Seven

Seven. A mystical significance was attached to this number by the Hebrews, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and other ancient races. Its sacred character was probably due to the seven planets and the weekly changes of the moon. In the Old Testament it figures conspicuously not only in the religious observances of the Jews, but in the record of actual historical events. It occurs frequently with a symbolic force in the imagery of the Apocalypse. Various multiples of seven are also used in the same manner. In ancient Greece the number was associated with Apollo and with Dionysus, the region in which its magic properties were most fully recognised being the island of Euboea. Such mediaeval notions as the Seven Deadly Sins doubtless originated in similar ideas.