(lent) 39

39.

the year (as in 1939) in which the Wizard of Oz is released, Lou Gehrig says in his tearful goodbye to the Yankees "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." and World War II begins.
Joy. Sorrow. Bloodshed. and the world would never be the same.

a song by Queen not sung by Freddie Mercury, rather by Brian May.


number of books in the Old Testament, written by several authors (26, perhaps), inspired by God.


the sum of five consecutive prime numbers: 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13
3 crosses. 5 loaves of fish. 7 days of the week. 11 loyal disciples. 13 years to build Solomon's palace.



the number of lashes Jesus took across the back on the day of his crucifixion. 40 lashes less one. that's what the Roman law allowed. Roman tradition considered forty lashes to be a death sentence. In Roman times, it was deemed that if a flogger were to appropriately administer a punishment, he should be able to kill a man with forty lashes. Depending on the circumstances, if he failed to kill a man in forty lashes, the flogger would face death. This was to insure that the flogger would not hold back in handing out the punishment. Using this same twisted logic, the Romans determined that 39 lashes shouldn't kill a person so that was the most you could give a person, without a sentence of death by flogging. Seeing how Jesus was to be crucified, the Romans were merciful and only gave him 39 lashes, Or perhaps the flogger was fearful of a death sentence if Jesus survived the fortieth lash.*

a life of joy. turns to sorrow. followed by bloodshed.
and the world would never be the same.