👉🏼 The word “earth” occurs 21 times or 3 times 7 times.
Altogether these terms therefore occur exactly 77 times.
👉🏼 The word “day” occurs exactly 14 times
👉🏼 The word “bird” occurs 7 times
👉🏼 The word “water” occurs 7 times in connection with the creation of heaven and earth on days 2 and 3.
👉🏼 The phrase “according to its kind” or “according to their kind” occurs 7 times in connection with the creation of animals on days 5 and 6
👉🏼 The phrase “And God said” occurs a total of 10 times in the story, 3 times in connection with humans and 7 times in connection with the rest of creation
👉🏼 The phrase “And God saw that it was good” occurs 7 times with the 7th time being the climax, where it says that everything was “very good”.
This is already pretty fascinating - but there’s even more.
👉🏼 In the Hebrew text Genesis 1:1 consists of 7 words
👉🏼 Those 7 words consist of 28 letters
👉🏼 In verse 2, there are 14 words
👉🏼 The introduction to the creation account in verses 1 and 2 therefore consists of 21 words
👉🏼 The conclusion of the account in 2:1-3 consists of 35 words
👉🏼 In those verses there are 3 statements about the seventh day consisting of 7 words each
To summarize: not only is the entire account permeated with words and phrases that are repeated seven or a multiple of seven times, it is also framed by sections that contain a multiple of seven number of words. And to top it all off: the entire account consists of exactly 469 words, which is 67 x 7. In other words: the number seven is indeed everywhere in this text!
So the big question obviously is: can all of that be mere coincidence? Did it just turn out like that by accident? And the answer is: it’s pretty unlikely - especially, since this is not the only place in the Bible where this kind of a thing happens.
👉🏼 In Genesis 9:8-17, where God makes a covenant with Noah and his sons, the keywords “covenant” and “earth” both occur 7 times.
👉🏼 In Genesis 12:1-9, the famous passage where Abram is called and goes to Canaan, the name “Abram” and the keyword “land” both occur 7 times and there are also 7 names of places mentioned 👉🏼 In Matthew 7:15-20 where Jesus talks about false prophets, the keyword “fruit” occurs 7 times.
And the list could go on and on.
In light of all that it seems much more likely that the focus on the number seven in the creation account really is intentional, in order to, among other things, underscore the perfection and completeness of the creation. In other words: the text about the creation reflects the perfect order, the amazing beauty and completeness of the creation itself. Which obviously says a lot about the God who’s behind it all. He is indeed a God of order, a God of beauty, an amazing, brilliant artist and everything he does is simply perfect.

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[@Victor-co2xj]

Ok, I can see here that this video was released less than one hour ago (about 35-40 minutes) and it shows that it has one view thus far. I just watched it. Now, what are the odds? I am a theology professor who is getting ready to leave for campus to teach college students exactly about that topic of creation using exactly those examples, to show how the narrative is carefully constructed in terms of the number seven and its multiples. That helps them see that there is design, pattern and purpose to the account, which is quite unlike the popular idea that the Bible is a rudimentary book of the past. And I am glad someone is noticing this specific literary pattern. Usually this kind of information is completely ignored when people study biblical texts.

[@MasterpieceBible]

Perfect timing, I guess! :) Thanks for watching and commenting! Yes, the Bible is the most amazing book ever written and we must get the word out. Hence this channel. :)

[@bro.joseph7]

Amen!

[@perochtherese]

This is really intriguing; I'm just finishing the first draft of a book on thematic patterns in the Bible, and your videos underline and add to the patterns than I have already investigated. Many thanks for your great work!

[@MasterpieceBible]

You're welcome! Do let me know when your book is available, would definitely be interested.

[@bro.joseph7]

Oh, also, I was studying a few of these sevens in the creation account a few weeks ago, and, I came across that verse 7, 14, 28 (all multiplications of seven) each have 28 hebrew words each! Take a look at it, it's pretty awesome! Praise God for his perfect Word

[@LeahRichards]

Thank you, Chris!

[@MasterpieceBible]

You're welcome, Leah! Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@timothyasberry3470]

In biblical numerics 7 is "spiritual completeness" that's what it stands for as well as 40..in biblical numerics means "probation" 3 the trinity and I can go on and on and on and on but I won't.. I think y'all get it👍💯🙏

[@DavidAlgea]

I keep running into people online commenting that the word heaven(s) is repeated 21 times if you ALSO include the Hebrew word that is translated into "expanse" or "firmament." I, however, can't get the math to work out - I keep getting 20. If you go into verse 2:4, you get another use of heaven, making the count 21, but this adjustment seems to disrupt the count for "earth," which should also be 21, according to the commentaries. I think people, like our brother here, are referencing this work, "A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS" by U. CASSUTO Cassuto writes, "Each of the three nouns that occur in the first verse and express the basic concepts of the section, viz God [ ‘elohim] heavens [ šamayim], earth [ ’eres] are repeated in the section a given number of times that is a multiple of seven: thus the name of God occurs thirty-five times, that is, five times seven (on the fact that the Divine Name, in one of its forms, occurs seventy times in the first four chapters, see below); earth is found twenty-one times, that is, three times seven; similarly heavens (or firmament, raqia’) appears twenty-one times." But I'm stumped at this point and unsure how Cassuto and others cite the number "21" for heaven(s)/Firmament(expanse). What I'm thinking, though, is that the author of Genesis is not wanting the total to be 21, but one shy of 21. It's the same concept as "and God saw that it was good" is mysteriously absent from the account of when God separates the Heavens above from the Earth below on day 2. (It's not good that God's realm, heaven, is separated from man's realm, earth.) Once the mediator of earth and heaven is made on day 6, Adam, then God surveys all of His creation and pronounces everything "very good." i.e., we now have a mediator between the separated heaven and earth which brings them back into union and then God pronounces His creation "very good." . 21 would indicate a three-fold perfection. But 20 would mean that we are just one shy of perfection. Why is that important? It's only when the mediator ascends into the heavens that the heavens are made perfect. This idea is picked up in Hebrews chapter 9, specifically vs. 23-24, where Jesus perfects the heavenly realm with His own blood. So 20, one short of perfection, might be the idea trying to be conveyed in the text. Can you confirm and list the verses/uses of the word - "heavens/firmament" in a reply?

[@kellymcanally-iu6sx]

Adam-4 + Eve-3 = 7 Letters. 🙂

[@vacaloca5575]

Everything you say about the 7's is very interesting, but you made a small mistake in saying that God started creating in Gen 1:3. It's obviously in 1:1, of course.

[@danielpech6521]

It is only of humans that Genesis 1 does not specify any material source. From a pedestrian secular reading, this would be taken to be a simple absence of information as to their material source. But a Hebrew Priestly reading knows better. It also ought to know better even of v. 1: 1. the general cosmos and the special Earth. 2. The Earth, as its own general subject, implying that which we all intuit is most valuable about the Earth unto itself in all the cosmos: its abiding maximal abundance of open liquid water. 3. that water and its special relation to the Sun's light, hence the water cycle; 4. The water cycle and its special beneficiary and member, biology; 5. biology and its special category, animal biology (plant/animal/mineral = animal); 6. Animal biology and its special category, human; 7. The man and his wife (Genesis 2:21-23) In this seven-fold recursion, we can see a suggestion even that Man and Woman are not to be created at the same time, but, rather, at respective times, and with very particular respective and complementarian purposes. The sevenfold recursion shows that even Genesis 1:1 is entirely concerned that, since we humans are the creation of the Living God, we not only are not insignificant, we are the central value both of the entire account and the entire cosmos. More so, this recursion fits Genesis 1's conspicuous lack of mention only of humans' material origins. This (A) poses humans as transcending the Earth and (B) anticipates the completion forward of Genesis 1. Per the 7th recursion, this is fulfilled in the ending portion of Genesis 2 (vs. 18-23). The merismus in v. 1 is not---repeat, not---a 'fancy' Hebrew surrogate for 'everything'. Yet it rightly serves that purpose. And, as shown by this recursion, its best service of that purpose is that within its own more deep purpose. .

[@YeshuaSaves3]

My battery is at 77% as I watch this 🤔