αἰών in the Sense of Prolonged Time or Eternity.
1. The Formulae "from eternity" and "to eternity."
a. The concepts of time and eternity merge in the formulae in which αἰών is linked with a preposition to indicate an indefinite past or future, e.g., ἀπʼ αἰῶνος (Lk. 1:70; Ac. 3:21; 15:18) and ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος (Jn. 9:32) in the sense of "from the ancient past" or "from eternity," or εἰς αἰῶνα (Jd. 13) and εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (27 times, esp. common in Jn. e.g., 4:14) in the sense of "for ever" or "to all eternity." Only in the light of the context can it be said whether αἰών means "eternity" in the strict sense or simply "remote" or "extended" or "uninterrupted time." Thus in Lk. 1:70 and Ac. 3:21 οἱ ἅγιοι ἀπʼ αἰῶνος προφῆται means "the holy prophets of old time." The meaning is particularly weak when we have an αἰών formula in a negative statement. Thus Jn. 9:32: ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσθη, simply means that "it has never been heard," and οὐ (μὴ) … εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα merely signifies "never" (cf. Jn. 13:8; 1 C. 8:13). The full significance of "eternity" is perhaps to be found in passages like Lk. 1:55; Jn. 6:51; 12:34; 14:16; 2 C. 9:9 (ψ 111, 9);
. 5:6; 7:17, 21 etc.; 1 Pt. 1:25; 1 Jn. 2:17; Jd. 13, if the question can ever be answered with any certainty.
In order to bring out more fully the stricter concept of eternity, religious usage generally prefers the plur. Esp. in doxologies we find: εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας (Mt. 6:13 [Rd]; Lk. 1:33; R. 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 2 C. 11:31;
. 13:8; and also εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας with πρὸ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος, Jd. 25). This plur. use is simply designed to emphasise the idea of eternity which is contained but often blurred in the sing. αἰών. Thus in Hebrews the εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα used under the influence of the LXX (e.g,. 5:6; 7:24) is materially identical with εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας in 13:8. The plur. is also to be found in formulae which refer to the past. In 1 C. 2:7 it is said of the θεοῦ σοφία: ἣν προώρισεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ("from all eternity"); similarly in Col. 1:26: ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν, and Eph. 3:9: ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων, cf. Eph. 3:11: κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων ἣν ἐποίησεν (== κατὰ πρόθεσιν ἣν ἐποίησεν πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων). In these cases the sing. ἀπὸ or πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος might well be used instead of the plur. But the plur. presupposes knowledge of a plurality of αἰῶνες, of ages and periods of time whose infinite series constitutes eternity. Thus the idea of prolonged but not unending time is also present in the αἰών formulae. Noteworthy in this respect is the parallel αἰῶνεσ/γενεαί in Col. 1:26. The concepts of limited and unlimited time merge in the word αἰών. The implied inner contradiction is brought to light in the expression χρόνοι αἰώνιοι which is used as an equivalent of the plur. in R. 16:25; 2 Tm. 1:9; Tt. 1:2; for eternal times is strictly a contradiction in terms.
Also designed to emphasise the concept of eternity is the twofold use of the term in the formula εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος (
. 1:8, ψ 44:6). In 21 passages this twofold use is linked with the plur., thus giving rise to the distinctive formula of the Pauline Epistles and Revelation (cf. also
. 13:21; 1 Pt. 4:11; 5:11): εἰς τοῦς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Finally, there are cases in which the αἰών formulae are united with similar expressions. Thus in the phrase: εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων Eph. 3:21 (cf. Col. 1:26), we can pick out the components εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεάς and εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τῶν αἰώνων; and εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος (2 Pt. 3:18) can be dissected into the two constituents εἰς ἡμέραν (sc. κυρίου) and εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
