The number one hundred twenty is made up of three forties (3x40=120). Applied to time therefore it signifies a divinely appointed period of probation, Genesis 6:3.

Applied to persons it points to a divinely appointed number during a period of waiting, Acts 1:15.

It is a factor also in the number of those who returned from Babylon, 42,360, being 120 x 353.

It is also a factor of the number of the men who went up out of Egypt, 600,000, being 120 x 5000.

It is a factor also of the 144,000 who will be sealed from the Twelve Tribes of Israel to go unscathed through the great tribulation, 144,000, being 120 x 1200.

The unanimous voice of Jewish tradition agrees with the Talmud* that "the Great Synagogue" (Nehemiah 10:1-10) consisted of 120 members. "It was called 'Great" because of the great work it effected in restoring the Divine law to its former greatness, and because of the great authority and reputation which it enjoyed." Its greatest work was in completing the Canon of the Old Testament. The Great Synagogue lasted about 110 years, from 410 B.C. to 300 B.C., or from the latter days of Nehemiah to the death of Simon the Just. It then passed into the Sanhedrim (Sanhedrin), when its whole constitution was changed.

* Jerusalem Berachoth, ii. 4; Jerusalem Megilla, i; Bab. Meg. 176.