The Biblical Forty: Part One

You can’t read much about Biblical lore without running across the pure number forty. It appears very often. Why? Was it a lack of imagination on the part of the mortals who penned the texts? Was it coincidence? Is it just statistical probability? Does it have some deeper significance? There’s no apparent obvious answer to this – it just is and it just is interesting.

The number 40 appears quite frequently in the Bible (at least in the King James Version anyway). You’d think that there would be equally as good a probability that 39 or 41 would appear as frequently, but no, apparently not. 39 and 41 hardly get a mention. That alone is a bit odd. Anyway, here are some of the numerous examples of “40” in the Bible (King James Version).

GENESIS 

*It rained 40 days and 40 nights.

*The flood was 40 days upon the earth.

*At the end of 40 days Noah released a raven.

*Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah.

*Esau was 40 years old when he married Judith.

*The Egyptians and Joseph embalmed and mourned his daddy for 40 days.

EXODUS

*Children of Israel ate manna for 40 years in the wilderness.

*Moses went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights.

*There were 40 sockets of silver noted and logged.

NUMBERS

*It took 40 days to search and spy out the Promised Land the Israelites were looking for and get word back about the goodies there

*God condemned His Chosen People to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

DEUTERONOMY

*More is related about those 40 years in the wilderness.

*More about Moses staying 40 days and nights on the mountain, starving and dying of thirst, waiting to receive those tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

JOSHUA

*Again, more info about those 40 years in the wilderness.

*Joshua was also 40 years old when he went on that spying mission.

JUDGES

*Israel had 40 years of peace between God’s judgments.

*There was 40 thousand in Israel and the big question was there a spear or shield among the lot of them?

*Abdon had 40 sons.

*The children of Israel did naughties and were tuned over to the Philistines for 40 years.

1 SAMUEL

*Eli judged Israel for 40 years.

*A philistine, Goliath apparently, menaced the armies of Israel for 40 days.

2 SAMUEL

*Saul’s son was 40 years old when he started his reign.

*David reigned for 40 years.

*David slew 40 thousand horsemen of the Syrians.

*Absalom after 40 years asked to be let go and pay a vow.

1 KINGS

*A bit more info about David reigning over Israel for 40 years. 

*Solomon had 40 thousand stalls for his horses.

*Solomon’s house was 40 cubits long.

*One laver contained 40 baths.

*Solomon reigned in Jerusalem in Israel for 40 years.

*Elijah journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

2 KINGS

*Jehoash began a 40 year reign in Jerusalem.

1 CHRONICLES

*More about David and those 40 thousand Syrian footmen.

*More about David reigning over Israel for 40 years.

2 CHRONICLES

*More about Solomon who was strutting his stuff in Jerusalem, thus over Israel for 40 years.

*Joash reigned in Jerusalem for 40 years.

To be continued…