TR: ʻôwlâm → αἰών (Eternity / Endless Duration)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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עוֹלָם (ʻôwlâm) → αἰών (aiṓn) → αἰών (aiṓn)
H5769, 406x in OT LXX co-occ: 287x 95x in NT
"time out of mind, PMI score: 31.41 "age, eternity,
eternity, of old" this world"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H5769 | עוֹלָם (ʻôwlâm) | 406 | time out of mind; eternity (past or future); perpetuity |
| H5703 | עַד (ʻad) | 48 | terminus; used with ʻôwlâm to form לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד ("for ever and ever") |
| H5957 | עָלַם (ʻâlam) [Aramaic] | 15 | same concept in Aramaic sections of Daniel and Ezra |
Key OT passages: - Ps 90:2 — "from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" — ʻôwlâm applied to God's own existence - Gen 17:7 — "an everlasting covenant" — the berît ʻôlâm formula grounding Abrahamic promises - Dan 12:2 — "awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" — ʻôlam describing post-resurrection eternal states
[H5769 canonical word study → H5769-owlam.md]
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew Source | Greek Translation | LXX Co-occ | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H5769 ʻôwlâm | G165 αἰών (aiṓn) | 287x | 31.41 | Primary equivalent — dominant bridge |
| H5769 ʻôwlâm | G166 αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) | 100x | 26.16 | Adjectival form of αἰών; "everlasting" |
| H5703 ʻad | G165 αἰών | 33x | 19.64 | ʻad also renders as αἰών when paired with ʻôwlâm |
| H5957 ʻâlam (Aram.) | G165 αἰών | 12x | 14.61 | Aramaic cognate maps to the same Greek word |
Semantic continuity: αἰών carries both the temporal ambiguity of ʻôwlâm (age, era, indefinite duration) and its directional flexibility (past: "the former age"; future: "the age to come"). The LXX translation is remarkably consistent, with 287/406 (71%) of ʻôwlâm occurrences rendered by αἰών and another 100 by αἰώνιος.
Semantic shift: In Classical Greek αἰών denoted a lifespan or vital force; in LXX usage it expands to encompass the Hebrew concept of boundless, directionally open time. By the NT period αἰών also develops a spatial/cosmological nuance: "this present age (αἰών)" vs. "the age to come."
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary KJV Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| G165 | αἰών (aiṓn) | 95 | ever (50v), world (29v), and ever (21v), evermore (3v), ages (2v) |
| G166 | αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) | 69 | eternal (43v), everlasting (25v) |
Key NT passages: - Luke 1:33 — "he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever (εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας); and of his kingdom there shall be no end" — Davidic throne promise, echoing 2 Sam 7:13 - John 6:51 — "if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever (εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα)" — eschatological ʻôlam life realized in Christ - Rom 1:25 — "the Creator, who is blessed for ever (εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας). Amen." — doxological use, identical to Psalm 41:13 pattern - 2 Cor 4:4 — "the god of this world (αἰών)" — αἰών as the present cosmic age, contrasted with the coming age; no direct Hebrew parallel
[G165 canonical word study → TODO(need G165 study)]
Direct OT→NT Quotations / Allusions¶
| NT Verse | OT Source | Shared Concept | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke 1:33 | 2 Sam 7:13, Ps 89:4 | throne for ever (ʻôwlâm → αἰών) | Gabriel applies Davidic promise to Jesus |
| Heb 1:8 | Ps 45:6 | throne for ever and ever | "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" cited directly |
| Rev 22:5 | Isa 9:6–7, Dan 7:14 | everlasting kingdom / reign for ever | Multiple ʻôwlâm strands converge |
| Rom 16:27 | Ps 41:13, 106:48 | for ever and ever (amen doxology) | NT doxological formula mirrors Psalter closing doxologies |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same: - The fundamental meaning of unlimited, open-ended duration persists from Hebrew through LXX into NT - The berît ʻôlâm ("everlasting covenant") becomes the "eternal covenant" (Heb 13:20) — same concept, same Greek word - Doxological "for ever and ever" formulas (εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων in NT) directly extend the Hebrew לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד pattern
What shifts: - ʻôwlâm encompasses both past ("of old, ancient") and future ("for ever"); NT αἰών becomes more future-oriented and less retrospective - αἰών develops a spatial/structural sense in NT ("this present αἰών" = the current world order under sin), which has no precise Hebrew parallel - The plural αἰῶνες ("the ages") in NT creates a new cosmological concept of sequential eras (Heb 1:2; Eph 3:9) that the Hebrew singular ʻôwlâm does not emphasize
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py H5769, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-04-01