Eternity Starts Now

Eternity

Hebrews 1:5–14; 5:5–11; 6:1–8, 13–7:28; 9:11–15; 13:7–17, 20–25

Everlasting duration, associated with endless time but often understood theologically as distinct from time since God is eternal and outside time, the creator of time, and the only one who sees both the beginning and the end of time.

Concept Summary

Eternity is the concept of endless time, or more fully, of being beyond time; only God is intrinsically eternal. The most common ot expression for eternity is עוֹלָם‎ (ʿôlām, “long time”), which is frequently combined with עַד‎ (ʿad, “lasting time”) in constructions such as “to ʿôlām and ʿad” (e.g., Exod 15:18; Psa 9:5) or “to ʿad to ʿôlām” (e.g., Psa 111:8). These phrases are typically translated “forever and ever.” The Hebrew word נֵצַח‎ (nēṣaḥ, “duration”) is also used to indicate eternity or perpetuity (e.g., Isa 25:8; Psa 16:11). Hebrew also uses the word קֶדֶם‎ (qedem, “ancient past”) to indicate the ancient past (e.g., Psa 74:12; Prov 8:22; Hab 1:12; Isa 51:9), but it can also be translated as “eternal” or “everlasting” (e.g., Deut 33:15, 27).

In Greek, the words αἰών (aiōn, “age”) and αἰώνιος (aiōnios, “eternal, long-lasting”) are used in expressions that refer to the ancient past, the distant future, or eternity. The nt uses that seem to emphasize eternity in the endless sense tend to use the plural of αἰών (aiōn; e.g., Luke 1:33; Rom 1:15; 11:36; Heb 13:8, 21).1

1 Klippenstein, R. (2014). Eternity. D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.