The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-11-02
aas1atstIi4snfe1s
The Number Seyen.'

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No one who reads The. scripture can
'lIlil;tQ nelics dc freq eft cltte nee 81
cert Ia niInberS and ID 6oth Sc q 81 md
New q EahtentS we md tliat unusual
prominence Is given TO the numbers.
The Old Testament opens with the
creation Of the world, which Is said TO
have occupied six days, and the seventh
was devoted 70 repOse; and among the
Jews the seventh year Is also consecrated
to the rest Of the year, and Is called the
sabhRtical Syear, and the seven times
seydnttytdr IS styled the year OF jubilee.
silt %oald be almost impossible TO men
ton all the instances In which the number
seven occurs in the Scriptures, butwewill
briefly notice q few Of them, and perhaps
some Of our readers may be interested TO
search for themselves for q number which
figures so conspicuously in the sacred
writings, and to whose religious signif.
canoe many scholarly heads have given
much time and thought
In the Old Testament we have the seven
days Of The week; VIC find also that in
certain sacrifices the sprinkling Of blood
was repeated seven times; that o leprouS
house was closed for seven days, and alter
ward sprinkled seven times; the conse-
Grafton Of the priests continued seven
days; the feast Of the tabernacle lasted
seven days and children were not circum.
sised until they had reached their seventh
day. All are familiar with the story Of
Jacob, whoserved seven years each for
Leah Ind RachelSz1n Phafaoh's dreams,
Of which JosephlYas theiint6fpreter, the
number ofseven as applied TO the kline and
the ears ofcorn, signihed the seven years
Of plenty and Of famine that were TO come
upon the land Of Egypt
Seven years were required to conquer
Canaan, and the temple was seven years
in building. Naaman was commanded to
wash seven times in Jordan. In COM
passing the City Of Jericho, seven priests,
bearing seven trumpets Of rams horns,
preceded the ark; they thus marched
about the city seven days, and on the sew
enth day seven times.
AS a magical charm, Sampson was
bound with seven green withes, and seven
locks Of his hair were woven with the
web.
In the New Testament We have the
seven loaves and the seven baskets Ofirag-
ments. In Matthew xviii, 81, %, we read:
sThen came Peter tojhim, and said, Lord,
hon often shall my Brother sthsa gainst
me, pndsI forgive hiul2 Tillsevcutfmes J
Jesus saith unto him, say not unto thee
until seven times, but until seventy times
seven"
In the Book of Revelation the number
seven Is used very frequently. There are
seven churches Of ASH, seven stars, seven
golden candlesticks, seven spirits Of God,
the lamb with seven horns and seven
eyes, the book with seven seals, seven an
gels with seven trumpets, seven thunders,
seven vialj-witll seven last plaques, tho
earthquake destroying seven thousand
men, and the beast and the dragon haV.
ing each seven heads. The witnesses
prophesy in sackCloth the half Of seven
years, and lie unburicd the half Of seven
years. u
From sacred history We pass to protane;
and among large number o: examples
we will mention the seven ages, the seven
champions, the hills, the seventh son
ii the seventh son, the seven sleepers, the
seven wonders Of the world, the seven
stages oElife (shakespeareJ, and the seven
wise men. In astronomy VIC have tue
seven stars called Pleiades, situated in the
neck Of tho constellation Taurus. We
read of the seven.iold shield Of Ajax; Of
seven-iold rage; and Milton says:
s.QEeYery beast, and bird, and insect small,
Came 66verB and pairs.
: TtIere san ancient CoupIct, by Thomas
Haywood, who lived in tho seventeenth
century, which rpns thus:
"Seyer bltioslWafred for Homer, being dead,
Who, living, had no roOfto shroud his head"
1t has been frequently stated that seven
Is the number Of hours that should be de-
voted to sleep. We remember a little
couplct on thtsp0iut which amused us in
ourchildhoOdE sy &
s0Nature requires ATeI custnm takes seven,
LaEIness nine, and wlckCdneSs eleven"
Sir William Jones gives the safest Coun-
sci in regard TO this matter:
''Scvcr hours 10 care, to soothing sIumbcr seven.
Ten 10 the world alloL, and al to He9yCn."
Seven Is oIIGn used 10 Indicate u great
number: ;.as SSevtn :, times Sas. many"
"Scvcn score, and Doubled seven times"
and to refer 10 tho Bible 3once moro, we
find IN Proverbs this passage; The slug.
gard Is wiser in his own Cohceit than
seven mon that can render a reason
LeaHing the sober paths Of sacrcd1And
prOfane history, we find that the number
seven has also been popularity adopted in
the field ofNwit and hunor;a however, VIC
will give but one example, and that Is an
ancient riddle:S 2l'&9ti lSCE
AL was going 10 st. Ives, - YN
~ Iunet Reven wives; IT
Each wife had seven sacks,