olam · forever, eternal

What it means

olam (עוֹלָם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “forever, eternal”.

A very long time whose end cannot be seen: looking forward, "forever"; looking back, "of old", "ancient".

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Time without end, beyond what a lifetime can see.
2. The times of the forefathers, far back in the past.
3. With "not": at no time.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

A very long time whose end cannot be seen: looking forward, “forever”; looking back, “of old”. BDB defines it as long duration: antiquity or futurity.

• Forever Genesis 3:22Exodus 21:6
• Eternal: “the eternal covenant” Genesis 9:16Genesis 17:7
• From of old: “the days of old” Genesis 6:4Deuteronomy 32:7
• “From forever to forever” Psalms 90:2
• In the name “El Olam” Genesis 21:33

Historical and cultural background

In the law of Exodus 21:5-6, a slave who did not want to go free stayed with his master and “shall serve him forever”: here the word covers the slave's whole life.

How we translate it

“Forever” 299 times, “eternal” 65, “old” 18, “eternity” 14, “ancient” 10. This edition's glossary sets “forever, eternal”, and “of old” or “ancient” when the passage looks back. As part of a name of God it is kept transliterated: “El Olam” (Genesis 21:33).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• forever ×299
• eternal ×65
• old ×18
• eternity ×14
• ancient ×10
• will never ×8
• long ago ×7
• ages ×6
• ever ×5
• as a perpetual ×3
• others ×3

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×13
• Exodus×17
• Leviticus×21
• Numbers×10
• Deuteronomy×12
• Joshua×4
• Judges×1
• 1 Samuel×10
• 2 Samuel×12
• 1 Kings×8
• 2 Kings×2
• 1 Chronicles×25
• 2 Chronicles×12
• Ezra×3
• Nehemiah×4
• Job×3
• Psalms×143
• Proverbs×6
• Ecclesiastes×7
• Isaiah×47
• Jeremiah×34
• Lamentations×3
• Ezekiel×18
• Daniel×5
• Hosea×1
• Joel×4
• Amos×1
• Obadiah×1
• Jonah×1
• Micah×5
• Habakkuk×2
• Zephaniah×1
• Zechariah×1
• Malachi×2

• Genesis 3:22

  And YHWH Elohim said, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, so that he does not reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever—”

• Genesis 6:3

  And YHWH said, “My spirit will not remain in the human being forever, for he also is flesh; and his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

• Genesis 6:4

  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of Elohim went in to the daughters of human beings and they bore children to them; they were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

• Genesis 9:12

  And Elohim said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am giving between me and you and every living being that is with you, for generations forever:

• Genesis 9:16

  And the bow will be in the cloud, and I will see it to remember the eternal covenant between Elohim and every living being of all flesh that is on the earth.”

• Genesis 13:15

  for all the land that you see I will give it to you and to your offspring forever.

• Genesis 17:7

  I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations as an eternal covenant, to be Elohim to you and to your offspring after you.

• Genesis 17:8

  And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you reside as an alien, all the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession; and I will be their Elohim.”

• Genesis 17:13

  He must surely be circumcised, the one born in your house and the one bought with your silver; and my covenant will be in your flesh as an eternal covenant.

• Genesis 17:19

  Elohim said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him as an eternal covenant for his offspring after him.

• Genesis 21:33

  He planted a tamarisk in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of YHWH, El Olam.

• Genesis 48:4

  He said to me, ‘Look, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you an assembly of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an eternal possession.’

• Genesis 49:26

  The blessings of your father have prevailed over the blessings of my ancestors, up to the bounds of the eternal hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of the one consecrated among his brothers.

• Exodus 3:15

  Elohim also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.

• Exodus 12:14

  This day shall be for you a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a festival to YHWH; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall celebrate it.

• Exodus 12:17

  You shall keep the festival of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought out your armies from the land of Egypt; and you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a statute forever.

• Exodus 12:24

  You shall keep this thing as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

• Exodus 14:13

  Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the salvation of YHWH, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see them again.

• Exodus 15:18

  YHWH will reign forever and ever.”

• Exodus 19:9

  YHWH said to Moses, “Look, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to YHWH.

• Exodus 21:6

  then his master shall bring him before Elohim; he shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

• Exodus 27:21

  In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning before YHWH. It is a statute forever throughout their generations on the part of the sons of Israel.

• Exodus 28:43

  They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not bear iniquity and die. It is a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

• Exodus 29:9

  You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

• Exodus 29:28

  It shall be for Aaron and for his sons as a statute forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a contribution; and it shall be a contribution from the sons of Israel from their sacrifices of peace, their contribution to YHWH.

• Exodus 30:21

  they shall wash their hands and their feet so that they will not die; and it shall be for them a statute forever, for him and for his offspring throughout their generations.”

• Exodus 31:16

  And the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as an eternal covenant.

• Exodus 31:17

  Between me and the sons of Israel it is a sign forever; for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he ceased and caught his breath.’”

• Exodus 32:13

  Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

• Exodus 40:15

  And you shall anoint them as you anointed their father, so that they may serve as priests to me; and their anointing shall be for them for an eternal priesthood throughout their generations.”

• Leviticus 3:17

  It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.”

• Leviticus 6:18

  Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it, as a statute forever throughout your generations, from the fire offerings of YHWH. Whatever touches them will become holy.”

• Leviticus 6:22

  The anointed priest in his place from among his sons shall prepare it; it is a statute forever: to YHWH it shall be wholly offered up in smoke.

• Leviticus 7:34

  For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution I have taken from the sons of Israel, from their sacrifices of peace, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a statute forever from the sons of Israel.

• Leviticus 7:36

  which YHWH commanded to be given to them on the day he anointed them, from the sons of Israel; it is a statute forever throughout their generations.”

• Leviticus 10:9

  “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die; it is a statute forever throughout your generations,

• Leviticus 10:15

  The thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring, together with the fire offerings of the fat portions, to wave as a wave offering before YHWH; and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, as a statute forever, as YHWH has commanded.”

• Leviticus 16:29

  And this shall be for you a statute forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work the native or the resident alien who resides among you.

• Leviticus 16:31

  It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute forever.

• Leviticus 16:34

  And this shall be for you a statute forever, to make expiation for the sons of Israel for all their sins once in the year.” And Aaron did as YHWH had commanded Moses.

And 399 more times.