על בריאת העולם ל״וOn the Account of the World's Creation 36
א׳
1[105] Solon, then, reckons the life of man by the aforesaid ten weeks of years. And Hippocrates the physician, says that there are seven ages, those of the little boy, the boy, the lad, the young man, the man, the elderly man, the old man, and that these ages are measured by multiples of seven though not in regular succession. His words are: “In man’s life there are seven seasons, which they call ages, little boy, boy, lad, young man, man, elderly man, old man. He is a little boy until he reaches seven years, the time of the shedding of his teeth; a boy until he reaches puberty, i.e. up to twice seven years; a lad until his chin grows downy, i.e. up to thrice seven years; a young man until his whole body has grown, till four times seven; a man till forty-nine, till seven times seven; an elderly man till fifty-six, up to seven times eight; after that an old man.”
ב׳
2[106] The following is also mentioned to commend the number 7 as occupying a wonderful place in nature, since it consists of 3+4: if we multiply by 2, we shall find that the third number, counted from 1, is a square, and the fourth a cube, while the seventh (and 7 is made up of 3 and 4), is at once a square and a cube: for the third number in this multiplication by 2, namely 4, is a square, the fourth, 8, is a cube; the seventh, 64, is at once a cube and a square. Thus the seventh number does indeed bring with it perfection, claiming both correspondences, that with the superficies by means of the square, in virtue of its kinship with 3, and that with the solid body by means of the cube, in virtue of its relationship with 4; and 3 and 4 make 7.