The word Ne•tzach is an abstract noun, and it has exactly the same meaning in biblical and modern Hebrew. It means “eternity” and is used as a time description for an everlasting time span. The second word, “nitz•chi,” means the same, but it is an adjective and must be connected to a noun. It is used only in modern Hebrew.
The first word, Ne•tzach, appears in the Bible only 8 times in the Old Testament and 5 times in the New Testament.
“Why is my pain everlasting, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?”
Other references in the Old Testament are also severe and grim except for one:
“You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore”
All New Testament references to ne•tzach (eternity) are encouraging and each relates to Jesus.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
Why then did we capitalize ‘Eternal’ but not ‘everlasting’ on the header of today’s Hebrew word?
We did so because it appears one time in the Bible as neither a noun nor as an adjective, but as a very important Name of God:
“And also the Eternal One of Israel will not lie nor change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind”
This verse has birthed a common Hebrew female name: Nily. It is composed of the abbreviations of the four words in this verse: N (for ‘Netzach – ‘the Eternal One’); I (for Israel); L (for ‘lo’ – ‘will not’); and the second I (for ‘ye•sha•ker – ‘lie’).
Another noteworthy NILI that was named after the words in this verse is an Israeli underground organization that was established in 1915 and was active during WWI in assisting the British to liberate Israel from the hands of the Turks, who ruled over the Land of Israel exactly 400 years (1517- 1917).
Another interesting point is that ne•tzach (everlasting) may be related to a verb that is made up of the same letters. This verb means ‘to win’ ‘to be victorious’ and ‘to prevail.’
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