Word Study for H7620 (שָׁבוּעַ)

shâbûwaʻ /shaw-boo'-ah/ Ask about this word

Rootor שָׁבֻעַ

Meaningalso (feminine) שְׁבֻעָה; properly, passive participle of שָׁבַע as a denominative of שֶׁבַע; literally, sevened, i.e. a week (specifically, of years)

KJV usageseven, week.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of shâbûwaʻ — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word shâbûwaʻ, represented by H7620, literally means "sevened" and refers to a week. It appears 20 times across 17 verses in the Bible. Derived from the word for seven H7651, it signifies a complete cycle or period of seven, which can apply to days or, significantly, to years.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

In scripture, H7620 is used in several distinct ways. It can refer to a literal seven-day period, as when Jacob fulfilled her week Genesis 29:28 or when Daniel was mourning three full weeks Daniel 10:2. It is also used to establish periods of ceremonial purity, such as the two weeks a woman is considered unclean after bearing a female child Leviticus 12:5. The term is central to Israel's agricultural and religious calendar in the "Feast of Weeks" Deuteronomy 16:16, which was to be observed with a freewill offering Deuteronomy 16:10. Most significantly, it is used prophetically in the book of Daniel to denote "weeks of years," as in the seventy weeks determined upon the people and the holy city Daniel 9:24.

Related Words & Concepts

Several related words clarify the meaning and application of a "week":

H7651 shebaʻ (seven): This is the cardinal number from which shâbûwaʻ is derived. It underpins the entire concept, as seen in the instruction to number seven weeks from the start of the harvest Deuteronomy 16:9.
H2282 chag (festival, feast): This word is frequently paired with H7620 to form the title "Feast of Weeks," one of the three major pilgrimage festivals commanded in the law Deuteronomy 16:16.
H8141 shâneh (a year): This term is essential for interpreting prophetic passages. In Genesis, a week of service is contrasted with seven additional years of service Genesis 29:27, while in Daniel, weeks are understood to be periods of years Daniel 9:24.

Theological Significance

The theological weight of H7620 is tied to its representation of divinely ordered time and completion.

Cycles of Worship and Provision: The command to observe the Feast of Weeks Exodus 34:22 and God's reservation of the "appointed weeks of the harvest" Jeremiah 5:24 establish a rhythm of life centered on God's provision and scheduled worship. This seven-based cycle reflects a divine ordering of time.
Prophetic Fulfillment: The concept of "weeks" is central to understanding God's redemptive plan. The prophecy of Daniel outlines seventy weeks to finish transgression, make reconciliation for iniquity H5771, and anoint the most Holy Daniel 9:24. This sets a divine timetable for the coming of the Messiah H4899.
Completion and Covenant: A "week" signifies a period that must be completed or fulfilled Genesis 29:28. In Daniel 9:27, a covenant H1285 is confirmed for one week, linking the measurement of time directly to God's binding agreements with humanity.

Summary

In summary, H7620 moves from a simple denotation of a seven-day period to a profound theological concept. It structures personal life Genesis 29:27, national worship through the Feast of Weeks Deuteronomy 16:10, and the very timeline of salvation history. The prophetic use of "weeks" in Daniel Daniel 9:25 reveals that God operates according to a divinely appointed schedule, marking out eras with the same precision He uses to appoint the weeks of the harvest Jeremiah 5:24.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a noun across 20 occurrences, inflected in 8 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

שָׁבֻעִים
שָּׁבֻעוֹת
שָׁבֻעֹת
שְׁבֻעוֹת
שָׁבוּעַ
שְׁבֻעַ
שְׁבֻעַיִם
שָׁבֻעֹתֵי

Related Words

Other entries the study above points to — each one is drawn from a reference it makes. Follow the trail to see how the words connect.

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 17 verses across 9 of the 39 books. Most frequent in Daniel (6 verses); never once in the other 30.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

2 Chronicles

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Daniel

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.