Some critics
of the Book of Mormon claim that the seven-day week is a concept that did not
originate until after the time of Lehi et al. Notwithstanding, there is overwhelming
evidence against this; indeed, it was known in the pre-exilic era. As Michael LeFebvre
wrote in his work on calendars in the Old Testament:
The Week
The origin of the seven-day week is debated,
but most scholars believe the week is a grouping of days based on symbolism of
the number seven. The most extensive biblical description of the week is the creation
account in Genesis 1:1-2:3. The passage recounts the Creator’s work reaching
completion, celebrated with rest on the seventh day. This concept of completion
within seven days is further expressed in the Decalogue: “Six days you shall
labor, and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work”
(Ex 20:9-10). The exhortation to “do all [kol]
your work” during the week further draws on the notion of a week as a complete
period of days.
Some scholars believe that the week also has
its own direct dependence on the heavenly lights, arguing that the week
originated in the cadence marked by the phases of the moon. Dividing the
twenty-nine/thirty-day month into the moon’s four quarters would approximate
the resulting seven-day weeks. “From very early times,” Nahum Sarna explains, “a
seven-day period as the basic unit of time calculation was current among West
Semitic peoples. In the Mesopotamian lunar calendar the seventh, fourteenth,
twenty-first and twenty-eighth day of certain months, corresponding to the four
phases of the moon were [observed]” (Sarna, Understanding
Genesis, 20). In fact, some scholars believe that the “significance [of the
number seven] may derive from the four phases of the moon being regarded as seven-day
periods (P.P. Jensen, “שֶׁבַע” [8679],” NIDOTTE, 4:34-37). In other words, the seven-day phases of the moon
may be where the notion of completeness first became attached to this number.
Furthermore, some suggest that the Hebrew word Sabbath (šabbät, “to
cease or rest”) may be related to the Akkadian šabattu (“sit”), which was used for the four points during the
month when the moon “sat,” or the Ugaritic šuptu
(“a station of the moon”). These etymological connections are speculative, but
the widespread importance of the moon’s four phases in ancient calendars is
surprisingly absent in Israel if the week is not attached to them.
We know that Israel observed a lunar month that
varied between twenty-nine and thirty days. The ideal month in Israel was
regarded as having thirty days (e.g., Num 20:29; Deut 34:8; Esther 4:11; Dan
6:7, 12), although sometimes an actual month would have twenty-nine. It is
conceivable that Israel also observed a lunar week. Most of the time this would
be seven days long, and the ideal week would be regarded as having seven days
(comparable to the ideal month having thirty days). But at least once a month,
an eight-day week would be required. We know that Israel’s solar year required
periodic intercalation to stay aligned with the lunar months; perhaps the week,
similarly, had a typical length of seven days but required occasional
intercalation as well. Any society that follows the heavenly lights as its calendar
will be accustomed to slight variations and the need for intercalations.
The early Ethiopian calendar eight-day week
(called a )sämên) that was intercalated to retain its compatibility with the lunar
month. “Along similar lines,” Eviatar Zerubavel adds, “many of the ancient
Chinese hsüns and decades, which were normally ten days
long, had to be only nine days long” (Evitar Zerubavel, The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week [New
York: Four Press, 1985], 10). The ancient Roman calendar celebrated “Kalends .
. . the day after the evening on which the crescent had been first sighted. The
Nones would have been the day when the moon was at the first quarter . . . The
ides would be the day of the full moon” (Agnes Kirsopp Michels, The Calendar of the Roman Republic [Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967], 21). It is possible that the Old
Testament week enjoyed similar flexibility, being normally seven days but
occasionally stretched to eight according to the moon’s phases.
If the Hebrew week was intercalated to align
with the moon’s phrases, however, the Scriptures do not report it. But they do
not record the processes to intercalate the mouths or years either. The
strongest evidence in Scripture to support the lunar week thesis is the
frequent link between new moon days and Sabbaths. Old Testament writers often mention
the new moon day in parallel with the weekly Sabbath, as though they are both
part of the lunar calendar (Is 1:13; 66:23; Ezek 46:1; Hos 2:11; Amos 8:5; 2
Kgs 4:23; cf. Ben Sira 43:6-7). Psalm 81:3 further speaks of worship assemblies
happening on “the new moon” and also “at the full moon.” This might be a merism
indicating that worship took place on the new moon and the full moon and each
of the phases in between, thus indicating Sabbaths held on the moon’s phases.
The evidence is sketchy but suggestive. Some conclude from these references
that both the month and the week were correlated to lunar observations. If this
is so, then the heavenly lights directly govern “days, [and weeks, and months,] and years” (Gen 1:14), with two divisions
ruled by the sun (day and year) and two by the moon (week and month).
The proposal is intriguing, but it remains
speculative and its resolution is not essential for the purposes of this
volume. The general consensus of scholars is that the week is a grouping of
seven days analogous to the groupings of years into sevens. Whether or not the
phases of the moon had any influence on the original character of the week, the
seven-day grouping is regarded in the Bible as a full set of days ending in
rest. (Michael LeFebvre, The Liturgy of
Creation: Understanding Calendars in Old Testament Context [Downers Grove,
Ill.: IVP Academic, 2019], 26-28)
With respect
to the entry for שֶׁבַע in The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, as
referenced above, here is the entry thereto in vol. 4 pp. 34-37:
שֶׁבַע (šebaʿ I), nom. seven (cardinal number) (#8679); שָׁבוּעַ
(šābûaʿ), nom. period of seven, week (#8651); שְׁבִיעִי (šebîʿî), adj. seventh (ordinal
number) (#8668).
ANE Occurrence of the root
שָׁבַע for
seven is widespread in the Sem. languages. Seven is a universal sacred and
significant number, often indicating completeness, fullness, or perfection. Its
significance may derive from the four phases of the moon being regarded as
seven-day periods. This association precedes the perception that there were
seven planets, although this and other cultural factors would have reinforced
its significance. The range of use in Mesopotamia and Canaan is broadly
comparable to that found in Israel, although with not such emphasis on the
sabbatical principle. Seven occurs extensively in Mesopotamian literature, in
lists associated with a deity, seven-day festivals, and sevenfold ritual
actions. In the Epic of Gilgamesh seven is a key organizing principle,
particularly for time periods. Enkidu goes with the harlot six days and seven
nights, the storm subsides on the seventh day, and Gilgamesh loses immortality
by sleeping for seven days (ANET, 77,
94, 95). The graduated pair 77/88 is found in the Ugar. literature (CTA 5 v 20–21; CML2 72), and Athirat has seventy sons (CTA 4 vi 46; CML2 63).
OT 1. Seven may sometimes be
a round number, but even more important are implications of completeness or
fulfillment. Journeys are often seven days long (Gen 31:23; Prov 26:16; Jer
15:9). Seven sons are a perfect family and the ideal, both in the ANE (Keret CTA 15 ii 23) and in Israel (2 Sam
21:9). This makes the destruction of Job’s family more tragic and their
restoration a fitting conclusion (Job 1:2; 42:13). We also meet double seven,
14 (Num 29:13; Ezek 43:17), and duplicated seven, 77 (Gen 4:24; Judg 8:14; Ezra
8:35; cf. 777, Gen 5:31). Fourteen is sometimes significant as twice seven. The
number of Job’s sheep is doubled to fourteen thousand when he is restored (Job
42:12; cf. 1:3). Whereas seven lambs are normally sacrificed on festivals,
fourteen are offered throughout the seven days of Tabernacles (Num 29:13–34),
emphasizing that it was the climax of the annual cycle.
2. The association of
seven with completeness, totality, and perfection makes an association with
divinity and holiness a natural one. Ritual actions occur seven times and
correspond to the invocation of God’s power, as in the fall of a city (Josh 6),
the raising of the dead (2 Kgs 4:35), or the “performative” pronouncement of
blessings and curses (Gen 4:24; Deut 28). Jacob bows seven times to Esau,
giving him almost divine honors (Gen 33:3).
3. The underlying
importance of seven as a fundamental time structure in the created world is
asserted in Gen 1:1–2:3. The priestly traditions develop this to an
extraordinary degree, so much so that it becomes an integrating and unifying
theme between creation, history, and worship. The sanctifying of the seventh
day and completion of creation reflects the sanctifying of the tabernacle,
which some regard as taking place in seven stages (P. J. Kearney, “Creation and
Liturgy: The P Redaction of Exodus 25–40,” ZAW
89, 1977, 375–87). The seven branches of the lampstand (Exod 25:31–37) probably
portray the tree of life (C. L. Meyers, The
Tabernacle Menorah, 1976). The creating and blessing God is manifest in the
worship of Israel. Priests are consecrated in a seven-day ordination ritual
(Exod 29:35–37), which has a theophanic climax on the seventh day (Lev 8–9).
There are seven festivals (diversely reckoned in Lev 23; Num 28–29), the two
most important of which last seven days (Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles,
which also take place in the seventh month). Purification from major impurities
takes seven days (Lev 12:2; 15:13; Num 19:11; cf. 2 Kgs 5:10), as do rituals
that effect a transition from one status to another (Lev 14:1–20). These
frequently involve sevenfold sprinkling with blood (Lev 4:6; Num 19:4) or oil
(Lev 8:11). The number of sacrifices offered is often seven (Num 28–29), and
the climactic seventh day of Tabernacles sees the sacrifice of seven bulls, two
rams, and fourteen lambs (Num 29:32; cf. the 70 wild oxen offered in CTA 6 i 18, CML2 74).
4. The six plus one
pattern of the Sabbath (→) is reflected in the sacrifices offered on the
Sabbath, which were additional to the daily offerings (Num 28:9–10). A day-year
equivalence leads to the custom of the sabbatical year every seven years (Deut
15:1), and the year of Jubilee takes place after “seven sabbaths of years—seven
times seven years” (Lev 25:8). Solomon took seven years to build the temple (1
Kgs 6:38), which was dedicated in the seventh month (1 Kgs 8:2). Ezekiel has
seven steps to the temple court (Ezek 40:22), perhaps reminiscent of the
seven-stage ziggurats of Babylonia, which were intended to link heaven and
earth.
5. Three and seven are
often linked structurally or procedurally. Seven sons and three daughters
appears to be the ideal family (Job 1:2). For severe impurities the ritual has
an intermediate stage on the third day and only full purification on the
seventh (Num 19:12; 31:19). The Elijah cycle has threes (1 Kgs 17:21; 18:1),
whereas the Elisha cycle features sevens (2 Kgs 4:35; 8:1). The seven-day
account of creation in Gen 1–2:3 has three “blessings” (1:22, 28; 2:3), and the
account of the seventh day has a threefold repetition of seventh day and work.
6. Implicit sevens are
found in genealogies (e.g., seven sons, Gen 10:2–5), lists (Isa 11:2), and in
the structure of various passages, particularly in deut. literature (1 Kgs
8:19–53). The book of Amos employs seven in a number of structures (J.
Limburg). It is not easy to decide how to evaluate the detection of less
evident sevens, such as the occurrence of seven words in a sentence (Gen 1:1;
fourteen in v. 2) or in a passage. There may be an aesthetic motive at work, or
the repeated word may be a keyword that is important for the story or theme.
But in other cases it may be coincidence, with no evident significance for the
theological and literary meaning of the text.
The case for “number harmony” (U. Cassuto, From Adam to Noah, 1961, 12) is
strengthened by the occurrence of the number in other forms. Thus, the
detection of various kinds of seven in Gen 1 is confirmed by the evident
importance of seven in related priestly texts. The creation and ordering of the
world thus echoes Israel’s ritual theology, and the number harmony affirms that
the God Israel worships is Creator, Savior, and Sustainer (Gorman). Nor are the
sevens mentioned buried so deeply that they cannot be perceived by a sensitive
reader. On the other hand, it would be far more difficult for a reader to
perceive significance in the number of letters or syllables of an extended
text.
7. The nom. שָׁבוּעַ
describes a period of seven days or week, a common period of reckoning or the
duration of a festival such as a marriage feast (Gen 29:27–28). The third most
important festival of the year is the חַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת, the
Feast of Weeks, so-called because it is determined by the counting of seven
weeks of harvest (Num 28:26; Deut 16:10, 16). Seventy sevens (of years) are
decreed in Dan 9:24 (cf. 4Q 180, 181), possibly combining Jeremiah’s prophecy
of 70 years of exile (Jer 25:11) with the sevenfold punishment of Lev 26:18,
28. The failure of chronological schemes that attempt to integrate the literal
number with the history of Israel strongly suggests that it is a symbolic
number, similar to those found in other late apocalyptic writings (judgment
takes place after 70 generations in 1 En 10:11–12). The historical reference is
to the second-century crisis centered around the persecution of Antiochus
Epiphanes, but the allusive and symbolic nature of the writing allowed it to be
reapplied to later events, particularly the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Matt
24:15; Josephus, Ant 10:276; see J.
E. Goldingay, Daniel, 1989, 267–68).
(See further #8651.)
8. Seventy is a large
round number, with overtones of completeness and perfection from the
combination of the smaller totalities seven and ten. The seventy elders is a
full representation of the whole nation of Israel (Exod 24:9; Num 11:24; Ezek
8:11). Seventy years is the expected life span (Ps 90:10; 140 is double
blessing in Job 42:16), and seventy years of exile is the punishment of an
entire generation (Isa 23:15; Jer 25:11; Dan 9:2). The families and dynasties
of a great man or king can have seventy members (Gen 46:27; Judg 8:30; 12:14),
and to end a dynasty all had to be killed (2 Kgs 10:1–7).
P-B The symbolism of seven
and other numbers is extensively developed by Philo (e.g., Op. Mund.). The Qumran Words of the Heavenly Lights (4Q504) has
seven sections, and seven dominates the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice
(4Q400–407). The army of the eschatological war has sevenfold perfection (seven
priests, Levites, troops of horsemen; 700 horsemen) and launches sevenfold
attacks (1QM 6–8). Jewish interpreters regarded the world as consisting of
seventy nations (Gen 10), corresponding to the number of Jacob’s household (Gen
46:27; Tgs on Deut 32:8).
NT In the NT seven may be
a small round number (Matt 15:34) or a relatively large number (18:21; contrast
77 in v. 22). Seven dominates the structure and symbolism of the book of
Revelation, suggesting totality, fullness, divine perfection, and completion.
