עוֹלָֽם׃

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 עוֹלָֽם׃

   o-LAM

   forever
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 לְחֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃

   le-khu-KAT o-LAM

   as a statute forever
3. clause🔊 וְֽהָיְתָ֞ה לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְלַגֵּ֛ר הַגָּ֥ר בְּתוֹכָ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃

   ve-ha-ye-TAH liv-NEY yis-ra-EL ve-la-GER ha-GAR be-to-KHAM le-khu-KAT o-LAM

   and it shall be for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them as a statute forever
4. sentence🔊 וְ֠כִבֶּ הָאֹסֵ֨ף אֶת־אֵ֤פֶר הַפָּרָה֙ אֶת־בְּגָדָ֔יו וְטָמֵ֖א עַד־הָעָ֑רֶב וְֽהָיְתָ֞ה לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְלַגֵּ֛ר הַגָּ֥ר בְּתוֹכָ֖ם לְחֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃

   ve-ki-BES ha-o-SEF et-E-FER ha-pa-RA et-be-ga-DAV ve-ta-MEY ad-ha-AH-rev ve-ha-ye-TAH liv-NEY yis-ra-EL ve-la-GER ha-GAR be-to-KHAM le-khu-KAT o-LAM

   and shall wash the one gathering the ashes of the heifer his clothes and be unclean until the evening and it shall be for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them as a statute forever

Exegesis

The clause ve-ha-yetah li-v'nei yisra'el ve-la-ger ha-gēr be-to-kham le-ḥuqat 'ôlam {וְהָיְתָה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם | wə-hā-ye-tā li-v'nei yiś-rā-ˀēl wə-la-gēr hā-gēr bə-to-ḥam lə-ḥu-qat 'ō-lam} states the law’s enduring scope. The parallelism of “sons of Israel” and “sojourner” reinforces inclusivity, and the construct chain le-ḥuqat 'ôlam signifies legal permanence. English rendering separates the cleansing action, impurity consequence, and perpetual ordinance to mirror Hebrew syntactic order.

Root and etymology

Root🔊 ע־ו־ל־םayin-vav-lamed-mem

“eternity, perpetuity”