As can be seen from these examples, some of the
dictionaries, lexicons, and commentaries consider such words as eternal, forever, and
everlasting to be synonymous to the words age, or eon. In addition to the foregoing, some
Bible translations such as the King James Version, use the words "forever,"
"eternal," everlasting," etc., where a period of time, an age, a limited
period, is clearly indicated. Some examples of this are given below. I will give the Greek
transliteration first, followed by a literal translation. Before we begin I want to stress
a very important point. What follows must be read very slowly and probably several times.
I have made it as simple as I possibly can. One does not need to learn Greek to see what I
hope will become plain to the average reader, but one does need to go to their
translations and to a good concordance to verify that what I am writing is actually in the
text. A Greek-English Interlinear would also be helpful, but not necessary. Furthermore,
there may be some texts I will deal with that I may not be able to make plain enough what
I want to express. If there are some passages you do not understand, just set them aside.
I will present enough material that it should be easy for anyone to at least see that
these words are not adequately translated in the King James Bible and many others which
have followed the King James tradition. With that said, let us begin.
The Greek word aion will be translated
consistently with the English word "eon," which is but the Anglicized form of
the Greek word.
Hebrews 1:2 says: di hou kai epoiesen tous
aionas, "through Whom also He makes the eons." Notice the Greek word aionas
is rendered "worlds" in this passage in the KJV. The ASV margin says
"ages;" and the New Scofield Bible reads "ages." Ephesians 3:11:
"according to the purpose of the eons which He makes in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Both these passages state that God makes the
eons; therefore they had a beginning, and so were not "eternal" in the past. Yet
the KJV translates the passage at Ephesians 3:11: "According to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." A purpose carries the idea that there is
a goal in view, a plan, an aim, a design. Are we to think that God has a purpose He will
never accomplish? That is what such a translation implies. God has the wisdom and power to
accomplish whatever purpose He has conceived. Notice that in the KJV translation, the
Greek word aionon, a noun, has been translated as though it were an adjective.
That is a serious liberty to be taking with the inspired words of God, aside from using
"eternal" where it is clear that limited time is in view.
In Ephesians alone, aion has been
translated in the KJV the following ways: 1:21 "world;" 2:2 "course [of
this world];" 2:7 "ages;" 3:9 "beginning of the world;" 3:11
"eternal;" 3:21 "world without end;" 6:12 "world." This
seems to be a strange assortment of English words to represent just one Greek word! As we
look at other verses, the confusion even gets worse! Translate aion consistently
as "age" or "eon" and we do not have this confusion. Notice how aion,
"eon" and aionios, "eonian" are translated in the following:
1 Cor. 2:7 pro ton aionon (before the eons), KJV "before the world,"
New Scofield "ages," ASV margin "age." 2 Timothy 1:9 and Tit. 1:2, pro
chronon aionion (before times eonian), KJV "before the world began." In
these verses (2 Tim. 1:9 and Tit. 1:2) the adjective "eonian" in the Greek text
is translated in the KJV as though it were a noun.
Before you go on with this book, please read
and re-read this section until you clearly see that the King James Bible and its sister
translations have not translated these words properly. Pro, in these verses is a
preposition which means "before." chronon is a genitive plural of the
noun chronos which means "time." Aionion is a genitive plural
adjective of the noun aion. Dear reader, please stop and think this section
thoroughly through. It may dramatically change your life for the better. The only thing
the King James Version got right here was the prepostion "before." The
translators of the American Standard and the Revised Version, which are revisions of the
King James Bible, realized there were problems in the King James Bible with these words.
They therefore made a consistent rendering based not upon the Greek, but upon tradition!
They translated that verse in Titus 1:2 "before times eternal." Now what is the
world is that supposed to mean? How can there be times (plural) before eternity? This is
not translation, this is nonsense. But you see, they had to stay true to the tradition of
an eternal "hell" in which many people would be "forever" punished.
Realizing how ridiculous a literal rendering of this phrase sounded based upon
"tradition," the American Standard translators put in the margin,
"or, long ages ago." Now here is a phrase that makes sense to the Greeks and to
the English. Why not put it into the English text, since that is a rendering which is far
more true to the Greek and English than "before times eternal?" Tradition!!! It
is interesting to note that the Revised Standard Version (a revision of the
Revision of the King James Bible) finally put into the text itself "ages
ago," not quite correct, but certainly much closer than its predecessors. The New
American Standard Version, (a revision of the American Standard of 1901,an
American version of the Revised Version which is a revison of the King James
Bible) "long ages ago." It took almost 400 years to break this incorrect
"tradition"! They are still dragging their feet in several others places in the
English text where they have still translated through the "tradition of the
elders," and not according to the Greek text. If it took 400 years for them to come
this far with Titus 1:2, referring to a passage which does not touch their "sacred
cow," the doctrine of eternal torment in Hell, then how long do you think it will
take for them to treat honestly and objectively the other passages we will discuss in this
book? We must remember, their very jobs, their very creeds, their very foundation and
power of their denominations, that being the fear of "eternal torment"
is at stake here. Surely, we can expect a fight to the end. "Tradition" has too
much to lose in this fight and the heads of the institutions of the church which have been
built upon the fear of hell instead of the love of Christ will war with those who demand
sound and correct translations to the very end. My dear reader, I repeat: please do not
leave this section until you clearly see that the Bibles in the King James tradition are
dragging their feet unwilling to handle these two words, aion and aionios correctly.
These Scriptures show God made the eons (Eph.
3:11 and Heb. 1:2), and that there was a time before the eons, or before eonian times (1
Cor. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:9; and Tit. 1:2). Since they had a beginning and there was time before
they were made, there could not have been "endless" or "eternal" time
in the past. When does "eternity" begin?
The Scriptures also speak of the end
of the eon and ends of the eons. Matt. 24:3 reads: sunteleias tou aionos,
"conclusion of the eon". The KJV here says "end of the world." The ASV
has "consummation of the age," telling us of a time when this eon will end-this
present wicked eon during which Satan is theos tou aionos toutou, "god
of this eon."
First Corinthians 10:11 tells us of tele
ton aionon, "consummations of the eons." Here the KJV says "ends of
the world;" the ASV "ends of the ages."
The Greek word used here is in the genitive
plural, yet the translators of the KJV have changed the plural to a singular word,
"world." How many ends can a single world have?
Hebrews 9:26, epi sonteleia ton aionon,
"at the conclusions of the eons." KJV: "in the end of the world;" ASV:
"end [margin: consummation] of the ages." So we see the eons cannot be endless
in the future, for they will end individually and collectively.
The Greek word for eon is used both in the
singular and in the plural in the Scriptures. We are told of the past eons, a present eon,
and future eons: Col. 1:26, apokekrummenon apo ton aionion, "having been
concealed from the eons." KJV: "which has been hid from the ages;" ASV
margin: "which has been hid from the ages." So there must be a least two eons
past.
Luke 20:34, hoi huioi tou aionos,
"the sons of this eon." KJV: "the children of this world;" ASV margin:
"the sons of this age."
In Matthew 12:32 Jesus said, oute en touto
to aioni oute en to mellonti, "neither in this eon nor in the impending."
KJV: "neither in this world, neither in the world to come;" ASV margin:
"neither in this age, nor in that which is to come." (See also Galatians 1:4 and
2 Cor. 4:4.) Matthew speaks of two eons: (1) the present eon, and (2) the impending one.
The impending eon is that one in which Christ is to obtain His kingdom and rule for the
millennium.
In Ephesians 2:7 Paul writes, en tois
aiosin tois eperchomenois, "in the on-coming eons." KJV: "in the ages
to come;" ASV: "in the ages to come." So there are past eons, a present
one, and the coming eons, at least five in all. Included in these eons are all the eonian
times that are mentioned in Scripture. The adjective aionios comes from the noun aion
and is defined: "pertaining to or belonging to the eons." It is an axiom of
grammar that an adjective derived from a noun cannot mean more than its parent word. It
must retain the essential meaning pertaining to the noun. As it has been shown, the noun
refers to limited time, which had a beginning and will have an end. The adjective, then,
should not be translated by such words as "everlasting" or "eternal."
The adjective cannot take on a greater meaning than the noun from which it is derived. For
example, hourly, an adjective, pertains to an hour, not to a year.