Lexical Summary tessarakonta: Forty Original Word: τεσσαράκοντα Strong's Exhaustive Concordance forty. The decade of tessares; forty -- forty. see GREEK tessares HELPS Word-studies 5062 tessarákonta – forty, sometimes with added symbolic sense, i.e. "a full-testing period." That is, the full time (of a crisis, etc.) needed to successfully pass through to know God's approval. NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originvariant reading for tesserakonta, q.v. Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 5062: τεσσαράκοντατεσσαράκοντα R G, but several times (i. e. between 8 and 14) in Lachmann and everywhere in T WH (and Tr, except Revelation 21:17) τεσσεράκοντα (a form originally Ionic (yet cf. Buttmann, as below); see Kühner, § 187, 5; Buttmann, 28f (25f); cf. Winers Grammar, 43; (Tdf. Proleg., p. 80; WH's Appendix, p. 150)), οἱ, αἱ, τά, indeclinable numeral, forty: Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; John 2:20; etc. STRONGS NT 5062a: τεσσαρακονταδυο [τεσσαρακονταδυο, forty-two: Revelation 11:2 Rec.bez; Revelation 13:5 Rec.bez elz. Strong’s Greek 5062 (tessarakonta) is the cardinal number forty, employed twenty-two times in the Greek New Testament. Its uses cluster around key redemptive themes—testing, preparation, judgment, fulfillment, and consummation. By echoing formative Old Testament patterns, the Spirit-inspired writers underscore the unity of God’s saving plan and call believers to persevering faith. Periods of Testing and Preparation • The wilderness fast of Jesus marks the transition from private life to public ministry. “After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry” (Matthew 4:2; cf. Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2). The number signals a deliberate identification with Israel’s own forty-year testing (Deuteronomy 8:2–3), yet where the nation failed, the Son obeys, qualifying Him as the sinless Redeemer. Historical Recollections in Apostolic Preaching Stephen’s defense weaves together three forty-year epochs: Moses’ years in Midian (Acts 7:30), the Exodus miracles (7:36), and the generation whose unbelief incurred judgment (7:42). By invoking tessarakonta he frames Israel’s history as a sequence of divinely ordered opportunities to trust. Paul in Pisidian Antioch reminds his listeners that God “gave them Saul…for forty years” (Acts 13:21), setting Israel’s monarchy within the same pattern of probation. The author of Hebrews likewise cites the desert generation twice (Hebrews 3:9, 17) to warn wavering Christians against hardened unbelief. Miraculous Signs and Human Milestones Acts presents forty as a marker of significant life stages or miraculous interventions: Suffering and Discipline Israel’s law capped corporal punishment at forty stripes (Deuteronomy 25:3). Paul alludes to this limit: “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one” (2 Corinthians 11:24). The apostle’s endurance under the maximum legal beating underscores both covenant continuity and the cost of gospel ministry. Eschatological Calculations In Revelation, tessarakonta is embedded in composite numbers that frame the end-time drama: Theological Threads 1. Divine Testing: Forty establishes an appointed season whereby heart allegiance is revealed. Ministry Application • Fasting and prayer disciplines may be patterned after the biblically significant forty-day span, seeking renewed dependence on God. Summary Tessarakonta in the New Testament is never a casual numeral. Whether describing days, years, lashes, conspirators, or prophetic months, it signals divinely allotted periods that advance salvation history. Its consistent association with testing, revelation, and consummation calls every reader to trust the Lord who “works out everything by the counsel of His will,” guiding His people through their appointed seasons into the fullness of His kingdom. Englishman's Concordance Matthew 4:2 AdjGRK: νηστεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας KJV: And when he had fasted forty days and INT: having fasted days forty and nights Matthew 4:2 Adj Mark 1:13 Adj Luke 4:2 Adj John 2:20 Adj Acts 1:3 Adj Acts 4:22 Adj Acts 7:30 Adj Acts 7:36 Adj Acts 7:42 Adj Acts 13:21 Adj Acts 23:13 Adj Acts 23:21 Adj 2 Corinthians 11:24 Adj Hebrews 3:9 Adj Hebrews 3:17 Adj Revelation 7:4 Adj Revelation 11:2 Adj Revelation 13:5 Adj Revelation 14:1 Adj Revelation 14:3 Adj Revelation 21:17 Adj |
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