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continually preserve me” (Ps. 40:11); “And the Lord shall guide thee continually …”
(Isa. 58:11).
is also used of Jerusalem: “… thy walls are continually before me” (Isa.
49:16). The word describes man’s response to God: “I have set the Lord always before
me” (Ps. 16:8); “… his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1); “So I shall
keep thy law continually, for ever and ever” (Ps. 119:44). In contrast, Israel is “a people
that provoketh me to anger continually to my face” (Isa. 65:3). Finally, it is said of Zion
eschatologically: “Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut
day nor night” (Isa. 60:11).
B. Adjective.
(
$
, 8548), “continual.” In Exod. 30:7-8, Aaron is commanded to burn
incense morning and evening when he trims the lamps. He is told to offer “… a perpetual
incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (
KJV
). The same Hebrew
expression is used often of priestly functions (cf. Num. 28:6; Ezek. 46:15).
CONTINUITY
A. Noun.
(
$
, 8548), “continuity.”
is often used as a noun. In Num. 4:7, the
word is used with “bread,” literally meaning “the bread of continuity” (
NASB
, “the
continual bread”) or the bread that is “always there.” In other groups of passages, the
word emphasizes “regular repetition”: for example, Exod. 29:42 mentions, literally, “the
burnt offering of continuity” (
NASB
, “continual burnt offering”), or the offering made
every morning and evening. The “daily sacrifice” of Dan. 8:11 is also this continual burnt
offering.
The nonreligious usage indicates that
describes “continuity in time,” in the
sense of a routine or habit.
may also have the connotation of a routine that comes
to an end when the job is completed: “And they shall sever out men of continual
employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon
the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search” (Ezek.
39:14).
B. Adverb.
(
$
, 8548), “continually; at all times; ever.” A cognate of this word appears
in Arabic. Biblical Hebrew attests it in all periods.
The word is used as an adverb meaning “continually.” In its first occurrence,
represents “uninterrupted action”: “And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before
me always” (Exod. 25:30). In Jer. 6:7, we read: “… Before me continually is grief and
wounds.” In many passages,
bears the nuance of “regular repetition”: “Now this is
that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day
$ !
The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt
offer at even …” (Exod. 29:38-39).
In poetic usage,
is found in the context of a fervent religious expression: “Mine
eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net” (Ps. 25:15). It
may express a firm belief in God’s faithfulness: “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies