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Orthodox Judaism/Inclusive Reckoning

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Expert: David Rosenblum - 8/8/2006


Question
Hello Mr. David Rosenblum,I am researching the term "Inclusive reckoning". Is the term "forty days and forty nights" literally 40 days and 40 nights, or could it be parts of 40 days and 39 nights? Could you please elaborate?

Answer
I don't think the term per se is used in Torah text so I cannot speak for it.  Nevertheless the Torah regularly counts partial days and years as full.  As to that method of counting, it only applies to the first or last unit of the period.  So if a king is said to have ruled 4 years, he could very well only have ruled part of the first and part of the last year.  As to the 2 middle years we can assume they were complete years.
Same goes for 40 days and 40 nights: days 2 through 39 are complete days where as days 1 and 40 could in theory be partial as discussed earlier.

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David Rosenblum

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I am an ex-student of yeshiva and I like to be presented with Torah study problems. If you have studied the Torah and have questions on the subject matter, I want to hear about it. I am not a Rabbi and not qualified to decide halachic issues. I am still interested in halachic questions for which I can sometimes offer general guidelines or present decisions in halachic works such as Mishna Berurah. I welcome questions from non-Jewish people but I cannot respond to religious references that are not part of Judaism. If you are working on a paper or doing research and want general information on a Jewish subject, I may or may not satisfy your need, depending on how comfortable I am with the question. If you have a personal problem, I am not qualified to help you but I will do what I can to offer you some assistance.

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