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objects. In a few instances. however,
%
is used of abstract objects; one example is of
God’s way (Job 26:14): “These are but the
7
of his power; and how faint the whisper
that we hear of him!” (
NEB
).
(
"
, 319), “hind-part; end; issue; outcome; posterity.” Akkadian,
Aramaic, and Ugaritic also attest this word. It occurs about 61 times in biblical Hebrew
and in all periods; most of its occurrences are in poetry.
Used spatially, the word identifies the “remotest and most distant part of something”:
“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the
$
parts of the sea …” (Ps.
139:9).
The most frequent emphasis of the word is “end,” “issue,” or “outcome.” This nuance
is applied to time in a superlative or final sense: “… The eyes of the Lord thy God are
always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deut.
11:12). A slight shift of meaning occurs in Dan. 8:23, where
is applied to time in
a relative or comparative sense: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences, shall stand up.” Here the word refers to a “last period,” but not necessarily the
“end” of history. In a different nuance, the word can mean “latter” or “what comes
afterward”: “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider
their latter end!” (Deut. 32:29). In some passages,
represents the “ultimate
outcome” of a person’s life. Num. 23:10 speaks thus of death: “Who can count the dust of
Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!”
In other passages,
refers to “all that comes afterwards.” Passages such as Jer.
31:17 use the word of one’s “descendants” or “posterity” (
KJV
, “children”). In view of the
parallelism suggested in this passage, the first line should be translated “and there is hope
for your posterity.” In Amos 9:1,
is used of the “rest” (remainder) of one’s
fellows. Both conclusion and result are apparent in passages such as Isa. 41:22, where the
word represents the “end” or “result” of a matter: “Let them bring them forth, and show
us what shall happen: let them show the former things what they be, that we may
consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.”
A third nuance of
indicates the “last” or the “least in importance”: “Your
mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold. the
hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert” (Jer. 50:12).
The fact that
used with “day” or “years” may signify either “a point at the
end of time” or “a period of the end time” has created considerable debate on fourteen
Old Testament passages. Some scholars view this use of the word as non-
eschatological—that it merely means “in the day which follows” or “in the future.” This
seems to be its meaning in Gen. 49:1 (its first occurrence in the Bible): “Gather
yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” Here
the word refers to the entire period to follow. On the other hand, Isa. 2:2 uses the word
more absolutely of the “last period of time”: “In the last days, … the mountain of the
Lord’s house shall be established [as the chief of the mountains].…” Some scholars