Time&Eternity

Biblical and Theological Conceptions of Time 65
from each other, depending upon the specific biblical passage and individual
traditions.
Time in the Old Testament
On the Concept of Time in the Hebrew Scriptures
There is general agreement that Old Testament thought “has no natural
tendency to abstractions.” 14 Israel never understood time as something separate
from the respective event; in this sense, it knew only “filled time,” 15
that is, “every event has a definite place in the time-order; the event is inconceivable
without its time, and vice versa.” 16 As a rule, there is no reflection
about the nature of time. What happens within time is much more interesting.
17 The earliest period in which more abstract ideas about time are
found is the post-exilic period, as, for example, in the Priestly account of
creation or in the reflections on time in Ecclesiastes. Due to this reason
alone, one cannot speak of a uniform Old Testament concept of time. Furthermore,
Hebrew has more than one word for the Western term time.
Therefore, an analysis of the passages in which the most closely related
words— c ôlām and c ēt 18 —occur leads only to a partial understanding of the
Old Testament concept of time. 19
In the Old Testament, one seeks in vain for eternity as an antonym to
time. The Hebrew word c ôlām is not used in as exclusive a manner as is the
concept of God’s holiness; mountains, sun, and moon can also be eternal. 20
Nevertheless, just as God, the Lord over time and space (Isa. 40:28), is the
ultimate source of holiness, God also appears to be the final source of eternity.
The eternity of God should not be understood as timelessness, but
rather as the fullness of time and power over time. 21 This notion of God’s
sovereignty over time may also have moved the author of the Priestly account
in Genesis 1–2 to have the creation event culminate in holy time: “So
God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it” (Gen. 2:3; cf. also Exod. 34:21,
which is probably the oldest version of the Sabbath commandment, and
Exod. 20:8–11). 22 The climax of the first biblical creation story is therefore
the creation of holy time with social and cosmic dimensions. 23 It is worth
noting the difference between this version and the Babylonian creation epic,
Enuma elish, which ends with the founding of a city and a temple—thus, in
holy space. 24
The Old Testament deals frequently with land, with space. This cannot
hide the fact, however, that it was not ultimately space, but rather time, that
decisively determined Israelite identity. The best known but least understood
aspect of Jewish civilization may well be the fact that, following the
destruction of Jerusalem, Jews had a common calendar for almost two