eternity, forever, forever and ever

The Greek, Hebrew and Ge’ez that is typically translated as “eternity,” “forever,” or “forever and ever” in English are translated in Mairasi as “mashed out infinitely.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (Source: Lloyd Peckham)

In Lisu the phrase “forever and ever” is translated as ꓕꓲꓽ ꓞꓲꓼ ꓕꓲ ꓑ — thi tsi thi pa, verbatim translated as “one – lifetime – one – world.” This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 57f.)

In Makonde it is often translated as navyaka or “years and years.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

See also forever, eternal life and salvation.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Concepts of Eternity .

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 4:18)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 4:18:

  • Uma: “So, we don’t consider [lit., put-in-heart] what is seeable. What we consider is what is not-yet seeable. For what is seeable is just for-a-while. What is not-yet seeable will last forever.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because we (excl.) do not aspire for the different things/kinds seen here in the world because they are not lasting. But that is what we (excl.) aspire to the good/blessing that cannot be seen because these good/blessings will last forever.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because that which is very deeply placed in our breaths is not the things that we can see here on the earth, but rather they are the things that we cannot yet see which are in Heaven. For the things that we can see here on the earth, they will shortly go out of existence; but that which cannot yet be seen which God will give, that cannot go out of existence forever.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore what we think about, it is not what we are able-to-see on the earth but rather what we are not yet able-to-see which is in heaven, for what can-be-seen on the earth, they have an end, but what cannot be seen, they have no end.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That is why what is dominant in our (excl.) minds/inner-being is, not the things here in the world which can be seen with the eyes, but rather the things in heaven which can’t yet be seen. For the things here in the world, (they) will not last, but the things in heaven, they will last for ever.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore I do not pay attention to the suffering I go through. That which fills my heart the most is the good which God will give afterwards. Because the suffering a person goes through while he lives will pass. But that good which God says will be afterwards is forever.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:18

Because: it is probably better to begin a new sentence here, since this verse is something of a digression and does not stand in a causal relationship with the preceding verse. It is better translated “so” (New International Version) or not at all (New American Bible).

The pronoun we in this verse is inclusive of all people, and of the Corinthians, who look beyond what is immediately evident in this world. It is not limited to Paul and those with him.

Look: this is a rather weak translation of the verb used here. It carries the idea of “focus one’s attention on” or “keep one’s eye on.” This explains the rendering of Good News Translation. Contemporary English Version goes a step further, clearly showing that mere physical vision is not intended here: “we keep our minds on….” This is especially appropriate, since one cannot “look” at “things that are not seen.”

For Paul the things that are seen are, in this context, the sufferings and afflictions experienced in this temporary existence on earth. The things that are unseen are the glory of eternity with God (4.17). Because these two verbs are passive in form, in many languages the two expressions may have to be rendered more dynamically as “the things that we can [or, cannot] see with our eyes…” and “the things that people can [or, cannot] see….” The words transient and eternal stand in sharp contrast and in some languages may be translated “passing” and “permanent,” or by verbal expressions such as “do not last long” and “last [or, endure] forever.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .