Question for people who can read and speak Biblical Hebrew: define the Hebrew word olam?

Question

What does the word mean? If it does not denote endlessness, is there another Hebrew word that does? Did ancient Hebrews even have a concept of eternity?

From a Christian viewpoint, if the so-called "Old Covenant" ended with Christ, who in turn started a so-called "New Covenant," and the Old Covenant is said to last for "olam," how can olam therefore denote eternity? Can someone explain this to me?

Answer 1

Olam is the world or the universe.
When the phrase "melech ha'olam" is
used in prayers in reference to God
it can mean "king of the world" or "king of the universe".

Answer 2

In Biblical Hebrew (what the poster asked for), עולם (olam) means 'forever', or 'eternity', never 'world'. The literal meaning could be said to be 'eternity', since it is grammatically a noun, but normally you would not use the word 'eternity' to translate it into good English. I don't see any reason not to think that it would denote endlessness. (Isn't that what eternity means?) It seems clear to me that the many examples of the use of 'olam' (see below) were considered to describe things that would never end. (The 'world' meaning is Rabbinic and Israeli.)

The word 'olam' is used in two basic ways in Biblical Hebrew:

One is as the second element of a construct structure. In this use, it can be translated 'eternal' (although technically it is a noun in Hebrew):

Exodus 29:28: וְהָיָה לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו לְחָק-עוֹלָם
(vehaya le-aharon ul-vanav lehok olam): It will be an eternal law for Aaron and his sons (literally, something like 'a law of eternity').

Exodus 31:17: וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת, לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם, בְּרִית עוֹלָם. (veshamru bnei yisra'el et hashabbat la`asot et hashabbat ledorotam brit olam): The Israelites keep the Sabbath, doing the Sabbath in each of their generations; it is an eternal covenant.

Exodus 12:17: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, אֶת-הַמַּצּוֹת, כִּי בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, הוֹצֵאתִי אֶת-צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם; וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת-הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם--חֻקַּת עוֹלָם. (ushmartem et hamitsvot, ki beetsem hayom hazeh hotse'ti et tsiv'otechem me'erets mitsraim; ushmartem et hayom hazeh ledorotechem -- hukkat `olam) Keep the commandments, for on this very day I have taken your multitudes out of the land of Egypt; keep this day in all your generations, it is an eternal charter.

A good example that shows the 'unendingness' of the word: Deuteronomy 13:17: וְשָׂרַפְתָּ בָאֵשׁ אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-כָּל-שְׁלָלָהּ כָּלִיל, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ; וְהָיְתָה תֵּל עוֹלָם, לֹא תִבָּנֶה עוֹד. (vesarafta ba'esh et ha`ir ve'et kol shlalah klil la-adonai elohecha, vehayta tel `olam, lo tibbaneh `od) You will burn down the city and all its plunder completely to the Lord your God. It will be an eternal ruin. It will not be built any more.

Second, much less commonly, is with a preposition, like עד (ad). Here the whole expression with the preposition can be translated 'forever':

Genesis 13:15: כִּי אֶת-כָּל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר-אַתָּה רֹאֶה, לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה, וּלְזַרְעֲךָ, עַד-עוֹלָם. (ki et kol ha'arets asher ata ro'eh, lecha etnena ul-zar`acha, ad-olam): For the whole land which you see, I am giving it to you and your descendants, forever (or 'eternally').

Deuteronomy 12:28: לְמַעַן יִיטַב לְךָ וּלְבָנֶיךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ, עַד-עוֹלָם (lema`an yitav lecha levanecha aharecha ad-olam): so that things will be good for you and your descendants after you forever.

As far as your theological question goes, I think you'll need a Christian to answer that. It seems clear to me that Christianity contradicts the plain meaning of the Old Testament to the degree that it claims that the covenant in the Old Testament is no longer valid.

(The word for 'world' in Biblical Hebrew is ארץ (erets). Compare Ecclesiastes 1:4: דּוֹר הֹלֵךְ וְדוֹר בָּא, וְהָאָרֶץ לְעוֹלָם עֹמָדֶת. (dor holech vedor ba, veha'arets le`olam `omadet): Generations come and go, but the world remains forever.)

Answer 3

olam is "world" in Hebrew. it can portray endlessness, depending how you look at it. when reading Torah, there are about a million ways to interpret every word, every vowel, each trope, all depending on what the reader is searching for. now, "famous" or more well known commentators have established their opinion and most people go to that first, rather than coming up with their own thoughts. there is a Hebrew word for endlessness, although I'm 99.99% positive it is not used in the Torah. as for a concept of eternity, like the world going on forever, i'm not positive. but ancient hebrews do believe that G-d will live forever. hope this helps!

Answer 4

mutually as i don't fluently talk hebrew, i might have the flexibility to furnish functional imput, right here links might desire to help deduce the meaning. Tikkun Olam = Repairing the international (like many different previous languages, on occasion words like "the" are implied and not truthfully particular) Olam Ha-ba (however i assumed it became into mentioned olam ha-ba-ah, whichever) ability "the international to return" with a bit of luck those links will a minimum of partly answer your questions or conceal what you try to artwork out.

Answer 5

world