Aion Aionios Aiodios What is the difference?

[katallasso]

While posting under another thread something interesting came up which I think would make for interesting discussion.

Aion....a noun, that means essentially what our word aeon or eon means....an age.

Aion, which is greek for aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouravou, i. 9,15) says: "The period which includes the whole time of one's life is called the aeon of each one." So it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160).
It is not limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millenium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history.

It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many aeons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one aeon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the aeon depends on the subject to which it is attached.

The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting.

Aionios...an adjective which describes a noun

Since aionios is the word in the NT that is translated "eternal"
it must be mistranslated, because it is the adjective of the noun aion which means "age" and the adjective cannot be of greater value than the noun from which it comes. It just doesn't work that way in kione greek.

1) "...Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this ETERNITY [AIONI], neither in the ETERNITY to come." (Mt. 12:32).

2) "So shall it be at the end of the ETERNITY [AIONOS]...." (Mt. 13:49).

3) "...Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the ETERNITY [AIONOS]." (Mt. 24:3).

4) "Far above all principality...not only in this ETERNITY [AIONI], but also in that which is to come." (Eph. 1:21).

5) "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ETERNITY [AIONON]...." (1 Cor. 2:7).

6) "Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ETERNITIES, ETERNITY without end [TOU AIONOS TON AIONON]." (Eph. 3:21).

7) "...But now once in the end of the ETERNITY [AIONON] hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb. 9:26).

And something else that came to mind is how can a word with "age" at it's root be involved with the word "eternity". Because the word "age" connotates time, of which there is none in eternity.


Aiodios...eternity

Now there is a word for everlasting, it is aiodios. Because aiodios occurs rarely in the New Testament does not prove that its place was taken by aionios. It just goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. It could be that the Father was more interested in His plan for the ages. Paul uses the word in Rom. 1:20, where he speaks of "the everlasting power and divinity of God." It is also used in Jude 6. The actual use of aiodios should tell us something. If there is actually a greek word for "everlasting" why wasn't it used? Worth thinking about.

 

[stumpjumper]

I have nothing to offer.

I just don't know but it's interesting at least...

 

[WWJDT]

While posting under another thread something interesting came up which I think would make for interesting discussion.

Aion....a noun, that means essentially what our word aeon or eon means....an age.

Aion, which is greek for aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouravou, i. 9,15) says: "The period which includes the whole time of one's life is called the aeon of each one." So it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160).
It is not limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millenium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history.

It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many aeons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one aeon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the aeon depends on the subject to which it is attached.

The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting.

Aionios...an adjective which describes a noun

Since aionios is the word in the NT that is translated "eternal"
it must be mistranslated, because it is the adjective of the noun aion which means "age" and the adjective cannot be of greater value than the noun from which it comes. It just doesn't work that way in kione greek.

1) "...Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this ETERNITY [AIONI], neither in the ETERNITY to come." (Mt. 12:32).

2) "So shall it be at the end of the ETERNITY [AIONOS]...." (Mt. 13:49).

3) "...Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the ETERNITY [AIONOS]." (Mt. 24:3).

4) "Far above all principality...not only in this ETERNITY [AIONI], but also in that which is to come." (Eph. 1:21).

5) "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ETERNITY [AIONON]...." (1 Cor. 2:7).

6) "Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ETERNITIES, ETERNITY without end [TOU AIONOS TON AIONON]." (Eph. 3:21).

7) "...But now once in the end of the ETERNITY [AIONON] hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb. 9:26).

And something else that came to mind is how can a word with "age" at it's root be involved with the word "eternity". Because the word "age" connotates time, of which there is none in eternity.


Aiodios...eternity

Now there is a word for everlasting, it is aiodios. Because aiodios occurs rarely in the New Testament does not prove that its place was taken by aionios. It just goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. It could be that the Father was more interested in His plan for the ages. Paul uses the word in Rom. 1:20, where he speaks of "the everlasting power and divinity of God." It is also used in Jude 6. The actual use of aiodios should tell us something. If there is actually a greek word for "everlasting" why wasn't it used? Worth thinking about.

Since there is a word for eternity (aiodios), why wasn't it used in reference to an "eternal hell"?

 

[TheGMan]

The word for 'everlasting' is aidios not aiodios.

Aionios certainly can be used to mean 'eternal'. See Plato's Timaeus...

"He set about making this Universe, so far as He could, of a like kind. But inasmuch as the nature of the Living Creature was aionios, this quality it was impossible to attach in its entirety to what is generated; wherefore He planned to make a movable image of aion, and, as He set in order the Heaven, of that aion which abides in unity He made an aionios image, moving according to number, even that which we have named Time."

Okay... not Koine and fairly impenetrable but 'eternal' seems a lot more likely than 'age-enduring'.

 

[katallasso]

The word for 'everlasting' is aidios not aiodios.

Aionios certainly can be used to mean 'eternal'. See Plato's Timaeus...

"He set about making this Universe, so far as He could, of a like kind. But inasmuch as the nature of the Living Creature was aionios, this quality it was impossible to attach in its entirety to what is generated; wherefore He planned to make a movable image of aion, and, as He set in order the Heaven, of that aion which abides in unity He made an aionios image, moving according to number, even that which we have named Time."

Okay... not Koine and fairly impenetrable but 'eternal' seems a lot more likely than 'age-enduring'.

For some reason the word seems to used both ways but I'll be glad to defer to aidios being as we are still speaking of the same word.

This adjective (aionios)is never found until the writings of Plato (427 BC - 347 BC) who only used the word five times, and while he did use this word in the context of eternity, he never used it by itself to mean such. Why? Because the word, in and of itself does not mean “eternity.” Whenever he wanted to convey the idea of eternity, he always combined a stronger forced word with it (such as “aidios&#8221, but not once did he ever use “aionios” by itself to mean “endless.” However, both Plato and Aristotle did use the word “aionios” by itself to mean temporary. Here is an excerpt by J. W. Hanson from his book Bible Threatenings Explained:
Plato, referrring to certain souls in Hades, describes them as being in “aionian” intoxication. But that he does not use the word in the sense of endless is evident from the Phaedon, where he says, “It is a very ancient opinion that souls quitting the world, repair to the infernal reigions, and return after that, to live in this world.” After the “aionian” intoxication is over, they return to earth, which demonstrates that the word was not used by him as meaning endless.
Aristotle uses the word in the same sense. He says of the earth, “All these things seem to be done for her good, in order to maintain safety during her aionos,” duration, or life. And still more to the purpose is this quotation concerning God's existence: "Life and 'an aion continuous and eternal, zoe kai aion sunekes kai aidios.'" Here the word aidios, (eternal) is employed to qualify aion and impart to it what it had not of itself, the sense of eternal.
So we can see from classic Greek usage that the word “aionios” meant a temporal period of time and was not used to convey the idea of eternity.

 

[TheGMan]

So we can see from classic Greek usage that the word “aionios” meant a temporal period of time and was not used to convey the idea of eternity.

Yes... it was sometimes used to describe a long but finite duration, sometimes an indefinite duration and could be used - as in the Timaeus - to refer to an infinite duration. You are correct that it does not carry the same obvious meaning of "endless" as aidios but it certainly was - at times - used in the sense that we use "eternal" in English. And the context in the New Testament is ambiguous.

 

[katallasso]

Hey GMan,

This is the part that puzzles me.

Since aionios is the word in the NT that is translated "eternal"
it must be mistranslated, because it is the adjective of the noun aion which means "age" and the adjective cannot be of greater value than the noun from which it comes.

If the root word has a connotation of time how can it end up somewhere else meaning eternity?

I wish we had a resident ancient greek scholar.

 

[TheGMan]

If the root word has a connotation of time how can it end up somewhere else meaning eternity?

I wish we had a resident ancient greek scholar.

There's always Perseus!

Basically, aion means something like 'a duration' or 'all the time we care about' or even 'a lifetime'. So although these durations are finite they represent the entirety of the context. To use an analogy in English, if I talk about something being 'lifelong' that doesn't quite mean the same as 'eternal' but it certainly doesn't mean 'for a time and then something else' either.

The Latin cognate is saeculum from whence we get 'secular' - "in the context of this life or this world".

Does this make sense?

 

[katallasso]

Hey GMan,

When I read things like the following:

"Of decisive importance is the new usage of aion found in the New Testament, where we hear Christ speaking of ‘this (present) aion,’ ‘the end of this aion,’ and ‘the coming (future) aion.’ … To speak of ‘this aion,' its ‘end' and ‘the aion to come' clearly lends to aion the meaning of a limited time."
Life, Time, Entirety:
http://www.askelm.com/newsletter/l200501.htm

" No proposition is capable of more simple proof than that aeonian is not a synonym of endless. It only means, or can mean, in its primary sense, pertaining to an aeon, and therefore "indefinite," since an aeon may be either long or short; and in its secondary sense "spiritual," "pertaining to the unseen world," "an attribute of that which is above and beyond time" "
F.W. Farrar on "aeonian"
http://www.saviour-of-all.org/faithfathers.html
www.christianforums.com/~stranger (15 views)

__________________


Some scholars say that in the following phrases, it can be misleading to translate "aion" and "aionios" literally as "age," or "ages," because they are idiomatic However, the failure to recognise the literal meaning of "aion," or "aionios," can also mislead us, and hide essential truth. Many theologians and translators seem to have failed to recognise the theological importance, significance, and meaning that God desires us to see in "aion" and "aionios," and because of this have not comprehended God's wonderful plan of the ages. The translation of "aion," as "world," or "ever," has often obscured some of the truth that God wanted us to understand from His Scriptures. Consider the following.

(a). "en touto to aion," literally, "in this age," is translated in the A.V. as "in this world." Mt.12v32. The A.V. translates "aion" thirty six times as "world," and it often fails to carry the significance that God intended."
(b). "eis aiona," literally, "unto an age," translated in A.V. as "for ever." Jude.v13.
(c). "eis ton aiona," literally, "unto the age," is translated as "for evermore," or "for ever," or, with a negative, as "never." Mt.21v19. Mk3v29. 11v14. Lk.1v55. Jn.4v14. 6v51,58. twice in Jn.8v35., Jn.8v51,52. 10v28. 11v26. 12v34. 13v8. 14v16. 1Cor.8v13. 2Cor.9v9. Heb.5v6. 6v20. 7v17,21,24,28. 1Pet.1v25. 1Jn.2v17. 2Jn.v2.
(d). "eis tous aionas," literally, "unto the ages," is translated as "for ever," or "for evermore." In Mt.6v13. in Majority Text, lacking in Aleph and B, Lk.1v33. Rom.1v25. 9v5. 11v36. 16v27. 2Cor.11v31. Heb.13v8.
(e). "eis pantas tous aionas," literally, "unto all the ages," is translated in NKJ as "both now and forever." Jude.v25.
(f). "eis hemeran aionos," literally, "unto a day of an age," is translation in the A.V. as "for ever." 2Pet.3v18.
The Greek constructions of our "for ever and ever," occur in the following places."
(g). "eis tous aionas ton aionon," literally, "unto the ages of the ages," is translated as "for ever and ever," or "for evermore." Gal1v5. Phil.4v20. 1Tim.1v17. 2Tim.4v18. Heb.13v21. 1Pet.4v11. 5v11. Rev.1v6,18. 4v9,10. 5v13. 7v12. 10v6. 11v15. 15v7. 19v3. 20v10. 22v5.
(h). "eis ton aiona tou aionos," literally, "unto the age of the age," is translated in A.V. as "for ever and ever." Heb.1v8.
(i). "eis aionas aionon," literally, "unto ages of ages," is translated in the A.V. as "for ever and ever." Rev.14v11.
(j). "tou aionos ton aionon," literally, "of the age of the ages," is translated in A.V. as ""for ever and ever." Eph.3v21. "
http://www.thesecretofeternallife.com/judgementc.html


Eph 3:10 that there might be made known now to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenly [places], through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, Eph 3:11 according to a purpose of the ages, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord, Eph 3:12 in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of him,
Youngs

(Rotherham) Ephesians 3:11 According to a plan of the ages which he made in the anointed Jesus our Lord,--

11 in accord with the purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
The Concordant Literal

Hebrews 1:1 By many portions and many modes, of old, God, speaking to the fathers in the prophets,
2 in the last of these days speaks to us in a Son, Whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of all, through Whom He also makes the eons;

(Rotherham) Hebrews 1:2 At the end of these days, He hath spoken unto us in his Son,--whom he hath appointed heir of all things, through whom also he hath made the ages;

It makes me think, "What is going on here?" Why are there so many bibles that translate the word aion as age or ages? And it may be the reason the belief in Universalism is flourishing is because people are looking into these things and doing some thinking.

Also, if the Father wanted us to know there is a plan of the ages it would be hard to figure out using the KJV and others that translate the same way. The King James uses the word aion or aionios as ages I counted approximately 4 times the other places the word age was used was about the age of someone. I used the Rotherham to count how many times it used the word aion or aionious as an age and that was 184 time s refering to hell only a few of those.

Just makes me wonder.

 

[TheGMan]

It makes me think, "What is going on here?" Why are there so many bibles that translate the word aion as age or ages? And it may be the reason the belief in Universalism is flourishing is because people are looking into these things and doing some thinking.

Also, if the Father wanted us to know there is a plan of the ages it would be hard to figure out using the KJV and others that translate the same way. The King James uses the word aion or aionios as ages I counted approximately 4 times the other places the word age was used was about the age of someone. I used the Rotherham to count how many times it used the word aion or aionious as an age and that was 184 time s refering to hell only a few of those.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think universalism is an invalid soteriology. I hope it is the correct one. But I don't think you can get away with claiming that eternal Hell is an invalid theology either. And I certainly think the latter is the more obvious and plausible interpretation of Matthew 25:46 even when you look at the original Greek.

Personally, I don't feel you can rule Hell out of Christian theology but I'm prepared to trust that God won't send anyone there without an incredibly good reason.

 

[katallasso]

No, I have no desire to rule hell out either, just not thinking it's an eternal thing any longer.

 

[TheGMan]

No, I have no desire to rule hell out either, just not thinking it's an eternal thing any longer.

Sorry. That's my fault for not defining my terms properly. When I say "Hell" I mean a place or state of eternal perdition and not, say, the universal refining fire of Mark 9:43-49 or 1 Corinthians 3:13-15.

 

[elman]

Don't get me wrong. I don't think universalism is an invalid soteriology. I hope it is the correct one. But I don't think you can get away with claiming that eternal Hell is an invalid theology either. And I certainly think the latter is the more obvious and plausible interpretation of Matthew 25:46 even when you look at the original Greek.

Personally, I don't feel you can rule Hell out of Christian theology but I'm prepared to trust that God won't send anyone there without an incredibly good reason.

It seems to me Matt 25:46 is not about how long the suffering will be, but how long the destruction will be effective-i.e. how long they will be dead after the destruction is complete.

 

[TheGMan]

It seems to me Matt 25:46 is not about how long the suffering will be, but how long the destruction will be effective-i.e. how long they will be dead after the destruction is complete.

Hmmm. There are many more obvious words than kolasis to indicate destruction. kolasis normally carries the sense of a legally imposed penalty. Destruction qualifies, I suppose. Annihilationism is certainly a better fit than universal salvation anyway.

 

[katallasso]

I was doing some grammar studies for another thread and thought it would be good info for this one also.


As to grammar, I have found this thus far.

In Ephesians 2:7 Paul writes, en tois aiosin tois eperchomenois, "in the on-coming eons." KJV: "in the ages to come;" ASV: "in the ages to come." So there are past eons, a present one, and the coming eons, at least five in all. Included in these eons are all the eonian times that are mentioned in Scripture. The adjective aionios comes from the noun aion and is defined: "pertaining to or belonging to the eons." It is an axiom of grammar that an adjective derived from a noun cannot mean more than its parent word. It must retain the essential meaning pertaining to the noun. As it has been shown, the noun refers to limited time, which had a beginning and will have an end. The adjective, then, should not be translated by such words as "everlasting" or "eternal." The adjective cannot take on a greater meaning than the noun from which it is derived. For example, hourly, an adjective, pertains to an hour, not to a year.

Here are the credentials of the man who said this:

Louis Abbott was born in 1915. In 1928, he received Christ. One day, while pastoring a church, a man challenged Louis regarding his teaching about eternal torment. Louis accepted the challenge.
[SIZE=-1]For three years Louis searched the Scriptures, searched the Greek and Hebrew words behind the English words "Hell, "eternal punishment," "everlasting destruction," etc. At the end of those three years, he realized he had been taught error regarding the ultimate fate of mankind. Feeling he could not longer preach the doctrines of his denomination, Louis gave up the pastorate, but he never gave up studying.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Taking Greek courses from Moody, Loyola University, and other places, he finally came to the place where, in order to get further, he had to teach himself. At the present day, his personal library consisting of thousands of Bible references books, probably has more reference books on the New Testament Greek than many Bible Colleges and Seminaries.[/SIZE]

and another:

Dr. F.W. Farrar, author of The Life of Christ and The Life and Work of St. Paul, as well as books about Greek grammar and syntax, writes in The Eternal Hope (p. 198), "That the adjective is applied to some things which are "endless" does not, of course, for one moment prove that the word itself meant 'endless;' and to introduce this rendering into many passages would be utterly impossible and absurd." In his book, Mercy and Judgment, Dr. Farrar states (p. 378), "Since aion meant 'age,' aionios means, properly, 'belonging to an age,' or 'age-long,' and anyone who asserts that it must mean 'endless' defends a position which even Augustine practically abandoned twelve centuries ago. Even if aion always meant 'eternity,' which is not the case in classic or Hellenistic Greek-aionios could still mean only 'belonging to eternity' and not 'lasting through it.'"

and another:


Dr. Marvin Vincent, in his Word Studies of the New Testament (vol. IV, p. 59): "The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of "endless" or "everlasting." Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Out of the 150 instances in the LXX (Septuagint), four-fifths imply limited duration."

 

[elman]

I was doing some grammar studies for another thread and thought it would be good info for this one also.


As to grammar, I have found this thus far.

In Ephesians 2:7 Paul writes, en tois aiosin tois eperchomenois, "in the on-coming eons." KJV: "in the ages to come;" ASV: "in the ages to come." So there are past eons, a present one, and the coming eons, at least five in all. Included in these eons are all the eonian times that are mentioned in Scripture. The adjective aionios comes from the noun aion and is defined: "pertaining to or belonging to the eons." It is an axiom of grammar that an adjective derived from a noun cannot mean more than its parent word. It must retain the essential meaning pertaining to the noun. As it has been shown, the noun refers to limited time, which had a beginning and will have an end. The adjective, then, should not be translated by such words as "everlasting" or "eternal." The adjective cannot take on a greater meaning than the noun from which it is derived. For example, hourly, an adjective, pertains to an hour, not to a year.

Here are the credentials of the man who said this:

Louis Abbott was born in 1915. In 1928, he received Christ. One day, while pastoring a church, a man challenged Louis regarding his teaching about eternal torment. Louis accepted the challenge.
[SIZE=-1]For three years Louis searched the Scriptures, searched the Greek and Hebrew words behind the English words "Hell, "eternal punishment," "everlasting destruction," etc. At the end of those three years, he realized he had been taught error regarding the ultimate fate of mankind. Feeling he could not longer preach the doctrines of his denomination, Louis gave up the pastorate, but he never gave up studying.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Taking Greek courses from Moody, Loyola University, and other places, he finally came to the place where, in order to get further, he had to teach himself. At the present day, his personal library consisting of thousands of Bible references books, probably has more reference books on the New Testament Greek than many Bible Colleges and Seminaries.[/SIZE]

and another:

Dr. F.W. Farrar, author of The Life of Christ and The Life and Work of St. Paul, as well as books about Greek grammar and syntax, writes in The Eternal Hope (p. 198), "That the adjective is applied to some things which are "endless" does not, of course, for one moment prove that the word itself meant 'endless;' and to introduce this rendering into many passages would be utterly impossible and absurd." In his book, Mercy and Judgment, Dr. Farrar states (p. 378), "Since aion meant 'age,' aionios means, properly, 'belonging to an age,' or 'age-long,' and anyone who asserts that it must mean 'endless' defends a position which even Augustine practically abandoned twelve centuries ago. Even if aion always meant 'eternity,' which is not the case in classic or Hellenistic Greek-aionios could still mean only 'belonging to eternity' and not 'lasting through it.'"

and another:


Dr. Marvin Vincent, in his Word Studies of the New Testament (vol. IV, p. 59): "The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of "endless" or "everlasting." Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Out of the 150 instances in the LXX (Septuagint), four-fifths imply limited duration."

When one says we are in the last hour or the last days one can be referring to years and eons.

 

[TheGMan]

Thinking about Matthew 25:46, I thought it my be useful to go over how Matthew uses aion and aionios elsewhere in the Gospel. kolasis aionios is the most difficult verse for universal salvation, to my mind.

aionios is used in two other verses to qualify "life" - both in the pericope of the rich man - 19:16 and 19:29. It is used in two other verses to qualify "fire" - 18:8 and 25:41.

18:8 parallels Mark 9:42-48 which - rather than pur (fire) aionion - has to pur ou sbennutai (the fire does not go out). This is itself a quotation of Isaiah 66:24. It is also, I think, pretty clear from Matthew 25 that the pur aionion and kolasis aionios are referring to the same thing.

aion is most commonly used by Matthew in the phrase he sunteleia tou aionos (the conclusion of the aion) - 13:39, 13:40, 13:49, 24:3 and 28:20. It is used in 13:22 in he merimna tou aionos (the concern of the aion).

It crops up in the fig tree pericope in 21:19 - "may no fruit come from you eis ton aionas". This is the only ambiguous use of the word in its singular form - it could reasonably translated as "for eternity" here but it could also mean "for the age"

It is also used in the plural to indicate what I think is an unambiguous infinite duration in the Prairie Tortoise (sorry!) - 6:13 - "Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory eis tous aionas. Amen." Literally here, "through the aions".

The last and most interesting use is 12:32 - oute en to nun aioni oute en to mellonti - "Either in the aion now or in the one about to happen".

In light of this, I think the word "age" can be effectively substitured for any use of aion in Matthew. aionios is trickier but let's assume that Matthew used it to mean "lasting for an age". The question then is how long did Matthew think an age lasted. The current age, for Matthew, is coming to an end with the parousia of Jesus. The kolasis aionios therefore most likely lasts the length of the next age. There are two possibilities for how long that is - either the next age is the last one and lasts for the rest of time or there is another age which follows it.

I don't think it's possible to be entirely clear which one of these possibilities Matthew envisaged. But I think the general sense is that the only ages worth talking about are this one and the one about to happen. Matthew certainly never talks about "and the age after the next one".

 

[Tamam]

GMan,

Good post, some enlightening stuff there, especially liked the "through the aions" translation.