Lexical Summary tessarakontaetés: Forty years old Original Word: τεσσαρακονταετής Strong's Exhaustive Concordance forty years old. From tessarakonta and etos; of forty years of age -- (+ full, of) forty years (old). see GREEK tessarakonta see GREEK etos HELPS Word-studies Cognate: 5063 tessarakontaetḗs (from 5062 /tessarákonta, "forty" and 2094 /étos, "year") – a period of forty years. See 5062 (tessarakonta). NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originvariant reading for tesserakontaetés, q.v. Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 5063: τεσσαρακονταετήςτεσσαρακονταετής (T Tr WH τεσσερ(, see τεσσαράκοντα; L T accent τεσσαρακονταετής, see ἑκατονταετής), ἑκατονταετες, (τεσσαράκοντα, and ἔτος), of forty years, forty years old: Acts 7:23; Acts 13:18. (Hesiod, Works, 441.) STRONGS NT 5063a: τεσσαρακοντατεσσαρες [τεσσαρακοντατεσσαρες, τεσσαρακοντατεσσαρων, forty-four: Revelation 21:17 Rec.bez elz. A single Greek adjective meaning “forty years old” or describing a span of “forty years.” In Scripture it points to decisive periods of preparation, testing, or completion in God’s redemptive plan. Occurrences in the New Testament • Acts 7:23 — “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.” The first text speaks of a man’s age; the second, of a nation’s probationary span. Together they frame personal and corporate dimensions of God’s timing. Biblical-Theological Significance 1. Maturity and Readiness Moses’ fortieth year marks the close of his Egyptian upbringing and the threshold of a new calling. In biblical thought forty years often signals the completion of formative discipline, after which God introduces a fresh stage of service (compare Numbers 14:33-34; Judges 3:11; 2 Samuel 5:4). 2. Divine Patience and Covenant Faithfulness Paul’s synagogue sermon (Acts 13) recalls the forty-year wilderness sojourn to highlight the LORD’s longsuffering. The same God who shaped Moses for forty years bore with Israel for forty more, underscoring His unwavering commitment to bring His purposes to fruition despite human failure. 3. Symbol of Testing and Transition Forty appears in decisive junctures: the Flood rains (Genesis 7:12), Moses on Sinai (Exodus 24:18), Elijah’s journey (1 Kings 19:8), Jesus’ fasting (Matthew 4:2), and the forty days of post-resurrection appearances (Acts 1:3). The adjective under study folds this well-known motif into Luke’s narrative. Historical Context In the Greco-Roman world forty denoted full manhood and social competence. For Israel the number already carried historic weight; Luke’s use of the term therefore resonates with both Jewish memory and contemporary cultural expectations, assuring his audience that God acts within recognizable patterns of time. Ministry Implications • Preparation precedes commission. Believers may take courage that seasons of obscurity are not wasted; God matures His servants before public deployment. Related Old Testament Forty-Year Periods Numbers 14:34; Deuteronomy 8:2; Joshua 5:6; Judges 5:31; 1 Samuel 4:18; 1 Kings 11:42; Ezekiel 29:11; Hebrews 3:9 repeats the wilderness warning for the church age, reinforcing the ongoing relevance of the pattern. Key Takeaways The two uses of Strong’s Greek 5063 crystallize a larger biblical theme: God employs forty-year seasons to shape deliverers and to prove His people. The term therefore becomes a narrative marker of divine preparation, testing, and faithfulness, encouraging readers to submit to the Lord’s perfect timing in their own pilgrimage. Englishman's Concordance Acts 7:23 Adj-NMSGRK: ἐπληροῦτο αὐτῷ τεσσερακονταετὴς χρόνος ἀνέβη KJV: he was full forty years old, it came INT: was fulfilled to him of forty years a period it came Acts 13:18 Adj-AMS Strong's Greek 5063 |
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