Definition
I would say that there has been a great deal of debate over the Greek word aionios and whether it means eternal or not, but in truth the academics all recognize that it does not. Any expert linguist will tell you that’s an improper translation. Even the Pulpit Commentary, which espouses the idea of eternal torment, recognizes the issue in Matt 25:46, only to then dismiss it entirely.
We can see where this definition has been added to the original meaning of the word and used to supplant it without cause. Unless you consider personal bias to be cause. In Strong’s lexicon, the definition has been added alongside the original:
Aiōnios (G166)
Definition: age-long, eternal
Usage: age-long, and therefore: practically eternal, unending; partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting.
The word aiōnios is quite simply the adjective form of the word for “an age,” which is the noun aion. The adjective form does not create an entirely new definition and meaning. “Age-long” or “age-enduring” is about the closest that English can come. A truly objective study of the word must—at the very least—admit that meanings such as “eternal to the end of time” are only one possibility of the word’s usage. There is considerable evidence that such a translation misses the more accurate usage of the word. Both “age-long” and “practically eternal” show the lie here. An age may be a very long time, but it is not eternal. What does “practically” mean in the context of immortal God and unending punishment? I’ve yet to hear an answer from Traditionalist theology.
Greek has a word that means immortal, for those who wished to express the idea, and it’s aidios (G126). This word, however, is also translated as “eternal,” so you’d never know by just reading the English. The fact that two entirely different words are both translated as the same word in English proves there is nuance within the Greek that is not being carried over. Though, honestly, it’s about as nuanced as a clanging gong.
HELPS Study
The HELPS Word-studies provides the additional context that is so vital to understanding this word:
Cognate: 166 aiōnios (an adjective, derived from 165 aion (“an age, having a particular character and quality”) – properly, “age-like” (“like-an-age”), i.e. an “age-characteristic” (the quality describing a particular age); (figuratively) the unique quality (reality) of God’s life at work in the believer, i.e. as the Lord manifests his self-existent life (as it is in His sinless abode of heaven). “Eternal (166 aiōnios) life operates simultaneously outside of time, inside of time, and beyond time – i.e. what gives time its everlasting meaning for the believer through faith, yet is also time-independent. See 165 (aion).
[166 (aiōnios) does not focus on the future per se, but rather on the quality of the age (165) it relates to. Thus believers live in “eternal (166 aiōnios) life” right now, experiencing this quality of God’s life now as a present possession. (Note the Gk present tense of having eternal life in Jn 3:36, 5:24, 6:47; cf. Ro 6:23.)]
Although I think it a little odd that HELPS references John 3:36, but not 17:3;
“Now this is eternal (aiōnios) life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
It is clear that “currently having eternal life” poses an oddity of translation, which is why the term “age-enduring” or simply a transliteration of “aeonian” has been suggested by many prominent scholars, ever since John W. Hanson’s1 massive tome on the word.
Ascribing the definition of “age-long” or “age-enduring” to the word makes much more sense, considering it’s root in aion, which is translated as “an age” throughout the NT. There are some noticeable exceptions to that, however. Places like 1 Timothy 1:17 use the phrase “forever and ever,” when the actual Greek translates as “to the ages of the ages.” This phrase is assumed to mean “forever and ever” because it is associated with the Hebrew phrase that has roots in the Hebrew word olam, which is itself translated as aiōnios in the Septuagint. The fallacy of that use will be looked at in the definition of olam. Regardless, these translations still replace the actual words with the assumed meaning of an idiom. That assumed meaning is then transplanted (not translated) onto the adjective form aiōnios.
Manipulation of Aion
In places such as Mark 11:14, the phrase “no more to the age” is even translated as “never,” continuing to apply the added meaning of the idiom even when using a singular form without the additional “of the ages.” There is no practical need to make these changes. For example, translating the genitive form in Hebrews 6:2 as “the age of (aiōniou) judgment” would be perfectly understandable. There are places, though, where forcing aiōnios to mean “eternal” does not happen, because context prevents it.
Romans 16:25 reads, “Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past [aiōniois].” Obviously you can’t have already revealed a mystery that has been hidden for eternity. So here it is translated as an age, even by those who translate it elsewhere as “eternal.” Even more, in Colossians 1:26 Paul says the same thing, but worded just slightly differently, “according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages [aiōnōn] past.”
There, he uses the noun form because it fit the grammatical structure of the sentence. So we have the same author, saying the same thing, but using the noun aiōn in one place and the adjective aiōnios in another, not to change the term from “ages” to “eternal,” but simply as a grammatical variance. These two verse show us that the translation of “eternal” is elsewhere forced onto a word that could easily be translated more accurately. The necessary translation here shows that the choice to translate aiōnios differently is up to the subjective decision of the translator and not a set-in-stone definition.
Idioms and Interpretation
For any who insist that the idiom usage must mean “forever and ever,” I contend that is backwards theology. They have decided upon the meaning first and then ascribed their own meaning to the words of Scripture. If our theology is shaken by a truthful and accurate reading of Scripture, perhaps it was never built on a solid foundation in the first place. I tell you that “Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,” Matt 24:35.
It is entirely backwards translation work to always use a derivative meaning except for when context forces you to do otherwise. I cover more of the etymology, as well as similar words, in my book, for those who want to dive deeper. There is one place in particular, however, where this definition of “eternal” does very poorly. Luke 1:33 tells us that Jesus “will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” That last word, however, is actually the phrase eis tous aiōnas or “to the ages.” You might notice that this is not even the adjective form aiōnios, but the noun aión. Why does it matter? Read 1 Cor. 15:24-28, where Jesus “hands over the kingdom to God the Father.” The Kingdom has no end, but Jesus’ reign is handed over to the Father “so that God may be all in all.”
I see no possible way that rendering eis tous aiōnas in Luke 1:33 as “forever” doesn’t cause a contradiction within Scripture. If “to the ages” shouldn’t be rendered as “forever” here, then it likely shouldn’t be in other places as well. A more in-depth, verse by verse study would show similar—such as the noun aiōna again being translated as “world” in Eph 2:2, but as “forever” in Jude 1:13—but suffice it to say that neither aion nor aiōnios have been treated well.
After all of this, I will note that the argument is actuality a moot point. Jesus didn’t teach in Greek, he taught in Hebrew and Aramaic. Thus, he would have used olam, not aiōnios. As we study the Hebrew word that is translated in the Septuagint using aiōnios, we will see incontrovertibly that it cannot mean “temporally eternal until the end of time,” as its usage by the statements of God made through the Prophets prohibits such an interpretation.