BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: WORD STUDY ON AIONIOS, 'AIONIOS' LIFE MEANS ETERNAL LIFE

WORD STUDY ON "AIONIOS":

'AIONIOS' LIFE MEANS ETERNAL LIFE

The New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged Greek-English Lexicon, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, the secular Greek-English lexicon by Bauer, and many many other lexicons define "aionios" and its family of words, ("aionion", "aioniou") to mean "without beginning or end" and "eternal." This meaning is based on usage of the word over the centuries by the people to whom the ancient koine Greek language was native.

Plato, Phocylides, Philo, Clement, Diodorus Siculus, Arrianus, Josephus, Maximus Tyrius, Ignatius, Homer are among those who used this meaning of the word "aionios" .

[Compare Ezek 37:26]:

"I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them...

........[Heb] olam = [Grk] aionios[Septuagint];

and I will give blessings to them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore"

[Heb] olam = [Grk] aionios [Septuagint]

God's covenant was unilateral - so it would not be broken - therefore it was for all time: "forevermore." None of His unilateral covenants were for a season or an age. All of His unilateral covenants were for an eternity and God does not renege on His promises.

Therefore the Hebrew word "olam" in the Hebrew bible and the Greek word "aionios" in the Septuagint are indeed translated "forevermore" correctly.

[2 Cor 4:18]:

"Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen[temporal - temporary] but to things that are unseen [spiritual - eternal]; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting [Grk ="aionios"]

Here in this passage the contrast is between the temporal and the eternal - the material and the spiritual. The Greek word "aionios" could not be translated to mean "age" in this passage because that still portrays a temporary duration for spiritual things which are eternal. This meaning makes no sense in the context which Paul is establishing which is a permanence of spiritual things over the temporary nature of the material world.

Therefore the Greek word "aionios" must mean eternal or everlasting.

[Compare Ro 16:26]:

"But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of

the....everlasting..........God,

tou ...aioniou ...............Theou

the ...everlasting ..........God

made known to all nations for the obedience of faith."

The Greek word "aioniou" in this passage is an adjective. An adjective is used here to modify the noun "Theou." Notice that "aioniou" agrees with "Theou" in gender, number and case. So the word "aioniou" is an adjective of duration which thereby describes the duration of God:

tou .............aion- iou .........The - ou

def article..stem .ending....stem .ending

article .......adjective .........noun

masculine .singular ...........genitive

If the adjective "aioniou" is restricted to refer to a time period called an "age," as some maintain, and if "aioniou" modifies "Theou" rendered "God,' as it does in Romans 16:26, then the time period of God, i.e., His duration of existence is an age. He is therefore not an everlasting God, but an 'age lasting' God.

To get around this problem of calling God an 'age lasting' God by insisting that "aioniou" means age, some maintain that Romans 16:26 is supposed to say "the God of the age." But the Greek would have to look like it does in 2 Cor 4:4, (referring to Satan):

(2 Cor 4:4 GREEK) "ho ......................theos ....................tou ................aiOnos"

..................................."the ....................god .......................of the ............age"

.....................................def article .........noun .....................def article .....noun

.....................................gen. sing .........................................gen. sing

Notice that the form of the Greek word "aion" is no longer an adjective but a noun, hence it no longer modifies the duration of God but What God is sovereign over.

Adjectives may be used in three distinct ways in Greek: attributively, predicatively and substantively.

Attributive case

The attributive use of the adjective is that use in which the adjective attributes a quality to the noun modified. In the attributive construction there are two possible positions of the adjective in relation to the noun:

either before the noun as in Romas 16:26:

tou aioniou Theou

after the noun which would then look like this:

tou Theou tou aioniou

Note that the adjective "aioniou" is immediately preceded by the definite article "tou" when it occurs after the noun.

In the attributive case the adjective "aioniou" modifies "Theou" in whichever position the adjective is placed. Since God is an eternal God the adjective "aioniou" must be translated eternal or everlasting in the above two examples. It cannot be translated to mean something limited to "age lasting" because the duration of the existence of God is not limited to an age. Nor can it be translated "of the ages" because "aioniou" is not a noun nor an adjective used as a noun as in the substantive case below.

Predicative case

The second case for adjectives is the predicative case. Romans 16:26 in the predicative case would have to look like -

1) this:

"tou Theou aioniou"

(Notice: no definite article before "aioniou.")

2) or this:

"aioniou tou Theou"

In the predicative case the adjective "aioniou" modifies "Theou" in whichever position the adjective is placed. Since God is an eternal God the adjective "aioniou" must be translated eternal or everlasting in the above two examples. It cannot be translated to mean something limited to "age lasting" because the duration of the existence of God is not limited to an age. Nor can it be translated "of the ages" because "aioniou" is not a noun nor an adjective used as a noun as in the substantive case below.

Substantive case

The third and final case for adjectives is the substantive case in which the adjective itself is used as the noun in order to be the subject of the sentence. But in Romans 16:26, the Greek word "Theou" rendered "God" is the noun and the subject. Since there already is a subject in the passage, then there is no need for an adjective to act as a noun. Therefore, in Romans 16:26 the Greek adjective "aioniou" is in the attributive case and it therefore modifies "Theou" and must be translated everlasting or eternal God and not 'God of the ages' or an 'agelasting (not eternal) God' because the grammar and the context does not support those interpretations. An 'agelasting' god makes no sense in this passage.

OTHER PASSAGES WHICH POINT TO AIONIOS MEANING ETERNAL

If the insistence of some upon "aioniou" having the meaning and one meaning only in Scripture no matter what the grammar or context; and that meaning they maintain is 'eonian', meaning 'for an age', 'for an eon'. And that's it, no other meaning as in the following verses:

[2 Thes 1:9]:

"They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power"

The Greek words "olEthron aiOnion" are rendered "everlasting destruction." But "aiOnion" is falsely claimed to be for an eon, or an age. Destruction not eternal but limited to an age is claimed to be in view.

[Mt 25:46]:

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The Greek words "kolasin aiOnion" and "zOEn aiOnion " are rendered "eternal punishment" and "eternal life"

But "aiOnion" in both case is falsely claimed to mean 'eonian' = for an eon, an age. Punishemnt and life not eternal but limited to an age.

So if all of the above false claims were true, then the following must be considered true and God is merely mortal not eternal, he is just a god with a limited finite existence:

[Heb 9:12]:

"Nor by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, entered once for all into the holies, having obtained eternal [Grk "aionian] redemption for us."

Would God redeem us for just a few ages? (Then what?)

"aionian" here must mean "eternal" to make sense because Christ entered, (sacrificed Himself), once for all and for all time! Why would His sacrifice be for anything less than for eternity - all time? Is He not God?

[Compare 1 Ti 6:16]:

"Who [God] only hath immortality [Grk "athanasia"] dwelling in the

light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to Whom be honour and power everlasting [Grk "aionion"] Amen.

In order for this passage to make sense and be admissible as the word of God the words "athanasia", and "aionin" must not contradict one another in this passage so as to provide a nonsensical meaning. "Athanasia" is correctly translated even by the New World translators and the Concordant Bible translators as "immortality" which implies an everlasting existence. Therefore the word "aionion" which applies to God's honour and power must be translated "everlasting" in order to make any sense. Why would His power be only limited for an age when His essence is immortal, hence everlasting? Is God immortal and everlasting but He loses His power and honour, they are only temporary?? If so, the context does not support this contradiction at all!

"Who God only hath immortality.........to Whom be ......honour and power for an age - or for everlasting???"

If God is immortal then His honour and power is likewise immortal - everlasting.

[Jn 3:15-16]:

(v. 3:15) "that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. (v. 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

"That whosoever believeth in Him [Jesus Christ] .................................should not perish but have eternal life."

(lit.)"not should perish"......(lit.)"life eternal"

........"me apoletai"......................"Zoen aionion." ............................

The phrase should not perish which is in the aorist tense implying a completed action, hence a permanent state of not perishing. This would make no sense if "aionion" only meant for an age: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish forever but have life 'eonian' - for an age?????

So God so loved the world that He went through the agony of giving up His one and only Son so that whosoever believes in Him..... He'll only let you live for just an age??? And then what - annihilation??? What kind of god is that? Certainly not the God of the Bible.

[Compare 1 Cor 15:53]:

"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on "immortality [Grk "athanasia"]

If the body of a believer becomes immortal implying an eternal state according to the above verse, then in the following verse the word "aionion" which describes the same subject - the believer in Christ - must also mean eternal.

[Compare 2 Cor 5:1]:

"For we know that if our [believers'] earthly house [physical bodies] of this tabernacle were dissolved [destroyed] we have a building of God, an house not made with hands [not made so that it won't last] [but] .eternal [Grk "aionion"] in the heavens."

If the body of a believer becomes immortal, (1 Cor 15:53), then it becomes eternal ("aionion", 2 Cor 5:1) because it cannot be immortal without being eternal.

Therefore "aionion" = "eternal.

[Compare Heb 9:14]:

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the

eternal Spirit [Grk "aionion pneumatos"].............offered Himself without spot to God."

The context here demands "aionion" = "eternal." There would be absolutely no reason to translate "Pneumatos aionion" to mean 'Spirit of the age.'

Grammar indicates that aionion is an adjective which modifies "Pneumatos". There is no genitive case and/or no preposition 'of' included in the grammar, so that "aionion" could be translated 'of the age' in the above verse. Since "aionion" also carries NO definite article in this passage nor satisfies grammatical rules which would then make it a noun, it therefore cannot be translated 'the age' or 'the ages'. Since God the Holy Spirit is not limited to just one age in His existence, the word "aionion" must be translated eternal because God is eternal and not temporal or temporary. Note that this is legitimate because the word "aionion" has a legitimate and most common usage and translation of "eternal" from ancient times when the Bible was written. In other words, if the word "aionios" has always been used to mean 'eternal' by the people that used the language when the Bible was written on up to even today, then it is legitimate to conclude that that is the correct meaning when found in Scripture providing it does not violate the context which it certainly does not.

[Lk 1:33]:

"And He shall reign over the House of Jacob

forever......

eis tous aiOnas

(lit.) into the ages = idiomatic expression = "forever"

....and of His Kingdom there shall be no end."

.................................................ouk estai telos"

........................................(lit.) not shall be [an] end"

In order to make sense in this passage the word "aiOnas" must again be translated to the most common usage of "forever" or for eternity" in order to coincide with the parallel phrase which immediately follows which states "there shall be no end". It makes no sense to insist that "aiOnas" is always limited to the translation - usage - of 'of the ages':

'And He shall reign over the House of Jacob for ages and of His kingdom there shall be no end???

Either our Lord's kingdom is for ages or it is forever with no end.

[Compare 2 Pet 1:11]:

"For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting [Grk "aionion"] kingdom."

"Aionion" is an adjective here! It modifies kingdom. So if the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall have no end, (Lk 1:33), then it must be everlasting in 2 Pet 1:11. Hence "aionion" = "everlasting"

If "ton aionios Theos" means "God of the Ages," (and it does not), then the word "aionios" must be a noun. It is not! The word "aionios" is an adjective in the above passages, not a noun. Examples of the Biblical use of the noun are as follows:

[Eph 2:6-7]:

(v. 6) "And God raised us up with the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

(v. 7) "in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

"in the coming ages" =

"en tois aiosin tois eperchomeois"

"in the ages that [are] coming"

"aiosin" = ages

EVIDENCE FROM DICTIONARIES AND ANCIENT WRITINGS OF THE MEANING OF AIONIOS AND RELATED WORDS

[Thomas, Robert L., Th.D., General Editor, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries]:

166. aionios; from 165; agelong, eternal:— eternal(66), eternity(1), forever(1).

[Thayers]:

166 aionios-

1) without beginning and end, what has always been and always will be
2) without beginning
3) without end, never to cease, everlasting

2.. aionios [166] "describes duration, either undefined but not endless, as in <Rom. 16:25; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2>; or undefined because endless as in <Rom. 16:26>, and the other sixty-six places in the NT.
"The predominant meaning of aionios, that in which it is used everywhere in the NT, save the places noted above, may be seen in <2 Cor. 4:18>, where it is set in contrast with proskairos, lit., `for a season,' and in <Philem. 15>, where only in the NT it is used without a noun. Moreover it is used of persons and things which are in their nature endless, as, e. g., of God, <Rom. 16:26>; of His power, <1 Tim. 6:16>, and of His glory, <1 Pet. 5:10>; of the Holy Spirit, <Heb. 9:14>; of the redemption effected by Christ, <Heb. 9:12>, and of the consequent salvation of men, <5:9>, as well as of His future rule, <2 Pet. 1:11>, which is elsewhere declared to be without end, <Luke 1:33>; of the life received by those who believe in Christ, <John 3:16>, concerning whom He said, `they shall never perish,' <10:28>, and of the resurrection body, <2 Cor. 5:1>, elsewhere said to be `immortal,' <1 Cor. 15:53>, in which that life will be finally realized, <Matt. 25:46; Titus 1:2>.
"Aionios is also used of the sin that `hath never forgiveness,' <Mark 3:29>, and of the judgment of God, from which there is no appeal, <Heb. 6:2>, and of the fire, which is one of its instruments, <Matt. 18:8; 25:41; Jude 7>, and which is elsewhere said to be `unquenchable,' <Mark 9:43>.
"The use of aionios here shows that the punishment referred to in <2 Thes. 1:9>, is not temporary, but final, and, accordingly, the phraseology shows that its purpose is not remedial but retributive."

[Louw, Johannes P. and Nida, Eugene A., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, (New York: United Bible Societies) 1988, 1989]:

67.96 aji>vdio", on; aijwvnio", on: pertaining to an unlimited duration of time - ‘eternal.’

aji>vdio"� h{ te aji>vdio" aujtou` duvnami" kai; qeiovth" ‘his eternal power and divine nature’ Ro 1.20.

aijwvnio"� blhqh`nai eij" to; pu`r to; aijwvnion ‘be thrown into the eternal fire’ Mt 18.8; tou` aijwnivou qeou` ‘of the eternal God’ Ro 16.26.
The most frequent use of aijwvnio" in the NT is with zwhv ‘life,’ for example, i{na pa`" oJ pisteuvwn ejn aujtw/` e[ch/ zwh;n aijwvnion ‘so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life’ Jn 3.15. In combination with zwhv there is evidently not only a temporal element, but also a qualitative distinction. In such contexts, aijwvnio" evidently carries certain implications associated with aijwvnio" in relationship to divine and supernatural attributes. If one translates ‘eternal life’ as simply ‘never dying,’ there may be serious misunderstandings, since persons may assume that ‘never dying’ refers only to physical existence rather than to ‘spiritual death.’ Accordingly, some translators have rendered ‘eternal life’ as ‘unending real life,’ so as to introduce a qualitative distinction.

[Kittel, Gerhard, and Friedrich, Gerhard, Editors, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 1985]:

aionios. An adjective meaning “eternal,” and found in the LXX in Pss. 24; 77:5; Gen. 21:33, aionios in the NT is used 1. of God (Rom. 16:26), 2. of divine possessions and gifts (2 Cor. 4:18; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 5:10; 1 Tim. 6:16; 2 Th. 2:16, and 3. of the eternal kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11), inheritance (Heb. 9:15), body (2 Cor. 5:1), and even judgment (Heb. 6:2, though cf. Mt. 18:8; 2 Th. 1:9, where the sense is perhaps “unceasing”). For a more temporal use, see Rom. 16:25; Phlm. 15.

[Liddell, H. G., and Scott, Abridged Greek-English Lexicon, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1992]

aionios ", ov and a, ov, lasting for an age (aion 3), Plat.: ever-lasting, eternal, Id.

[TDNT - 1:208,31; adj]:

166 aionios { ahee-o’-nee-os}

from 165; TDNT - 1:208,31; adj

AV -eternal 42, everlasting 25, the world began + 5550 2, since the world began + 5550 1, for ever 1; 71

[Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995]

GK - 173 { aionios }

1) without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be
2) without beginning
3) without end, never to cease, everlasting

[CL]:

The Gk. word aion, which is probably derived from aei, always, is distinguished from its Indo-European parallels (Lat. aevum and Eng. aye are cognate) in that it is thought of not so much from the point of view of an abstract period of time as from the point of view of the time in which one has lived. In Hom. aion is often parallel with psyche, soul, life (e.g. Il. 16, 453); in Hesiod (Frag. 161, 1) it denotes a life-span, and in Aeschylus (Sept. 742) a generation. Thence it can mean the time which one has already lived or will live, i.e. it can relate to past as to future. It thus appeared appropriate to later philosophers to use the word both for the dim and distant past, the beginning of the world, and for the far future, eternity (e.g. Plato, Tim. 37d).

[Plato]:

(Timoeus, ed. Steph. 3, 37, or ed. Baiter, Orell. et Winck. 712) says, speaking of the universe: "When the father who begot it* perceived that the image made by him of the eternal (aidion) gods moved and lived, he was delighted with his work; and, led by this delight, thought to make his work much more like that first exemplar." Inasmuch therefore as it (the intelligible universe) is an eternal (aidion) animal (living being), so he set about to make this (the sensible) universe such with all his power. The nature therefore of the animal (living being) was eternal (aionios, before aidios), and this indeed it was impossible to adapt to what was produced (to genneto, to what had a beginning); he thinks to make a moveable image of eternity (aionos), and in adoring the heavens he makes of the eternity permanent in unity a certain eternal image moving in number, that which in fact we call time; that is, days and nights, and months and years, which did not subsist before the heaven began to be, then with its being established he operates their birth" (beginning to be, genesin auton). And after unfolding this, he says (p. 38): "But these forms of time imitating eternity (aiona), and rolling round according to number, have had a beginning (gegonen).... Time therefore began with heaven. that they having begun with it may be dissolved with it, if there be indeed any dissolution of them, and according to the pattern of eternal (diaionias, in some MSS. aionion or -as) nature that it might be as like as possible to it. For that pattern exists for all eternity (panta aiona estin on), but on the other hand, that which is perpetual (dia telous) throughout all time has had a beginning, and is, and will be." And then he goes on to speak of stars and planets, etc., as connected with what was created in time. It is impossible to conceive any more positive statement that aion is distinct, and to be contrasted with what has a beginning and belongs to the flux of time. Aion is what is properly eternal, in contrast with a divine imitation of it in ages of time, the result of the creative action of God which imitated the uncreate as nearly as He could in created ages. It is a careful opposition between eternity and ages; and aion and also aionios mean the former in contrast with ages.

In Plato the term is developed so as to represent a timeless, immeasurable and transcendent super-time, an idea of time in itself. Plutarch and the earlier Stoics appropriate this understanding, and from it the Mysteries of Aion, the god of eternity, could be celebrated in Alexandria, and gnosticism could undertake its own speculations on time.

(a) A long time, duration of time, where both a specifically limited period of time as well as an unlimited period can be meant; chiefly linked with a preposition. The meaning "eternity" is only appropriate with certain qualifications, in that the OT idea of time, which predominantly conditions the NT, does not regard eternity as the opposite of temporality.

(b) An age, epoch, era (of the world), especially in Matt. with reference to the end of the world (Matt. 13:39; 28:20). This denotes the course of world-events, world history. It is also used in the plural with this meaning (e.g. Heb. 9:26; 1 Cor. 10:11). The underlying idea is that the world runs its course in a series of successive ages.

(c) Occasionally there occurs the meaning of world in the spatial sense, probably going back to the influence of Jewish apocalyptic (e.g. Mk. 4:19; 1 Cor. 2:6; especially (plur.) Heb. 1:2; 11:3). NIDNTT Colin Brown

[Aristotle]

peri ouranou, 1, 9 (ed. Bekker, 1, 279): "Time," he says, "is the number of movement, but there is no movement without a physical body. But outside heaven it has been shewn that there is not, nor possibly can come into existence, any body. It is evident then that there is neither place, nor void, nor time outside. Wherefore neither in place are things there formed by nature; nor does time cause them to grow old: neither is there any change of anything of those things which are arranged beyond the outermost orbit; but unchangeable, and subject to no influence, having the best and most independent life, they continue for all eternity (aiona). For this expression (name) has been divinely uttered by the ancients; for the completeness which embraces the time of the life of each, outside which there is nothing, according to nature, is called the aion of each. According to the same word (logon) the completeness of the whole heaven, and the completeness which embraces all time and infinitude is aion, having received this name from existing for ever (apo tou aei einai), immortal (athanatos, undying), and divine." In 10 he goes on to shew that that beginning to be (genesthai) involves the not existing always, which I refer to as shewing what he means by aion. He is proving the unchangeable eternity of the visible universe. That is no business of mine; but it shews what he means by eternity (aion). It cannot be aidion and genesthai at the same time, when, as in Plato, aidios is used as equivalent to aionios. Aristotle has not the abstract thoughts of Plato as to ideas, and the paradeigma of what is visible, the latter being a produced image of the eternal paradeigma. He rests more in what is known by the senses; and makes this the eternal thing in itself. But the force of aion for both is a settled point; and Aristotle's explanation of aion as used for finite things, I have long held to be the true one; that is, the completeness of a thing's existence, so that according to its natural existence there is nothing outside or beyond it. It periechei the whole being of the thing. 126

[Philo]

The sentence is in De Mundo, 7, en aioni de oute pareleluthen ouden, oute mellei, alla monon iphesteken. Such a definition needs no explanation: in eternity nothing is passed, nothing is about to be, but only subsists. This has the importance of being of the date and Hellenistic Greek of the New Testament, as the others give the regular, and at the same time philosophical force of the word, aion, aionios. Eternity, unchangeable, with no 'was' nor 'will be,' is its proper force, that it can be applied to the whole existence of a thing, so that nothing of its nature was before true or after is true, to telos to periechon. But its meaning is eternity, and eternal. To say that they do not mean it in Greek, as Jukes and Farrar and S. Cox, and those they quote, is a denial of the statements of the very best authorities we can have on the subject. If Plato and Aristotle and Philo knew Greek, what these others say is false. That this is the proper sense of aionios in Scripture, is as certain as it is evident. In 2 Corinthians 4: 18, we have ta gar blepomena proskaira, ta de me blepomena aionia. That is, things that are for a time are put in express contrast with aionia, which are not for a time, be it age or ages, but eternal. Nothing can be more decisive of its positive and specific meaning.

[LEH lxx lexicon]:

0166 aionios = without beginning or end, eternal, everlasting

[UBS GNT Dict. # 169 (Str#166)]:

[Bauer, Walter, Gingrich, F. Wilbur, and Danker, Frederick W., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) 1979]

"aijwvnio" (iva Pla., Tim. 38b; Jer 39:40; Ezk 37:26; 2 Th 2:16; Hb 9:12; as v.l. Ac 13:48; 2 Pt 1:11; Bl-D. �59, 2; Mlt.-H. 157), on eternal (since Hyperid. 6, 27; Pla.; inscr., pap., LXX; Ps.-Phoc. 112; Test. 12 Patr.; standing epithet for princely, esp. imperial power: Dit., Or. Index VIII; BGU 176; 303; 309; Sb 7517, 5 [211/2 ad] kuvrio" aij.; al. in pap.; Jos., Ant. 7, 352).

1. without beginning crovnoi" aij. long ages ago Ro 16:25; pro; crovnwn aij. before time began 2 Ti 1:9; Tit 1:2 (on crovno" aij. cf. Dit., Or. 248, 54; 383, 10).

2. without beginning or end; of God (Ps.-Pla., Tim. Locr. 96c qeo;n t. aijwvnion; Inscr. in the Brit. Mus. 894 aij. k. ajqavnato"; Gen 21:33; Is 26:4; 40:28; Bar 4:8 al.; Philo, Plant. 8; 74; Sib. Or., fgm. 3, 17 and 4; PGM 1, 309; 13, 280) Ro 16:26; of the Holy Spirit in Christ Hb 9:14. qrovno" aij. 1 Cl 65:2 (cf. 1 Macc 2:57).

3. without end (Diod. S. 1, 1, 5; 5, 73, 1; 15, 66, 1 dovxa aij. everlasting fame; in Diod. S. 1, 93, 1 the Egyptian dead are said to have passed to their aij. oi[khsi"; Arrian, Peripl. 1, 4 ej" mnhvmhn aij.; Jos., Bell. 4, 461 aij. cavri"=a gracious gift for all future time; Dit., Or. 383, 10 [I bc] eij" crovnon aij.; ECEOwen, oi\ko" aij.: JTS 38, ’37, 248-50) of the next life skhnai; aij. Lk 16:9 (cf. En. 39, 5). oijkiva, contrasted w. the oijkiva ejpivgeio", of the glorified body 2 Cor 5:1. diaqhvkh (Gen 9:16; 17:7; Lev 24:8; 2 Km 23:5 al.) Hb 13:20. eujaggevlion Rv 14:6; kravto" in a doxolog. formula (=eij" tou;" aijw`na") 1 Ti 6:16. paravklhsi" 2 Th 2:16. luvtrwsi" Hb 9:12. klhronomiva (Esth 4:17m) vs. 15; aij. ajpevcein tinav (opp. pro;" w{ran) keep someone forever Phlm 15 (cf. Job 40:28). Very often of God’s judgment (Diod. S. 4, 63, 4 dia; th;n ajsevbeian ejn a{/dou diatelei`n timwriva" aijwnivou tugcavnonta; similarly 4, 69, 5; Jer 23:40; Da 12:2; Ps 76:6; 4 Macc 9:9; 13:15) kovlasi" aij. (Test. Reub. 5:5) Mt 25:46; 2 Cl 6:7; krivma aij. Hb 6:2; qavnato" B 20:1. o[leqron (4 Macc 10:15) 2 Th 1:9. pu`r (4 Macc 12:12.—Sib. Or. 8, 401 fw`" aij.) Mt 18:8; 25:41; Jd 7; Dg 10:7 (IQS 2, 8). aJnavrthma Mk 3:29 (v.l. krivsew" and aJmartiva"). On the other hand of eternal life (Maximus Tyr. 6, 1d qeou` zwh; aij.; Diod. S. 8, 15, 3 life meta; to;n qavnaton lasts eij" a{panta aijw`na; Da 12:2; 4 Macc 15:3; PsSol 3, 12; Philo, Fuga 78; Jos., Bell. 1, 650; Sib. Or. 2, 336) in the Kingdom of God: zwh; aij. Mt 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mk 10:17, 30; Lk 10:25; 18:18, 30; Ac 13:46, 48; Ro 2:7; 5:21 al.; J 3:15f, 36; 4:14, 36 al.; 1J 1:2; 2:25 al.—D 10:3; 2 Cl 5:5; 8:4, 6; IEph 18:1; Hv 2, 3, 2; 3, 8, 4 al. Also basileiva aij. 2 Pt 1:11 (cf. Da 4:3; 7:27; Philo, Somn. 2, 285; Dit., Or. 569, 24 uJpe;r th`" aijwnivou kai; ajfqavrtou basileiva" uJmw`n; Dssm. B 279f, BS 363). Of the glory in the next life dovxa aij. 2 Ti 2:10 (cf. Wsd 10:14; Jos., Ant. 15, 376.—Sib. Or. 8, 410). aijwvnion bavro" dovxh" 2 Cor 4:17; swthriva aij. (Is 45:17; Ps.-Clem., Hom. 1, 19) Hb 5:9; short ending of Mk. Of heavenly glory in contrast to the transitory world of the senses ta; mh; blepovmena aijwvnia 2 Cor 4:18.—carav IPhld inscr.; doxavzesqai aijwnivw/ e[rgw/ be glorified by an everlasting deed IPol 8:1. DHill, Gk. Words and Hebr. Mngs. ’67, 186-201. M-M.