KJV: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
YLT: who shall suffer justice -- destruction age-during -- from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength,
Darby: who shall pay the penalty of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his might,
ASV: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
| δίκην | [the] penalty |
|
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: δίκη Sense: custom, usage. |
|
| τίσουσιν | will suffer |
|
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: τίνω Sense: to pay, to recompense. |
|
| ὄλεθρον | of destruction |
|
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: ὀλέθριος Sense: ruin, destroy, death. |
|
| αἰώνιον | eternal |
|
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: αἰώνιος Sense: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be. |
|
| ἀπὸ | away from |
|
Parse: Preposition Root: ἀπό Sense: of separation. |
|
| προσώπου | [the] presence |
|
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular Root: πρόσωπον Sense: the face. |
|
| τοῦ | of the |
|
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
|
| Κυρίου | Lord |
|
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: κύριος Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord. |
|
| δόξης | glory |
|
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: δόξα Sense: opinion, judgment, view. |
|
| τῆς | of the |
|
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
|
| ἰσχύος | power |
|
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ἰσχύς Sense: ability, force, strength, might. |
|
| αὐτοῦ | of Him |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
Greek Commentary for 2 Thessalonians 1:9
Qualitative use, such as. Vanishing in papyri though surviving in Paul (1 Corinthians 3:17; Romans 1:25; Galatians 4:26; Philemon 4:3). [source]
Future active of old verb τινω tinō to pay penalty Accusative case in apposition with δικην dikēn (penalty). This phrase does not appear elsewhere in the N.T., but is in 4 Maccabees 10:15 τον αιωνιον του τυραννου ολετρον ton aiōnion tou turannou olethron the eternal destruction of the tyrant (Antiochus Epiphanes). Destruction (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:3) does not mean here annihilation, but, as Paul proceeds to show, separation from the face of the Lord (απο προσωπου του κυριου apo prosōpou tou kuriou) and from the glory of his might (και απο της δοχης της ισχυος αυτου kai apo tēs doxēs tēs ischuos autou), an eternity of woe such as befell Antiochus Epiphanes. Αιωνιος Aiōnios in itself only means age-long and papyri and inscriptions give it in the weakened sense of a Caesar‘s life (Milligan), but Paul means by age-long the coming age in contrast with this age, as eternal as the New Testament knows how to make it. See note on Matthew 25:46 for use of aiōnios both with zōēn life, and αιωνιος kolasin punishment. [source]
Accusative case in apposition with δικην dikēn (penalty). This phrase does not appear elsewhere in the N.T., but is in 4 Maccabees 10:15 τον αιωνιον του τυραννου ολετρον ton aiōnion tou turannou olethron the eternal destruction of the tyrant (Antiochus Epiphanes). Destruction (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:3) does not mean here annihilation, but, as Paul proceeds to show, separation from the face of the Lord (απο προσωπου του κυριου apo prosōpou tou kuriou) and from the glory of his might (και απο της δοχης της ισχυος αυτου kai apo tēs doxēs tēs ischuos autou), an eternity of woe such as befell Antiochus Epiphanes. Αιωνιος Aiōnios in itself only means age-long and papyri and inscriptions give it in the weakened sense of a Caesar‘s life (Milligan), but Paul means by age-long the coming age in contrast with this age, as eternal as the New Testament knows how to make it. See note on Matthew 25:46 for use of aiōnios both with zōēn life, and αιωνιος kolasin punishment. [source]
The verb (N.T.omeans to pay or render. Lit. shall pay penalty. [source]
Or face. Ἁπὸ fromhas simply the sense of separation. Not from the time of the Lord's appearing, nor by reason of the glory of his presence. Πρόσωπον is variously translated in A.V. Mostly face: also presence, Acts 3:13, Acts 3:19; Acts 5:41: person, Matthew 22:16; Luke 20:21; Galatians 2:6: appearance, 2 Corinthians 5:12; 2 Corinthians 10:1: fashion, James 1:11. The formula ἀπὸ προσώπου or τοῦ προσώπου occurs Acts 3:19; Acts 5:41; Acts 7:45; Revelation 6:16; Revelation 12:14; Revelation 20:11. In lxx, Genesis 3:8; Genesis 4:14, Genesis 4:16; Exodus 14:25, and frequently. [source]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- 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 ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί 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.”-DIVIDER- In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons 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. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER- Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]
The phrase nowhere else in N.T. In lxx, 4Macc. 10:15. Rev. properly, eternal destruction. It is to be carefully noted that eternal and everlasting are not synonymous. See additional note at the end of this chapter. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Thessalonians 1:9
See note on Acts 13:1 for idiom. It is God‘s church even in Corinth, “laetum et ingens paradoxon ” (Bengel). This city, destroyed by Mummius b.c. 146, had been restored by Julius Caesar a hundred years later, b.c. 44, and now after another hundred years has become very rich and very corrupt. The very word “to Corinthianize” meant to practise vile immoralities in the worship of Aphrodite (Venus). It was located on the narrow Isthmus of the Peloponnesus with two harbours (Lechaeum and Cenchreae). It had schools of rhetoric and philosophy and made a flashy imitation of the real culture of Athens. See note on Acts 18:1 for the story of Paul‘s work here and now the later developments and divisions in this church will give Paul grave concern as is shown in detail in I and II Corinthians. All the problems of a modern city church come to the front in Corinth. They call for all the wisdom and statesmanship in Paul. That are sanctified (ηγιασμενοις hēgiasmenois). Perfect passive participle of αγιαζω hagiazō late form for αγιζω hagizō so far found only in the Greek Bible and in ecclesiastical writers. It means to make or to declare αγιον hagion (from αγος hagos awe, reverence, and this from αζω hazō to venerate). It is significant that Paul uses this word concerning the called saints or called to be saints (κλητοις αγιοις klētois hagiois) in Corinth. Cf. κλητος αποστολος klētos apostolos in 1 Corinthians 1:1. It is because they are sanctified in Christ Jesus (εν Χριστωι Ιησου en Christōi Iēsou). He is the sphere in which this act of consecration takes place. Note plural, construction according to sense, because εκκλησια ekklēsia is a collective substantive. With all that call upon Associative instrumental case with συν sun rather than και kai (and), making a close connection with “saints” just before and so giving the Corinthian Christians a picture of their close unity with the brotherhood everywhere through the common bond of faith. This phrase occurs in the lxx (Genesis 12:8; Zec 13:9) and is applied to Christ as to Jehovah (2 Thessalonians 1:7, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:12; Philemon 2:9, Philemon 2:10). Paul heard Stephen pray to Christ as Lord (Acts 7:59). Here “with a plain and direct reference to the Divinity of our Lord” (Ellicott). Their Lord and ours (αυτων και ημων autōn kai hēmōn). This is the interpretation of the Greek commentators and is the correct one, an afterthought and expansion (επανορτωσις epanorthōsis) of the previous “our,” showing the universality of Christ. [source]
Associative instrumental case with συν sun rather than και kai (and), making a close connection with “saints” just before and so giving the Corinthian Christians a picture of their close unity with the brotherhood everywhere through the common bond of faith. This phrase occurs in the lxx (Genesis 12:8; Zec 13:9) and is applied to Christ as to Jehovah (2 Thessalonians 1:7, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:12; Philemon 2:9, Philemon 2:10). Paul heard Stephen pray to Christ as Lord (Acts 7:59). Here “with a plain and direct reference to the Divinity of our Lord” (Ellicott). Their Lord and ours (αυτων και ημων autōn kai hēmōn). This is the interpretation of the Greek commentators and is the correct one, an afterthought and expansion (επανορτωσις epanorthōsis) of the previous “our,” showing the universality of Christ. [source]
See on 2 Thessalonians 1:9(additional note). [source]
Has any significance or practical power. The verb in Paul only here and Philemon 4:13. See on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. [source]
Lit. unto the ages of the ages. See additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9, and comp. Romans 16:27; Philemon 4:20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18. Often in Revelation. In lxx. habitually in the singular: see Psalm 89:29; 110:3,30. In the doxology the whole period of duration is conceived as a succession of cycles. [source]
Lit. out of the world, the present (world which is ) evil. For αἰών ageor period, see John 1:9, and additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Here it has an ethical sense, the course and current of this world's affairs as corrupted by sin. Comp. 2 Corinthians 4:4. Ἑνεστῶτος , present, as contrasted with the world to come. Elsewhere we have ὁ νῦν αἰών thenow world (1 Timothy 6:17); ὁ αἰὼν τοῦκοσμοῦ theperiod of this world (Ephesians 2:2); ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος thisworld or age (Romans 7:2). Ἑνεστῶτος , not impending, as some expositors, - the period of wickedness and suffering preceding the parousia (2 Thessalonians 2:3), which would imply a limitation of Christ's atoning work to that period. Comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Timothy 3:1; 1 Corinthians 7:26. The sense of present as related to future is clear in Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 3:22; Hebrews 9:9. For the evil character of the present world as conceived by Paul, see Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2. [source]
See note on Matthew 25:46 for this interesting phrase so common in the Johannine writings. Plato used αιωνιος aiōnios for perpetual. See also 2 Thessalonians 1:9. It comes as nearly meaning “eternal” as the Greek can express that idea. [source]
Ολετρος Olethros old word from ολλυμι ollumi to destroy. See also 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Αιπνιδιος Aiphnidios old adjective akin to απνω aphnō and in N.T. only here and Luke 21:34 where Westcott and Hort spell it επνιδιος ephnidios Cometh upon them (αυτοις επισταται autois epistatai). Unaspirated form instead of the usual επισταται ephistatai (present middle indicative) from επιστημι ephistēmi perhaps due to confusion with επισταμαι epistamai As travail upon a woman with child Earlier form ωδις ōdis for birth-pang used also by Jesus (Mark 13:8; Matthew 24:8). Technical phrase for pregnancy, to the one who has it in belly (cf. Matthew 1:18 of Mary). They shall in no wise escape (ου μη εκπυγωσιν ou mē ekphugōsin). Strong negative like that in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ου μη ou mē (double negative) and the second aorist active subjunctive. [source]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- 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 ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί 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.”-DIVIDER- In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons 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. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER- Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]
Lit. the king of the ages. Only here and Revelation 15:3. Comp. Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 11:3. In lxx, Exodus 15:18; 1 Samuel 13:13; Psalm 9:7; 28:10; 73:12; 144:13; 145:10. See also additional note on 2Thessalonians href="/desk/?q=2th+1:9&sr=1">2 Thessalonians 1:9. [source]
Better, eternal life. See additional not on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. The conception of life eternal is not limited to the future life (as von Soden). Godliness has promise of the life which now is, as well as of that which is to come (1 Timothy 4:8). The promise of eternal life (2 Timothy 1:1) and the words who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10) may fairly be taken to cover the present life. [source]
Old adjective from βυτιζουσιν blaptō to injure, here alone in N.T. Drown (βυτος buthizousin). Late word (literary Koiné{[28928]}š) from εις ολετρον και απωλειαν buthos (bottom), to drag to the bottom. In N.T. only here and Luke 5:7 (of the boat). Drown in the lusts with the issue “in destruction and perdition” (ολετρος eis olethron kai apōleian). Not annihilation, but eternal punishment. The combination only here, but for απωλεια olethros see note on 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 5:5 and for apōleia see note on 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Philemon 3:19. [source]
Late word (literary Koiné{[28928]}š) from εις ολετρον και απωλειαν buthos (bottom), to drag to the bottom. In N.T. only here and Luke 5:7 (of the boat). Drown in the lusts with the issue “in destruction and perdition” Not annihilation, but eternal punishment. The combination only here, but for απωλεια olethros see note on 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 5:5 and for apōleia see note on 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Philemon 3:19. [source]
See note on 1 Timothy 3:6 for εν εις en -παγιδα eis and note on 1 Timothy 3:7 for ανοητους pagida (snare). Foolish (βλαβερας anoētous). See Galatians 3:1, Galatians 3:3. Hurtful Old adjective from βυτιζουσιν blaptō to injure, here alone in N.T. Drown (βυτος buthizousin). Late word (literary Koiné{[28928]}š) from εις ολετρον και απωλειαν buthos (bottom), to drag to the bottom. In N.T. only here and Luke 5:7 (of the boat). Drown in the lusts with the issue “in destruction and perdition” (ολετρος eis olethron kai apōleian). Not annihilation, but eternal punishment. The combination only here, but for απωλεια olethros see note on 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 5:5 and for apōleia see note on 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Philemon 3:19. [source]
See additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. In Pastorals the phrase only here and Titus 1:2. Not in Paul. Lit. before eternal times. If it is insisted that αἰώνιος meanseverlasting, this statement is absurd. It is impossible that anything should take place before everlasting times. That would be to say that there was a beginning of times which are from everlasting. Paul puts the beginnings of salvation in God's purpose before the time of the world (1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Peter 1:20); and Christ's participation in the saving counsels of God prior to time, goes with the Pauline doctrine of Christ's preexistence. The meaning, therefore, of this phrase is rightly given in A.V.: before the world began, that is, before time was reckoned by aeons or cycles. Then, in that timeless present, grace was given to us in God's decree, not actually, since we did not exist. The gift planned and ordered in the eternal counsels is here treated as an actual bestowment. [source]
Lit. before eternal times. Before time began to be reckoned by aeons. See on 2 Timothy 1:9, and additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. [source]
Both resurrection and future judgment were Jewish tenets requiring exposition to Jewish converts as regarded their relations to the same doctrines as taught by Christianity. The resurrection of Christ as involving the resurrection of believers would, of itself, change the whole aspect of the doctrine of resurrection as held by a Jew. Ἀιωνίου eternalcertainly cannot here signify everlasting. It expresses rather a judgment which shall transcend all temporal judgments; which shall be conducted on principles different from those of earthly tribunals, and the decisions of which shall be according to the standards of the economy of a world beyond time. See additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. The phrase eternal judgment N.T.oComp. κρίμα τὸ μέλλον thejudgment to come, Acts 24:25. [source]
Lit. unto the aeon of the aeon. See additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. [source]
Διὰ commonly expresses secondary agency, but, in some instances, it is used of God's direct agency. See 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 4:7. Christ is here represented as a mediate agency in creation. The phrase is, clearly, colored by the Alexandrian conception, but differs from it in that Christ is not represented as a mere instrument, a passive tool, but rather as a cooperating agent. “Every being, to reach existence, must have passed through the thought and will of the Logos” (Godet); yet “the Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father doing” (John 5:19). With this passage Colossians 1:16should be studied. There it is said that all things, collectively ( τὰ πάντα ), were created in him ( ἐν αὐτῷ ) and through him ( δι ' αὐτοῦ as here). The former expression enlarges and completes the latter. Δι ' αὐτοῦ represents Christ as the mediate instrument. Ἐν αὐτῷ indicates that “all the laws and purposes which guide the creation and government of the universe reside in him, the Eternal Word, as their meeting-point.” Comp. John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6. For τοῦς αἰῶνας theworlds, see additional note on 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Rend. for by whom also he made, by whom he also made. The emphasis is on made, not on worlds: on the fact of creation, not on what was created. In the writer's thought heirship goes with creation. Christ is heir of what he made, and because he made it. As πάντων, in the preceding clause, regards all things taken singly, αἰῶνας regards them in cycles. Ἀιῶνας does not mean times, as if representing the Son as the creator of all time and times, but creation unfolded in time through successive aeons. All that, in successive periods of time, has come to pass, has come to pass through him. Comp. 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 3:21; Hebrews 9:26; 1 Timothy 1:17; lxx, Ecclesiastes href="/desk/?q=ec+3:11&sr=1">Ecclesiastes 3:11. See also Clement of Rome, Ad Corinth. xxxv, ὁ δημιουργὸς καὶ πατὴρ τῶν αἰώνων theCreator and Father of the ages. Besides this expression, the writer speaks of the world as κόσμος (Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 10:5); ἡ οἰκουμένη (Hebrews 1:6), and τὰ πάντα (Hebrews 1:3). [source]
Likewise negative purpose (after John‘s fashion) with μη mē and the first aorist passive subjunctive of αισχυνω aischunō to put to shame.Before him (απ αυτου ap' autou). “From him,” as if shrinking away from Christ in guilty surprise. See 2 Thessalonians 1:9 for this use of απο apo (from the face of the Lord). [source]
“From him,” as if shrinking away from Christ in guilty surprise. See 2 Thessalonians 1:9 for this use of απο apo (from the face of the Lord). [source]
Condition of third class with εαν ean and first aorist passive subjunctive as in 1 John 2:19; Colossians 3:3. A clear reference to the second coming of Christ which may be at any time.That we have boldness (ινα σχωμεν παρρησιαν hina schōmen parrēsian). Purpose clause with ινα hina and the ingressive second aorist active subjunctive of εχω echō “that we may get boldness.”And not be ashamed Likewise negative purpose (after John‘s fashion) with μη mē and the first aorist passive subjunctive of αισχυνω aischunō to put to shame.Before him (απ αυτου ap' autou). “From him,” as if shrinking away from Christ in guilty surprise. See 2 Thessalonians 1:9 for this use of απο apo (from the face of the Lord). [source]
Present active participle of υπεχω hupechō old compound, to hold under, often with δικην dikēn (right, justice, sentence 2 Thessalonians 1:9) to suffer sentence (punishment), here only in N.T.Of eternal fire (πυρος αιωνιου puros aiōniou). Like δεσμοις αιδιοις desmois aidiois in Judges 1:7. Cf. the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22) and also Matthew 25:46. Jude has no mention of Lot. [source]
These were also included, Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:23; Hosea 11:8). Zoar, the other city, was spared.In like manner (τον ομοιον τροπον ton homoion tropon). Adverbial accusative (cf. ως hōs). Like the fallen angels.Having given themselves over to fornication First aorist active participle feminine plural of εκπορνευω ekporneuō late and rare compound (perfective use of εκ ek outside the moral law), only here in N.T., but in lxx (Gen 38:24; Exod 34:15f., etc.). Cf. ασελγειαν aselgeian in Judges 1:4.Strange flesh (σαρκος ετερας sarkos heteras). Horrible licentiousness, not simply with women not their wives or in other nations, but even unnatural uses (Romans 1:27) for which the very word “sodomy” is used (Genesis 19:4-11). The pronoun ετερας heteras (other, strange) is not in 2 Peter 2:10.Are set forth Present middle indicative of προκειμαι prokeimai old verb, to lie before, as in Hebrews 12:1.As an example (δειγμα deigma). Predicate nominative of δειγμα deigma old word (from δεικνυμι deiknumi to show), here only in N.T., sample, specimen. 2 Peter 2:6 has υποδειγμα hupodeigma (pattern).Suffering Present active participle of υπεχω hupechō old compound, to hold under, often with δικην dikēn (right, justice, sentence 2 Thessalonians 1:9) to suffer sentence (punishment), here only in N.T.Of eternal fire (πυρος αιωνιου puros aiōniou). Like δεσμοις αιδιοις desmois aidiois in Judges 1:7. Cf. the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22) and also Matthew 25:46. Jude has no mention of Lot. [source]
First aorist active participle feminine plural of εκπορνευω ekporneuō late and rare compound (perfective use of εκ ek outside the moral law), only here in N.T., but in lxx (Gen 38:24; Exod 34:15f., etc.). Cf. ασελγειαν aselgeian in Judges 1:4.Strange flesh (σαρκος ετερας sarkos heteras). Horrible licentiousness, not simply with women not their wives or in other nations, but even unnatural uses (Romans 1:27) for which the very word “sodomy” is used (Genesis 19:4-11). The pronoun ετερας heteras (other, strange) is not in 2 Peter 2:10.Are set forth Present middle indicative of προκειμαι prokeimai old verb, to lie before, as in Hebrews 12:1.As an example (δειγμα deigma). Predicate nominative of δειγμα deigma old word (from δεικνυμι deiknumi to show), here only in N.T., sample, specimen. 2 Peter 2:6 has υποδειγμα hupodeigma (pattern).Suffering Present active participle of υπεχω hupechō old compound, to hold under, often with δικην dikēn (right, justice, sentence 2 Thessalonians 1:9) to suffer sentence (punishment), here only in N.T.Of eternal fire (πυρος αιωνιου puros aiōniou). Like δεσμοις αιδιοις desmois aidiois in Judges 1:7. Cf. the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22) and also Matthew 25:46. Jude has no mention of Lot. [source]
Present middle indicative of προκειμαι prokeimai old verb, to lie before, as in Hebrews 12:1.As an example (δειγμα deigma). Predicate nominative of δειγμα deigma old word (from δεικνυμι deiknumi to show), here only in N.T., sample, specimen. 2 Peter 2:6 has υποδειγμα hupodeigma (pattern).Suffering Present active participle of υπεχω hupechō old compound, to hold under, often with δικην dikēn (right, justice, sentence 2 Thessalonians 1:9) to suffer sentence (punishment), here only in N.T.Of eternal fire (πυρος αιωνιου puros aiōniou). Like δεσμοις αιδιοις desmois aidiois in Judges 1:7. Cf. the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22) and also Matthew 25:46. Jude has no mention of Lot. [source]