The number 8 holds special significance throughout Scripture. Many Bible scholars consider it a symbol of new beginnings, resurrection, and regeneration.
Numbers in Scripture often carry deeper meaning beyond their counting value. God seems to use these numerical patterns to emphasize important spiritual truths and connections across different stories and teachings.
The Bible contains many significant numbers that repeat with purpose.
Seven represents completion or perfection, three signifies divine wholeness, forty relates to testing periods, and twelve connects to governmental foundation.
The number 8 stands out because it comes just after seven (completion) and represents something new starting after something else has finished.
This makes 8 especially meaningful in passages about resurrection, covenant beginnings, and spiritual renewal, as we’ll see in the following verses.
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New Beginning and Covenant
Genesis 17:12
“He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.”
God established circumcision on the eighth day as the sign of His covenant with Abraham. This timing was not random but marked a new beginning in the relationship between God and His people, showing how the number 8 connects to covenant beginnings.
1 Peter 3:20
“Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
Noah and seven others (eight people total) survived the flood to start humanity anew. This represents one of the clearest examples of the number 8 symbolizing a fresh start after judgment, with these eight people becoming the beginning of a new world.
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Resurrection and New Creation
Luke 24:1
“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”
Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which comes after the seventh day (Sabbath). This resurrection on the “eighth day” established a pattern of Christians gathering for worship on Sunday to celebrate the new creation begun through Christ’s victory over death.
John 20:26
“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’”
Jesus appeared to His disciples, including doubting Thomas, eight days after His resurrection. This timing reinforces the connection between the number 8 and Christ’s resurrection power, marking another significant eighth-day appearance.
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Dedication and Purification
Leviticus 14:10
“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one female lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil.”
The Law required cleansing rituals to be completed on the eighth day for those who had been unclean. This eighth-day timing symbolized the complete renewal of the person, allowing them to reenter the community with a fresh start after their period of separation.
Leviticus 14:23
“He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the Lord.”
Purification ceremonies often culminated on the eighth day with special offerings. These eighth-day rituals represented the transition from a state of uncleanness to cleanness, further showing how the number 8 relates to renewal and restoration.
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A New Order
2 Peter 2:5
“And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.”
Peter emphasizes again that God preserved eight people through the flood to establish a new order. This repeated mention of eight survivors reinforces the significance of this number in God’s pattern of judgment followed by new beginnings.
1 Samuel 17:12-14
“Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul.”
David, as the eighth son of Jesse, became Israel’s greatest king and established a dynasty. God often chooses the eighth in a series to bring about His new plans, showing how this number connects to divine selection for establishing new leadership.
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Musical Significance
1 Chronicles 15:21
“Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with harps on the Sheminith.”
The term “Sheminith” (meaning “the eighth“) appears in musical instructions for worship. This musical association suggests that even in praise, the concept of eighthness carried significance, possibly relating to a particular tone or instrument that completed the musical range.
The number 8 appears repeatedly in the Bible as a symbol of new beginnings and resurrection. We see this pattern in stories like Noah starting fresh with eight people after the flood.
We also see it in practices like circumcision on the eighth day, which marked a new covenant relationship with God. These examples show us that the number 8 has special meaning throughout Scripture.
When we notice these number patterns in the Bible, we can better appreciate how God used even simple numbers to communicate important messages.
This attention to detail reveals the careful design God placed within His Word for us to discover.
I don’t think Jesus rising on the 1st day of the week is included in the significance of the 8th day. Because of the commandment to keep the 7th day holy I think there needs to be a new commandment stating something like “because Jesus rose on the first day you should now keep the first day holy and not the 7th”! As there is no such command I don’t think people should take it upon themselves to alter the day God gave us to keep holy in Genesis 2 and repeated in the commandments. If you look in history the Catholics actually changed the day so we are following man not God which is a very serious matter.
Thank you Julie for your comment. You’re right, God clearly set apart the seventh day as holy right from creation (Genesis 2:2–3), and the command in Exodus 20:8–11 is one of the Ten Commandments.
In the article, the writer wasn’t saying that Jesus rising on the first day replaced the Sabbath. It was more about how the number 8 often shows up in Scripture to point to new beginnings. Jesus rising on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1) is part of that—it happened after the seventh day, which lines up with the “eighth day” pattern of something new starting after something old is complete.
You’re absolutely right that there’s no new commandment that says, “Now keep the first day holy instead of the seventh.” That command doesn’t exist in Scripture. But what we do see is that the early believers began gathering on the first day of the week to break bread and remember the resurrection (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). And in John 20:26, Jesus appeared to the disciples eight days after the resurrection—again on the first day.
You’re also correct that the Catholic Church later made Sunday the official day of worship. That’s historical fact. But Sunday gatherings didn’t begin with the Church in Rome—they go back to the apostles.
Really grateful you took the time to share your thoughts.