Eternal Everlasting ‘Eternal’ and ‘everlasting’ are employed in the AV [Note: V Authorized Version.] of the NT somewhat indiscriminately to render three Greek words-ἀ ΐδιος, α ἰ ών (used adjectivally in genitive plural), and α ἰ ώνιος . ἀ ΐδιος is found only in Romans 1:20 and Jude 1:6, AV [Note: V Authorized Version.] rendering ‘eternal’ is the first case and ‘ everlasting’ in the second. ‘Eternal’ is the translation of τ ῶ ν α ἰ ώνων in Ephesians 3:11, 1 Timothy 1:17 . α ἰ ώνιος is of very common occurrence; but while AV [Note: V Authorized Version.] in most cases gives ‘eternal,’ it not infrequently substitutes ‘everlasting,’ and sometimes does so, apparently, for no other reason than to avoid the repetition of the same English word (cf. e.g., Acts 13:46 with v. 48; Romans 6:22 with v. 23). For ἀ ΐδιος (a contraction for ἀ είδιος, fr. [Note: r. fragment, from.] ἀ εί ever’) RV [Note: V Revised Version.] properly reserves ‘everlasting.’ For τ ῶ ν α ἰ ώνων it gives the literal meaning ‘of the ages.’ For α ἰ ώνιος (fr. [Note: r. fragment, from.] α ἰ ών) it regularly gives ‘eternal,’ except in Philemon 1:15, where α ἰ ώνιον is treated as an adverb and rendered ‘for ever.’ ‘Eternal’ for α ἰ ώνων is etymologically correct, since Lat. œternus (for œviternus) comes from œvum, the digammated form of α ἰ ών, from which α ἰ ώιος is derived. Moreover, no better English word can be suggest ed-unless the transliteration ‘AEonian’ could be accepted. None the Jess, ‘eternal’ is misleading, inasmuch as it has come in English to connote the idea of ‘endlessly existing,’ and thus to be practically a synonym for ‘everlasting.’ but this is not an ad equate rendering of α ἰ ώνιος, which varies in meaning with the variations of the noun α ἰ ών, from which it comes.
The chief meanings α ἰ ών in classical Greek are: 1 a lifetime; 2 an age or period; 3 a period of unlimited duration. In the LXX [Note: XX Septuagint.], which is largely determinative for NT usage, α ἰ ών (usually representing Heb. עוֹלָם) is employed with the same variations as in the older Greek literature; and the length of time referred to must be determined from the context. In some, eases ε ἰ ς τ ὸ ν α ἰῶ να refers to the duration of a single human life (Exodus 19:9; Exodus 21:5), in others it is applied to the length of a dynasty (1 Chronicles 28:4), the lasting nature of an ordinance (2 Chronicles 2:4), the national existence of Israel (2 Chronicles 9:8), the perpetuity of the earth (Ecclesiastes 1:4), the enduring character of God (Psalms 9:7) and of the Divine truth and mercy (117:2; 118:1). Similarly α ἰ ώνιος is applied to the ancient gates of Zion (Psalms 24:7), to certain Levitical ordinances (Leviticus 16:29, Leviticus 16:34), to the covenants of God with men (Genesis 9:16; Genesis 17:7, etc.), to the Divine mercy (Isaiah 54:8) and love (Jeremiah 31:3). Only rarely do we find the word applied directly to God Himself (Genesis 21:33, Isaiah 40:28). Passing from the LXX [Note: XX Septuagint.], we have to notice the bearing upon NT usage of the distinction made in the later Jewish theology [See Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People (Eng. tr. of GJV).] ii. ii 133) between the present age (עוֹלָם הַוָּה) and the coming or Messianic age (עוֹלָם הַבָּא), a distinction which reappears in the NT in the expressions ὁ α ἰὼ ν ο ὗ τος and ὁ α ἰὼ ν ὁ μέλλων or ὁ ἐ ρχόμενος.
Coming now to the NT with the previous history of α ἰ ών and α ἰ ώνιος in view, we find that the terms are still used as before with various connotat ions. In 1 Corinthians 8:13, unless St. Paul is writing by way of pure hyperbole, α ἰ ών can refer only to his own lifetime. In Acts 3:21 it refers to the age of prophecy. Its frequent employment in the plural suggests that in the singular the word denotes something less than unending time; while the phrases πρ ὸ τ ῶ ν α ἰ ώνων (1 Corinthians 2:7) and τ ὰ τέλη τ ῶ ν α ἰ ώνων (10:11) point to ages that were conceived of, not as everlasting, but as having a beginning and coming to an end. Even the coming or Messianic α ἰ ών, as contrasted with the present time (Mark 10:30, Ephesians 1:21 etc.), is not conceived of by St. Paul as endless. In 2 P 1:11 Christ’s Kingdom is described as α ἰ ώνιος; but St. Paul anticipates a time when Christ shall deliver up His Kingdom to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).
The use of the adjective is again similar to that of the noun. Whether α ἰ ώνιον is treated as an adverb of an adjective in Philemon 1:15, it is evident that the meaning must be restricted to the lifetime of Onesimus and Philemon. The χρόνοι α ἰ ώνιοι of Romans 16:25 are the ages during which the mystery of the gospel was kept secret, in contrast with the age of its revelation, Those χρόνοι α ἰ ώνιοι, moreover, are not to be thought of as stretching backwards everlastingly, as is proved by the πρ ὸ χρόνων α ἰ ωνίων of 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2 . The α ἰ ώνιος θεός of Romans 16:26 carries with it unquestionably the idea of everlastingness; but it is worth noting that this is the only occasion in the NT when the term is applied to God, and that the doxology in which it occurs is of doubtful genuineness.
It is when we come to consider the expression ζε ὴ α ἰ ώνιος (cf. σωτηρ ἱ α [Hebrews 5:9 ], λύτρωσις [9:12], κληρονομ ἱ α [v. 15]), which is of very frequent occurrence in the Johannine and Pauline writings, together with the contrasted concept ions π ῦ ρ α ἰ ώνιον (Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:14, Jude 1:7), κόλασις α ἰ ώνιος; (Matthew 25:46), ὄ λεθρος α ἰ ώνιος (2 Thessalonians 1:9), κρ ῖ μα α ἰ ώνιον (Hebrews 6:2), that we find the real crux of the difficulty of translating the term, It has often been insisted that the meaning of the word is the same in either case, and that if ‘AEonian fire’ is less than everlasting, AEonian life’ must also be less. Sometimes this argument has been met by the objection that α ἰ ώνιος is not a quantitative but a spiritual and qual itative term, expressing a kind rather than a length of being. That the word is frequently so used in the Johannine writings appears evident (e.g. John 17:3, 1 John 3:14, 1 John 5:13); and in the Pauline Epistles also we have various examples of it employment in a sense that is intensive rather than extensive-notably the equation is 1 Timothy 6:12, 1 Timothy 6:19 (RV [Note: V Revised Version.]) between ‘eternal life’ and ‘the life which is life indeed,’ And yet it must be admitted that the whole history of the term points to the underlying idea of duration, and not of duration only, but of a duration that is permanent. With equal clearness, however, that history shows that the permanence affirmed is not absolute, but relative to the nature of the subject. When applied to the loving se rvice of a Christian slave to a Christian master, α ἰ ώνιος denotes a permanence as lasting as the earthly relation between master and slave will permit. When used of the ages before the gospel was revealed, it means throughout the whole length of those ages . When applied to God or to the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), it means as everlasting as the Divine nature itself. And when we come to ‘eternal life’ on the one hand and ‘eternal fire’ or ‘eternal destruction’ on the other, they also must be rendered according to our conception of the inherent nature of the thing referred to. And many will hold that while good, as emanating from God, is necessarily indestructible, evil, as contrary to the Divine nature and will, must eventually cease to be-‘that God may be all in all’ (1 Corinthians 15:28). ‘AEonian fire,’ therefore, may mean a fire that goes on burning until it has burned itself out; ‘AEonian destruction,’ a destruction that continues until there is nothing left to destroy. but ‘AEonian life,’ being life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23; cf. 1 John 5:11), must be as enduring as the Divine immortality. If the spirit of life in Christ Jesus dwells in as, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:2, Romans 8:11, Romans 8:35-39). See, further, Life and Death.
Literature.-S. D. F. Salmond, Christian Doctrine of Immortality, Edinburgh, 1895, p. 649ff,; G, B. Stevens, Theol. of NT, do. 1899, p. 224ff., Christian Doctrine of Salvation, do. 1905, p. 526f., Expositor. 1st. ser. vii. [1878] 405-424, 3rd, ser. vi [1887] 274-286, vii [1888] 266-278; EBi [Note: Bi EncyclopAEdia Biblica.] ii [1901] 1408.
J. C. Lambert.