El Olam

Biblical Text and Content

El Olam appears in Genesis 21:33. The King James Version renders the verse: "And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God." The phrase "the everlasting God" translates El Olam. The Hebrew word rendered "grove" in the KJV (eshel) is generally understood to refer to a tamarisk tree.

The verse comes at the end of the account in which Abraham swore an oath and made a covenant with Abimelech, king of Gerar, over a well (Genesis 21:22–34). Abraham planted a tree at Beersheba, where the covenant had been made, and there he called on the name of the LORD.

Terminology and Background

El is a common Semitic noun for a deity. In the Old Testament it is used, along with Elohim, as a term for God. Olam denotes a very distant time, a span of time whose end is not in view, or permanence. El Olam can therefore be rendered "the God of eternity" or "the Everlasting God."

Genesis contains several titles formed with El. One of these is El Elyon ("the most high God," Genesis 14:18–20). Some scholars compare such titles with divine epithets from ancient Canaan, though views on the nature of the relationship vary. The eshel is known as a type of tamarisk, a tree that grows in arid land. The text does not say why Abraham planted it.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The expression "El Olam" itself occurs only in Genesis 21:33. Similar expressions celebrating the eternity of God, however, appear throughout the Old Testament.

• Isaiah 40:28 speaks of "the everlasting God, the LORD." The Hebrew is Elohe Olam, and the context confesses the Creator who "fainteth not, neither is weary" (Isaiah 40:28–31).
• Psalm 90:2 declares, "even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." The following verse, Psalm 90:4, says that a thousand years in God's sight are but as yesterday when it is past.
• Malachi 3:6 speaks of God's unchangeableness.

The New Testament carries this confession forward. Romans 16:26 speaks of "the everlasting God," and 1 Timothy 1:17 of "the King eternal." Hebrews 1:10–12 quotes the Psalms to proclaim the eternity of the Son. Hebrews 13:8 states, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," and Revelation 1:8 calls God the Alpha and Omega. This everlasting God is confessed as the one who promises eternal life.

Interpretations and Debates

• The meaning of eternity: The Christian theological tradition has read El Olam as a proof text for eternity as an attribute of God. Question 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism likewise confesses God to be a Spirit "infinite, eternal, and unchangeable." Some biblical scholars, by contrast, point out that olam originally meant something closer to "very ancient" or "continuing without end" than to the philosophical concept of "transcending time." The two understandings differ in emphasis rather than being mutually exclusive.
• Is it a distinct name?: Sermons and teaching materials in Korean churches often present El Olam as one entry in a list of names of God, alongside names such as Jehovah-jireh. In the text, however, it functions as a title modifying "the LORD."
• Additions beyond the text: Some explanations interpret the tamarisk as a marker of a place of worship, a memorial of the covenant, or a shade-giving shelter. These are interpretations, not statements made directly by the text.

In the Korean Church

"Everlasting God" is a common expression in representative prayer and in worship songs in Korean churches. In sermon series or Bible studies that treat the names of God one by one, El Olam is sometimes addressed as a separate topic.