In the Bible there are:
1. Aion (age) in the singular—65 times
2. Aions (ages) in the plural—62 times
3. Aions (ages) in the past - plural
4. Aion (age) in the present - singular
5. An aion (age) to come - singular
6. Aions (ages) to come – plural, more than one age is yet to come
7. The ends of the aions (ages) – plural – more than one age that ends
If aion means eternality then these passage would be saying:
· “Upon whom the ends of the eternities have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
· “That He might deliver us from this present evil eternity” (Galatians 1:4).
· “Not only in this eternity but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians. 1:21).
· “That in the eternities to come” (Ephesians 2:7).
· “The mystery, which for eternities has been hidden” (Ephesians 3:9).
· “Haven loved this present eternity” (2Timothy 4:10).
· “Powers of the eternity to come” (Hebrews 6:5).
· “But now in the end of the eternity (Hebrews 9:26).
· We understand the eternities have been prepared by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3).
The Greek is "unto the aions of the aions." It is not "ever + ever," not one "ever" added to another "ever" as in the King James Version. It is ages that last unto, not a plural of eternities which none can end. "Forever and ever" is a contradiction of itself. When a word is plural it can only be finite for only finite things can have the plural; there cannot be more than one infinite eternity. Not more than one forever. There cannot be eternities after eternities. An age or ages will fit into eternity, but eternity will not fit into an age. Eternity is infinitely bigger then an age. Neither can one eternity fit into another eternity, or two eternities exist at the same time. Neither can one eternity come after the end of another eternity.
For ever (aionas) AND (ton) ever (aionon)” (Revelation 4:11), “The double plural,” Henry Thayer, “A Greek-English Lexicon Of The New Testament,” page 19. Both Greek words are in the plural; “ever” that is used in the King James Version is singular; there is no plural of “ever” in English; it cannot be translated “for everS and everS.” The “and” that is between the two everS is from “ton” and it never means “and” in the Greek. “For ever and ever” totally changes what the Greek says.
As there is no word in the Hebrew Old Testament for “eternity,” "ages" more than one long period of time followed by more long periods of time might have been the nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to "eternity" as we understand the English word "eternity" today. Can "olam" or "aion" ever mean eternal as the word is used today? Endless is not inherent in either of the two words and in over 90% of the times they are used it is unquestionably that they mean a limited time– a time that has ended or will end. When they are applied to God (as in Exodus 3:15; Genesis 21:33) and things that are intrinsically endless, some say it takes on a meaning not inherent in the word itself, but from the thing that is endless, but it is more likely that God was speaking to them using the only words that they would understand, words with nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to an eternity without beginning or end–ages followed by more ages, an endless number of ages one after another after another. The concept we have of eternity was not in the Old Testament and may not have come about unto after the New Testament.
· 1 Timothy 1:17: “To the King of the ages (aion), the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, [is] honor and glory -- to the ages (aion), of the ages (aion)! Amen” Young's Literal Translation.
o “Now to the king of the ages” Alfred Marshall, “Parallel New Testament In Greek and English.”
o See “The Englishmen’s Greek Concordance” by George V. Wigram, page 20.
o “Now to the King of the ages” Recovery Version.
o “Now to the King of the ages” Hugo McCord, church of Christ, “McCord’s New Testament Translation,” published by Freed-Hardeman College.
o “So to the king of all the ages” “The New Testament In Modern English,” J. B. Phillips.
o “To the King of ages” New American Bible, Catholic.
o “To the King of the ages” Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version.
o “He is the King of the ages” The Living Bible.
o “Now may the King of the ages” The Christian Bible.
· Jude 1:25 : “To (the) only God Savior of us through Jesus Christ the Lord of us (be) glory, greatness might, and authority before all the age and now and unto all the ages.” Alfred Marshall, Parallel New Testament In Greek and English.
o “To the only wise God our Savior, [is] glory and greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the ages! Amen” Young's Literal Translation.
· Hebrews 1:2: “Through whom (Christ) also he made the ages.”
· Hebrews 11:3: “By faith we understand that the ages have been framed by the word of God.”
· Revelation 15:7: “God, who is living to the ages of the ages.”
· 1 Peter 4:11: “Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power -- to the ages of the ages.”
· Revelation 2:12: “The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honor, and the power, and the strength, [are] to our God -- to the ages of the ages!”
· Revelation 1:6: “To him [is] the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen.”
· 2 Corinthians 11:31: “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- who is blessed to the ages.”
· Romans 16:27: “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him [be] glory to the ages.”
· Romans 5:9: “God blessed to the ages. Amen.”
· Romans 1:25: “God blessed to the ages. Amen.”
After the coming of Christ, when we are told time will have ended and eternity will have began, the very next thing is a “day,” a period of time that will have both a beginning and an ending, the Judgment Day. This “day” will be in eternity after time as we know it has end.
Perhaps the most common argument is that “aion” has both (1) a finite meaning and (2) infinite meaning. Unlimited duration when it is speaking God, limited duration of things that have a perishable nature, or a limited duration, as the priesthood of Aaron, the covenant of circumcision, the three days Jonah was in the belly of the whale, etc., that it must take on an infinite meaning when speaking of things not of this earth; the problem of this seems to be that even when speaking of things not of this earth, of the time after the Judgment Day, even of God (1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18; and many more times age is used in the plural) Ages being in the plural when speaking of God is hid by most English translations, it would make a plurality of eternities, one eternity after another eternity and more eternities after them, even after the Judgment Day it would make there be eternities after eternities.
1 Peter 1:25: “The word of the Lord abides for ever (aeon—age).” God’s word—the New Covenant will abide as long as the New Covenant last, to the end of this age—end of the world (age). “But the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever (olam-age—Hebrew the same as the Greek aeon-age) that we may do all the words of this law” Deuteronomy 29:29. The Law belonged to them for an age, but that age has passed away; it was only for that age, not forever. All that is in the New Covenant are ours to do for this age, we will not for take of the Lord’s Supper after the end of this age; we will not remember His death “Till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:29), not after He comes. The Lord’s Supper is now the “word of the Lord” that abides for this age, not with out end, not for eternity. Just as the “word of the Lord” on keeping the Sabbath Day abided for that age, and it passed away when the age of the Law passed away, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15) will also abided to the end of this age, and will pass away when this age is over. It is most likely that there will always be a “word of the Lord” in all ages to come, but not the same “word of the Lord” as is in this age or was in pass ages.
“The word of the Lord remains unto the age” Marshall’s Parallel Greek English New Testament.
“The saying of the Lord doth remain -- to the age” Young’s Literal Translation.
Alexander Campbell said of aion, “Its radical idea is indefinite duration.” An age is always a period of time that can be long or short, but ages always has both a beginning and an ending.
Marvin R. Vincent, "Word Studies In The New Testament" Notes On Olethron Aionion (eternal destruction). "The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to aei is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, aei does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always (aei) liars (Tit. 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Cor. 4:11; 6:10; Heb 3:10; 1 Pet. 3:15. Aei means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. 'The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.' In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of aeons. A series of such aeons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. Eph. 1:21; 2:7; 3:9,21; 1 Cor 10:11; compare Heb. 9:26. He includes the series of aeons in one great aeon, 'o aion ton aionon, the aeon of the aeons (Eph. 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describe the throne of God as enduring unto the aeon of the aeons (Heb 1:8). The plural is also used, aeons of the aeons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Rom. 16:27; Gal. 1:5; Philip. 4:20, etc."
NOTE: Marvin R. Vincent in "Word Studies In The New Testament" list three series of ages—not three series of eternities. The three are:
1. A series of ages that precedes the Christian dispensation.
2. A new series of ages inaugurated by the Christian dispensation.
3. The end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series of ages.
Dr. Edward Beecher, “All attempts to set forth eternity as the original and primary sense of aion are at war the facts of the Greek language for five centuries, in which it denoted life and its derivative senses, and the sense eternity was unknown.” Christian Union, 1873.
Professor Knapp, author of a Greek New Testament used in many colleges and universities as a textbook. “The pure idea of eternity is too abstract to have been conceived in the early ages of the world, and accordingly is not found expressed by any word in the ancient languages. But as cultivation advanced and this idea became more distinctly developed, it became necessary in order to express it to invent new words in a new sense, as was done with the words eternitas, perennitas, ete. The Hebrews were destitute of any single word to express endless duration…the Hebrews and other ancient people have no one word for expressing the precise idea of eternity.”
Aionios (the adjective form of the noun aion) is used 71 times in the New Testament and in the King James Version is translated (1) age, (2) eternal, (3) for ever and ever, (4) course, (5) for ever, (6) evermore, (7) everlasting, (8) world, (9) beginning of the world, (10) world began, (11) world without end. When the Septuagint translation was made in the third century B.C. by the Jews, the Hebrew word “olam” was translated into the Greek word “aionios.” Olam in the Old Testament is used repeatedly to mean an age that has a beginning and an ending.
Olam—aionios, for an age, not forever.
· The Law of Moses was forever, King James Version (olam—aionios), but it ended.
· The Jews were to posses the land forever, King James Version (olam—aionios).
· Temple rituals were to continue forever, King James Version (olam—aionios), but they ended.
· Sacrifices were to last forever, King James Version (olam—aionios), but they have ended.
· Circumcision was forever, King James Version (olam—aionios), but it ended when the Law that commanded it ended.
· David’s throne was forever, King James Version (olam—aionios), but it ended.
FOREVER– UNTO THE AGES
(A) "Unto the ages" eiv touv aiwnav Wigram ("The Englishman's Greek Concordance," page 19), footnote in American Standard Version "Gr. unto the ages." Alfred Marshall in "Parallel New Testament In Greek And English" translates eiv touv aiwnav "unto the ages."
· All seven “forever” are three words in the Greek, not one or two word as in the King James Version.
(B) "Unto the ages of (the) ages" eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn is used twenty-one times in the New Testament, seventeen times it is applied to God or Christ, one time to Satan, one time to worshipers of the beast, one time to the great harlot, and one time to those who are in the book of life.