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everlasting; God for ever.” The word
has related forms in various ancient Near
Eastern languages, all of which describe lengthy duration or distant time. The idea seems
to be quantitative rather than metaphysical. Thus in Ugaritic literature, a person described
as
was a “permanent slave,” the term |‘lm(the same as the Hebrew
)
expressing a period of time that could not be measured other than as lengthy duration.
Only in rare poetic passages such as Ps. 90:2 are temporal categories regarded
inadequate to describe the nature of God’s existence as
. In such an instance, the
Creator is deemed to have been “from everlasting to everlasting”; but even this use of
expresses the idea of continued, measurable existence rather than a state of being
independent of temporal considerations.
The name
was associated predominantly with Beer-sheba (Gen. 21:25-34).
The settlement of Beer-sheba was probably founded during the Early Bronze Age, and
the Genesis narrative explains that the name means “well of the oath” (Gen. 21:31). But it
could also mean “well of the seven”—i.e., the seven lambs that were set apart as
witnesses of the oath.
Abraham planted a commemorative tree in Beer-sheba and invoked the name of the
Lord as
!
The fact that Abraham subsequently stayed many days in the land of
the Philistines seems to imply that he associated continuity and stability with
,
who was not touched by the vicissitudes of time. Although Beer-sheba may have been a
place where the Canaanites worshiped originally, the area later became associated with
the veneration of the God of Abraham.
At a subsequent period, Jacob journeyed to Beer-sheba and offered sacrifices to the
God of Isaac his father. He did not offer sacrifices to
by name, however; and
although he saw a visionary manifestation of God, he received no revelation that this was
the God Abraham had venerated at Beer-sheba. Indeed, God omitted any mention of
Abraham, stating that He was the God of Jacob’s father.
Gen. 21:33 is the only place in the Old Testament where the title
occurs. Isa.
40:28 is the only other instance where
is used in conjunction with a noun meaning
God.
-
LORD
.
GOLD
(
, 2091), “gold.” This word has cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. It occurs
about 385 times in biblical Hebrew and in every period.
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can refer to “gold ore,” or “gold in its raw state.” This is its meaning in its first
biblical appearance: “The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the
whole land of Havilah, where there is gold” (Gen. 2:11). The word can also be used of
“gold” which has already been refined: “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he
hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). “Gold” could be beaten (1 Kings
10:16) and purified (Exod. 25:11). One can also speak of the best “gold” (2 Chron. 3:5).
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can be conceived of as an “object of wealth”: “And Abram was very rich in
cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2). As such, the emphasis is on “gold” as a