Isaiah 57:15 – Examining The Hebrew Word ‘Ad

Isaiah 57:15: “For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

This is one of scriptures that is often used to show that Jehovah is eternal, to which we agree; however, it is often claimed that, by the usage here, that this proves that the Hebrew word ‘ad means eternity, not simply as meaning something different than eternal past, present and future, but it is often claimed that eternity exists outside of time altogether. Although eternal past is implied here, the Hebrew word ‘ad does not, of itself, necessarily mean this, as one can easily determine by looking up the how it is used in various verses.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/ad.html

Some read into Isaiah 57:15 that Jehovah exists outside of time; whether Jehovah actually dwells outside of time or not is not given in the Bible, nor is there anything in the Hebrew to warrant this conclusion. The Hebrew word ‘ad cannot be used to make such claim.

The Hebrew word ‘ad (Strong’s 5710) is also used of the dwelling of the righteous on earth in Psalm 37:29, where no thought would be placed in dwelling outside of time. In Numbers 24:20, the word ‘ad there certainly does not mean eternity outside of time, but it does refer to Amalek as having perished referring to future time? In the Bible, the Hebrew word ‘ad is usually used pertaining to future time.

In Psalm 41:13, 90:2; 93:2, Jehovah is said to be “from everlasting.”  These verses are often cited in connection with Isaiah 57:15. The word used in these verses, usually translated as “everlasting’, is not ‘ad, but rather the word often transliterated as ‘olam or ‘owlam. Does ‘owlam, of itself, designate eternal past, present and future, or an eternity outside of time? We have discussed this word elsewhere*, and have shown from the scriptures that it does not inherently mean either. The word can take on the meaning of eternal past or eternal future, depending on context. The very wording of the verses (Psalm 41:13, 90:2; 93:2) under discussion, however, indicates that it is not being used to mean eternity outside of time, since the time elements of “from” (past time) and “to” (future time) are given related to its use. Of itself, however, the Hebrew word ‘olam does not designate either eternal past or eternal future; the contextual usage in this verse, however, as applied to Jehovah, does give it the meaning of eternal past and eternal future.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/owlam.html

Nevertheless, returning to Isaiah 57:15, the New American Standard renders Isaiah 57:15 as: “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever.” The Hebrew word translated “lives” (Strong’s #7931) simply means to dwell, reside. The Hebrew is simply saying that Jehovah dwells forever, He continues to abide forever, that is, that he lives into the future without end.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/shakan.html

Nevertheless, “eternity” is claimed to be a supposed incommunicable attribute of Jehovah, and thus no one else should have it. We concur that having an eternal past only belongs to Jehovah, the "one God of whom are all" (1 Corinthians 8:6), the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. (John 17:3; Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3) On the other hand, to live forever (as pertaining to the future) is not an incommunicable attribute of Yahweh. We gave Psalm 37:29 which shows that humans will dwell for eternity (‘ad) upon the earth; this certainly doesn’t mean that they will dwell in an eternity outside of time, or that they will share an incommunicable attribute of Jehovah. — See also: Psalm 21:4,6; 22:26.