forever: enduring
o.lam denotes an unbounded span of time, especially the enduring future of a covenant, reign, service, or divine kindness.
The term most often marks continuing duration into the future: kingdoms, priestly service, covenant commitments, a sanctuary, inherited land, and divine kindness are described within such an enduring span. It can also locate inhabitants in a remote past and, in paired expressions, frame duration from one unbounded extent to another.
Senses in use
-
Continuing duration into the future · dominant
The singular absolute form marks what is to remain or continue: in 1 Chronicles 17:14 the APB renders the establishment of the kingdom and throne “forever,” while 1 Samuel 20:42 places the bond between David’s and Jonathan’s offspring within the same continuing horizon. It also qualifies enduring kindness in 1 Chronicles 16:34 and the permanent attachment of Naaman’s leprosy to Gehazi and his seed in 2 Kings 5:27.
-
Remote time in the past · rare
In 1 Samuel 27:8, the singular absolute form occurs in the clause about peoples who had dwelt in the land; the APB renders that temporal setting “from ancient times.” This use points backward rather than describing a future continuance.
-
Extent framed at both ends · occasional
In 1 Chronicles 16:36, two singular absolute forms occur in the blessing of the God of Israel; the APB renders the paired temporal expression “from everlasting to everlasting.” The same framing appears in 1 Chronicles 29:10.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses the APB commonly uses “forever” or “everlasting,” and in 1 Samuel 27:8 it uses “from ancient times.” These renderings confirm the temporal setting of the clauses rather than supplying a separate definition for each occurrence.