Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Solomon,

> That may be so, Harold, for an English text written by an English  speaker. 
> But the English Bible is a translation of a Hebrew text, so we  also have to
> consider what "olam" meant to the Hebrew writers of the text. 
>
> Thus, it matters whether the Hebrew writers had in mind "eternity" as 
> Westernized English speakers understand it, or something else.  And 
> if in  the Bible
> it signifies "eternity" some times, did its Hebrew writers always  use the
> term "olam" of things "eternal"?  And if not, what did "olam" mean  in those
> instances?
>
> "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was 
> about me for ever [l'olam]:  yet hast thou brought up my life from 
> corruption,
> O LORD my God." -- Jonah 2:6 KJV
>
> In this occurrence, "forever" lasted for only three days.

HH: No, they did not necessarily use the word of "eternity" in every 
occurrence. I believe we know they did not in reference to some past, 
earthly texts, where the idea is "antiquity" or "of old." This Jonah 
2:6 text is interesting. Thank you for noting it, and it may be that 
the idea is "a terribly long time" from the perspective of a person 
who does not live under water. On the other hand, Jonah could have 
been saying that from an earthly perspective he was doomed; the earth 
with its bars was destined to be his prison forever (had not God 
intervened).

                                        Yours,
                                        Harold Holmyard