2. ancient time, of old — A retrospective temporal sense referring to the distant past or antiquity, distinct from the prospective 'forever/eternity' sense. The multilingual evidence confirms this backward-looking meaning: eng: 'old', spa: 'antiguos' (ancient ones), hin: पुराने (old/ancient), arb: القدم (antiquity/old time), swa: za kale (of long ago). Korean 영원 overlaps with the eternity sense but the other languages clearly distinguish past-oriented antiquity from future-oriented eternity. 2×
AR["القِدَمِ"]·ben["অনন্তকালের"]·DE["[עלמא]"]·EN["old"]·FR["éternité"]·heb["עלמא"]·HI["पुराने"]·ID["dahulu-kala"]·IT["eternità"]·jav["kang-kutha","tumrap-para-ratu"]·KO["영원"]·PT["antiguidade"]·RU["вечных"]·ES["antiguos"]·SW["za-kale"]·TR["kadimin"]·urd["پرانے"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. eternity, forever — The core temporal concept of perpetuity or everlasting duration, encompassing both prepositional ('forever' = spa: para siempre, arb: إلى الأبد, hin: सदा के लिए, kor: 영원히, swa: milele) and nominal uses ('eternity' = spa: eterno/la eternidad, arb: أبدي/الأبد, hin: सनातन, kor: 영원한/영원). The plural 'eternities' (S124477: spa: de eternidades, arb: الآبدين, hin: सदियों की, swa: ya milele) is an intensifying form of the same concept rather than a distinct sense. 18×
AR["أَبَدِ","أَبَدِيٌّ","أَبَدِيَّةٌ","إِلَى-الأَبَدِ","الأَبَدِيِّ","الـ-أَبَدِ","الـ-أَزَلِ","الْآبِدِينَ","الْأَبَدِ","لِ-الأَبَدِ"]·ben["-চিরকাল","-চিরকালের-জন্য","চিরকাল","চিরকালের","চিরকালের-জন্য","যুগ"]·DE["Ewigkeit","Ewigkeiten","zu-Ewigkeiten"]·EN["eternities","eternity","eternity-of","forever"]·FR["[לעלמיא]","[עלם]","[עלמא]","[עלמיא]","pour-l'éternité"]·heb["ה-עולם","ל-עולמים","עולם","עולמים"]·HI["जीवित-रहनेवाले-की","युग","सदा","सदा-का","सदा-के-लिए","सदियों-की","सनातन"]·ID["-selama-lamanya","kekal","kekekalan","selama-lamanya","untuk-selama-lamanya"]·IT["a-eternità","eternità"]·jav["ing-salaminipun","langgeng","salami-laminipun","salaminipun"]·KO["사시는-이-를","영원","영원들의","영원한","영원한-이요","영원히"]·PT["a-eternidade","das-eternidades","eternamente","eternidade","para-sempre"]·RU["-века","века","веков","вечная","вечное","во-веки","навеки"]·ES["de-eternidades","eternidad","eterno","la-eternidad","para-siempre","siempre"]·SW["milele","ya-milele"]·TR["ebedi","sonsuza","sonsuza-dek","sonsuzların","sonsuzluktan","sonsuzluğa","yaşayanı"]·urd["ابد","ابد-تک","ابدی","ابدی-کے","الآبدین","ہمیشہ","ہمیشہ-تک"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† עָלַם n.[m.] perpetuity, antiquity (v. BH III. עלם, עוֹלָם);—ע׳ abs. Dn 3:33 +, cstr. 7:18; emph. עָֽלְמָא 2:20 +; pl. עָֽלְמִין 2:4 +, emph. עָֽלְמַיָּא 2:44; 7:18;—perpetuity in the future: מַלְכוּת ע׳ Dn 3:33; 7:27, cf. 4:31; 7:14; ע׳ as adv. for ever 4:31; עַד־עָֽלְמָא וְעַד־עָלַם עָֽלְמַיָּא 7:18; pl. לְע׳ for ever 2:4, 44(×2); 3:9; 5:10; 6:7, 22, 27; antiquity, מִן־יוֹמָת עָֽלְמָא Ezr 4:15, 19; of limitless time both past and future: מִן־ע׳ וְעַד־ע׳ Dn 2:20.