[Sca-cooks] 40 Days - was: a Lenten question-

[Bill Fisher]

On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:37:19 -0500, kingstaste at mindspring.com
<kingstaste at mindspring.com> wrote:
> The usage of "40" often shows up as a way of saying "lots and lots".  40
> days and 40 nights of flood, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, etc.  I am not
> sure of the linguistic tradition this comes from, but I know it is
> documented as being a common occurrance, and that it tends to be used to
> describe an unknown large number.
> Christianna
> 
> Forty days and forty nights does show up multiple
> times, in the flood, and the after the Exodus when the
> hewbrews were wandering around trying to find the
> promised land for forty years.  And also Lent.  It is
> a little confusing.
> 
> Aurelia

Forty was used to mark the significance of the event and
to mark its as something to remember.

cadoc
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