What Does Aionios Mean in Matthew 25:46 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9? (part 1)

Recently I’ve spent a fair bit of time interacting with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are Universalists. I’ve read some of their material, including one of the best books supporting their view. I have engaged with them in debates on forums. The Universalists I’ve been engaging with are Christians who believe Jesus is the only way to salvation.  They realize that many people die without accepting Jesus.  They agree with other Christians that these unbelievers will be resurrected to face judgment.  But they believe the purpose of that judgment, and of the suffering the unrighteous will endure, is to lead them to accept Christ. These Universalists believe that everyone eventually will accept Christ and be released from their time of judgment in the lake of fire and be accepted into God’s eternal kingdom.

There are many arguments for and against Universalism.  Not only are there many arguments, there are many types of arguments.  Some of the arguments are based on theological principles, others on philosophical reasoning, and still others on the interpretation of specific passages and verses.  Of course, many arguments are a mix of theology, philosophy, and exegesis. 

In this article I am going to focus on two verses and one key word. These two verses, if read and interpreted at face value, decisively refute Universalism.  Here are those two verses with the key word highlighted:

CSB Matthew 25:46 "And they will go away into eternal (aionios) punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

CSB 2 Thessalonians 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal (aionios) destruction from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength

If the punishment of the unrighteous is eternal, then Universalism is not true. Likewise, if the unrighteous suffer destruction which is eternal, then of course they will not be saved.

The Universalist response to this evidence which is fatal to their view is to argue that aionios should not be translated “eternal”. Their arguments may be convincing to some, but they are not convincing to me. But I don’t expect you to just take my word for it.  I will try to explain the evidence which shows that in the context of Matthew 25:46 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9, the many different teams of translators who chose “eternal” or “everlasting” to translate aionios were correct to do so.  Beginning in Part 2 of this post, I will try to explain the weaknesses and errors I see in the Universalist counterarguments.  This topic is by nature a bit technical, but I think I can explain it in a way that will make sense even if you’ve never been blessed with the opportunity to study Greek or linguistics.

1. Defining Aionios

Most words have a range of meaning. Words tend to have several different precise meanings which are all related.  This can be easily seen by looking at a good English dictionary.

Consider the verb “fly”. It has a number of related meanings (this list is not complete):

1.  To move through the air by means of wings

                Birds fly south in winter.

2.  To move or travel by air

                We flew to Seattle for vacation.

3.  To pilot an aircraft or spacecraft

                The crew flew from New York to Mexico City.

4.  To rise in or be carried through the air by the wind

                Dust and pollen flew through the air.

5. To float or flutter in the air

                Pennants flying from buildings.

6.To pass by swiftly

                The vacation flew by.

7. To cause to float of flutter in the wind

                Fly a kite.

(These definitions and sentences are taken from The American Heritage Student Dictionary, 1998, Houghton Milton, pg. 393).

You’ll notice that for each definition of “fly” the dictionary included a sample sentence.  Gathering real life examples of sentences spoken or written by native speakers of a language is one of the main ways a lexicographer (a person who makes a dictionary) determines the various definitions of words. The range of meaning of aionios in the New Testament can be determined using this method.  Some words are not used frequently enough in the New Testament to determine their meaning, and in these cases it is necessary to look for examples in Greek outside the New Testament from as close to the same time and location as the Biblical authors as possible. Fortunately, aionios occurs 71 times in the New Testament.  This is enough data to come up with a good list of definitions.  Later we will consider some examples from outside the New Testament.

1.1  Defining aionios using New Testament examples

We will want to choose examples where the meaning is obvious.  There are some sentences where the meaning is not obvious.  For example:

ESV Jn. 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal (aionios) life.

If this sentence is taken all by itself, out of context, there is not enough in the sentence to determine what aionios means.  We might guess that it is something good, but it could mean “good”, “happy”, “safe”, “successful”, “fruitful”, “meaningful”, or many other things.  Thankfully, as we’ll soon see, there are other sentences where the meaning of aionios is quite obvious.

Just as there were multiple, related meanings of “fly”, we will see some related meanings for aionios. Specifically, we will see a slight difference in meaning depending on whether the sentence using aionios is (1) looking forward in time, (2) back in time, or (3) at the whole of time, both forward and backward.

1.1.1. New Testament verses where aionios is looking forward in time.

ESV Rom. 2:7  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal (aionios) life;

In this example aionios life is seen to be equivalent to immortality.  Since immortality means never dying, aionios life is life that never ends.  Here we see one common meaning:

aionios:  that which continues in time without ever ending, eternal

There are other verses where this definition is equally clear:

ESV Jn. 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal (aionios) life.

Because having aionios life is the opposite of perishing, it stands to reason that this means life which never ends.

ESV 2 Cor. 4:18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (aionios).

Here aionios is seen to be the opposite of transient.  The Greek word translated “transient” is proskairos and means “of what continues for a limited time” (from the Friberg Greek Lexicon). So, aionios refers to things which do not continue only for a limited time.

We are truly blessed to have such clear examples of the meaning of aionios when looking forward in time in the New Testament.  Aionios life is immortal life, it is the life of one who does not perish, and aionios is the opposite of something lasting for a limited time.  In other words, all those Bible translation teams for all the various translations used widely by Christians got it right.  Aionios does in fact mean eternal.

Because the specific uses of aionios we are concerned with (Matthew 25:46 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9) look forward in time, we might stop here.  But let’s briefly look at the other two related meanings of aionios which are found in the New Testament.

1.1.2. New Testament verses where aionios is looking back in time.

There are just three verses in the New Testament where aionios is used in a setting which is looking backwards into time as opposed to looking forward or looking at all time. Here they are. I’ve included two translations of each:

^CSB Romans 16:25 Now to Him who has power to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept silent for long ages (kronois aionios)

^ESV Romans 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages (kronois aionios)

^CSB 2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (pro kronon aionion).

^ESV 2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (pro kronon aionion),

^CSB Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began (pro kronon aionion).

^ESV Titus 1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began (pro kronon aionion)

Note:  Greek words change their endings depending on their grammatical use in a sentence, as some English words do (i.e., sent and send).  Thus, “aionion” in the sentences above is the same Greek word as “aionios” and “kronon” is the same as “kronos.”

.

Those who have studied the phrases in these passages have seen two possibilities.

1.  When only looking backward in time, aionios may be used to refer to a very long but limited period of time .  The main argument for this is that the Greek preposition pro usually means “before” when referring to time. Kronos means time. It appears impossible for anything to happen “before eternity past”, therefore it is reasoned that aionios here cannot literally mean “without beginning”, but must mean something like “going way back”.

A second argument in favor of this view is that in Titus 1:2 it is said that God “promised”.  Promises are usually made to someone who can hear them, which would seem to imply that someone (like Adam or perhaps Abraham) is in mind.  If this is true, aionios obviously cannot be referring to eternity past, since no one existed in eternity past except God.

2.  The above argument initially sounds airtight, and when I started researching this issue I thought it was probably correct, although it produced a definition for aionios from three verses looking back in time which did not seem neatly symmetrical to the definitions for aionios which are clearly seen in the many verses which look forward in time or look at all time. It turns out that there is evidence to support the possibility that even in these three verses, aionios, means “without beginning”, and is referring to what we call “eternity past”.

The phrase pro kronon aionion may be an idiomatic way of saying “from all eternity past”. Consider a similar phrase in Jude 1:25:

^CSB Jude 1:25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time (pro pantos tou aionos), now and forever. Amen.

It will help to realize that aionos is the plural of the noun aion, not a form of the adjective aionios. A word for word literal translation of pro pantos tou aionos would be “before all the ages”. Surely Jude did not intend to leave a gap in time here so that God received glory before all the ages, then there is a gap during the past ages up until “now” when He starts to receive glory again. Jude seems to be using pro pantos tou aionos here to include all time in the past. It seems that pro kronon aionion could be used in a similar way meaning “throughout all past time back into eternity”.

As far as God making a promise in Titus 1:2, it is possible to make a promise to one’s self about something you intend to later do for someone else.  In God’s case, such a “promise” would be 100% certain to later be fulfilled, and would later be revealed to us. Concerning Titus 1:2, Henry Alford makes precisely this same argument:

promised from eternal ages (the very distinct use of πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων in 2 Timothy 1:9, where the meaning ‘from ancient times’ is precluded, should have kept Commentators from endeavouring to fix that sense on the words here. The solution of the difficulty, that no promise was actually made till the race of man existed, must be found by regarding, as in 2 Tim. l. c., the construction as a mixed one,—compounded of the actual promise made in time, and the divine purpose from which that promise sprung, fixed in eternity. Thus, as there God is said to have given us grace in Christ from eternal ages, meaning that the gift took place as the result of a divine purpose fixed from eternity, so here He is said to have promised eternal life from eternal ages, meaning that the promise took place as the result of a purpose fixed from eternity. (from Alford, Henry. "Commentary on Titus 1:2". Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/titus-1.html. 1863-1878.)

My conclusion is that when looking back in time, aionios might refer to “a very long time ago”, but more likely refers to “a time without beginning, from eternity past”.  Even if it refers to “a very long time ago”, this meaning of a long, but limited time is ONLY found in passages looking back in time in the New Testament, never in passages looking forward in time.

1.1.3. New Testament verses where aionios is looking at all time

Where aionios refers to God, or God’s purposes, it is most likely and natural that it means “time without beginning and without end”.  Here are some examples:

ESV Rom. 16:26  but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—

CSB Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

1.1.4.  Conclusion from the examples we have looked at

Aionios means:

1.  “for time without end,” “continuing for all eternity,” “permanent,” “never ending,” “eternal” when referring to the future.

2.  either “for a long time into the past,” or, more likely “from time without beginning,” “from eternity past,” when referring to the past.

3.  “for all eternity,”,when referring to God, looking both back in time to eternity past and forward to eternity future.

Looking at all the uses of aionios in the New Testament, I cannot find a single sentence where the definitions given above are not an excellent fit.

1.2  Defining aionios using Greek lexicons

By looking at sample sentences from the New Testament, we have just done some of the work which is done by those who make Greek lexicons.  Of course, the people who make Greek lexicons are experts at this type of work, so we will want to compare our conclusions with theirs.  The Lexicons I use most frequently are:  (1) The Friberg Greek Lexicon, (2) Thayer Greek Lexicon, and (3) Danker Lexicon (these three I have as part of the BibleWorks program), and (4) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature which is often referred to as BDAG. I did not cherry-pick these lexicons. They are honestly the ones I most frequently use.  Many scholars consider BDAG to be the “gold standard”.

All four of these lexicons agree very closely with the definitions we found above by looking at example sentences.  That’s not surprising since they are looking at the same sentences in the New Testament! Here’s a summary of their definitions. For two of the lexicons I provide summaries because the full entries are long, but I encourage you to look and see for yourself that I have not left out any part of an entry that is contrary to the definitions given above:

1.2.1 The Friberg Lexicon

The Friberg Lexicon entry:

αἰώνιος, ον (sometimes ος, ία, ον) eternal, everlasting, opposite πρόσκαιρος (temporary, transitory); (1) of God without beginning or end, eternal (RO 16.26); (2) without beginning (RO 16.25); (3) without end, everlasting (2C 5.1); (4) neuter singular αἰώνιον as an adverb for all time, forever

1.2.2 A Summary of Thayer’s definitions

1. without beginning or end, that which always has been and always will be

2. without beginning

3. without end, never to cease, everlasting: 

1.2.3 Danker’s Lexicon Entry

αἰώνιος, α, ον [αἰών] – 1. ‘relating to a period of time extending far into the past’, long ages ago Ro 16:25. In 2 Ti 1:9; Tit 1:2 the prep. πρό invites the rendering before time began. – 2. ‘relating to time without boundaries or interruption’, eternal Ro 16:26; Hb 9:14. – 3. relating to a period of unending duration’, permanent, lasting Lk 16:9; 2 Cor 5:1; Hb 5:9. 

1.2.4 A Summary of BDAG’s Entry

αἰώνιος

1.  without beginning

2.  without beginning or end

3.  without end

1.2.5  Other Lexicons

I was greatly encouraged that my favorite Lexicons unanimously came up with the same list of definitions for aionios which I find by looking at examples in the New Testament.  But “Mark’s favorite lexicons” are not the only legitimate sources to check. There are some lexicons and other reference sources which give meanings which support the Universalist view.  Some of these lexicons and sources may have been produced by Universalists or others with an axe to grind, but at least one well known lexicon gives an entry which could support the Universalist view. 

The Liddel-Scott lexicon, which is available on the very helpful Perseus website, includes the following entry (this is only part of the entry):

αἰώνιος

also α, ον Pl. Ti.37d, Ep.Heb.9.12:—lasting for an age ( αἰών 11), perpetual, eternal (but dist. fr. ἀΐδιος, Plot.3.7.3), μέθη

“Lasting for an age” is precisely the definition which many Universalists argue for.  But on closer inspection, Liddel-Scott’s definition does not appear to be well supported. It does not give a single example in New Testament where aionios is looking forward in time and refers to something which lasts only for a limited age. The examples it gives either look back in time, or they are like Hebrews 9:12.  Let’s look at that verse, which does use the word aionios:

CSB Hebrews 9:12 He entered the most holy place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, having obtained eternal (aionios) redemption.

It’s hardly obvious that in this sentence aionios means merely “lasting for an age” instead of “lasting forever”.  In fact, most of us hope that our redemption does last forever, and the teaching of scripture strongly supports this hope.

When Universalists quote various sources and references concerning aionios, I recommend you ask this question:  What sample sentences from the New Testament are given to support aionios referring to a limited time period going into the future?  Even lexicons can be wrong.

1.3 Bible Translations

It’s very likely that every Bible translation which you have ever owned or heard preached from translates aionion as “eternal” or “everlasting” in Matthew 25:46.  The view I’m arguing for basically says that your English translation in this case is correct.

Here are some of the well-known translations where you will find the phrase “eternal punishment” or “everlasting punishment”: American Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, English Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Standard, New English Translation, New International Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New Revised Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version.

Are there any translations which support the Universalist view?  Yes.  Most of them you have probably never heard of, and perhaps for good reason!  One you may have heard of is Young’s Literal Translation:

YLT Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during.'

At least Young is consistent!  He has both the punishment of the unrighteous and the life of the righteous only lasting for an undefined “age”. He translates aionios in John 3:16 the same way:

YLT John 3:16 for God did so love the world, that His Son -- the only begotten -- He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during.

Young’s translation is just plain wrong in the way it translates aionios. What does “age-during” even mean?  It’s terrible English and it’s a terrible translation. Even for a “literal translation”, the phrase “age-during” is just plain wrong as a definition for aionios. Young has probably made the error of basing the meaning of the adjective aionios on its related noun, aion. This error will be examined in part 2 of this post.

In part 1, I have tried to define aionios and explain why this definition is correct.

The definition of aionios I have explained here leads to the conclusion that based on Matthew 25:46 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9 those found to be unrighteous on judgment day will experience eternal punishment and specifically eternal destruction. Therefore, they will never enter God’s kingdom and Universalism is false.

Starting in part 2, I will examine Universalist arguments related to the meaning of aionios that oppose my view.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .