Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ruthy & Baruch" <alster AT comandcom.com>]

Eric wrote:

> Please forgive my possible mistransliteration; it's usually spelled
"melech 
> haolam" in popular English transliteration.
> 
> I know this isn't a Biblical phrase, but it is in many Jewish liturgical 
> prayers dating to Biblical times.
> 
> It's usually translated "King of the Universe" but (WOLAM to me has more
of 
> a time sense than an earth/solar system/galaxies sense (which is how I 
> react to the word "universe"). I've checked Brown-Driver-Briggs,
Holladay, 
> Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, New International Dictionary
of 
> Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, and Ernest Klein's Etymological 
> Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for meaning(s) of (WOLAM.
> 
> What would be a better translation?

Although you're right about the meaning of (OLFM in BH, in Rabbinic Hebrew
it really does mean something more like "universe".  See Proverbs 10:25,
where (OLFM is taken by the Rabbis in this sense in quite a few passages,
e.g. Bavli Yoma 38b and Hagigah 12b.  See also Mishna Avot 1:2.  These are
just basic examples - virtually all uses of (OLFM in Rabbinic Hebrew
carries this meaning!!

Kol Tuv,
Baruch Alster
Kochav Ya`akov, Israel