Why is this translated as forty days and forty nights, instead of four days and four nights?
6. LN 67.78–67.117 unit: אַרְבַּע יוֹם וְ־ אַרְבַּע לַיְלָה (ʾǎr·bǎʿ yôm w- ʾǎr·bǎʿ lǎy·lā(h)) long time, formally, forty days and forty nights, i.e., a relatively long indefinite period of time (Ex 34:28), note: some sources do not take as an idiom;
LN Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon
Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!
When it is singular it is four and when it is plural (like in your text) it is 40. So arba is 4, but arbaim is 40.
The LHB says אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יוֹם֙ וְאַרְבָּעִ֣ים לַ֔יְלָה (Ex 34:28) which is plural.
However the phrase given in the DBL looks singular: אַרְבַּע יוֹם. Wouldn't that be four days?
I am sorry, I did not look closely enough before. I am not sure. A Bible search for the phrase with the singular shows no results and a search in my considerable library turns up only the result you are posting. I think it may just be a typo in DBL.
PetahChristian:6. LN 67.78–67.117 unit: אַרְבַּע יוֹם וְ־ אַרְבַּע לַיְלָה (ʾǎr·bǎʿ yôm w- ʾǎr·bǎʿ lǎy·lā(h)) long time, formally, forty days and forty nights, i.e., a relatively long indefinite period of time (Ex 34:28),
I have no idea where that came from.
PetahChristian: The LHB says אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יוֹם֙ וְאַרְבָּעִ֣ים לַ֔יְלָה (Ex 34:28) which is plural. However the phrase given in the DBL looks singular: אַרְבַּע יוֹם. Wouldn't that be four days?
It appears that DBL Hebrew has quoted the phrase incorrectly, as it should be plural.
Note, the quote comes from the definition of 'day', DBL Hebrew 3427
Dave===
Windows 10 & Android 8
Thanks for the report. DBL has some interesting origins and it yielded the text here as you see it here.
However, I was able to get confirmation that we'll be able to do some substantial editing of the text and when we do this will get fixed.
I'm not sure the timeline on it yet but this one is very high on my list.