Question:
What does the number 40 mean in biblical texts? For example, Moses walked for 40 years in the desert, and he was on Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. I would be grateful for your response.
Answer:
The rich biblical symbolism of the number forty can be deduced from the various events found in the Old and New Testaments in which this number 40 appears—that is, the different “forties”—and from their typological comparison, namely, that some are figures or types of others.
For example, Moses spent forty years in the desert with the Jewish people, who underwent various temptations and struggles until they reached the promised land. This is a figure of Jesus’ struggle in the desert, where He spent forty days and forty nights. In both cases, it is a journey of liberation toward a promised land, with a Liberator as their leader. Jesus begins His public life by struggling, not against Pharaoh, but against Satan, and He constitutes Himself as the Leader who came to liberate humanity from the slavery of sin, passing not through the Red Sea, but “from this world to the Father” to prepare a place for us in the promised land through His death on the Cross.
This symbolism of Passover (the crossing of the Red Sea, the passage from Death to Life) was adopted by the Church during the season of Lent, as was the idea of a Way or itinerary to be traveled in order to pass from sin to the life of grace. Indeed, Lent is a journey of preparation for Easter. The crossing of the Red Sea is also a figure of Baptism (as are the forty days of the flood), through which sins are buried in the baptismal waters, and one is reborn to new life.
The forty days are also related to penance, for, in addition to Jesus and Moses, Elijah also fasted for forty days, and God granted the people of Nineveh, through the prophet Jonah, a period of forty days to do penance for their sins. The Church has always been concerned to maintain the number forty as a time of penance, marked especially by fasting. The Roman liturgy has six weeks of Lent (up to Holy Saturday). Since Sundays are not days of fasting (being days of resurrection and celebration), the number forty is obtained by multiplying the 6 weeks by the remaining 6 days of the week (6×6=36). To reach the number forty, four “ash” days are added, from Wednesday to Saturday (36+4=40). Since the Eastern churches do not fast on Saturdays or Sundays, they have 8 weeks of Lent (8×5=40).
Finally, the forty days during which Jesus accompanies the disciples through His appearances after the Resurrection until the Ascension are intended to prepare them for the life of the Spirit—that is, the life of the Church, which will no longer have Jesus visibly present, but sacramentally.
Fr. Jon M. de Arza, IVE
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