Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello Paul:

Thanks for your nice and explanatory comments.

The question remains however. The niv committee, in its wisdom, instructs
that the little phrase עד עולם means "forever."

http://www.biblestudytools.com/1-chronicles/23-13.html

http://www.biblegateway.com/niv/translators-notes/

Is that meaning of the hebrew phrase correct?...

I await your advices.

regards,

fred burlingame


On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Paul Zellmer <pzellmer AT sc.rr.com> wrote:

> Fred,
>
> עד עולם is a prepositional phrase which may be literally translated, "up to
> perpetuity."  עולם is frequently found with other spacial prepositions, like
> מן, "from" (referring to the past), and ל, "to."
>
> Considering your penchant for using non-standard English syntax, you
> probably would appreciate that the Hebrew sometimes omits the head of the
> prepositional phrase when עד is used, resulting in the same concept as עד
> עולם.  Basically, what is being said in such cases is, "Something is true
> until."  Until what?  Until the period of time being talked about (even if
> it is never specified) is over.  This type usage, by the way, can be found
> in numerous languages around the world.
>
> Anyway, the most basic meaning of עד is not "forever," but is the
> prepositional idea of "to the point of."
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Paul Zellmer
>
>
>