אַרְבָּעִים
forty
Definition
The Hebrew word אַרְבָּעִים is the cardinal number 'forty'. It is used literally to denote the quantity forty, such as forty days and nights of rain during the Flood (Genesis 7:4) or forty years of wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33). It also frequently appears in symbolic or typological contexts, representing periods of testing, trial, or probation, as seen in the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18) and the forty days Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. The number can signify a complete or divinely appointed duration, as in the forty-year reigns of several kings (e.g., 1 Kings 11:42).
Biblical Usage
The word appears 124 times across the Old Testament, from Genesis to Zechariah. It is used in historical narratives to mark literal time spans (e.g., Genesis 7:4, 7:12, 7:17) and ages (Genesis 25:20). In legal and prophetic contexts, it can denote penalties or periods of judgment, such as Ezekiel's symbolic act representing forty years of Judah's punishment (Ezekiel 4:6). A significant pattern is its association with wilderness experiences, testing, and transition, most notably the forty years Israel spent in the desert before entering Canaan.
Etymology
Derived from the masculine form of the base number אַרְבַּע (ʼarbaʻ, H702), meaning 'four'. The suffix -ִים (-îym) is the standard masculine plural ending, making אַרְבָּעִים literally 'forties' or a multiple of four. It is part of the standard decimal numbering system in Biblical Hebrew.
Semantic Range
The number forty holds significant theological weight in Scripture, often marking a period of divine testing, judgment, or preparation. The forty years in the wilderness purified Israel (Deuteronomy 8:2), and the forty days Moses was on Sinai established the covenant law. This pattern of testing and probation is echoed in the New Testament with Jesus' temptation. Understanding this Hebrew term enriches reading by highlighting these divinely appointed seasons of trial that precede new beginnings or revelations.
In the ancient Near East, the number forty was commonly used to represent an approximate but significant period of time, often a generation. Culturally, it signified a complete or substantial duration for events like mourning (Genesis 50:3), military subjugation (Judges 3:11), or reigns. Its symbolic use for testing and transition was a shared literary and theological concept in the biblical world.
אַרְבַּע (ʼarbaʻ, H702) — the cardinal number 'four', the base unit. מִשְׁלֹשִׁים (mishlōshîm, H7970) — the cardinal number 'thirty', a different decade marker. שְׁנַיִם (shənayim, H8147) — the cardinal number 'two', a different base number.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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