We hear it a lot; the phrase “seventh heaven.” Our understanding is that it’s the ultimate place to experience blissful and complete satisfaction; for it would be the place that God lives. We also understand the phrase to mean that there are six other heavens that one must go through in order to reach the seventh.

Though the phrase is common, the question is “Is it biblical.” The answer is “No, it is not.” The “seventh heaven” concept has its beginnings in two of the oldest religions though: Hinduism and an ancient Babylonian cult.

Hinduism teaches that there are seven higher worlds. These worlds are not considered planets, but heavens. The earth is the lowest of the higher heavens. After death in this world, the soul temporarily spends time in the other six. After that, the soul returns to earth via reincarnation. Incidentally, there are also seven lower worlds called “under worlds.”

The ancient Babylonians taught that the seven heavens were seven levels of space. Uninhabited by people, each level was associated with a god and a heavenly body: the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

The idea of “seven heavens” later spread to Judaism and Islam. Rabbis taught, essentially, the Babylonian doctrine. One major difference, though, is that the Jewish heavens are populated with people. This teaching was included in their Talmud (Jewish, extra-scriptural writings). At that time, the concept was thought of as literal, but modern realizations now render the concept as symbolic.

Islam adapted Judaism’s seven heavens, but put its own twist on the matter. The added touch is that Muhammad traveled through the seven heavens, each a paradise, meeting with a Bible character or another prophet.

The “seventh heaven” concept entered Christianity after Dante wrote the Divine Comedy. In it, he combined Babylonian mythology with Christian metaphors. But again, there isn’t found anywhere in the Bible the notion of there being seven heavens.

However, The Bible does give three different meanings for the word “heaven” that are based on its Hebrew and Greek root words. The apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12: 2, says of himself that he visited the third heaven. It’s obvious that he’s talking about the spiritual heaven in which God dwells. The other two heavens, the Bible makes plain, are our sky (Genesis 1: 8, 9; Acts 10: 11) and outer space (Genesis 22: 17).