StraightAndNarrow said:
Anyway, yes I did use Strong's concordance on whther the word meant eternal. Crosswalk.com calls Strong's Exhaustive Concordance the most complete, easy-to-use, and understandable concordance for studying the original languages of the Bible. Combining the text of the King James Bible with the power of the Greek and Hebrew Lexicons, any student or pastor can gain a clear understanding of the Word to enrich their study.
I use Strong's quite regularly to search for words by number, but the problem is, it's only a concordance, not a lexicon. But, as a concordance, it's tied in with one particular translation. Young's is a better concordance overall, but it's not available in electronic format, that I'm aware of. The NRSV concordance is even better, or for the best concordance, use the Word Study Greek English New Testament (WSGENT) for the NT. For the OT , the best choice would be The Hebrew-English Concordance to the Old Testament by John Kohlenberger & James Swanson.
But if you want to know what a word means, turn to a lexicon. The BDAG is the standard for Greek scholars, and the Louw and Nida would be a close runner up. The BDAG does not limit itself to the NT, but covers the Greek language itself. There is no hidden agenda that it is trying to promote.
But, even among Greek scholars, there is no concensus. Many of them say, "It means age-lasting, which by association obviously means 'eternal'". That's why some of the best literal translations of the NT simply transliterate it; to avoid the argument. The rest of the literal translations to translate it as a variation on "age" instead of putting a spin on it that the language itself will not bear.
If you hold "aionios" to be "eternal", you will end up with many, many contradictions within Scriptures. Taking the KJV (which translates it 5 different ways; no consistency there), I can "prove" both OSAS and that salvation can be lost or forfeited. I can back up both sides of the argument in a way that seems ironclad.
But, when you look at "aionios" as what it really is, you see that your everlasting salvation (only God is eternal) is secure, but your salvation in the age to come is not.
One you have to work for, one is a gift. If works are in view, you will always find that aionios is in view as well.
So, you either have to turn a blind eye to some Scriptures and write them off as a "mystery", or you have to twist Scripture. Such as saying that a lamp can go out without being lit or that you can lose something that you never had. Or that you don't have to have fruit to prove you're saved, but if you don't have fruit, you're not saved.
Here is how a few literal translations translate John 3:16:
John 3:16 For God, so loved, the world, that, his Only Begotten Son, he gave,—that, whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but have life age-abiding. REV
John 3:16 For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian. CLV
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. YLT
John 3:16 For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages. WNT (I think Weymouth errs, because it's singular, not plural.)