"forty, indecl., Mt. 4:2; Jn. 2:20; Acts 1:3; 23:13, 21; Heb. 3:9; Rev. 11:2; 21:17"
Definition and meaning
forty, indecl., Mt. 4:2; Jn. 2:20; Acts 1:3; 23:13, 21; Heb. 3:9; Rev. 11:2; 21:17
In the original Greek the word is written: τεσσεράκοντα
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of tesserakonta (G5062) across the King James Bible.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
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Common questions
Strong's G5062 (tesserakonta) is a Greek word that means: forty, indecl., Mt. 4:2; Jn. 2:20; Acts 1:3; 23:13, 21; Heb. 3:9; Rev. 11:2; 21:17 It appears 21 times in the King James Bible.
The word tesserakonta (G5062) appears 21 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G5062 is tesserakonta, a Greek word defined as: forty, indecl., Mt. 4:2; Jn. 2:20; Acts 1:3; 23:13, 21; Heb. 3:9; Rev. 11:2; 21:17. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
tesserakonta is a Greek word found in the New Testament.