τεσσᾰράκοντα G5062
Forty; the cardinal number used for periods of testing, wandering, and divine preparation in Scripture.
A cardinal number denoting forty, employed throughout both Testaments to mark seasons of trial, purification, and divine appointment. Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matt 4:2; Luke 4:2), echoing Israel's forty years of wandering and Moses' forty days on Sinai. The consistency across languages—Spanish cuarenta, French quarante, German vierzig—confirms the purely numerical value, yet Scripture invests this number with unmistakable theological weight as a period in which God shapes and proves His people.
Senses
1. forty — The cardinal number forty, appearing in contexts of temporal duration laden with theological significance. In the NT it marks Jesus' wilderness fast (Matt 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2), the forty-six years of temple construction (John 2:20), and the forty-day post-resurrection ministry (Acts 1:3). Every translation renders a straightforward numeral—cuarenta, quarante, vierzig—yet the biblical pattern consistently associates forty with seasons of testing and transition. 22×
AR["أَربَعينَ", "أَرْبَعينَ", "أَرْبَعُونَ", "أَرْبَعِينَ", "مِنْ-أَرْبَعِينَ", "وَأربَعينَ", "وَأَربَعونَ", "وَالأَربَعونَ"]·ben["চল্লিশ", "চল্লিশ,", "চল্লিশ।", "তাঁহাদের", "বিয়াল্লিশ"]·DE["vierzig"]·EN["forty"]·FR["quarante", "vierzig"]·heb["אַרְבָּעִים", "מֵאַרְבָּעִים"]·HI["-परमेश्वर-के-राज्य-की", "चालीस", "चालीससे", "था", "दिन", "बयालीस"]·ID["empat-puluh", "empat-puluh,", "empat-puluh."]·IT["quaranta"]·jav["patang-puluh", "patangpuluh", "sekawan-dasa", "sekawan-dasa,", "sekawan-dasa."]·KO["그리고", "마흔넷", "사십", "사십-명이", "해들-의"]·PT["e-quarenta", "quarenta", "quarenta-e", "quarenta."]·RU["сорок", "сорока", "сорока,"]·ES["cuarenta"]·SW["arobaini", "arobaini.", "miaka-arobaini"]·TR["kırk", "onlara", "yıllar"]·urd["بیالیس", "چالیس", "چالیس-سے"]
Related Senses
H3605 1. all, every, whole (5352×)H0259 1. one (cardinal numeral) (940×)H8147 1. cardinal number two (666×)G3956 1. all (collective plural) (616×)H3967 1. cardinal numeral hundred (550×)H1419a 1. great, large (general quality) (486×)H7969 1. cardinal number three (431×)H0505 1. cardinal number thousand (427×)H7651 1. seven (cardinal number) (393×)G1520 1. cardinal number one (339×)H6240 1. ten (cardinal number) (334×)H6242 1. twenty (cardinal number) (315×)H2568 1. cardinal number five (309×)H0702 1. four (cardinal number) (277×)G3956 2. every, each (distributive) (227×)H8337 1. six (cardinal number) (215×)G3956 3. all things, everything (substantive) (211×)G3956 4. (187×)H6235 1. ten (177×)G3173 1. great in size or extent (176×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
τεσσᾰράκοντα [ρᾰ], Attic dialect τεττᾰράκοντα Refs; Ionic dialect τεσσεράκοντα (which see); Sicilian Ionic τετράϟοντα Refs 6th c.BC+; Doric dialect τετρώκοντα Refs 4th c.BC+ and see at {τεσσαρακοστός}; once Doric dialect τεταράκοντα Refs; Boeotian dialect πετταράκοντα (which see): οἱ, αἱ, τά, indeclinable:—forty, Refs 8th c.BC+ __II οἱ τ. the Forty, a body of justices who went round the Attic…