Lexical Summary
shabua: Week, period of seven (days or years)
Original Word:שְׁבוּעַ
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:shabuwa`
Pronunciation:sha-VOO-ah
Phonetic Spelling:(shaw-boo'-ah)
KJV: seven, week
NASB:weeks, week, seven
Word Origin:[(properly) passive participle ofH7650 (שָׁבַע - swore) as a denominative ofH7651 (שֶׁבַע שִׁבעָה - seven)]
1. literal, sevened, i.e. a week (specifically, of years)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
seven, week
Or shabuan {shaw-boo'-ah}; also (feminine) shbu.ah {sheb-oo-aw'}; properly, passive participle ofshaba' as a denominative ofsheba'; literal, sevened, i.e. A week (specifically, of years) -- seven, week.
see HEBREWshaba'
see HEBREWsheba'
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
shebaDefinitiona period of seven (days, years), heptad, week
NASB Translationseven (1), week (4), Weeks (5), weeks (14).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Daniel 9:27 (days, years), (on formation see Lag
BN 67); — absolute
Daniel 9:27 (twice in verse); construct
Genesis 29:27,28; dual
Leviticus 12:5; plural
Exodus 34:22 4t. Deuteronomy + (in technical term) 2Chronicles 8:13; late
Daniel 9:24 4t. Daniel; construct
Jeremiah 5:24 (Ezekiel 45:21 read with Vrss and all modern, see ); suffix
Numbers 28:26; —
period of seven days (froma given time),week:Deuteronomy 16:9 (twice in verse);Leviticus 12:5 (P); of marriage feastGenesis 29:27,28 (E; compareJudges 14:12; Tob 11:19);Daniel 10:2,3threeweeks, days (three weeks long);Jeremiah 5:24weeks of statutes (i.e. weeks appointed by )for harvest; technical termExodus 34:22 (J)feast of weeks (ending seven weeks of harvest),Deuteronomy 16:10,16; 2Chronicles 8:13 so aloneNumbers 28:26 (P).
heptad or seven of years, late,Daniel 9:24,25,26,27 (twice in verse). —Ezekiel 21:28 see ].
Topical Lexicon
Summary of Meaning and UsageThe term describes a unit of seven days or, by extension, any set of “sevens” that orders Israel’s worship, agriculture, and prophetic calendar. Appearing twenty times in Scripture, it anchors rhythms of work and rest (Genesis 29:27–28), festal rejoicing (Exodus 34:22), maternal purification (Leviticus 12:5), and far-reaching prophetic revelation (Daniel 9:24-27).
Institutional Observance: The Feast of Weeks
•Exodus 34:22;Numbers 28:26;Deuteronomy 16:9-10, 16 record the “Feast of Weeks,” counted “seven weeks” from Firstfruits. The harvest gathered at this time highlighted God’s provision and pointed ahead to the fuller harvest of souls inActs 2, when the Spirit was poured out precisely on the day that commemorated these seven sevens.
•2 Chronicles 8:13 notes Solomon’s faithful observance “according to the duty of each day,” showing the monarch’s submission to the same calendar God had set for the nation.
Covenant Structures and Sabbatical Rhythms
The pattern of sevens embedded in creation (Genesis 1–2) reappears in the weekly cycle (Genesis 29:27-28) and the mother’s forty-day/two-week purification (Leviticus 12:5). These statutes cultivate holiness by weaving rest, reflection, and dependence on the Lord into the warp and woof of daily life.
Prophetic Horizons: The Seventy ‘Weeks’ of Daniel
Daniel 9:24-27 employs the term in four verses to unveil God’s timetable for consummating redemption:
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin… and to anoint the Most Holy Place.” (Daniel 9:24)
The text then divides the total into seven, sixty-two, and final “one week,” culminating in Messiah’s atoning work and ultimate triumph over evil. The same book links weeks with spiritual discipline when Daniel fasts “three full weeks” (Daniel 10:2-3).
Personal and Family Life
Genesis 29:27-28 shows an ordinary household using the weekly unit to mark contractual obligations, reminding readers that covenant faithfulness reaches the domestic sphere.Jeremiah 5:24 indicts Israel for failing to fear the God who “gives us the weeks of harvest,” exposing the peril of disregarding the rhythms He ordained.
Worship and Devotional Application
Ezekiel 45:21 speaks of a “festival lasting seven days” in the restored temple vision, reinforcing the eschatological hope of perfect worship structured around God’s sevens. Believers today may receive the gift of weekly rest as a foretaste of eternal Sabbath.
Christological and Eschatological Implications
The term’s prophetic use converges on Jesus Christ, whose death occurred “after the sixty-two weeks” (Daniel 9:26), and whose return will complete the final week by defeating desolation and inaugurating everlasting righteousness. The Feast of Weeks finds its New Testament fulfillment at Pentecost, when the Spirit writes God’s law on hearts, sealing the redeemed for the coming age.
Ministry Reflections
1. Cultivate gospel-centered rhythms of work and rest, honoring the Creator’s pattern.
2. Teach the congregation how Old Testament festivals illuminate Christ’s redemptive work.
3. Use the prophetic “weeks” to instill confidence in God’s sovereign control of history and to motivate holy living “until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (compare1 Timothy 6:14).
Forms and Transliterations
בְּשָׁבֻעֹ֖תֵיכֶ֑ם בשבעתיכם הַשָּׁב֜וּעַ הַשָּׁבֻע֖וֹת הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ השבוע השבעות השבעים וְשָׁבֻעִ֞ים ושבעים שְׁבֻ֣עַ שְׁבֻע֛וֹת שְׁבֻע֣וֹת שְׁבֻעַ֖יִם שָׁב֣וּעַ שָׁבֻעִ֖ים שָׁבֻעִ֨ים שָׁבֻעֹ֖ת שָׁבֻעֹת֙ שָׁבֻעֽוֹת׃ שָׁבֻעוֹת֙ שבוע שבע שבעות שבעות׃ שבעים שבעת bə·šā·ḇu·‘ō·ṯê·ḵem bəšāḇu‘ōṯêḵem beshavuOteiChem haš·šā·ḇu·‘îm haš·šā·ḇu·‘ō·wṯ haš·šā·ḇū·a‘ hashshaVua hashshavuIm hashshavuot haššāḇu‘îm haššāḇu‘ōwṯ haššāḇūa‘ šā·ḇu·‘îm šā·ḇu·‘ō·wṯ šā·ḇu·‘ōṯ šā·ḇū·a‘ šāḇu‘îm šāḇu‘ōṯ šāḇu‘ōwṯ šāḇūa‘ šə·ḇu·‘a·yim šə·ḇu·‘ō·wṯ šə·ḇu·a‘ šəḇu‘ayim šəḇu‘ōwṯ šəḇua‘ shaVua shavuIm shavuOt sheVua shevuAyim shevuot veshavuIm wə·šā·ḇu·‘îm wəšāḇu‘îm
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