The Significance of Forty in Torah

Sources exploring the symbolic and spiritual meaning of the number forty in Jewish tradition, particularly as it appears in biblical narratives and their interpretations.

בְּמִסְפַּר הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתֶּם אֶת־הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם

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Source 1 · Tanach

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Numbers 14:34

במדבר י״ד:ל״ד

Numbers 14:34

Israel’s forty years in the wilderness are tied to the forty days of the spies. This verse is a classic source for the symbolic force of forty in Torah.

בְּמִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־הָאָ֘רֶץ֮ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים יוֹם֒ י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֞ה י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֗ה תִּשְׂאוּ֙ אֶת־עֲוֺנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־תְּנוּאָתִֽי׃

You shall bear your punishment for forty years, corresponding to the number of days—forty days—that you scouted the land: a year for each day. Thus you shall know what it means to thwart Me.

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Numbers 14:34

Sotah 48b