child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and abide there forHere, forever can mean no more than all the days of Samuel's life.

ever."

Again; Jonadab commanded his children that they should drink "no more wine forever." Does not this simply mean all their days, or at farthest, throughout their generations? And is not something similar meant, when Achish said of David, 1 Sam. xxvii. 12. "he shall be my servant forever?" And also Levit. xxv. 46. where it is said, strangers shall be to Israel "bond men forever." And 2 Kings v. 27. it is said, that the leprosy was to cleave to Ñaaman "forever." But who ever thought this man was to be a leper to the endless ages of eternity? In Job xli. 4. speaking of leviathan, it is said, "wilt thou take him for a servant forever." There is one text which deserves particular notice, because it is the first time in which the word olim is used in the Bible, and is rendered forever. Thus it is said, Gen. iii. 22. "and now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever," therefore God drove forth the man from the garden. On this text let us hear Dr. Kennicot, the great Hebrew scholar of his day. He says, dissert. i. p. 83. “A third objection may be made to the present rendering of the word by, in chap. iii. 22.—that it is made to signify the days of Adam's life only, and not forever. In answer to this I observe, that the word

hy is used as often, perhaps, finitely as infinitely; and that it can signify nothing more than the age or life of man, in places where our translators have freqently rendered it forever. Thus Exod. xxi. 6.Then his master shall bring him unto the judges, and he shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.' And 1 Sam. i. 22. but Hannah went not up; for she said, I will not go up

until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever.""

But further, we find Bathsheba says, 1 Kings i. 31. Let my lord king David live forever." And in Neh. ii. 3. he says to king Artaxerxes, "Let the king live forever." See the same or similar language, Dan. ii. 4. iii. 9. v. 10. and vi. 6, 21. All meant in these texts is, let the king's life be long, or the years of his life be many. The persons never supposed that the kings could live to the endless ages of eternity. In Exod. xiv. 13. it is said to Israel, that the Egyptians whom they saw to-day, they should see "no more forever." No more can be meant, than that they should not see them again, and the reason is obvious, for they were all to be drowned in the sea.

In the following texts we find certain places are said to be forever, which cannot mean that they shall continue to endless duration. In Eccles. i. 4. it is said, "the earth endureth forever." And Psalm civ. 5. "who laid the foundations of the earth, that they should not be removed forever." And Psalm lxxviii. 69. "He built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever." God is said to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed, that they should dwell in it forever; and David be their prince forever. See Ezek. xxxvii. 25. In all the following texts the land of Canaan is expressly said to be forever to Abraham and his seed. See Gen. xiii. 15. Exod. xxxii. 13. 1 Chron. xxviii. 8. 2 Chron. xx. 7. Isai. lx. 21. Josh. xiv. 9. This last text refers to that part of the land given to Caleb, which was to be his, and his children's forever. Israel is commanded, not to seek the peace, nor the wealth, of the inhabitants of Canaan forever, Ezra ix. 12. In Deut. xxiii. 6. we have the same injunction repeated, and it is added, "all thy days forever."

Here all thy days and forever are used to express the same period of time, and simply mean throughout the generations of Israel. It was a sign between the Lord and Israel forever, that in six days God made heaven and earth, and rested on the seventh, Exod. xxxi. 17. The children of Israel dwelling in Canaan, or inheriting it forever, is contrary to fact. For nearly two thousand years the Jews have been cast out of it, and should they return to-day, and dwell in it as long as this earth shall continue, yet unless the world is to be of endless duration, forever does not express an infinite period of time. It is further said 1 Chron. xxiii. 25. "the Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever." And Jer. xvii. 25. it is said, "and this city shall remain forever." And referring to it, David says, Psalm xlviii. 8. "God will establish it forever." And Jer. xxxi. 40. it is said, "it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever." And in Psalm cxxv. 1. it is said, "they that trust in the Lord shall be like mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." And referring to the temple, Solomon says, 1 Kings viii. 13. "I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever." For substance repeated, 2 Chron. vi. 2. And in 2 Chron. xxx. 8. it is said to be "sanctified forever." But what is meant by Jerusalem remaining "forever," is explained thus, Joel iii. 20. "but Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation." Again Josh. viii. 28. it is said, " Joshua burnt Ai and made it an heap forever." It is added by way of explanation, "even a desolation unto this day." And of Babylon it is said, Isai. xlvii. 7. "I shall be a lady forever." But God says concerning this city, Jer. li. 26. thou shalt be desolate forever." And verse 62. it is added, "none shall remain in it, neither

man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever." Of Hazor and other cities it is said, they "shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation forever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it," Jer. xlix. 33. And of another place it is said, "the smoke thereof shall go up forever," and that the wild beasts "shall possess it forever," Isai. xxxiv. 14, 17. The explanation of forever in the last text is given thus: "from generation to generation it shall lie waste," and "from generation to generation wild beasts shall dwell therein." See verses 8-17. In Psalm xlix. 11. it is said that the inward thought of the wicked is, that their houses shall continue "forever." But the explanation given is" and their dwelling-places to all generations."

The word olim is rendered forever, and applied in a variety of ways to the laws and ordinances of the Mosaic dispensation. It was a statute "forever throughout their generations" that they should not sacrifice their children to devils, Levit. xvii. 7. Nor eat of the fruits of the land, until they had brought a part of it unto the Lord, Levit. xxiii. 14. It was an ordinance forever throughout their generations, that the stranger and the children of Israel were to be alike in offering certain offerings to the Lord, Num. xv. 15. and xix. 10. It was also a statute "forever unto their generations," that Aaron and his sons should enjoy certain things, and perform certain parts of service, Exod. xxvii. 21. Levit. xxiv. 3. Exod. xxviii. 43. xxix. 28. and xxx. 21. Levit. vi. 18, 22. vii. 34. 36. and x. 9, 15. Numb. x. 8. and xviii. 8, 11, 19, 23. 1 Chron. xv. 2. and xxiii. 13. 2 Chron. ii. 4. Exod. xii. 14. comp. verses 17, 24. Levit. xxiii. 41. Comp. verses 33-41. Levit. xvi. 31. comp. verse 29. and xxiii. 31. The laws and ordinances enjoined in these texts, all relate to the old dispensation, which has vanished away. But all

must see they were to be observed "forever," and the fact shows that endless duration could not possibly be meant by this expression. The children of Israel were a peculiar people, separated from all other nations, and for certain important purposes, which would be aside from our present purpose to detail. Such laws and ordinances were to be observed by them "forever," and this forever was as long as they existed as a nation, and until the purposes of God were answered by them. Hence "in your generations," and "throughout your generations," or some similar explanatory expression is used. Both seem to express, the constant continued practice of those laws and ordinances, but not the endless duration of their observance. This law was added because of transgression "till the seed should come." In the hope of the promise of the Messiah being fulfilled, the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hoped to come. When Christ had fulfilled all that was written of him, it was virtually abolished, and Paul declared in his day, it had waxed old and was ready to vanish away. The "forever" was bounded by this period, and this was even a longer forever than some others spoken of in Scripture.

In the following texts, forever seems to express a long, indefinite period of time, but not endless duration. In Exod. xix. 9. the reason given for God's speaking to Moses in a cloud is, that the people might. believe him "forever." But does forever mean any thing more, than that Moses might be believed by all the future generations of Israel. It is also said, Ezek. xliii. 7. that God is to dwell in the midst of Israel "forever." But can this signify to endless duration? Can it mean any thing more than what is said so often by way of explanation, "from generation to generation," or throughout their generations? See also verse 9. David says of God's commandments,