Day-Year Formula / Distributive Lamed of Ratio (Hebrew)¶
Definition¶
The day-year formula (yôm laššānāh) is a fixed Hebrew idiom in which a duration counted in days is converted to a duration counted in years on a 1:1 ratio, using a distributive/proportional lamed (lə-) prefixed to the time unit that functions as the reckoning base. The formula occurs verbatim only twice in the Hebrew Bible — Num 14:34 and Ezek 4:6 — but the underlying distributive-lamed construction is a broader syntactic category.
- Distributive "for/per" — lə- + noun = "for each X," "per X," "assigned to X"
- Ratio/conversion — when two commensurable quantities flank the lə- construction, it encodes a fixed exchange rate between them
- Reduplication for emphasis — repeating the phrase (yôm laššānāh yôm laššānāh) intensifies the distributive force and marks the ratio as fixed/deliberate
Form Recognition¶
Typical shape in parsed text:
| Slot | Morphology | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Unit counted (absolute) | Noun.ms.Abs | "a day" |
| Prep + article | ל Prep + ה Art |
"to/for the" |
| Unit assigned (absolute) | Noun.fs.Abs | "year" |
- Prep code:
ל(lamed) — in both canonical attestations it is prefixed to the article (לַ = lə- + haš-), giving definitelaššānāh("for the year") rather than indefinitelə-šānāh - Parent numeric bracket:
אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם … אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה("forty days … forty years") frames the formula to make the 1:1 ratio explicit - Parser codes:
sp=prep lex=לadjacent tosp=art+Noun.fs.Abs lex=שׁנה - The construction is not a construct chain (no Cst form); both nouns stand in the absolute state, linked only by the preposition
Functions with Examples¶
1. Day-for-Year Conversion (reckoning formula)¶
| Reference | Hebrew | Parsing | KJV Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Num 14:34 | יֹ֣ום לַשָּׁנָ֞ה יֹ֣ום לַשָּׁנָ֗ה | Noun.ms.Abs + Prep.+Art + Noun.fs.Abs (×2) | "each day for a year … for every day a year" |
| Ezek 4:6 | יֹ֧ום לַשָּׁנָ֛ה יֹ֥ום לַשָּׁנָ֖ה | Noun.ms.Abs + Prep.+Art + Noun.fs.Abs (×2) | "each day for a year … I have appointed thee a day for a year" |
Num 14:34 full context (tool output): אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם … יוֹם לַשָּׁנָה יוֹם לַשָּׁנָה … אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה — the reduplicated yôm laššānāh is the conversion key between the 40-day reconnaissance (Qal perf. tartem תור "you spied out") and the 40-year sentence (Qal yiqtol tiśʾû נשׂא "you shall bear"). Ezek 4:6 uses the identical formula to convert the prophet's 40-day right-side lying down into 40 years of Judah's iniquity, with the explicit performative nətattîw lāk ("I have appointed/given it to you").
2. Distributive Lamed in Non-Day-Year Contexts¶
The same syntactic pattern (prep. lə- + noun encoding "per/for each") is productive elsewhere:
| Reference | Hebrew | Function | KJV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen 1:14 | לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים | lə- of purpose/assignment | "for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" |
| Num 28:3 | שְׁנַיִם לַיּוֹם | distributive ratio (two per day) | "two … day by day" |
| 1 Chr 27:1 | לְחֹדֶשׁ בַּחֹדֶשׁ | distributive "month by month" | "month by month" |
| Dan 12:11–12 | (numeric days, no lə-šānāh) | bare day-count, no formula | "thousand two hundred and ninety days" |
Note: Daniel's chapter-7/8/12 time-prophecies (מוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי, עֶרֶב בֹּקֶר, יָמִים) do not themselves carry the yôm laššānāh phrase — the formula as a hermeneutical tool is imported from Num 14 / Ezek 4 and applied to those texts by interpreters; the day-year formula entry here documents the grammar only.
Contrast with Related Forms¶
| Form | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yôm laššānāh (this formula) | 1:1 day-to-year conversion | Num 14:34; Ezek 4:6 |
| Accusative of duration | unmodified extent of time | Gen 7:4 "forty days and forty nights" |
| bə- + time noun | temporal "in/on" (point-in-time) | Gen 1:1 בְּרֵאשִׁית "in the beginning" |
| lə- + infinitive construct | purpose/result "in order to" | common; not a time-ratio construction |
| Construct chain X-of-Y | possession/qualification, not ratio | יְמֵי שָׁנָה "days of a year" (Lev 25:29) |
Related entries: - Distributive/temporal lə- — not yet catalogued as a standalone entry - Accusative of extent of time (Greek counterpart concept)
Apocalyptic-Prophecy Usage Note (context-neutral)¶
The yôm laššānāh formula is cited by a long interpretive tradition (Jewish and Christian) as the grammatical warrant for rendering symbolic prophetic days as literal years in apocalyptic texts (e.g., Dan 7:25; 8:14; 9:24–27; 12:7, 11–12; Rev 11:2–3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). The grammar itself contains:
- A definite preposition (laš-, with article) indicating a specified reckoning base — the conversion is not open-ended
- Numerical apposition (ʾarbāʿîm yôm ↔ ʾarbāʿîm šānāh) demonstrating that the ratio is 1:1 and not metaphorical
- Performative verbs (nātattî Ezek 4:6; tiśʾû Num 14:34) framing the conversion as divine decree
What the grammar does not determine on its own: - Whether the formula is portable from Num/Ezek (where the conversion is explicit in the immediate context) to apocalyptic texts (where it is not explicitly invoked) - Whether apocalyptic time-spans (e.g., 2300 עֶרֶב בֹּקֶר, 1260 ἡμέραι, 42 μῆνες, καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ) are symbolic day-units awaiting conversion or literal day/month-units
Both questions are interpretive, handled by passage analyses and hermeneutical schools (historicist applies the formula; preterist / futurist generally do not; see passage files for Rev 11–13 and Dan 7–12).
Common Collocations¶
| Element | Lemma | Strong's | Role in formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹם | יום | H3117 | counted unit (day) |
| שָׁנָה | שׁנה | H8141 | reckoning unit (year) |
| לְ | ל | H0 (prep) | distributive/ratio preposition |
| ה | ה | H0 (art) | definite article fused with lə- → laš- |
| אַרְבָּעִים | ארבע | H705 | framing cardinal ("forty") in both attestations |
| נָשָׂא עָוֹן | נשׂא / עון | H5375 / H5771 | idiom "bear iniquity" — the sentencing clause containing the formula |
Generated from: hebrew_parser.py --verse "Num 14:34", "Eze 4:6" Related passage analysis: num-14-34 Last updated: 2026-04-17