In Psalm 90:2 is "from age to age" a restatement of "in generation after generation"?

Question

[Psa 90:1-2 YLT] (1) A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord [ADONAY], a habitation Thou -- Thou hast been, To us -- in generation and generation, (2) Before mountains were brought forth, And Thou dost form the earth and the world, Even from age unto age Thou art God.

In other words, is Moses saying that ADONAY is "from eternity past to eternity future" or is he saying that ADONAY has been faithful to his People from one generation to the next?

NOTE:

The Hebrew has as the last phrase "you are ELOHIM" but the LXX simply as "you are".

Answer 1

It is not a restatement. For "generation to generation" it is saying that G-d has been on the side of the people of Israel from generation to generation; whereas, for "from eternity to eternity" it is referring to G-d always being the only G-d.

Answer 2

aefrs is correct. The Hebrew uses dor, whose gloss is "generation, time period, age" in the first instance, and olam, whose gloss is "everlasting, eternity" in the second instance. It is unfortunate that the YLT translation uses two words from the gloss of dor here.

I prefer the LEB:

A prayer of Moses, the man of God. O Lord, you have been our help in all generations. Before the mountains were born and you brought forth the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

KJV also has a similar translation:

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Note that YLT is also being tripped up by the repetition of nouns: dor va dor, which is an example of reduplication and should not be translated as "generation and generation" but rather as "all generations".

Answer 3

In Psalm 90:2 is “from age to age” a restatement of “in generation after generation”?

Psalm 90:2m NASB

2 Before the mountains were born [a]Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

GOD’S ETERNAL EXISTENCE

The Bible teaches that God exists “from everlasting to everlasting.” (Psalm 90:2) In other words, God had no beginning and will have no end. From a human point of view, “the number of his years is beyond comprehension.”​

Job 36:26 NASB

26 Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.

Psalm 90:1 NASB

God’s Eternity and the Brevity of Human Life.

A Prayer of [a]Moses, the man of God.

90:1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Spiritual -a dwelling place- Figuratively speaking, God is a loving Father, He has always been and will always be there for his people.

Deuteronomy 33:27 NET

27 The everlasting God is a refuge, and underneath you are his eternal arms;[a] he has driven out enemies before you, and has said, “Destroy!”

Psalm 91:1 NASB Security of One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.

Answer 4

It is an interesting thing that in Septuagint σὺ εἶ ["You art"] is not followed by "θεός" "God", thus in the "you are" the "are" in the Hebrew bible is a copula between "you" and "God", whereas in Septuagint it is no more a copula, but has an import of a sheer existence, the eternal existence, unlike anything else. Thus, Septuagint will be translated thus: "From eternity to eternity You are, i.e. You exist."

This change must have come to Septuagint from Greek philosophy and Parmenidian idea of absolute being, absolute existence, of which nothing can be predicated but that very existence, sheer, absolute, unqualified beingness or is-ness.

The Lord has in mind the Septuagint innovation, this very verse of Septuagint, when saying in John 8:58 "before Abraham was, I am", i.e. "my existence starts in infinity before now and lasts to infinity from now, and, moreover is not at all to be placed in time, for time cannot measure that absolute, infinite, eternal, changeless existence, which is My existence, along with the same of the Father and the Spirit."

Answer 5

God was God,He is God right now as we speak and HE is still going to be God in the future.He existed long before the earth was even created.He is from eternity(Micah 5) and He shall reign forever and ever.

"Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, "Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God."Psalm 90:2

"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" Ephesians 1:4

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last."Isaiah 48:12

"As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."Daniel 7:9

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."Genesis 1

"The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15