Hebrew word · Strong's H7651

שֶׁבַע

shebaʻ · sheh'-bah · number · “seven”

In a sentence

Sheva means seven — a number woven through Scripture for completeness and rest. The seven days of creation, sevenfold sprinklings, and the seven churches all carry its weight.

Sheva is the number seven, but it is more than arithmetic in the Bible. It signals completeness and rest: creation’s seventh day, the seven-year sabbath cycles, sevenfold sprinklings in atonement.

Revelation amplifies the symbolism with seven churches, seven seals, seven bowls — completeness in judgment and salvation. Even the number suggests the God who finishes what he starts.

Strong's reference

Definition: seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number

KJV usage: ([phrase] by) seven(-fold),-s, (-teen, -teenth), -th, times). Compare H7658 (שִׁבְעָנָה).

Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

Genesis 2:2 “And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.” Leviticus 23:3 “For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.” Revelation 1:4 “John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne,”

Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.