Death: An Examination of "Into the Age"
What happens when we die?
Will we live forever in either fiery judgment or heavenly bliss?
There is a very curious phrase that most English Bibles, even the good ones, seem to have handled poorly. They condense three Greek words down into one English word, which assumes a known intention of these three words on the part of the translators.
For my part, I don’t like a translator assuming they know what a phrase is supposed to mean and therefore condensing it, so I poked around a bit and stumbled onto one of the most interesting studies that has popped up in a while. I hope to do it justice, but there is much to uncover in this particular study, and it has major ramifications for our understanding of life and death.
In today’s post, we’re going to examine the Greek phrase I mentioned, one that I find quite fascinating. The phrase is, as the title gives away, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, which most English translations render simply as “forever” or “eternal.”
An accurate translation is actually “into the age”, which doesn’t reveal much about the meaning just yet, but that’s how the phrase appears when translated literally, and Jesus uses this exact phrase several times.
An example of its use is in John 8:51.
truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone may keep My word, he may not see death—into the age.”
The starting point in understanding this phrase is to understand what the word “age” means, which is the word αἰών/ aion in Greek.
It’s a marker of time, though not necessarily a precise measurement, and it can be used to either refer to a period of time without a defined beginning or end, or it can be used to refer to a known historical period, such as “this present age.”
Αἰών/Aion (BDAG)
A long period of time without reference to a beginning or an end
A segment of time as a particular unit of history
“Age” does not inherently mean “eternity,” and in many places it is explicitly used to define a fairly short period of time, and in fact, the only time it does refer to eternity is when it is used of God, as He is the only One without a beginning or an end.
Which brings us to another word that comes from aion.
The Greek word commonly translated as eternal or everlasting in the Greek part of the Bible is αἰώνιος/ aionios, an adjective derived from the root aion.
An example of where it relates to God is found in Romans 16:26.
Romans 16:26 NKJV - but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith--
The word there is our word αἰωνίου/ aionios, which, being an adjective, modifies the noun. It means “pertaining to the age,” modifying the noun, which in this case is theos or God.
Naturally, God exists outside of time and the Age, so the meaning of this word cannot be the same as when it is referring to humans.
Of Him only can it rightly be said that He is ageless or outside of the ages.
He exists beyond the ages and is not defined by them, which renders Him rightly called “The God of the Ages.” He created them, ordered them, and defines them; they do not define Him.
So when we go looking for an accurate way to translate “aionios theos,” we’re looking for something that emphasizes God having always existed, being beyond the ages, and also His eternal existence.
“God of the ages” does this quite well, or “extra-ageic God,” “ageic” meaning “pertaining to the age.”
Extra-ageic means being outside of this state, which closely reflects the Greek grammar of this phrase.
For now, we’re going to translate it simply as “God of the Ages” because this phrase is not our main interest for today. Our main interest is where this same phrase is used in reference to life.
Every usage of Aionios that’s not in relation to God refers to a physical period of time, even if it’s conceptual, such as with an “everlasting” covenant, which, translated correctly, would actually be “age-during covenant,” “covenant of the age,” or “age-covenant.”
It’s emphasizing its lasting nature rather than its permanence.
We find this to be the case when anything other than God is referred to by the word aion, so diligence in translation is necessary. I’m not the first one to notice this, and several other translations have done this correctly, such as Young’s, CLV, EDNT, and Rotherham’s, which can all be found at this link.
Every other translation that uses “eternal” or “everlasting” is condensing multiple words into one and flattening the rich meaning of these phrases.
All that being said, someone is probably asking, “What’s the point of being so finicky?”
It seems really nitpicky to argue for age-related language vs eternal, but there’s a reason, and a good one, to translate every use of aion with something to do with age.
Translating it consistently allows us to trace a usage theme across Scripture and redirect our focus back to the concept of The Age.
That is essentially the entire purpose of this study in a nutshell.
There's a consistent thread through the whole Bible, and if we can snag onto it, I think it will reveal something astounding and perhaps strip away some of the mystery surrounding life and death.
The Various Ranges of Aion/Aionios in the LXX
The next step is to establish that the usage of aion/aionios doesn’t automatically carry the meaning of eternity unless it is used in reference to God. I briefly mentioned this earlier, but we’re going to look at some examples to really nail this point down.
Aion can simply mean a lifetime.
Here in Exodus, it means for the duration of this man’s life, he will serve his master, not meaning he is bound for all eternity.
Exodus 21:6 NKJV (LXX) - "then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him into the age.
In Samuel, it means for the rest of his life, which Samuel did.
1 Samuel 1:22 NKJV (LXX) - But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "[Not] until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there unto [the] age."
Later, regarding David, the Philistine uses it to mean that David will be his servant for the rest of his life.
1 Samuel 27:12 NKJV - So Achish believed David, saying, "He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant into the age."
Kings were said to εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, meaning basically the same thing as long reign the king or live forever, intended to mean a long reign, not literally eternal existence. There is a horizon of expiration, but for the foreseeable future, this is the way things will be.
Aionios is usually just in reference to something that lasts for a long time, that is, endures for the age.
Genesis 9:16 NKJV (LXX) - "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the age-during covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] on the earth."
Genesis 17:13 NKJV (LXX)- "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an age-during covenant.
Later, we see that circumcision is a requirement to become a part of the covenant people of God, but then this is explicitly revoked later, demonstrating that it is only an age-long covenant and not an eternal one, as we think of eternal, only lasting until the post-crucifixion age.
Exodus 12:14 NKJV (LXX) - 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD into your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an age-during ordinance.
Will the Feast of Tabernacles endure past the Millennium once everyone has received their reward?
We aren’t told.
Numbers 25:13 NKJV (LXX) - 'and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an age-during priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.' "
This explicitly comes to an end when Jesus assumes the priesthood, which again demonstrates that the word aionios does not mean eternal or never-ending unless it is in reference to God.
Finally, swinging back around to the phrase, “into the age,” it is used to refer to the priesthood as well, which again demonstrates that “into the age” does not mean eternal because we already see this priesthood come to an end in Hebrews.
Exodus 40:15 NKJV (LXX) - "You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be a priesthood into the age into their generations."
Before we move into the next section, let’s take a look at the Hebrew word behind the Septuagint. The Hebrew word is לְעֹלָם/olam, and it carries the same semantic range as aion does, with a bit of exception. Where Greek also has aionios (and another word, aeneo, that appears in the LXX but not the NT, and means continuous) to refer to God lasting forever, Hebrew just has olam to carry all the weight.
לְעֹלָם Olam
Long duration, antiquity, futurity, continuous
It emphasizes the lasting nature, a long period of time, an age, and the horizon.
Psalm 90:2 LSV Before mountains were brought forth, "" And You form the earth and the world, "" Even from age to age You [are] God.
A powerful statement about God that reinforces the fact that He exists outside of and beyond all ages. He is not subject to the age as we are.
How awesome!
Using aion/ aionios to translate olam cements the fact that aion does not inherently mean eternal, which is why translating it that way in the New Testament is entirely based on the understanding of the context of the word that the translator possesses.
Translating it consistently as age or age-enduring, in the case of aionios, removes the translator’s interpretation from the equation.
The New Testament Usage
One of the biggest things that gets affected by literal translation is eternal life. The phrase is actually αἰώνιος ζωή, which is conveying life characterized by the coming age, life pertaining to that age, and life of the age.
Translating it as age-during is the route YLT went, and it’s a pretty sound choice. Some other sound options are again ageic, age-life, life of the age, life belonging to the age, and age-enduring life. We’ll see some examples of this below.
All of this brings us to our original goal of determining what “into the age” actually means.
εἰς
Into, to, toward, for, among, into, for
Τὸν
Definite article “the”
Αἰών/Aion (BDAG)
A long period of time without reference to a beginning or an end
A segment of time as a particular unit of history
However, “into the age” isn’t the only time Jesus uses the word aion in reference to something concrete and definable.
In this next section, Jesus uses the word age to refer to this present time as opposed to an age that is coming.
He refers to our present time as an age, the world that existed before the flood is referred to as an age, and, as we see here, the time to come is also an age.
Matthew 12:32 LSV And whoever may speak a word against the Son of Man it will be forgiven to him, but whoever may speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is coming.
Again, in Luke, Jesus refers to a coming age, and here He explicitly tells us it follows on the heels of the resurrection from the dead.
Luke 20:35 NKJV — “But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;
Paul also speaks of an age to come.
Ephesians 1:21 NKJV — far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Next, the disciples are told their age has an end, and it is at this point that Jesus will come in judgment. A thorough discussion of Matthew 24 is impossible at this point, but its first fulfillment was in 70 AD. An examination of whether or not there is a second fulfillment will have to wait until a later article.
However, just as the age of the disciples came to an end, so our age will come to an end with the return of Jesus and the beginning of the Millennium.
Matthew 24:3 NKJV — Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Matthew 28:20 NKJV — “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age.” Amen.
Our age will end, and a new one will begin, which Jesus calls the age to come, which is also, as we have seen, the same age in which the resurrection will occur.
It's important to establish this fact because it plays a part in how we are to understand the phrase in question.
Here’s where things get a bit murky, and certainty fades into my best guess based on everything we’ve looked at. We can establish an LXX usage pattern for these words; that’s not difficult. We can see that Jesus is using the same phrase, but what exactly is He getting at when He uses it?
When He is using it, He is referring to an age to come, that is, what we think of as the millennial age, but what we’re specifically concerned with is where this phrase is used in relation to life, so I’m going to share a series of those verses and try to get one for every example of usage.
They will include both “into the age” and “age-during” to represent our two phrases “αἰώνιος ζωή” and “εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.”
John 11:25 NKJV - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 11:26 NKJV - "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall not die into the age. Do you believe this?"
John 3:15 NKJV - "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have life age-during.
John 3:16 NKJV - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have life age-during.
Romans 6:22 NKJV - But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, age-during life.
Luke 18:29 NKJV - So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
Luke 18:30 NKJV - "who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come, age-during life."
John 17:2 NKJV - "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give age-during life to as many as You have given Him.
John 17:3 NKJV - "And this is age-during life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Mark 10:17 NKJV - Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit age-during life?"
John 4:14 NKJV - "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into life age-during."
John 5:24 NKJV - "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has life age-during, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
John 6:54 NKJV - "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life age-during, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Matthew 6:13 NKJV - And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the age. Amen.
Mark 3:29 NKJV - "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, into the age, but is subject to age-during condemnation"--
John 8:51 NKJV - "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall not see death into the age."
John 8:52 NKJV - Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall not taste death into the age.'
John 11:26 NKJV - "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall not die into the age. Do you believe this?"
John 12:34 NKJV - The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains into the age; and how [can] You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"
These next two passages provide perfect examples of why the phrase in question must be translated with duration in mind rather than entry into something.
John 14:16 NKJV - "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you into the age–
John 8:35 NKJV - "And a slave does not abide in the house into the age, [but] a son abides into the age.
Based on the usages we have examined, none of the age-related words inherently mean eternity.
They can be combined in usage to effectively communicate such a concept, but on their own they do not mean this, because the concept they are conveying is of something lasting for a particular age, not abstract eternity; something lasting into the complete span of the age/order in view; for as long as that age remains operative.
Luke 18:30 conveys this perfectly, where Jesus explicitly refers to the age-during life occurring in the age to come rather than taking place right then and there, essentially conveying the concept that during the next age, they will have life for the duration of that time period, which is, in effect, eternity.
Luke 18:29 NKJV - So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
Luke 18:30 NKJV - "who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come, age-during life."
In other places, it’s not used to convey something lasting for an entire age, and instead it means a specific period of judgment that occurs, leading to judgment that lasts for the age or takes place during the age.
Mark 3:29 NKJV - "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, into the age, but is subject to age-during condemnation"--
Hebrews 6:2 NKJV - of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of age-during judgment.
Matthew 25:46 NKJV - "And these will go away into correction age-during, but the righteous into life age-during."
Matthew 25:41 NKJV - "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the fire age-during prepared for the devil and his angels:
2 Thessalonians 1:9 NKJV - These shall be punished with destruction age-during from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
Matthew 18:8 NKJV - "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast [it] from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the fire age-during.
Jude 1:7 NKJV - as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of fire age-during.
It doesn’t point to torment that lasts forever; rather, it’s time-based, and it has a permanent end, which is death. Death is a final destruction, not an eternal state. There is much more to the subject of judgment and death than we can fit in here, so for now, suffice it to say that there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Revelation 21:8 NKJV - "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
With all of this being said, it could seem like these verses are saying we will not have immortality, but that’s not the case at all. The language being used is specific, to indicate life that goes on for an age, or death that goes on for an age, or judgment that lasts for an age, but we are also told in other places that we, as God’s elect, will have immortality.
Importantly, we are also told that God alone has immortality at this moment (which includes Jesus), but He will also grant us immortality as well.
1 Timothy 6:15 NKJV - which He will manifest in His own time, [He who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
1 Timothy 6:16 NKJV - who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom [be] honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Now, what is immortality?
Ἀθανασία
Immortality
This word is composed of the negative particle and the word θάνατος, which is death. Basically, the idea is not being subject to death.
Death has no power over God; in other words, it opens a whole different can of worms that we will discuss in a future article.
The important thing to take note of for today is simply that God, Father and Son, are both immortal, and they have granted this freedom from death to us, meaning we will not die either, in the age to come.
1 Corinthians 15:53 NKJV - For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:54 NKJV - So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
Revelation 20:6 NKJV - Blessed and holy [is] he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
So when we go back and look at the age language Jesus and the others use, it’s specific for a reason, and I believe it’s contained in what Jesus says here about the age to come.
Luke 18:29 NKJV - So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
Luke 18:30 NKJV - "who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come, age-during life."
Jesus specifies here exactly when age-during life is given, and it’s in the age to come, and later, He again ties age-during life to the age to come.
Luke 20:35 NKJV - "But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;
Luke 20:36 NKJV - "nor can they die anymore, for they are like the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
Here, He is even more explicit that this life does not have an end, which makes it pretty clear that the particular age in which they are resurrected will have no end either.
The fact that there will be no end to that age is explicitly stated elsewhere.
Luke 1:33 NKJV - "And He will reign over the house of Jacob into the age, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Mark 10:30 NKJV - "who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, age-during life.
I think it’s pretty clear that age-during life, the inheritance we are promised, belongs to the age to come and not yet to the age we are in right now. We can safely establish that age-during life belongs to another age because of the context in which age-during life is used.
However, judgment, death, and punishment are also said to be age-during, but that is a topic for another time.
Today, I simply wanted to establish the usage and meaning of “into the age” or “into the age” depending on the context, and see where it gets us. We have a pretty good idea of why age-during is used to mean something pertaining to a particular age, and I think we have, in the process, also gotten a pretty good idea of what the phrase into the age means, especially when used in the New Testament.
It can both mean something that lasts for the rest of someone’s own personal age, as in “I will serve my master into the ag,e” and it can point to a coming age and something that will occur in the age to come. Judgment, a particular death, life, and resurrection all belong to the age to come, and yet they can be said to be “into the age.”
John 8:35 NKJV - "And a slave does not abide in the house into the age, [but] a son abides into the age.
A son belongs in the house, a slave does not. So it can be said that we are now slaves of Jesus Christ who will inherit conship through adoption into His family. That's not something that has yet come to pass, so we can also expect that age-during life is not something that has yet come to pass.
For the conclusion, we're going to examine a passage that seems confusing at first sight, but once the whole thing is read in context, it becomes much clearer.
John 8:51 NKJV — “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall not see death into the age.”
John 8:52 NKJV — Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall not taste death into the age.’
The Pharisees take Jesus to mean that anyone who believes in Him will not die in the current age, and respond with a statement that He's crazy because Abraham and the prophets are all dead.
John 8:53 NKJV — “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
Just who do you think you are, claiming that anyone who believes in you will not see death?
However, as they often were, the Pharisees and Jesus were talking about two completely different things.
John 8:54 NKJV — Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
John 8:55 NKJV — “Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
John 8:56 NKJV — “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw [it] and was glad.”
Well there! Abraham was still alive!
That’s not what the Pharisees took away from what He said, however, and they mock Him for what seems like a ridiculous statement.
John 8:57 NKJV — Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
Jesus’ response is really important, because He doesn’t say Abraham is still alive, He says that He, Jesus, is the great I AM who has always existed.
He says He is God, in other words.
John 8:58 NKJV — Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 8:59 NKJV — Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Because of what seems to be literal heresy, someone claiming to be God, the Pharisees pick up stones to stone Him.
What we can take away from this little interaction is that Jesus was not speaking of the present age when He said whoever believes His word would not see death into the age; rather, He was speaking of the age to come.
The Pharisees, on the other hand, took Him to be speaking of the current age, which is why they thought what He was saying was downright silly. They fully recognized Abraham had been dead for thousands of years, and though they believed in a resurrection (Acts 23:8), they apparently did not presume that Abraham was conscious somewhere watching this whole thing go down.
Now, they did recognize a spirit, but what happens to the spirit after death, and what the spirit is, will have to wait for another article. The really exciting thing we can take away is that when Jesus and others use “into the age,” they are referring to the age to come. We’ve seen that several places, and we explicitly see it here when Jesus refers to “not tasting death into the age.”
That is, not experiencing death in the age to come.
In a future article, we are going to examine death to see if we can nail down just what physical death is and what Paul meant when he said it is appointed for all men to die once and then comes judgment. We are also going to take a deep look at what mortal vs immortal really is, and just when that change takes place.
In addition to these things, we will also take a look at what the spirit is and whether or not it is conscious after death, and whether or not there is instruction, correction, and punishment for the purpose of redemption after death or even the resurrection.
There is a death that is in this age, and there is a death that pertains to the age to come. There is a judgment that pertains to this age, there is a judgment that pertains to the age to come, and there is life that pertains to this age, and life that pertains to the age to come.
To be continued…
Thoughts? Comments? Let me know below!
Comments
Post a Comment