Argument: The "40 days" may not be literal. Jesus was in the
desert "40 days and 40 nights," see early Matthew.
10 is the Hebrew "indeterminate number" and 4 is the "earth number."
Thus the phrase "40 days & nights" may well be just an idiom for
"a fairly long time." Like the British use "fortnight," which means literally
"two weeks" to mean "more than a few days but probably less than a month."
Or, "it rained 40 days & nights" = "it rained for many days."
Burgy