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  • From: "Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>
  • To: "fred burlingame" <tensorpath AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] one-to-one rendering of olam
  • Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:30:42 -0800

Dear Fred,

[Bryant]
I think all the articles are based on how the word is used. I do not see that
a theological bias is being applied to the word. It is possible, but not
probable. Another thing is that the article states, "Probably derived from
'alam I, "to hide," thus pointing to what is hidden in the distant future or
in the distant past. The Ugaritic cognate is 'lm, "eternity." The reasoning
for this identification of the root is assuming that the initial letter is
pronounced, ayin, and not ghayin (see #1629, 'lm, pp. 671-672.) The problem
is that 'alam, 'almah and 'olam are from the same root. Thus, if the initial
letter is an ayin then it is the parent of 'olam and means "hidden,
concealed." Now, the initial letter is ghayin, then it is the parent of 'elem
and 'almah meaning "young man and young woman, respectively.

[Fred]
"Boosting the meaning of עולם into "eternal" orbit, seems to me a clear case
of theological license, at least in so far as the leningrad codex uses the
term."

[Bryant]
Each of the sources are quite consistent with regards the basic of meaning of
'olam. This does not mean that there has been eisegesis. Each is looking at
the context that the word is being used. Just because that is what the
tradition states does not mean that the tradition is inaccurate. It is quite
clear from the amount of material that the word is found in that a different
range of meanings are found.

It is the context that determines meaning. Any time one takes a text out of
context is creating a pretext and, thus, has no text at all. That is
eisegesis.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III

----- Original Message -----
From: fred burlingame
To: Bryant J. Williams III
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] one-to-one rendering of olam


Hello Bryant:

Thanks for taking the time to compile these lexicon excerpts.

As an evangelical acquaintance of mine observes ... "tradition drives the
translation."

To that observation, I would only add: opinions resemble skin; everyone has
some.

The hebrew language manifested in the masoretic text uses the little verb
עלם as "concealing" or "hiding." Witness 2 kings 4:27. The noun derivative
עולם likewise applies as a "concealed" or "hidden" or "unknown" period of
time, backwards or forwards. Witness Isaiah 44:7.

Boosting the meaning of עולם into "eternal" orbit, seems to me a clear case
of theological license, at least in so far as the leningrad codex uses the
term. The popularity however, of the lexicons you cite, both with publishers
and consumers, confirms that tradition rules the day.

regards,

fred burlingame


On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 1:30 AM, Bryant J. Williams III
<bjwvmw AT com-pair.net> wrote:

Dear List,

Maybe we should check TWOT, Volume II, "Olam," by Alan A. MacRae, pp.
672-673,
#1631a.

1631a 'olam - foerver, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old,
ancient, world, etc. (RSV similar in general, but substitutes "always"
for "in
the world: in Ps 73:12 and "eternity" for "world" in Ecc 3:11.) Probably
derived
from 'alam I, "to hide," thus pointing to what is hidden in the distant
future
or in the distant past. The Ugaritic cognate is 'lm, "eternity."

"Though 'olam isl lused more than three hundred times io indicate
indefinite
continuance into the very distant future,the meaning of the word is not
confined
to the future. There are at least twenty instances where it clearly
refers to
the past. Such usages generally point ot something that seems long ago,
but
rarely if ever refer to a limitless past. Thus, in Deut 32:7 and Job
22:15 it
may refer to the time of one's elders. In Prov 22:28; 23:10; Jer 6:16;
18:15;
28:8 it points back somewhat farther. In Isa 58:12; 61:4; Mic 7:14; Mal
3:4, and
the Aramaic of Ezr 4:15, 19 it clearly refers to the time just before the
Exile.
In I Sam 27:8, in Isa 51:9 and 63:9, 11 and perhaps Ezk 36:2, it refers
to the
events of the Exodus from Egypt. In Gen 6:4 it points to the time shortly
before
the flood. None of these past references has in it the idea of
endlessness or
limitlessness, but each points to a time long before the immediate
knowledge of
those living. In Isa 64:3 the KJV translates word "beginning of the
world." In
Ps 73:13 and Eccl it is translated "world," suggesting the beginning of a
usage
that developed greatly in postbiblical times.

Jenni holds that its basic meaning "most distant times" can refer to
either
the most remote past or to the future or both as due to the fact it does
not
occur independently (as subject or as an object) but only in connection
with
prepositions indicating direction (min "since," 'ad "until," le "up to")
or as
an adverbial accusative of direction or finally as the modifying genitive
in the
construct relationship. In the latter instance 'olam can express by
itself the
whole range of meanings denoted by the prepositions "since, until, to the
most
distant time": i.e. it assumes the meaning; "(unlimited, incalculable)
continuance, eternity". (THAT II, p. 230) J. Barr (Biblical Words for
Time) (2
1969, p. 73) says, " 'We might therefore best state the 'basic meaning'
as a
range between 'remotest time' and 'perpetuity' ". But as shown above it is
sometimes used of a not-so-remote past. For the meaning of the word in its
attributive use we should note the designation of the LORD as 'el 'olam,
"The
Eternal God" (Gen 21:33).

The LXX generally translates 'olam by AIWN which has essentially the
same
range of meaning. That neither the Hebrew not the Greek word in itself
contains
the idea of endlessness is shown both by the fact that they sometimes
refer to
events or conditions that occurred at a definite point in the past, and
also by
the fact that sometimes it is thought desirable to repeat the word, not
merely
saying "forever," but "forever and ever."

Both words came to be used to refer to a long age or period - an idea
that
sometimes pressed in English by "world." Postbiblical Jewish writings
refer to
the present world of toil as ha'olam hazzeh and to the world to come as
ha'olam
habba.

'ad (q.v.) has substantially the same range of meaning as 'olam
(usually
continuance into the future, but cf. Job 20:4)."

See also the following:

A Theological Wordbook of the Bible, Edited by Alan Richardson, "Time,
Season,"
by John Marsh, pp. 258-267. New York: The MacMillian Company, 1950.

Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, Edited by Merrill F.
Unger
and William White, Jr., "Ever, Everlasting," pp. 117-118, Nashville:
Thomas
Nelsons Publishers, 1980.

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown:
General
Editor,Tanslated, with additions and revisions, from the German
THEOLOGISCHES
BEGRIFFSLEXIKON ZUM NEUEN TESTAMENT, Edited by Lothar Coenen, Erich
Beyreuther
and Hans Bietenhard. Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, 1978. "Time,
Eternity," by H.-C. Hahn, Volume 3, pp. 826-833.

THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Editors:
GERHARD KITTEL GERHARD FRIEDRICH
Translator and Editor Geoffrey W. Bromiley, d. litt., d.d.
Grand Rapids: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 1964
"AIWN, AIWNOS," Volume 1, pp. 197-209.

The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament by Kittel and The New
International Dictionary of the Old Testament by Van Gemeren, I do NOT
have with
me at this time. Maybe one of the listers can give the source information.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III






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