Talk:40 (number)

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40 also symbolized "a great but indeterminate number" This is the reason the number appears so often in the bible. I don't have the scholarly background to do a proper wiki page on this. There have been some suggestions that the number was sacred to a Babylonian diety, though it was used by Egyptian, Hebrew, and even Druidic peoples as well. Perhaps someone with the proper scholarly background could expound more on this.

Contents 1 Lent 2 The word 3 in religion 4 Please Verify and Cite 5 Wikiprojet Judaism 6 Merge with -40 7 In Islamic Culture section 8 Forty for generation 9 Loss in translation

[edit] Lent

"In modern Western Christian practice, Lent consists of the 40 days preceding Easter" I don't understand why Catholic traditions are ascribed to ALL Christians. As far as I know, Lent is primarily Catholic. I am not aware of any Protestant religions that observe it, certainly none of the Evangelical religions.

The Church of England for a start. Rich Farmbrough 15:56 23 May 2006 (UTC).

I have modified this point to clarify the numbering (this article is not the place to hash out Lenten practice). There is in fact a renewed interest in Lent in a great number of protestant, or evangelical churches. Also, Eastern Orthodox believers would take offense at the suggestion that only Catholics practice something they have practiced as long as anyone. I have written an online devotional for Lent (http://www.imby.net/easter), for my evangelical church (vcfp.org), that has been welcomed by believers of all creeds. Carpentis 16:10, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The word

Forty seems to be a fairly generic name for a field. Potentially "the Top Forty"... It's certainly the name f the village green in Cholsey. Rich Farmbrough 15:56 23 May 2006 (UTC).

[edit] in religion

"Adam is believed to be 40 feet tall" -removed. If the belief existed, it is not widespread/consistent enough to have survived, in Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. A quick search reveals some fringe beliefs in early peoples of giant size (a 90 foot tall Adam, etc), but again, no consistency. Carpentis 16:19, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

---

There is a section on religion and middle eastern traditions (including islam), there's a section on islam, and under "In other fields", we find: the number of thieves in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from Thousand and One Nights (both the numbers 40 and 1001 are more likely to mean "many" than to indicate a specific number). How about renaming the "In eligion" section e.g. as "In Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions" (which is narrower than "religion" as it excludes e.g. hinduism, but wider as e.g "1001 nights" may be included), collecting all that stuff there?--Niels Ø (noe) 07:44, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please Verify and Cite

The following needs to be verified and cited:

40 (forty) is the natural number following 39 and preceding 41.

And are there alternative viewpoints to be represented here? Someone somewhere must object to this ordering. Brentt 22:21, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Curious as to what school you went to that taught you differently what a 'natual' number is. Disinclination 05:04, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I would ask that the Raffi connection be explored further....Stupidwhiteman 06:06, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikiprojet Judaism

This page has been added to Wikiproject Judaism. Dose that make sense for a general number page? Would it be better to create a separate page on Judaic use of the number 40? Or is it really not a problem at all?--Niels Ø (noe) 18:24, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge with -40

Hey everyone, I just proposed that the information from -40(number) be merged with this one, please let me know what you think.--Cronholm144 22:01, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] In Islamic Culture section

I am removing this section, it is filled with OR and not one "fact" is cited.

Example: "It can also reflect the fact that "40" in the Arab world can simply mean "a lot" or "many", much in the same way that westerners use the term "dozens"."

This is OR.

The parts about claiming 40 dead in conflicts is also not cited and seems sketchy.N0v3r

[edit] Forty for generation

In the ancient middle-east, forty wasn't a generation but a the lifespan of the people, so forty years can be equal to two or even three generations. So there wasn't any magician or trick to say forty is "too many years" since they didn't expected to live forty years. It's the same to say (currently) "One hundred years" or a century. --Magallanes 01:04, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Loss in translation

Ancient tables mention the world "forty" but it's a common mistake caused by a literal (and wrong) translation. A correct translation must have present the original interpretation of the script (can hard and even in some cases impossible to achieve), for example Richard The Lionheart is not a guy called Richard with a implanted heart and its'n a Therianthropy . So, "40 years in the desert" is a bad translation and cannot be used but "So many years in the desert" is correct.

--Magallanes 01:04, 10 August 2007 (UTC)