AIWNIOS in the OT and conclusion
There are 20 occurrences of AIWNIOS in the LXX (Greek septuagint) - I looked them all up. Whew! It wasn't conclusive that it must always refer to "eternity," but there wasn't any passage which clearly could not be eternal in nature either. So that is significant. (Unless you count Job 33:12.)
There will be a Day of Judgment when all people will face God. Those who are not covered by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross will be cast out into hell where they will undergo AIWNIOS (IMO - "eternal") punishment. I did not find any examples where it had to be considered an age, though that possibility was allowed by the context in some. "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46). In this verse, the same word "eternal" is used to describe the punishment of the wicked as well as the eternal life of the believer (AIWNION). The punishment is as endless as is the eternal life of the believer. That is why the gospel (1 Corin. 15:1-4) is so important, because it saves people from eternal damnation:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life,
(EXEI ZWHN AIWNIOS - "has life eternal")
What kind of "life" have they passed into? Is it merely life of the kingdom period? No, it is more. For he "has passed out of death into life." No longer dead, ever. Forever alive.
Following are a few verses that show the eternality of hell and punishment. God uses different phrases to describe the same thing. So if we view AIWN or AIWNIOS as not referring to eternity here, then sin has not been dealt with forever... for all we know, it can come back.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 "And these will pay the penalty of eternal (AIWNIOS) destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,"
(AIWNIOS is used here. Where can it be shown to ever refer to an age? That is not its meaning. Perhaps, according to L & S, it can be allowed, but where is it ever clearly used in that manner in the NT or the OT? [Greek septuagint])
Jude 1:7 "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal (AIWNIOS) fire"
(Again, the punishment is referred to as "AIWNIOS fire.")
Jude 1:12, 13 These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved (EIS AIWNA - sing. - AIWN) forever,"
(But EIS AIWNA was used in the Greek septuagint [OT] several times to refer to the eternal nature of God. While it is not conclusive, it certainly gives plenty of evidence for that meaning. Note, we're not talking about AIWN in general, but the phrase, EIS AIWNA)
Is "forever and ever" without end?
The phrase "forever and ever" is used both of describing God's eternal worth and the duration of eternal damnation. The exact same Greek phrase is used in each of the verses below.
forever and ever
AIWNIOS TWN AIWNWN
"ages of the ages"
Eternal - without end... eternal condemnation
IMO, this is a very strong complex construction of the plural form of AIWN. It was also used in Psalm 92:8 - "But You. Oh Lord, are on high forever."
1 Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever (EIS TOUS AIWNAS (pl.) TWN AIWNWN (pl.) - "into the ages of the ages."). Amen,"
Revelation 5:13 ". . . To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever (EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN)."
Revelation 19:3 "And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever (EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN)."
Revelation 20:10 "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN), "
The Greek phrase "EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN," which is translated "forever and ever," occurs 18 times in the Greek New Testament. In 17 of them, the phrase means without end, extending into infinity. In Rev. 19:3, the phrase is used to describe the destruction of the great whore of Babylon (Rev. 17:1,4) whose smoke ascends forever and ever. It too is eternal and it signifies the beginning of the eternal judgment that comes upon her.
Also worth examining is Revelation 14:11, "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever (EIS AIWNAS AIWNWN - no articles); and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
The Greek in Revel. 14:11 is only slightly different. Earlier I said that "forever and ever" is translated from the Greek, "EIS AIWNAS AIWNWN," which is literally "into ages of ages." In Rev. 14:11, the Greek is "EIS AIWNAS AIWNWN" which is literally, "into ages of ages" as well. In the latter, the single Greek word "of the" is missing. But it is not necessary and probably does not really change the meaning of the text.
Unquenchable Fire
Some argue that the fires of hell are symbolic or temporal. But the following verses show that they are not, IMO:
Matt. 3:12 "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (See also Luke 3:17.)
Mark 9:43 "And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire."
The word "unquenchable" is ASBESTOS in Greek. It means "unquenchable." If it cannot be quenched, then when can it end? I suppose God can always choose to "quench" it.
The following citations are from Greek dictionaries and Lexicons. They show that the word "unquenchable," which is ASBESTOS in the Greek, (which occurs only in Matt. 3:12, Luke 3:17, and Mark 9:43) means unquenchable - without end.
"unquenchable, inextinguishable" - Liddell, H. G., and Scott, Abridged Greek-English Lexicon, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1992, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
"pertaining to a fire that cannot be put out" - "unquenchable." - Louw, Johannes P. and Nida, Eugene A., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, (New York: United Bible Societies) 1988, 1989
Louw and Nida are the foremost Bible translators in the world. They have also produced a "semantic domains" lexicons, which probes subtle differences between related words.
"inextinguishable" - (BGAD) Bauer, William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed.
Is hell eternal?
Are its fires without end?
This does reflect on how we view AIWNIOS...
Matthew 18:8 "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal (AIWNIOS) fire,"
I cannot conclude without a doubt that AIWNIOS means "eternal" and hence, the door is left open for hell to be extremely long... but not eternal, and for various references in the NT to be referring to the kingdom age rather than eternity. But IMO that would require usto take a universal redemption approach. It also would implythat "eternal life" is not necessarily "etenal"... jus ta very longtime. So I say that the burden of proof lays in the lap of those who say that AIWNIOS may be referencing something not eternal. Also, those compelx, plural forms of AIWN are referncing eternity. I don 't see any way around that. Now Philemon 15 is an example ofAIWNIOS used in a sense that is clearly not eternal in nature. So IMO we have to allow for that possibility of usage.
We have seen that EIS TON AIWNA was used several places in the OT to refer to the eternal nature of God. It is used to refer to the "eternal" judgment as well, so the most logical and natural conclusion would be that it means "eternity" as well.
I demonstrated in that earlier post that EIS TOUS AIWNAS (pl.) TWN AIWNWN (pl.) is used regularly to mean "forever and ever." This is true both in the NT and the Greek OT (LXX). I am convinced that it always means that. But... can I say unequivably that this is what it must mean? While I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, others, many of them Greek scholars, are not.
So the jury is still out... but if I am on that jury... "guilty" as charged!
FWIW,
FA
)