עַד
ad
perpetuity
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word עַד (ad): Perpetuity and Endlessness The Hebrew term עַד (ad) carries the fundamental meaning of "perpetuity"—a state of indefinite or endless duration. With 48 occurrences throughout the Hebrew Bible, this word functioned as a key linguistic tool for expressing concepts of permanence and timelessness. When biblical writers needed to convey something that extends beyond normal temporal limits or continues without foreseeable end, they employed this term. The word's significance lies in its ability to capture an abstract theological and temporal concept that appears frequently enough in the biblical text to warrant its own dedicated lexical entry. The relatively modest number of occurrences (48) suggests that while עַד was not an everyday word, it was sufficiently important and distinctive to merit careful preservation and study by those cataloging biblical vocabulary. Its presence across the biblical corpus indicates that the concept of perpetuity—whether applied to divine attributes, covenants, laws, or consequences—held meaningful significance for biblical writers and their audiences.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
48 total occurrences across the text
That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
Job 20:4Don’t you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,
Psalms 9:5You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
Psalms 9:18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
Psalms 10:16Yahweh is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land.
Psalms 19:9The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
Psalms 21:4He asked life of you and you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.
Psalms 21:6For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with joy in your presence.
Psalms 22:26The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
Psalms 37:29The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.
Psalms 45:6Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
Psalms 45:17I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.
Psalms 48:14For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.
Psalms 52:8But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.
Psalms 61:8So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.
Psalms 83:17Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
Psalms 89:29I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
Psalms 92:7though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
Psalms 104:5He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
Psalms 111:3His work is honor and majesty. His righteousness endures forever.
Psalms 111:8They are established forever and ever. They are done in truth and uprightness.
Psalms 111:10The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Psalms 112:3Wealth and riches are in his house. His righteousness endures forever.
Psalms 112:9He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
Psalms 119:44So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever.
Psalms 132:12If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forever more.”
Psalms 132:12If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forever more.”
Psalms 132:14“This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.
Psalms 132:14“This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.
Psalms 145:1I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.
Psalms 145:2Every day I will praise you. I will extol your name forever and ever.
Psalms 145:21My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalms 148:6He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.
Proverbs 12:19Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.
Proverbs 29:14The king who fairly judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.
Isaiah 26:4Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
Isaiah 30:8Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.
Isaiah 45:17Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.
Isaiah 57:15For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 64:9Don’t be furious, Yahweh. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.
Isaiah 65:18But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
Daniel 12:3Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.
Amos 1:11Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever;
Micah 4:5Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their gods; but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.
Micah 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
Habakkuk 3:6He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
Exodus 15:18Yahweh will reign forever and ever.”
1 Chronicles 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.