英文原文

【英文原文】

摘要：数字7 数字7在《圣经》里代表完整。上帝创世用了六天，第七天歇了，意思是活儿已干完。这样他为世人立下规矩，干六天，歇一天，七天为一周。

Seven is used frequently in the Bible to signify completeness. God created the world in six days, and had a rest on the seventh, meaning his job had been done. In this way he set the pattern for the seven-day week. The number also appears frequently in the third book of the Old Testament, in which it is connected with rules of offerings and cleansings. In the sixth book, an angel told Joshua that he and his men should march around the city of Jericho for six days, with the Ark of the Covenant carried in front of them. Seven priests blowing trumpets should march in front of the Ark. On the seventh day they must march around the city seven times. The Israelites did exactly as God had told them and finally they broke into the city. The book of Revelation is full of symbolic use of the number seven in connection with the things of God and his angels, and also the things of Satan and his followers, such as seven spirits, seven stars, seven churches, seven gold candlesticks. Superstitious people used to believe that the seventh son of a seventh son was gifted with supernatural powers. Three times seven is also lucky. Queen Victoria always had fine weather for her ceremonies because there were twenty-one cannons. Since seven seems to be a mysterious number, people have tended to create groups of seven things. For example, there were seven sages in ancient Greece; to Christians there are Seven Virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; and Seven Deadly Sins: pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, avarice, and sloth. There are also “Seven Wonders of the World”. Finally, each man’s life is divided into seven stages, as Jaques describes in Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

中文译文

【中文译文】

数字7 数字7在《圣经》里代表完整。上帝创世用了六天，第七天歇了，意思是活儿已干完。这样他为世人立下规矩，干六天，歇一天，七天为一周。《旧约•利未记》里，祭祀和洁净的规矩都与七这个数字有关。在《旧约•约书亚》里，上帝通知想攻下耶利哥城的约书亚，要他率领军队，每天绕城走一圈，连续六天。要派七个祭司，带着号角，走在约柜前头。到第七天，约书亚要率军绕城七周，然后祭司们吹起号角，全军齐声呐喊。以色列人一丝不苟地按上帝说的去做了，结果耶利哥城不攻自破。《新约•启示录》时，凡与上帝和天使、魔鬼与其追随者有关的事，多与7这个数字有关。如七灵、七星、七教会、七支金烛台等。过去曾有迷信的人认为第七个儿子生下的第七个儿子天生有超人的本领。3与7的乘积也吉利。维多利亚女王举行仪式，总能赶上晴朗天气，据认为是因为有二十一响礼炮。由于7这个数字很神秘，人们就喜欢拼凑它，以示圆满。于是古希腊就有七哲，基督徒有七德：信、望、爱、智、义、勇、节；七宗罪：傲、怒、妒、淫、饕、贪、懒。世界有七大奇观；人生分七个阶段，莎士比亚的喜剧《如愿以偿》里的杰开斯把这七个阶段描绘得惟妙惟肖。

【题外话】

古希腊罗马时代人们所认为的世界七大奇观是：埃及的金字塔、巴比伦的空中花园、小亚细亚的摩索拉斯陵墓、以弗所的月神阿尔忒弥斯神庙、罗得岛的巨像、奥林匹亚的宙斯像、法罗斯岛的灯塔。中世纪人们所认为的世界七大奇观是：罗马的大斗兽场、亚历山大的地下墓窟、中国的长城、英格兰的悬石坛、比萨的斜塔、中国南京的瓷塔（琉璃塔）、君士坦丁堡（伊斯坦布尔）的索非亚清青寺。