Timeline for Why is the number 40 so common in the Bible? [closed]
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
21 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 6, 2020 at 2:04 | history | closed | curiousdannii♦ | Opinion-based | |
| Jun 5, 2020 at 16:53 | answer | added | David | timeline score: 2 | |
| Mar 30, 2018 at 12:56 | comment | added | Constantthin | The number 40 is symbolic for 'development towards perfection', or 'the journey towards the goal'. The reason why this is so is because the normal time of pregnancy of a woman is 40 weeks. | |
| Mar 29, 2017 at 14:40 | comment | added | Lee Woofenden | @Andrew I don't have sufficient knowledge of other systems of interpreting biblical numbers to say that with confidence. The other current answer agrees on the "testing" aspect, but then goes in a different direction, tying 40 to a biblical "generation," which I don't think is well-supported by the text. Or at any rate, it uses a different method of interpretation as its basis. | |
| Mar 29, 2017 at 13:03 | comment | added | Andrew | @LeeWoofenden My own opinion then is that you should edit your answer to reflect that Swedenborg's opinion is actually a consensus, including his own evidence to that effect. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 22:49 | vote | accept | bio | ||
| Mar 28, 2017 at 22:31 | comment | added | Lee Woofenden | @Caleb on my previous comments also. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 22:31 | comment | added | Lee Woofenden | @Andrew I would also point out that Swedenborg's interpretation is based largely on a survey of the usages of the number 40 in the Bible itself. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 22:26 | comment | added | Lee Woofenden | @Andrew There is an ongoing debate as to whether these biblical interpretation questions should be allowed on C.SE, or not allowed as "primarily opinion based" unless they are denominationally scoped. So far the "allowed even without scoping" has prevailed. And even though I've been on the other side of the debate, since that side keeps getting shot down, I'm no longer fighting that battle. And since the "allowed" side has won (so far), answering these questions is also allowable. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 21:01 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 4, 2017 at 19:14 | |||||
| Mar 28, 2017 at 20:52 | comment | added | Andrew | I have voted to close this question as opinion based. Lee's answer below makes an exccellent answer to "According to Swedenborg, why is the number 40 ...", but to this question simply presents one opinion. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 18:34 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackChristian/status/846792540397473793 | ||
| Mar 28, 2017 at 17:56 | history | edited | Lee Woofenden | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Minor typographical fixes
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| Mar 28, 2017 at 17:55 | answer | added | Lee Woofenden | timeline score: 3 | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 16:28 | comment | added | Lee Woofenden | Welcome to Christianity.SE, and thanks for taking the site tour. For more on what this site is all about, please see: How we are different than other sites. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 12:59 | comment | added | Marc | @celeb I did say "I think this is opinion based" perhaps I'm mistaken. We will see. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 12:54 | answer | added | Ken Graham♦ | timeline score: 1 | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 12:35 | comment | added | Caleb | @Marc I don't think this is opinion based. As you yourself noted there is a connection between the imagery invoked by 40 (in other examples as well). The imagery is fairly well established and there are only a few minor variations on the theme for specific instances. The only thing that varies a lot across Christian commentators is how much weight this imagery should be given when interpreting related events. In other words I think this question could be reasonably answered in the context of this site as it is. For more detailed analysis of a specific instance of 40, ask on Biblical Hermeneutics. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 12:03 | comment | added | Marc | I think this is an opinion question. Also, Moses spent 37-38 years in the dessert, the term 40, may just represent "A long Period of Time" Jesus may also have spent 37-to 40 days, the important thing is that the time of suffering is connected to the the suffering of israel in the dessert. Imagery is important in the writing style of the time. | |
| Mar 28, 2017 at 10:16 | review | First posts | |||
| Mar 28, 2017 at 16:38 | |||||
| Mar 28, 2017 at 10:16 | history | asked | bio | CC BY-SA 3.0 |