What Do Reference Works Say About the Meaning of the Word “Eternity” in the Bible?

The Winkler Prins Encyclopedia (1950, vol. 7, p. 797) says:

Aion, aeon does not mean endless duration but an age.

The Biblical Encyclopedia (p. 239) on “eternity”:

Except when it is used of God, it is usually meant temporally: a very long time.

And further:

The Hebrew ‘olam,’ of which “eternity” is the translation in the OT, is related to a verb that means “to hide.” It therefore denotes something that in the past or in the future is still hidden… It therefore has the meaning of a very long time.

In the Korte Verklaring (on Ecclesiastes 1:4), Prof. Aalders writes:

Moreover, one should bear in mind that the word “eternal” in Hebrew, as a rule, does not have the sense that we usually attach to it. It expresses only a long time, which only in a particular case can approach our concept of eternity.

Share: