40 days and 40 nights.

[styley]

Is it true that the reason the current bible says Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, is because of a mistranslation caused by the older versions of the bible using the same word for "forty" as the word "many"?

[brionon]

It was 'For tea'.

[Theland]

It may have been a saying, similar to us saying,

"I could eat a horse."

"It will take a month of Sundays."

"It will take till the cows come home."

[Octavius]

Throughout the Bible 'forty' is used to represent .... a very long time. So it may well have been intended to mean 'many'.

When you go for forty winks, do you count them?

[chakka35]

40 is a magic number in the bible. As Brewer points out:

Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights; Elijah was fed by ravens for 40 days; the rain of the flood fell for 40 days, and another 40 days passed before Noah opened the window; 40 days was the period of embalming; Ninevah had 40 days to repent; Jesus fasted 40 days; he was seen 40 days after his resurrection, etc.