It is Wrong to Define Aionios Based on the Meaning of Aion (part 2 of What Does Aionios mean?)

Having explained the positive case for aionios meaning “eternal” in part 1, let’s now look at a popular argument Universalists put forward to defend aionios meaning “lasting for an age”. I plan to look at other Universalist arguments in future posts.

Note:  The numbering system for the outline here continues from part 1.

2.  Universalist Argument: The adjective aionios comes from noun aion and therefore must mean “lasting for an age”

This is a popular argument among some Universalists.  I’ve come across it in many settings. At the bottom of this post I include a section with examples of this argument. To be fair to Universalists, some of them recognize that this is a flawed argument and they avoid it. But because this argument is fairly common in discussions with Universalists, I feel it is important to respond to it. To those unfamiliar with how words are defined or who haven’t looked carefully at the linguistic data in the New Testament, this argument can sound pretty reasonable. Although it is a common argument, it is wrong. In fact, as I’ll attempt to explain, it is doubly wrong.

2.1 This Universalist argument is wrong because you cannot simply determine the meaning of an adjective from a noun it is derived from.

Etymology does not determine meaning.

It is true that the adjective aionios is derived from the noun aion. It is also true that a basic meaning of

aion is an “age,” and sometimes it refers to an age of limited duration.  However, this does not mean that aionios means “lasting for an age of limited duration”.

It is common for adjectives to be formed from nouns.  Not all adjectives are formed this way, but some are.  There is, of course, always some type of relationship between the meaning of the noun and the meaning of the adjective which comes from the noun.  However, the relationship in meaning might be very close and obvious, or it may be distant and vague.  Looking at some examples in English will clarify what I mean:

Example #1 beauty → beautiful

Here the relationship is very close.  If something possesses beauty, it is beautiful.

Example #2: sun → sunny

Here the relationship is fairly obvious.  A sunny day is a day when the sun is brightly shining.  Yet, even with this example care is needed.  The sun is hot, but you can have a sunny day in the middle of winter, or on top of an arctic mountain.

Example #3:  time → timely

If you didn’t already know the meaning of “timely”, I’m not sure you could correctly guess it with confidence just based on the fact that it is an adjective which comes from “time”.  Reasonably it might mean a number of things like:  something which takes a long time, something which happens all the time, or something which happens at a predictable time.  The actualy meaning, “done or occurring at a useful or favorable time” is not immediately obvious based on the noun it comes from.

Example #4:  fish → fishy

The actual meaning of “fishy” is very far removed from the noun “fish”. If something is “fishy” that does not mean it is wet, or swims well, or has scales.  It can mean that is smells like a fish.  Or, more commonly, it means that something is suspicious.

Try evaluating these examples yourself.  There is always some relationship between the noun and the adjective, but the nature of the relationship varies quite a bit so that the meaning of the adjective simply cannot be reliably predicted just by knowing the meaning of the noun it comes from:

fortune → fortunate

fire → fiery

Orwell → Orwellian

arctic (n) → arctic (adj)

Italy → Italian (adj)

human →humane

The above examples are easy for us to understand because both the adjective and the noun are familiar to us.  There is another example of an English adjective which is even more enlightening.  Some Universalists reject the idea of an adjective meaning “eternal” (aionios) coming from the noun for “age” (aion).  Yet the English adjective “eternal” itself derives from a Latin noun which meant “age”!

The fact that an adjective comes from the noun for “age” certainly does not prove it will mean “eternal”.  But the above example shows that this is a possibility. 

For those of us who grew up speaking English, English examples are easy to understand. It turns out that these examples are part of a broad principle in linguistics which applies to any language. Attempting to derive the meaning of an adjective from the noun it came from is a special case of the etymological fallacy.  The etymological fallacy basically consists of claiming that a word’s current meaning is the same as the meaning it had in the past, or the same as the meaning of words it was derived from. This error has also been called “the root fallacy” or “the root word fallacy”. A word’s meaning is not determined by its origin, but rather by its usage. We determined the meaning of aionios based on its usage in the New Testament in part 1.

2.2  Even if You Derived the Meaning of Aionios from the Meaning of Aion in the New Testament, the Most Likely Meaning would Still Be Eternal!

Now, let’s turn to how aion is used in the New Testament. The basic meaning does seem to be “an age”.  The New Testament mainly thinks in terms of two ages:  this age and the age to come.

Luke 18:29 "Truly I tell you," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life."

This age refers to the time period we are now living in until Jesus returns.  The age to come refers to the eternal age where those who are saved will live with God in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The New Testament also frequently uses the word aion or its plural in phrases which mean “forever”.  Here are some examples:

ESV Lk. 1:33  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever (eis tous aionas, literally “into the age”, a idiomatic way of saying “forever”), and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Because the verse clarifies that it is speaking of a reign where “there will be no end”, it leaves us with no doubt that the translators are correct to interpret the phrase eis tous aionas to mean “forever”.

Here is another clear example:

ESV Rom. 11:36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever (eis tous aionas, literally “into the age”, a idiomatic way of saying “forever”) . Amen.

Of course God’s glory is forever, and “forever” fits the context extremely well.

In addition to phrases where aion is used to mean “forever”, if combined with a negative it can mean “not ever” or “never”.  Here is an example:

ESV Jn. 11:26  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

The single English word “never” translates ou mē . . . eis ton aiona. Literally, the phrase reads “no not . . . into the age”.  Jesus is not saying that those who believe in Him will not die for a limited age.  He is saying that those who believe in Him will not die for all eternity.  In this type of phrase meaning “never”, the word age is referring to an eternal age.

Of the 122 uses of aion in the New Testament, by my count about 70% of them are referring to an age which is eternal.  Thus, even if one was going to make the etymological fallacy of simply looking at the noun aion in order to guess the meaning of the adjective aionios, “eternal” would be the best guess.  But this is not based on merely statistical usage.  If you look at the type of things described as aionios they much better match the type of things found in an eternal age than the types of things found in this current, evil, limited age that we live in.

2.3 A More Nuanced Universalist Form of this Argument

Some Universalists do not argue that aionios means specifically “for a limited age”.  They argue that the meaning is simply “pertaining to an age” and that the more precise meaning is determined by the context.  This argument continues to make the error of deriving the meaning of an adjective directly and simply from the noun it comes from.  However, here the error is mainly one of vagueness.

It would be like saying that fortunately means pertaining to fortune or that humane means pertaining to human or that fishy means pertaining to fish.  Such definitions are so vague as to not really be definitions at all.  When an adjective is formed from a noun, of course there is some type of relationship between the two.  But the adjective takes on its own distinct meaning and does not merely mean pertaing to X. The meaning is determined by examing the actual usage of the word in sentences.  When this is done, we see that the meaning of aionios, when looking towards the future, is eternal.

2.4  Examples of the Etymological Fallacy Related to Aionios:

When I mentioned that I planned to address the Universalist argument I’ve been addressing here in part 2, a couple of Universalists claimed that this is not a common Universalist argument.  I think it is, and I’m giving a few examples to demonstrate this.

Example #1, from the website:  http://www.mercifultruth.com/eternity.html

The word aion - as will be discussed later - means "age," as in the English word "eon" which is a time span having both a beginning and an end. Bible translators indeed rendered the word aion into "age" several times in scripture as seen later in this study. In English we don't have an equivalent adjective for "eon" as being "eonian." But the Greek does have an adjective: aionios, which, means "pertaining to aion" or "pertaining to age(s)."

Example #2: From another article on Mercifultruth (http://www.mercifultruth.com/eternity-detailedstudy.html):

Aionios is "aion" + "ios." Aion means age. The suffix -ios means pertaining to or relating to. So, aion-ios properly means "pertaining to aion" or more simply "relating to an age."

Example #3:  From a book featured on the Tentmaker website.  The book is The Greek Word Aion-Aionios Translated Everlasting – Eternal in the Holy Bible Shown to Denote Limited Duration by Rev. John Wesley Hansom, A. M. and the link is:  http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html)

 In all the above authors extending more than six hundred years, the word [aionios] is never found. Of course it must mean the same as the noun that is its source. It having clearly appeared that the noun is uniformly used to denote limited duration, and never to signify eternity, it is equally apparent that the adjective must mean the same.

Ironically, the author of the above paragraph understood the etymological fallacy and in the same book explains this problem:

  We are aware that nothing is more unsafe and treacherous than the guidance of etymology. An ounce of usage is worth a pound of it. Etymology is theory, usage is fact. For instance, our common word prevent is compounded of præ and venio, to come or go before, and once it had that meaning, but it has long since lost it in common usage, in which it now means to hinder. Suppose two thousand years hence some one should endeavor to prove that in the year 1875 the word prevent meant to go before. He could establish his position by the etymology of the word, but he would be wholly wrong, as would appear by universal usage in our current literature.

Example #4:  From another book featured on the Tentmaker website, Mercy and Judgment by Canon F.W. Farrar.  The link is:  http://www.tentmaker.org/books/mercyandjudgment/mercy_and_judgment_ch13.html

Since aion meant "an age," aionios means properly "belonging to an age," or "age long";

Example #5: This one comes from  https://godsplanforall.com/free-online-book/part-ii/chapter-17-translations-of-owlam-aion-and-aionios/

The Greek word aionios occurs 71 times in the New Testament. Aionios is the adjective of the noun aion, and therefore, the grammatical rule demands that aionios must also have the same two meanings as aion. 

Example # 6: Despite the examples above, I feel that the argument that aionios comes from aion and therefore does not mean “eternal” is mainly a “popular level argument” rather than a careful academic argument.  This type of argument pops us frequently on discussion forums when Universalism is discussed.  Here are some examples from ChristianForums.com

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. (https://www.christianforums.com/threads/aion-aionios-aiodios-what-is-the-difference.2751204/)

Since aion means eon or age (like in the Great Commission) then aionion couldn's possibly have a meaning besides "of the age" (https://www.christianforums.com/threads/the-greek-word-aionion.148227/)

Aionion is the adjective form of the noun Aion. Since the noun Aion is an Eon of limited duration the adjective Aionion must pertain to the Eons of time to make sense. Since grammar rules mandate that an adjective cannot take on a greater force than its noun form, it is evident that Aionion cannot possibly mean Eternal, Everlasting or Forever. The only way the adjective Aionion could mean Eternal, Everlasting and Forever would be if the noun Aion [Eon] was of infinite duration and it clearly is not. (https://www.christianforums.com/threads/aionion-is-not-eternal-everlasting-or-forever.1993511/)

2.5  Conclusion

In part 2 of this series on the meaning of aionios we have examined one Universalist argument against aionios meaning “eternal”.  This popular argument commits the etymological fallacy by insisting that since aion means “an age”, aionios means “lasting for an age” (or something similar).  Not only is it wrong to determine the meaning of an adjective from the noun it comes from, we also saw that even IF one used that method, based on data from the New Testament, the most likely meaning of aionios would still be “eternal”.

Let’s remember why this is important.  If all the widely used English Bible translations are correct in translating aionios as “eternal” or “everlasting”, then the following two verses are fatal to belief in Universalism:

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

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

In part 3 I intend to look at arguments about the meaning of aionios based on data from the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint (LXX).

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

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 . . .