H5703 H5703
Perpetuity, forever; as noun: everlasting duration (past or future); as preposition: unto, until, as far as.
The Hebrew word 'ad conveys the idea of time stretching forward without limit — or, more rarely, reaching back into the immemorial past. Its most familiar use is in the great doxological formula le'olam wa'ed ('forever and ever'), where it intensifies 'olam to evoke unending duration, as in Exodus 15:18's declaration that 'the LORD shall reign forever and ever.' Yet the word's prepositional backbone — 'unto, as far as' — never fully disappears, lending even its most exalted uses a sense of time pressing forward toward a goal. In the messianic title 'avi-'ad ('Father of Eternity,' Isa 9:5), it reaches its theological summit, naming the coming King as sovereign over endless time itself. The multilingual evidence is telling: Spanish para siempre, French à jamais, and German ewiglich all converge on the future-perpetuity sense, while German bis and French jusqu'à preserve the prepositional 'until' that lies at the word's etymological root.
4. Eternity (in divine title) — Eternity in a divine title: the nomen rectum in the messianic compound 'avi-'ad, 'Father of Eternity' (Isa 9:5 [Eng. 9:6]). Here 'ad is neither past nor future but absolute, naming boundless temporal sovereignty as an attribute of the coming ruler. Spanish Avi-Ad transliterates rather than translates, while French éternité and German Ewigkeit both reach for their strongest 'eternity' vocabulary. A single occurrence, but theologically monumental — the word transcends its temporal axis to become a royal attribute. 1×
AR["أَبَا-الْأَبَدِ"]·ben["চিরকালের-পিতা"]·DE["[אביעד]"]·EN["Father-of-Eternity"]·FR["éternité"]·heb["אביעד"]·HI["अनन्त-पिता"]·ID["Bapa-Kekal"]·IT["per-sempre"]·jav["Rama-ing-salaminipun"]·KO["영존하시는-아버지라"]·PT["'Avi-'Ad"]·RU["Авиэд"]·ES["Avi-Ad"]·SW["Baba-wa-Milele"]·TR["Avi-Ad"]·urd["ابدی-باپ"]
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
1. perpetuity, forever (future) — Future-directed perpetuity: 'forever, evermore,' the dominant sense at 40 occurrences. Found overwhelmingly in the liturgical formula le'olam wa'ed (Exod 15:18; Ps 9:5; 1 Chr 28:9) and in prophetic promises of enduring kingship and righteousness (Ps 21:7; Prov 12:19; 29:14). The multilingual convergence is strong — Spanish para siempre, French pour toujours, German ewiglich, and Korean 영원히 all select dedicated 'forever' vocabulary rather than mere 'continuation' words, confirming this as a lexicalized temporal-infinity sense distinct from the prepositional root. 40×
AR["إلى-الأبَدِ","إلى-الأَبَد","إلى-الأَبَدِ","إِلى-الأَبَدِ","إِلَى-الأَبَدِ","إِلَى-الْأَبَدِ","الأَبَدِ","لِ-الْأَبَدِ","لِلأَبَدِ"]·ben["-চিরকালের-জন্য","চিরকাল","চিরকাল-চিরকাল,","চিরকাল;","চিরকালের-জন্য"]·DE["[לעד]","ewiglich","zu-bis"]·EN["forever"]·FR["[לעד]","jusqu'à","pour-jusqu'à","à-jusqu'à","à-jusqu’à","à-לעד"]·heb["ל-עד","עד"]·HI["-के-सदा","के-लिए-सदा","ले-सदा-के-लिए","सदा","सदा-के-लिए","सदैव-के-लिए"]·ID["selama-lamanya","selamanya","untuk-selama-lamanya","untuk-selamanya"]·IT["[לעד]","a-fino-a","per-per-sempre","per-sempre"]·jav["kanggé-salami-laminipun","kanggé-salaminipun","salalanggengipun","salami-laminipun","salaminipun"]·KO["그리고-영원히","에-영원히","영원-히","영원히"]·PT["para-sempre","perpetuamente","sempre"]·RU["века","вечно","вовек","навек","навеки"]·ES["para-siempre"]·SW["milele"]·TR["sonsuza-dek","sonsuza-dek-","sonsuza-kadar"]·urd["-ہمیشہ-تک","-ہمیشہ-کے-لیے","ابد","لَ-ہَمیشہ","لِ-ہمیشہ","ہمیشہ","ہمیشہ-تک","ہمیشہ-کے-لیے"]
2. unto, until, as far as — Prepositional endpoint: 'unto, until, as far as, up to' — 7 occurrences where 'ad functions spatially or temporally to mark a limit or terminus. In Num 24:20 Amalek's end is 'unto destruction'; in 2 Sam 3:28 David declares his innocence 'forever' but the Hebrew construction functions as a boundary marker. French jusqu'à and German bis both preserve this directional-limit semantics. The sense is the etymological core from which the perpetuity meaning develops by extension of the endpoint to infinity. 7×
AR["إِلَى","إِلَى-"]·ben["চিরকাল-","চিরকালের-জন্য","চিরকালের-জন্য-","পর্যন্ত","পর্যন্ত-","সর্বদার-জন্য"]·DE["bis","für","zu"]·EN["for","to","until","unto"]·FR["à","à-jamais"]·heb["עד","עדי"]·HI["-तक","तक","सदा-के-लिए","सदा-तक-"]·ID["sampai","sampai-","untuk"]·IT["a","per-sempre"]·jav["dumugi-","kanggé","ngantos-","tumuju-dhateng"]·KO["~까지","까지","까지-","영원히"]·PT["até","para","para-"]·RU["до","до-","навеки-"]·ES["hasta","para-","para-siempre"]·SW["hadi","hadi-","hata"]·TR["kadar","sonsuza","sonsuza-","sonsuza-dek"]·urd["تا","تک","تک-","ہمیشہ","ہمیشہ-کے-لِیے"]
3. antiquity, remote past — Remote past, antiquity: 'of old, from ages past' — only 2 occurrences, but lexicographically important. In Job 20:4 Zophar asks 'since man was placed on earth' (minni 'ad, 'from of old'), and Hab 3:6's harere 'ad describes 'ancient mountains' that have stood since primordial time. The same word that typically points forward here gazes backward. Spanish la eternidad and German bis attempt to capture this, though less precisely than the English 'antiquity.' BDB rightly parallels this with 'olam in its backward-looking sense. 2×
AR["الْأَبَدِ","الْأَزَلِ"]·ben["চিরকাল","চিরকালের"]·DE["bis"]·EN["antiquity","eternity"]·FR["jusqu'à","עד"]·heb["עד"]·HI["सदा","सनातन-के"]·ID["dahulu","kekal,"]·IT["eternity","fino-a"]·jav["kang-langgeng","kina"]·KO["영원","옛부터"]·PT["antigamente","eternidade"]·RU["века","вечные"]·ES["la-eternidad","siempre,"]·SW["zamani"]·TR["başlangıç","ebedi"]·urd["ابدی","قدیم"]
5. eternity (abstract concept) — Abstract eternity as a divine attribute: in Isa 57:15 God is described as shoken 'ad, 'inhabiting eternity,' where 'ad denotes unbounded time as the very dwelling-place of God. Unlike the doxological 'forever' of sense 1, this is not about duration but about God's mode of existence — eternity as a realm. Spanish la eternidad and German bis attempt to render this, but the theological weight presses beyond temporal vocabulary into ontology. The only occurrence of this particular construal, marking the outer edge of the word's semantic range. 1×
AR["الْأَبَدَ"]·ben["চিরকাল"]·DE["bis"]·EN["eternity"]·FR["jusqu’à"]·heb["עד"]·HI["अनन्त"]·ID["kekekalan"]·IT["fino-a"]·jav["salaminipun"]·KO["영원에-"]·PT["eternidade"]·RU["вечно"]·ES["la-eternidad"]·SW["milele"]·TR["sonsuza-dek"]·urd["ابد-تک"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. עַד and וָעֶ֑ד (so always) n.m. perpetuity ( = advancing time, cf. Assyrian adû, time, at the present time);— 1. of past time: מִנִּי עַד Jb 20:4; הררי עד Hb 3:6 ancient mountains (cf. עולם 1) so Gn 49:26 (read הַרְרֵי עַד for הוֹרַ֔י עַד). 2. of future time, לָעַד (usually לָעַ֑ד) for ever: a. during lifetime, of king ψ 21:7 Pr 29:14; of others ψ 9:19; 22:27; 61:9 Pr 12:19. b. of things,…