ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – FOR ETERNITY – LA’OLAM  לעלם  Lamed Ayin Lamed Mem

Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

In the Greek the word for same is autos which is an intense form of the English word “self.” It literally means He is himself  yesterday and today and forever. The repeat of the conjunction “and” is Paul’s clue that he is not that well versed with the Greek.  The Semitic languages like Aramaic and Hebrew repeat the conjunction but not so in Greek. To me it shows his Aramaic background and since he is wearing it on his sleave, I checked this verse out in the Aramaic. The word “same” is not in there.  It simply reads: “Jesus Christ yesterday and He is today and for ever.”  The word forever, however, is vala’olam which would more correctly read “and for eternity.”

There is very little difference between the Greek and Aramaic but for a minor nuance. The word same is not in the Aramaic but to use the preposition Lamed before eternity, you are saying “for or to eternity.”  This is like the Greek that Jesus has not changed from yesterday to today and He will be the same for eternity.  The same Jesus that brought his saving grace to my Uncle Otto one hundred years ago is the same Jesus who brought saving grace to his nephew my father some eighty years ago and to me his son sixty years ago. We all got saved the same way, sinners saved by grace who repented and received Jesus as our personal Savior.  

Uncle Otto got saved the same old fashioned way.  He was the town drunk in a little rural Mayberry type town down there in Southern Missouri.  He owned a used car lot where he went every weekday and sat in his little shack of an office socializing with other town folk who would drop by. He was noted for his off colored stories, rough behavior and drinking at all hours of the day. Womanizing, however, was not in his character.  He was always faithful to Aunt Sari. Every weekend he would dry out in the town jail after a barroom brawl and come home the next day tail tucked behind him to the longsuffering Aunt Sari.  He would often find her on her knees praying for him and that God would save him.

Aunt Sari belonged to the local Baptist church where she would attend a small woman’s Bible study and prayer group.  They regularly prayed for old Uncle Otto to get saved. One day the leader of the group came in and said; “Well, old Otto is gonna git saved today, so git yo’er Bibles and hymn books, we a gonna git old Otto saved.”

They found Uncle Otto alone in his little shack office sitting in his office chair with his legs propped up on the old fat belly stove sound asleep.  Now this is in Uncle Otto’s diary and I will not call my Uncle Otto a liar. The women marched into Uncle Otto’s office like a Salvation Army choir and the leader said: “Otto, you a gitten saved today so you mit jest as well git on yo’er knees and start to prayin.”  They then began to sing a hymn.  I wish I remember the name of that hymn but I refuse to make a guess as I wish to be as accurate as possible in this story. They barely got through the first verse before old Uncle Otto began to cry like a little child.  He jumped out of his chair and fell on his knees and pleaded with God to forgive his many sins and save his soul.  According to his diary he said he got up from his knees, looked at these church women and shouted out three times: “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.”  He ran out of the office and jumped in his car and drove through town shouting to anyone and everyone: “Praise the Lord.”   Old Ben at the Feed Store shouted back: “Otto, you’re drunk again.”  

The next Sunday Otto showed up in church dressed in his meetin duds and walked up to the pastor and said: “Preacher, I’m a Christian now and this har is my seat in this pew and I will be sitting in it every Sunday. I spect to hear some good preachin.”  When the offering plate went around he put the money he normally spent on weekends to get drunk in that offering plate. He never touched the drink again although some people thought he was drunk sometimes in church with his hearty Amen’s, Hallelujahs and Praise the Lords. He was even noted to have shouted back to the preacher sometimes: “You tell ‘em preacher, praise the Lord.”  

People would drive by the church Sunday mornings and evenings and would be treated to the baritone voice of Uncle Otto as he sang the hymns with all the gusto of a drunken sailor causing some of the unbelievers to remark: “Ya sure that old Otto’s not drunk?”  Well, not drunk as ye would suppose. He would get drunk in the Spirit.

When he retired to a small farm, I remember looking at that tall figure of a man riding a white stallion he called King away out in the pasture where he thought no one could hear him.  We heard him.  He would be singing his praise to his God with all his heart at the top of his voice. 

I just watched a You Tube video of a rally down in Atlanta, Georgia where hundreds, perhaps thousands of young people were gathered in a park singing praises to their God just like Uncle Otto, they were shouting and dancing and rejoicing and many were “gittin saved” just like Uncle Otto. But this happened to Uncle Otto a hundred years ago. Times have changed, expressions of worship has changed. People don’t…I had to rub my eyes, but did I not see a young Uncle Otto dancing in the midst of all these young people?  I know, I’m losing it, the old professor has finally snapped his cap.

But I know this for sure. Uncle Otto, my father and I worship and sing to the same unchanging Savior. It is the old time religion and if it is good enough for Uncle Otto is I good enough for me and those thousands dancing in that Atlanta, Georgia  park.

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