Forever ΕΙΣ ΑΙΩΝΑΣ
Greek Text English Text Textfile Scripture Chreia Pedagogy Idioms Vocabulary Rating
This song is sung and written by Chris Tomlin and others. It has a simple chorus and three verses. There were many different phrases in this song which are pulled from different scripture references. The chorus and verses can be changed from "God is" to "God You are", along with changes from "are" to "will be." A number of suggestions are given for making alternative lines and phrases in the Chreia section below.
ΕΙΣ ΑΙΩΝΑΣ |
| Instrumental Audio Vocal acapella |
Verse 1 Verse 2 Chorus Verse 3 Chorus 2 (2s present) Chorus 2 (2s future/στήκω) |
Writer: Chris Tomlin
Album:
Greek Text: Louis Sorenson 2009
The Greek text is still in the process of being fully matched to meter, along with adding optional lines, etc. Many resources I hope to link to are not yet listed. If you have any comments, suggestions, send me a note at louis <at> letsreadgreek <dot> com.
English Text
- English Lyrics
- Links
This song is a fairly new song. It is in the top 25 songs in 2009.
Lyrics:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chris-tomlin-lyrics/forever-lyrics.html
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Forever-lyrics-Chris-Tomlin/44A7BDDDC4A3FBDA48256DF200240678
http://www.azchords.com/c/christomlin-tabs-787/forever-tabs-8178.html (Lyrics with guitar chords)
http://download-sheet-music-online.com/chris-tomlin.html (piano, sheet music, midi)
Video:
Scriptural References
There is no one passage this song is taken from. One of the online videos gives many different passages from which the verbage ofthis song is drawn. I will list a few of them and also list some of the Greek scriptures from which some of the phrases are taken.
Koine Greek Adaptation and Literal Translation
- Koine Text (Many variations of the first stanza are given here, with a few notes below).
| Ἐις Αἰῶνας | Forever | ||
|
Verse 1
|
|
|
7 |
Chorus
|
|
|
11 |
Verse 2
|
With bended arm and hand and strength, His love endures forever. for a soul born again anew, His love endures forever. Sing praise, Sing praise. Sing praise, Sing praise. |
|
17 18 19 20 21 22 |
Verse 3 |
From dawn until evening! His love endures forever. God showing us favor, let us endure on, His love endures forever. Sing praise, Sing Praise. Sing praise, Sing praise. |
|
23 24 25 26 |
Chorus 2 (2s present)
|
Forever, God, you are faithful. Forever, God, you are strong. Forever, God you stand nearby (to help), Forever, Forever |
|
27 |
Chorus 3 (2s future/στήκω) εἰς αἰῶνα θεὸς συ ἔσῃ πιστός.
|
Forever, God you will be faithful. Forever, God you will be strong. Forever, God you stand present (to help), Forever, Forever. |
|
| *Hyphens indicate to hold a syllable longer when singing. |
Progress of Translation
- Living Koine Audio forthcoming
- Progress: 7 of 10
- Rating of Koine Text: 7 (0=incomplete | 3=rough translation | 8=meter matched | 10=elegant)
- Text with Sheet Music (melody only) forthcoming
- Parallel Koine Greek / English (given above)
Chreia Adaptations and Variations
- The chorus has English versions of changing "God is faithful, God is strong, God is present" to "God you are faithful, God you are strong, God you are present" (3rd person singular to 2nd person singular).
- The line ἀγαπή αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς αἰῶνα is often sung in response as an answer. The first line could be changed into a question with
- The chorus of this song (the best know part) is a trilogy of lines. This allows one to go through series of three e.g.
- έχθές, σηαὔριον, σήμερον (the first two pitches of the line 'forever..." can be changed to allow for the accent change)
- Verb varitions in tense: past, present and future, e.g. ἦν, ἔστιν, ἔσται
- Verb changes: ἔδωκε, ἔθηκε, ἄφηκε
Thus there is a limitless of new chreia choruses that could be written for this tune. I think personally this tune lends itself adaptation almost more than any other tune.
- The verses can be sung in question and response.
- Variations on the first line can be put into the hortatory subjunctive.
- χάριν τῷ θεῷ τῷ βασιλεί ἔχωμεν· Let us give thanks to God the King
- ἔχε χάριν τῷ θεῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ· Give (2s) thanks to God the King
- In the response line ἀγαπὴ αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς αἰῶνα, the verb can be changed.
χάριν τῷ θεῷ βασιλεί ἔχωμεν;
ναὶ, ἀγαπὴ αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς αἰῶνα.
ἄνωθεν δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ γεγέννηται;
ναὶ, ἀγαπὴ αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς αἰῶνα.
- ἀγαπὴv αὐτῷ δώσω εἰς αἰῶνα I will give him love forever.
- ἀγαπὴν αὐτοῦ ᾄσω εἰς αἰῶνα I will sing (of) his love forever.
- ᾠδὴν χριστῷ ᾄσω καινήν I will sing a new song to Christ
- Ἰησοῦς χριστὸς παρέστηκεν ἡμῖν Jesus Christ stands by us.
- Line play can be made with a few of the idioms:
ἔχε χάριν τῷ θεῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ· Give thanks to God the King;
δίδωσι ἡμῖν χάριν εἰς αἰῶνα. He shows us favor forever.
- Line 17 has a very fun tongue-twister alternative (pay attention to the accents)
- ἀφ' ἕω ἕως οὗ ὁ ἡλίος δύνει From dawn until when the sun sets
- Try adding a few particles; the single syllable ones are easy to add, and some of them can even have their vowels elided.
- γέ ( γ' ) indeed
- αὖ certainly, verily, truly, again (not in the NT)
- δή indeed; now, then, therfore
- ναί yes, truly
- καί indeed
- μήν indeed (often used with other particles καὶ μήν)
- τοίνυν (a particle introducing an inference, hence, so well then, indeed; 2nd word in a clause) e.g. line 13
- ἄρα ἄνωθεν ψυχὴ γεγέννηται,
- ἄνωθεν τοίνυν ψυχὴ γεγέννηται,
- ἄρα so then, consequently, you see; as a result, consequently (begins a senetence)
- ἆρα what then?
- ἐπεί because, since
- ἐπειδή (just) because
- δήπου I'm sure, of course, surely
Use in Greek Pedagogy
This song uses about everything: infinitives, subjunctives, genitive absolutes, imperatives, mi verbs, εἰμί (present and future). . The chorus though is very simple and consists of only six words.
Notes on the Idioms and Word Choices.
- Genitive Absolute
χαριζομένου θεοῦ ὑπομένωμεν God being gracious, let us endure on.
- ἕως
The word can be used as
- a preposition + the genitive
- To introduce a clause with the future indicative
- To introduce a clause with the present indicative
- ἕως οὗ "until the time when..."
3. ἵστημι. The present of this verb means to "set up, stand (something) up"; The perfect ἕστηκα is used as a present and means "to stand" (as in "I stand up.") Later Greek saw the formation of a new verb στήκω and ἱστάνω which both equal the perfect meaning with the present sense. παρίστημι means to come by one's side as an aid, be present, and fits here better than either than παράκειμαι or πάρειμι (which is never used in the 2nd person singular present indicative).
4. χαριν. The meaning of this word depends upon the words around it.
- δὸς χάριν (>δίδωμι): means to 'grant favor' cf. χαρίζομαι "to give as a favor; forgive"
- ἔχω χάριν: means to 'have thanks'. cf. εὐχαρεστέω "to be thankful"
Vocabulary
Forthcoming.
