On time, eternity, squares and circles

The frequent reader of this blog has probably noticed that we are concerned with the original meaning of the scriptures, not just how we understand it today. Even though it is the same God and gospel, our worldview and language is very different from the ancient prophets. The Nephites became extinct and left no other legacy than their engraved words on metal plates. We don't even know their language. But we know something about their origin in 600 BC Jerusalem. Therefore I think learning about how ancient Israelites viewed the world can help inform us about the worldview of ancient Nephites.

Lately, I have studied a bit about the ancient Hebrew concept of time. It is quite different from how we view it. In fact, time itself was usually not a major concern. Rather, they were concerned with events. One explanation is given here and quoted in part below:

The eastern mind is not obsessed with time as the western mind is. Anyone who has lived and worked in the near or Middle East knows that they are event oriented rather than time oriented as we westerners. Their lives are not ruled by the clock. The tenses in Hebrew and Arabic and as well in the Greek are not primarily concerned with time but rather flow or type of action.

The ancient Hebrew words that are used to describe distance and direction are also used to describe time. The Hebrew word for east is qedem and literally means "the direction of the rising sun."

The implications of this statement are astounding. This is because time, as defined as the distance between two physical events, is not a physical measurement in and of itself. Yet in ancient Hebrew, time and distance refer to the same thing and literally to "the direction of the rising sun," (which we as human beings call the east direction). One implication of this association would be that the origin of all things could have come, does come, and will come from the east.

In the Hebrew mind, man is figuratively facing east, with the past in front of him and the future behind, the opposite of how the modern western mind would see it. The Hebrew root, qdm, means east, meet/front or ancient. All these concepts are therefore related. The Hebrew words for 'south' and 'right' are also very similar, fitting into this framework. When Genesis 14:15 states that Hobah is north of Damascus, 'north' is actually translated from the Hebrew word for 'left'. The Bible really states that Hobah is left of Damascus, which would not make sense to us, but makes sense to an ancient Israelite who orient themselves by facing east by default.

In ancient Hebrew thought, when you face east you look into the past. The future cannot be seen as it is behind you, it is unknown. We can compare it to rowing a boat. Even in the past, we can see to a certain point, after which everything is blurry or invisible. This brings us to another term that is understood very differently in a Hebrew mind. They use the word, 'olam', that is often translated as 'forever'. But they did not think of eternity as a duration of time without end. 'Olam' really means in the far distance. It's as far as you can see. It is simply the distant past or the distant future that is hard to know or perceive.

Modern science views time as a fourth dimension in addition to the three spatial dimensions. 'Olam' can actually be translated into 'world' and is therefore referring to both time and space. I am not implying that ancient Jews shared the worldview of modern scientists. They probably knew nothing about the speed of light. Still, they looked towards the east and saw the rising sun (sometimes used as symbol of God) and looked into "forever". Today we know that looking beyond the horizon a very long distance, you really do look backwards in time. 

In the words of a Jewish rabbi commenting on the expression, "Eternal Father":

This is a rather unusual term in Hebrew and only appears in Isaiah 9:6. The name in Hebrew is אבי-עד (Avi-ad) which literally means “My father is until”. Now the term “ad” is the short form of “ad olam” which literally means “until the (next) world”. Hebrew thought doesn’t think of eternity as Greek thought. Time is measured in “worlds” which could be understood as the timeframe of the existence of a created world or universe – universe because in Semitic thought the sun and stars would have been part of this created world.

Occasionally the scriptures use, "forever and ever". That really seems redundant in English. 'Forever' is sufficient to express the meaning. But the Hebrew term in those cases is "l'olam va'ed". It literally means "to the distant horizon and again", meaning a very distant time and even further. It's the idea of looking all the way to the horizon and extending beyond that into the unknown. It can be used both about the past and the future.

Here are some examples from the Book of Mormon

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever (Mosiah 3:19)

Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations (Alma 37:31)

And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment. (Jacob 6:10)

The English translation using "forever and ever" may have been a mere consequence of a familiarity with the biblical language at Joseph Smith's time and therefore a natural translation choice. But I would not be surprised if the original Nephite expression here is similar to the Hebrew "l'olam va'ed". As we have shown on this blog before, there are many examples of Hebrew culture and language preserved by the Nephites. Here is a relevant example for this post.

Another interesting quote from the article I linked and quoted at the beginning of this post:

The meaning "forever" is paralleled with the expression "for a thousand generation(s)" 1 Chron. 16:15 – note – the Hebrew word for generation in this verse is "dor" – דור and it is singular. To express "forever" more precisely one can find the phrase – דור ודור "forever, from generation to generation – dor va'dor

This is seen from poetic parallelism in passages like Joel 3:20

But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

 ...or Isaiah 51:8

my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

The word for generation, 'dor' is from the same root as 'dur', which means circle. This reflects the ancient Hebrews viewing time as circular rather than the "timeline" we sometimes use in the modern world to illustrate the passing of time. The circular time should not be completely foreign to us either. After all, we have circular clocks with no beginning or end, weeks, months and seasons move in cycles. In Judaism, the years also moved in 7-year cycles. The seventh year was a special sabbath year. After 7*7 years was the Jubilee year. The relation between generation and circle implies that one generation is one revolution of time. 'Generation' is used in a broader sense in Hebrew. Many generations, even thousand, becomes 'forever'.

The Hebrew 'dur' (circle) is actually a verb describing moving in a circle or encircling. In addition to being related to time it is also related to heaven and the Being who gave us the seasons, the sabbath and who created the generations. Again, we see examples in the Book of Mormon hinting of a similar worldview. Lord Wilmore wrote about the term 'encircle' here. The link at the end of his post also further explains the circle as symbolism of heaven or the eternal. Notice the circle and heaven connections

And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them. (3 Nephi 17:24)

Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love (Alma 26:15)

Notice how the darkness is "everlasting", but it is still possible to be brought out of it. D&C 19:10-12 comes to mind. Another good example from the Book of Mormon:

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round. (1 Nephi 10:19)

Whereas the circle symbolizes heaven or eternity (the full "circle" of this world and beyond into the next), the square symbolizes the earth and the temporal. For instance, Israel is gathered from the four corners of the earth. This is repeated several times in the Book of Mormon, probably not because they thought the earth was square but because this symbolism was part of their culture.

I know I have been throwing a lot of things out there with this post. I am learning but do not yet possess the knowledge to lay this all out in great detail. But I do believe that understanding the worldview of those who wrote the scriptures can help us understand them better.