I'd like to say a little more on the word "Forever". I started to address this in the other thread, Body, Soul, Spirit, in
post #77. In the Masoretic text the word that is usually transferred "forever" is the Hebrew "olam," here is the definition.
Theological Workbook of the Old Testament
1631 עלם (ʿlm)
III. Assumed root of the following.
1631a †עוֹלָם (ʿôlām)
<H5769>,
<H5865> forever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world, etc. (RSV similar in general, but substitutes "always" for "in the world" in
Psalm 73:12 and eternity" for "world" in
Eccles. 3:11.) Probably derived from ʿālam I, "to hide," thus pointing to what is hidden in the distant future or in the distant past. The Ugaritic cognate is ʿlm, "eternity."
Though ʿôlām is used more than three hundred times to 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 to 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
Proverbs 22:28;
Proverbs 23:10;
Jeremiah 6:16;
Jeremiah 18:15;
Jeremiah 28:8 it points back somewhat farther. In
Isaiah 58:12;
Isaiah 61:4;
Micah 7:14;
Malachi 3:4, and in the Aramaic of
Ezra 4:15,
19 it clearly refers to the time just before the exile. In
1 Samuel 27:8, in
Isaiah 51:9 and
Isaiah 63:9,
11 and perhaps
Ezekiel 36:2, it refers to the events of the exodus from Egypt. In
Genesis 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
Isaiah 64:3 the KJV translates the word "beginning of the world." In
Psalm 73:12 and
Eccles. 3:11 it is translated "world," suggesting the beginning of a usage that developed greatly in postbiblical times.
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.
Does anyone see a problem here. The first definition given for olam is forever or everlasting, yet it says when the word refers to the past it never means forever. How does the same word mean forever and not forever? Here is Brown-Driver-Briggs.
<H5957>,
<H5769>
†עָלַם
n.[m.] perpetuity, antiquity (see BH III > עלם, עוֹּלָם);—ע׳ absolute
Dn 3:33 +, construct
7:18; emph. עָֽלְמָא
2:20 +; pl. עָֽלְמִין
2:4 +, emph. עָֽלְמַיָּא
2:44 7:18;—
perpetuity in the future: מַלְכוּת ע׳
Dn 3:33 7:27, compare
4:31 7:14; ע׳ as adverb
for ever 4:31; עַד־עָֽלְמָא וְעַד־עָלַם עָֽלְמַיָּא
7:18; pl. לְע׳
for ever 2:4;
2:44;
2:44 3:9 5:10 6:7;
6:22;
6:27;
antiquity, מִן־יוֹּמָת עָֽלְמָא
Ezr 4:15;
4:19; of limitless time both past and future: מִן־ע׳ וְעַד־ע׳
Dn 2:20.
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.
They say it's limitless both past and future. Well we've seen from the Scriptures themselves that the word can and is used of times future that "ARE NOT" limitless or eternal.
Notice the first source, The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament. It says as the first definition, forever, yet, when it begins to explain the usage of the word it says, "Though ʿôlām is used more than three hundred times to indicate indefinite continuance into the very distant future". Again, how can the word mean forever and an indefinite period of time. Eternity is not a indefinite period of time.
So, how does one define Olam when they come across it in the text? If the word can mean eternity and an indefinite period of time there is no way to determine what the word means. It may be possible to use context sometimes but that may not always be the case. It would seem that this is a case of theology driving the interpretation. I've posted 10 passages showing olam speaking of a finite period of time, so we know it can be used finitely, the question is can it be used of infinity? The answer is, yes, it can. If it's an unspecified period of time that could be infinite, however, it doesn't have to be. Just because the word can be used to define an infinite period of time doesn't mean has to mean an infinite period of time.
I think this should make us consider the translation when we see the words forever, forever and ever, everlasting, etc. They just might not mean forever.
