42
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Over most of pharaonic Egyptian history, the empire was divided into 42 nomes. Ancient Egyptian religion and mythological structure frequently model this terrestrial structure.[18]
- 42 body parts of Osiris: In some traditions of the Osiris myth, Seth slays Osiris and distributes his 42 body parts all over Egypt. (In others, the number is fourteen and sixteen).[19]
- 42 negative confessions: In Ancient Egyptian religion, the 42 negative confessions were a list of questions asked of deceased persons making their journey through the underworld after death. Ma'at was an abstract concept representing moral law, order, and truth in both the physical and moral spheres, as well as being an important goddess in the religion. In the judgment scene described in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which evolved from the Coffin Texts and the Pyramid Texts, 42 questions were asked of the deceased person as part of the assessment of Ma'at. If the deceased person could reasonably give answers to the 42 questions, they would be permitted to enter the afterlife. These 42 questions are known as the "42 Negative Confessions" and can be found in funerary texts such as the Papyrus of Ani.
- 42 books in the core library: Clement of Alexandria states that the Egyptian temple library is divided into 42 "absolutely necessary" books that formed the stock of a core library. 36 contain the entire philosophy of the Egyptians which are memorized by the priests. While the remaining 6, are learned by the Pastophoroi (image-bearers).[20][21] (36 is like-wise a sacred number in Egyptian thought, related to time, in particular the thirty-six Decan stars and the thirty-six, 10-day "weeks" in the Egyptian year.[22]) The 42 books were not canonized like the Hebrew bible; they only supported and never replaced temple ritual. Hence, the destruction of the Egyptian temples and the cessation of the rituals ended Egyptian cultural continuity.[23]
- Abrahamic religions
- There are 42 Stations of the Exodus which are the locations visited by the Israelites following their exodus from Egypt, recorded in Numbers 33, with variations also recorded in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.
- In Judaism, the number (in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled 375 AD to 499 AD) of the "Forty-Two Lettered Name" ascribed to God. Rab (or Rabhs), a 3rd-century source in the Talmud stated "The Forty-Two Lettered Name is entrusted only to him who is pious, meek, middle-aged, free from bad temper, sober, and not insistent on his rights". [Source: Talmud Kidduschin 71a, Translated by Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein]. Maimonides felt that the original Talmudic Forty-Two Lettered Name was perhaps composed of several combined divine names [Maimonides "Moreh"]. The apparently unpronouncable Tetragrammaton provides the backdrop from the Twelve-Lettered Name and the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Talmud.[citation needed]
- In Judaism, by some traditions the Torah scroll is written with no fewer than 42 lines per column, based on the journeys of Israel.[24] In the present day, 42 lines is the most common standard,[25] but various traditions remain in use (see Sefer Torah).
- 42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in Kabbalistic tradition. In Kabbalah, the most significant name is that of the En Sof (also known as "Ein Sof", "Infinite" or "Endless"), who is above the Sefirot (sometimes spelled "Sephirot").[26] The Forty-Two-Lettered Name contains four combined names which are spelled in Hebrew letters (spelled in letters = 42 letters), which is the name of Azilut (or "Atziluth" "Emanation"). While there are obvious links between the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Babylonian Talmud and the Kabbalah's Forty-Two Lettered Name, they are probably not identical because of the Kabbalah's emphasis on numbers. The Kabbalah also contains a Forty-Five Lettered Name and a Seventy-Two Lettered Name.
- The number 42 appears in various contexts in Christianity. There are 42 generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew's version of the Genealogy of Jesus; it is prophesied that for 42 months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5); 42 men of Beth-azmaveth were counted in the census of men of Israel upon return from exile (Ezra 2:24); God sent bears to maul 42 of the teenage boys who mocked Elisha for his baldness (2 Kings 2:23), etc.
- The Gutenberg Bible is also known as the "42-line Bible", as the book contained 42 lines per page.
- The Forty-Two Articles (1552), largely the work of Thomas Cranmer, were intended to summarize Anglican doctrine, as it now existed under the reign of Edward VI.
- East Asian religions
- The Sutra of Forty-two Sections is a Buddhist scripture.
- In Japanese culture, the number 42 is considered unlucky because the numerals when pronounced separately—shi ni (four two)—sound like the word "dying",[27] like the Latin word "mori".
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