And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Punish you seven times more - i:e., with far more severe and protracted calamities. 'Seven is the number in the divine law with which the idea of remission was ever linked. It is true that we find it as the number of punishment or retribution for evil also (Genesis 4:5; Leviticus 26:18; Leviticus 26:21; Leviticus 26:24; Leviticus 26:28; Deuteronomy 28:23); yet this should not disturb or perplex, rather confirm us in this view, since there lies ever in punishment the idea of restoration of disturbed relations, and so of forgiveness,' (Trench 'On the Par.')