Also worth noting that numbers in the Bible are largely symbolic. Most people couldn’t actually count beyond 5 or 10. Small numbers tend to be specific; God took 7 days to create the world, for instance. But for larger numbers, they tended to abstract them because people couldn’t count. Shepherds would add pebbles to a basket for every sheep that went out to pasture in the morning. And when they returned in the evening, the shepherd would remove pebbles. If they had any stones left in the basket afterwards, they knew they were missing sheep. But that’s not the same as being able to count their sheep. They didn’t know exactly how many sheep were in their flock; They just knew when one got lost.
So numbers in the Bible aren’t meant to be taken literally. The number 40 pops up a lot in the Bible. Moses wandered the desert for 40 years. It rained for 40 days during Noah’s flood. Jesus fasted for 40 days after his baptism. Et cetera… 40 was just representing a very large number. Too large for the average person to count, but still small enough that you could fit 40 of something into a basket. It was a conceivable number. You may not be able to count to 40 on your fingers, but you can imagine what a flock of roughly 40 sheep looks like on a hillside.
The number 1000 was also used a few times, to represent an inconceivably large number. A number that couldn’t even be imagined by the average person. You couldn’t fit 1000 pebbles into a basket. You couldn’t imagine 1000 sheep in a pasture. You couldn’t fit 1000 people in a market. But Jesus fed 1000 people with just a load of bread and a fish. Psalm says 1000 years is like a day to God. Jesus is going to return to reign as king for 1000 years. Et cetera… Because 1000 wasn’t meant to be taken as a literal number; It was just an extremely large number; too large to count or even comprehend.
All of this is to say… Jesus didn’t fast for 40 days. It was likely anywhere from three to six weeks. But that’s if you actually believe the story in the first place.
I’m guessing it’s also a different definition of fasting than most expect. When you fast before a surgery, you eat literally nothing. When you fast in Lent, you abstain from certain foods, but not all foods. When you fast in Ramadan, you completely fast during the day, but eat after sundown.
We don’t know the specifics, nor the specific amount of time, and I doubt that actually matters anyway. The point of the story is that Jesus was tempted while at his lowest point and still remained faithful. That’s it.
And that’s what i meant when i said that people back then just hadn’t had the mental tools to work with, we have today. Alone the tropes (like, schemes to screw someone over) the average Joe learns now thanks to mass media.
Also worth noting that numbers in the Bible are largely symbolic. Most people couldn’t actually count beyond 5 or 10. Small numbers tend to be specific; God took 7 days to create the world, for instance. But for larger numbers, they tended to abstract them because people couldn’t count. Shepherds would add pebbles to a basket for every sheep that went out to pasture in the morning. And when they returned in the evening, the shepherd would remove pebbles. If they had any stones left in the basket afterwards, they knew they were missing sheep. But that’s not the same as being able to count their sheep. They didn’t know exactly how many sheep were in their flock; They just knew when one got lost.
So numbers in the Bible aren’t meant to be taken literally. The number 40 pops up a lot in the Bible. Moses wandered the desert for 40 years. It rained for 40 days during Noah’s flood. Jesus fasted for 40 days after his baptism. Et cetera… 40 was just representing a very large number. Too large for the average person to count, but still small enough that you could fit 40 of something into a basket. It was a conceivable number. You may not be able to count to 40 on your fingers, but you can imagine what a flock of roughly 40 sheep looks like on a hillside.
The number 1000 was also used a few times, to represent an inconceivably large number. A number that couldn’t even be imagined by the average person. You couldn’t fit 1000 pebbles into a basket. You couldn’t imagine 1000 sheep in a pasture. You couldn’t fit 1000 people in a market. But Jesus fed 1000 people with just a load of bread and a fish. Psalm says 1000 years is like a day to God. Jesus is going to return to reign as king for 1000 years. Et cetera… Because 1000 wasn’t meant to be taken as a literal number; It was just an extremely large number; too large to count or even comprehend.
All of this is to say… Jesus didn’t fast for 40 days. It was likely anywhere from three to six weeks. But that’s if you actually believe the story in the first place.
They did try to count the sheep but they kept passing out
I’m guessing it’s also a different definition of fasting than most expect. When you fast before a surgery, you eat literally nothing. When you fast in Lent, you abstain from certain foods, but not all foods. When you fast in Ramadan, you completely fast during the day, but eat after sundown.
We don’t know the specifics, nor the specific amount of time, and I doubt that actually matters anyway. The point of the story is that Jesus was tempted while at his lowest point and still remained faithful. That’s it.
According to Red OSP, there aren’t actually 9 norse realms. The Vikings just liked the number 9.
According to George Gamow, counting is just pairing quantities one-to-one. So pairing one sheep to one pebble would be considered counting to Georgie.
And that’s what i meant when i said that people back then just hadn’t had the mental tools to work with, we have today. Alone the tropes (like, schemes to screw someone over) the average Joe learns now thanks to mass media.
Btw, that’s why base education is important.
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