Topical Encyclopedia
The concept of "infinite" in the Bible refers to the boundless, limitless, and immeasurable nature of God. This attribute underscores God's eternal existence, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. The infinite nature of God is foundational to understanding His supremacy and the vastness of His creation.
God's Infinite Nature1.
Eternality: God's infinite nature is evident in His eternal existence. He is without beginning or end, transcending time itself.
Psalm 90:2 declares, "Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God." This verse highlights God's existence beyond the confines of time, affirming His infinite nature.
2.
Omnipotence: God's infinite power is a central theme in Scripture.
Jeremiah 32:17 states, "Ah, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You." This passage emphasizes that God's power knows no limits, reinforcing His ability to accomplish His will without constraint.
3.
Omniscience: God's infinite knowledge is another aspect of His nature.
Psalm 147:5 proclaims, "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit." God's omniscience means He possesses complete and perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future.
4.
Omnipresence: God's infinite presence is described in passages such as
Psalm 139:7-10 : "Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast." This illustrates that God's presence permeates all of creation, affirming His infinite nature.
Infinite Wisdom and Love1.
Wisdom: God's infinite wisdom is evident in His creation and governance of the universe.
Romans 11:33 exclaims, "O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and untraceable His ways!" This verse acknowledges the profound and unfathomable wisdom of God, which surpasses human understanding.
2.
Love: God's infinite love is a central theme of the Gospel.
Ephesians 3:18-19 encourages believers to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." The boundless nature of God's love is demonstrated through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, offering salvation to all who believe.
Human Limitations and God's Infinite NatureThe infinite nature of God stands in stark contrast to human limitations.
Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." This passage calls believers to trust in God's infinite wisdom and plan, even when it surpasses human comprehension.
In summary, the concept of "infinite" in the Bible is intricately tied to the nature and attributes of God. His eternal existence, limitless power, perfect knowledge, and boundless love are central to understanding His divine nature and relationship with creation.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
a.) Unlimited or boundless, in time or space; as, infinite duration or distance.
2. (a.) Without limit in power, capacity, knowledge, or excellence; boundless; immeasurably or inconceivably great; perfect; as, the infinite wisdom and goodness of God; -- opposed to finite.
3. (a.) Indefinitely large or extensive; great; vast; immense; gigantic; prodigious.
4. (a.) Greater than any assignable quantity of the same kind; -- said of certain quantities.
5. (a.) Capable of endless repetition; -- said of certain forms of the canon, called also perpetual fugues, so constructed that their ends lead to their beginnings, and the performance may be incessantly repeated.
6. (n.) That which is infinite; boundless space or duration; infinity; boundlessness.
7. (n.) An infinite quantity or magnitude.
8. (n.) An infinity; an incalculable or very great number.
9. (n.) The Infinite Being; God; the Almighty.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
INFINITE; INFINITUDEin'-fin-it, in-fin'-i-tud:
1. Scripture Use:
The word "infinite" occurs 3 times only in the text of the King James Version (Job 22:5Psalm 147:5Nahum 3:9) and once in margin (Nahum 2:9). InPsalm 147:5, "His understanding is infinite" it represents the Hebrew 'en micpar, "no number"; in the other passages the Hebrew 'en qets (Job 22:5, of iniquities) and 'en qetseh (Nahum 3:9, of strength of Ethiopia and Egypt; the King James Version margin 2:9, of "spoil"), meaning "no end." the Revised Version (British and American), therefore, renders inJob 22:5, "Neither is there any end to thine iniquities," and drops the marginal reference inNahum 2:9.
2. Application to God:
Psalm 147:5 is thus the only passage in which the term is directly applied to God. It there correctly conveys the idea of absence of all limitation. There is nothing beyond the compass of God's understanding; or, positively, His understanding embraces everything there is to know. Past, present and future; all things possible and actual; the inmost thoughts and purposes of man, as well as his outward actions, lie bare to God's knowledge (Hebrews 4:13; see OMNISCIENCE).
3. Infinity Universally Implied:
While, however, the term is not found, the truth that God is infinite, not only in His understanding, but in His being and all His perfections, natural and moral, is one that pervades all Scripture. It could not be otherwise, if God was unoriginated, exalted above all limits of time, space and creaturehood, and dependent only on Himself. The Biblical writers, certainly, are far from thinking in metaphysical categories, or using such terms as "self-existence," "absoluteness," "unconditioned" yet the ideas for which these terms stand were all of them attributed in their conceptions to God. They did not, e.g. conceive of God as having been born, or as having a beginning, as the Babylonian and Greek gods had, but thought of Him as the ever-existing One (Psalm 90:1, 2), and free Creator and Disposer of all that exists. This means that God has self-existence, and for the same reason that He is not bound by His own creation. He must be thought of as raised above all creaturely limits, that is, as infinite.
4. Anthropomorphisms:
The anthropomorphisms of the Bible, indeed, are often exceedingly naive, as when Yahweh is said to "go down" to see what is being done (Genesis 11:5, 7;Genesis 18:21), or to "repent" of His actions (Genesis 6:6); but these representations stand in contexts which show that the authors knew God to be unlimited in time, space, knowledge and power (compareGenesis 6:7, God, Creator of all; 11:8, 9, universal Ruler; 18:25, universal Judge;Numbers 23:19, incapable of repentance, etc.). Like anthropomorphisms are found in Deuteronomy and the Prophets, where it is not doubted that the higher conceptions existed. In this infinity of God is implied His unsearchableness (Job 11:7Psalm 145:3Romans 11:33); conversely, the latter attribute implies His infinity.
5. Infinity a Perfection Not a Quantity:
This infinitude of God is displayed in all His attributes-in His eternity, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, etc.-on which see the separate articles. As regards the proper conception of infinity, one has chiefly to guard against figuring it under too quantitative an aspect. Quantitative boundlessness is the natural symbol we employ to represent infinity, yet reflection will convince us that it is inadequate as applied to a spiritual magnitude. Infinitude in power, e.g. is not an infinite quantity of power, but the potentiality in God of accomplishing without limit everything that is possible to power. It is a perfection, not a quantity. Still more is this apparent in moral attributes like love, righteousness, truth, holiness. These attributes are not quantities (a quantity can never be truly infinite), but perfections; the infinity is qualitative, consisting in the absence of all defect or limitation in degree, not in amount.
6. Errors Based on Quantitative Conceptions:
The recollection of the fact now stated will free the mind from most of the perplexities that have been raised by metaphysical writers as to the abstract possibility of the co-existence of infinite attributes in God (thus e.g. Mansel); the reconcilability of God's infinity with His Personality, or with the existence of a finite world; the power of the human mind to conceive infinity, etc. How, it is asked, can the idea of infinity get into our finite minds? It might as well be asked how the mind can take in the idea of the sun's distance of some 90 million miles from the earth, when the skull that holds the brain is only a few cubic inches in capacity. The idea of a mile is not a mile big, nor is the idea of infinity too large to be thought of by the mind of man. The essence of the power of thought is its capacity for the universal, and it cannot rest till it has apprehended the most universal idea of all the infinite.
James Orr
Strong's Hebrew
4557. mispar -- number, tally... Definition number, tally NASB Word Usage account (1), count (1), count* (1), counted
(1), countless* (1), enumeration (1), few (7),
infinite* (1), innumerable
...7093. qets -- end
... interval* (1), later (1), limit (2). after, utmost border, end,infinite,
process. Contracted from qatsats; an extremity; adverbially...
7097. qatseh -- end, extremity
... end, extremity. Transliteration: qatseh Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-tseh') Short Definition:
after. after, border, brim, brink, edge, end,infinite, frontier,...
369. ayin -- nothing, nought
... 5), have i no (1), have no (24), have none (2), have nothing (2), having a nor
(1), having no (2), helpless* (1), incurable* (1),infinite* (1), infrequent* (1...
Library
Whether Concupiscence isInfinite?
... OF CONCUPISCENCE (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether concupiscence isinfinite? Objection
1: It would seem that concupiscence is notinfinite....
Whether God isInfinite?
... THE INFINITY OF GOD (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether God isinfinite? Objection 1:
It seems that God is notinfinite. For everythinginfinite...
Infinite God
... Hymns of the Apostolic ChurchINFINITE GOD. tr., John Brownlie 8.8.8.8 Kurie
ho Theos hemon, hou to kratos aneikaston,. kai he doxa...
Whether the Power of God isInfinite?
... THE POWER OF GOD (SIX ARTICLES) Whether the power of God isinfinite? Objection
1: It seems that the power of God is notinfinite....
Whether the Grace of Christ isInfinite?
... OF THE GRACE OF CHRIST AS AN INDIVIDUAL MAN (THIRTEEN ARTICLES) Whether the grace
of Christ isinfinite?... For everything immeasurable isinfinite....
Whether anInfinite Multitude Can Exist?
... THE INFINITY OF GOD (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether aninfinite multitude can exist? Objection
1: It seems that an actuallyinfinite multitude is possible....
Whether God Can KnowInfinite Things?
... OF GOD'S KNOWLEDGE (SIXTEEN ARTICLES) Whether God can knowinfinite things?
Objection 1: It seems that God cannot knowinfinite things....
Whether Our Intellect Can Know theInfinite?
... WHAT OUR INTELLECT KNOWS IN MATERIAL THINGS (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether our intellect
can know theinfinite?... For God excels allinfinite things....
Whether an ActuallyInfinite Magnitude Can Exist?
... THE INFINITY OF GOD (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether an actuallyinfinite magnitude
can exist? Objection 1: It seems that there can be something...
This Death is of SuchInfinite Value and Dignity Because the...
... Second Head of Doctrine Article 4 This death is of suchinfinite value and
dignity because the person who submitted to? This death...
Thesaurus
Infinite (8 Occurrences)... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (a.) Unlimited or boundless, in time or space; as,
infinite duration or distance.
... 7. (n.) An
infinite quantity or magnitude.
...Infinitude
... 1. (n.) The quality or state of beinginfinite, or without limits; infiniteness.
2. (n.)Infinite extent; unlimited space; immensity; infinity....
Unchangeableness (1 Occurrence)
... the truth that in His nature and perfections, in His knowledge, will and purpose,
He always remains the same in the fullness of Hisinfinite and perfect Being...
Unchangeable (4 Occurrences)
... the truth that in His nature and perfections, in His knowledge, will and purpose,
He always remains the same in the fullness of Hisinfinite and perfect Being...
Beauty (98 Occurrences)
... Any element incandescent has a spectrum partially coincident with that of water
and ranging above and below it in theinfinite capacity it has to start ether...
Eternity (23 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.)Infinite duration, without beginning in the past or end in the future;
also, duration without end in the future; endless time....
Anthropomorphism
... from which all things proceed, in terms of force, then, as Flake said, "there is
scarcely less anthropomorphism lurking in the phrase `Infinite Power,' than in...
Mediator (7 Occurrences)
... Such a mediator must be at once divine and human, divine, that his obedience and
his sufferings might possessinfinite worth, and that he might possess...
Redeemed (78 Occurrences)
... (KJV WBS). 1 Corinthians 6:20 And you are not your own, for you have been redeemed
atinfinite cost. Therefore glorify God in your bodies. (WEY)....
Decrees (131 Occurrences)
... conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore
styled Decrees." The decree being the act of aninfinite, absolute, eternal...
Resources
What does it mean that God is infinite? | GotQuestions.orgWhat are the implications of God being infinite, unlimited, and unmeasurable? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is The Infinite Way? | GotQuestions.orgInfinite: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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