The number forty in the Bible

31 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.

Forty days

Rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nightsGen 7:4, Gen 7:12, Gen 7:17
The verses
Gen 7:4For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”
Gen 7:12And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Gen 7:17For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
After forty days Noah opened the window of the arkGen 8:6
The verses
Gen 8:6After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
Embalming Jacob took forty daysGen 50:3
The verses
Gen 50:3taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
Moses stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nightsExod 24:18, Exod 34:28, Deut 9:9
The verses
Exod 24:18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Exod 34:28So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
Deut 9:9When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.
The spies returned after forty daysNum 13:25
The verses
Num 13:25After forty days the men returned from spying out the land,
Goliath came out for forty days, morning and evening1 Sam 17:16
The verses
1 Sam 17:16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.
Elijah walked forty days and nights to Horeb1 Kgs 19:8
The verses
1 Kgs 19:8So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
Jonah: forty more days and Nineveh will be overturnedJonah 3:4
The verses
Jonah 3:4On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
Jesus fasted forty days and forty nightsMatt 4:2
The verses
Matt 4:2After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
After rising, Jesus appeared over a span of forty daysActs 1:3
The verses
Acts 1:3After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Forty years

Israel ate manna forty years in the wildernessExod 16:35
The verses
Exod 16:35The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
Forty years of wandering, a year for each day of spyingNum 14:34
The verses
Num 14:34In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
Isaac married Rebekah at fortyGen 25:20
The verses
Gen 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
Moses was forty when he visited his people; forty years later, the bushActs 7:23, Acts 7:30
The verses
Acts 7:23When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
Acts 7:30After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
Under several judges the land had rest forty yearsJudg 3:11, Judg 5:31, Judg 8:28
The verses
Judg 3:11So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Judg 5:31So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
Judg 8:28In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,
The Philistines ruled Israel forty yearsJudg 13:1
The verses
Judg 13:1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
Eli judged Israel forty years1 Sam 4:18
The verses
1 Sam 4:18As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.
Forty years under Saul, says PaulActs 13:21
The verses
Acts 13:21Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.
David reigned forty years: seven in Hebron, thirty-three in Jerusalem2 Sam 5:4, 1 Kgs 2:11
The verses
2 Sam 5:4David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
1 Kgs 2:11The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
Solomon reigned forty years1 Kgs 11:42
The verses
1 Kgs 11:42Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
Joash reigned in Jerusalem forty years2 Kgs 12:1
The verses
2 Kgs 12:1In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

Forty lashes

The Law allowed no more than forty lashesDeut 25:3
The verses
Deut 25:3He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.
Paul received forty lashes minus one five times2 Cor 11:24
The verses
2 Cor 11:24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

Sources

From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.

Berean Standard Bible · Public domain