A question has come up in the OEDILF thread regarding the differences, if any, between these words. Is it more correct to say "to ascend into Heaven" or "to ascend unto Heaven"?

Please render unto me your choices and reasons therefore.

A person who dies goes into Heaven. A thing on the Earth that rises up to a great height gets near unto Heaven. 'Unto' in the AV is usually a translation of Hebrew 'el, a preposition meaning roughly the same as l-, that is 'to'. But 'el was used when there was a great distance between the parties: such as God speaking unto a human.

Several places in the AV use 'unto Heaven', and none of them means entry into it. But they happen to be different Hebrew constructions:

Deuteronomy 4.19 'and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven', Hebrew hashshâmaymâ 'the-heavens-ward', with an old accusative suffix indicating direction.

Daniel 4.8 'The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven', and repeated in 4.17 and 4.19, Hebrew lishmayyâ 'to-heaven', with the non-distant 'to' prefix, and an ending I don't understand (singular?).

Daniel 12.7 'when he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven', Hebrew 'el-hashshâmayim 'unto-the-heavens'.

"Unto" is a word I would never use in speaking or writing unless I'm quoting. For me, it's archaic; "to" serves well and avoids the Biblical or Shakespearian sound.


~~~ jerry

...but that's precisely the reason I prefer "unto" here: the archaic Biblical sound captures perfectly the nature of the Adventists' position without having to use any more words to articulate it...

Yep, "nigh unto" X. Sounds archaic and I like it. Wouldn't use it often, only when it was required.

...but that's precisely the reason I prefer "unto" here:
I don't get it. Where, Hab, in that limerick would you like to see "unto?"

I agree with Jerry on this one. I wouldn't use "unto," though I would understand its use in archaic or biblical literature.

According to the OED, "unto" is identical in meaning to "to", except as an preface to the infinitive of a verb (to go, to have).

So, use it only when it's needed to make a verse scan!

reply to Kalleh, two posts up -

Here:
Adventists profess to believe
That the Sabbath is when they will leave
And ascend unto heaven.
For the rest, well, day seven
Is merely a well-earned reprieve.
--over there in OEDILF "Words beginning with ad-", p.1

(I still think "unto" captures the flavor significantly better - showing the Adventists to be Biblically oriented (and, if you wish, a touch archaic) - but that will have to be an editorial decision :-) 'Tain't _my_ book!)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haberdasher,

'Tain't mine, either. It's ours.

This has been an interesting discussion. As far as that limerick goes, the author seems to have chosen "into" and I think that was a good call, especially considering the nature of the word "unto" as being way up there but not quite over the line. Or through the gates, or whatever.

Editorially, I wouldn't want to appear to be suggesting that Adventists aren't going to make the grade, Heaven-wise. Personally, I suspect that all limerick enthusiasts go straight to Hell, at least on a part time basis, where they can serve as part of the eternal punishment of those unhappy souls who tormented the rest of us with poorly written "free verse" while they were alive. (Now, that's something to look forward to!)