A Misleading Idea of "Forever" Eternity: Part 3

In the first article in this series, I discussed how the word “eternity” doesn’t really mean “eternity” in the sense we use it today. In the second article, I discussed the problems with the Greek phrase translated as “eternal life.” In this article, I am going to look at the phrase translated as “forever.” One very interesting aspect of this phrase is how often it is not translated at all. Often it is just ignored in translation because adding it would change what the translators wanted Jesus to say.

The point of all these articles is that Christianity is built upon an inflated promise that is hidden in translation. It is not that I don’t think that Jesus promised a life after this life. I certainly do. The point of his death is to illustrate the truth of that life beyond. What I object to is the simplistic inflating of his teaching. The afterlife that he talks about is both more interesting and mysterious than the “eternity” promised by modern Christianity.

The Greek Phrase “Forever”

The Greek phrase translated as “forever” is εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα: (eis ton aiona). It means, literally, something like  "until the era." Jesus uses this phrase eleven times. This preposition phrase is somewhat consistently translated as "forever” in all Biblical translations, that is, when it is translated as all.

The preposition that begins the phrase is translated as "for." This word, eis can mean "for" but "for a purpose" not "for" a span of time. The most common use for this proposition is "into" a place. When used with time, it means "until," "as far as," or "up to." Here, it is clearly associated with a time.

The term translated as “ever” is aion, (αἰών), a word that we have discussed many times in this series of articles. It means "lifetime," "life," "a space of time," "an age," an epoch," and "the present world." It is the source of our English word “eon.” This word does not mean "forever" or anything like it. It specifically means a limited span of time. The Greek word, aiôn was a measurement of time like we talk about "a generation," that is, the space between one generation and the next, which is around thirty years though aiôn can refer to longer periods of time. In modern Greek, this word has become the basis for the Greek words for "eternity," aioniotes (αιωνιότης) and aionioteta (αιωνιότητα) but these words did not exist in ancient Greek. These concepts were taken from the Bible, making their way into the modern Greek language.

How the Ancients Said “Forever”

The ancient Greeks used the words "for all ages," using the plural of aion,  to come closer to describing"forever," or more simply "for ages." We must remember that even the Greek gods were not seen as lasting forever. They could be destroyed even though they did not age as we mortals do. The gods themselves had destroyed their own parents, the Titans. The ancient people in general did not have the same idea of "forever" that we think we have now.

However, unlike the other words and phrases in this series of articles, this Greek phrase was used commonly in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the Septuagint, this phrase appears 233 times in 216 verses. It is usually translated into “for ever” or a similar idea. It is used to translate the Hebrew word, ôlām (עוֹלָם) which means, according to the Strong’s Concodance, which is based on how it is translated in the English Bible, “long duration,” “antiquity,” “futurity,” “for ever,” “ever,” “everlasting,” "evermore,” “perpetual,” “old,” and “ancient.” Referring to the future, it is translated as “for ever,” “always,” or continual existence.”

So here, we see the Biblical roots of this phrase and its translation as “forever.” However, if we look more closely at the Hebrew, the word, olam, literally means "beyond the horizon." It represents far distance, which is difficult to see. It is therefore used to describe the world as a whole. To describe time, the word olam describes the distant past or the distant future. The idea is that it is a time that is difficult to perceive. A common phrase in Hebrew is "l'olam va'ed" that is translated as "forever and ever," but it means "to the distant horizon and again" meaning a very distant time and even further. This is very consistent with the general idea that ancient cultures couldn’t conceive of what we talk about as “eternity” any more than they could have discussed what we think of as mathematical infinities.

Some Examples

Here is a sampling of verses that use this phrase and how they might be better translated. Notice how many of these verses don’t translate the phrase at all.

Matthew 21:19

KJV: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.
Literal: No? No longer should a fruit be produced from you until the era beyond.

Mark 3:29

KJV: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness (phrase missing here), but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Literal: That one, however, when he slanders concerning the spirit, the holy one,  he doesn't have a release until the era beyond. Instead, he is liable for perpetual failure.

John 4:14

KJV: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst (phrase missing here); but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Literal: Whosoever, however, when he drinks from this water that I myself will give him, never will he thirst until the era beyond. Instead, the water that I will give him will become in him a source of water springing until a perpetual life.

John 8:35

KJV: And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Literal: The slave, however, doesn't remain in the household until the era beyond. The son remains until the era beyond.

John 8:51

KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death (phrase missing here).
Literal: Honestly, honestly, I am telling you, when someone observes this mine own logic, he never might view death until the era beyond.

Conclusion

With this phrase, we uncover the Old Testament roots of the idea of “forever.” The fact that it created a problem for translators is demonstrated by how often it is simply ignored because it doesn’t fit what the translators wanted Jesus to say. “Until the era beyond” is a span of time that is difficult to see into. Jesus references to the various forms of  aiôn that are translated as “eternal,” “eternity,” and “forever,” but he describes it as a time that we can know little about, a time that we do not have the power to see,