01.23. Chapter 16 - Everlasting

Chapter 16 - Everlasting Before the mountains were born and you began the land and the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God

Psalms 90:2 The Hebrew word “~lw[“ (olam) is often translated as eternal, everlasting or forever, all of which have a meaning of a “continual existence,” an existence without end. Again, this concept misses the meaning of the original Hebrew. The ancient Hebrew mind would not concern himself with what is beyond his known world. Anything that is beyond his world, or beyond his understanding, is “beyond the horizon,” the actual meaning of the Hebrew word “~lw[“. When David says that God is “~lw[“, he is acknowledging that God is beyond his understanding.

Notice that the introductory passage repeats the word everlasting twice. The ancient Hebrew language has no way to say that something is “best” or “greatest.” Instead the Hebrew language doubles a word to give it emphasis such as in the passage above. God is not just “beyond the horizon”; he is “far beyond the horizon.”