[B-Greek] AIWN in the plural
Chesster67 at aol.com
Chesster67 at aol.com
Mon Nov 15 23:55:53 EST 2004
Carl Conrad wrote: <<<<Luke (1:33 has KAI BASILEUSE EPI TON OIKON IAKWB EIS TOUS AIWNAS KAI THS BAASILEIAS AUTOU OUK ESTAI TELOS. I take it that the phrase here means "recurrent chronological cycles--years, ages, 'great years' ...>>>
That would make perfect sense, but is this to necessarily imply an endless perpetuality? Perhaps the use of the plural here indicates that Christ's reign will last until the consummation of the ages when He hands over the Kingdom to the Father (1 Cor. 15:23).
<<<Then a favorite of Paul, in addition to that EIS TOUS AIWNAS, is EIS TOUS AIWNAS TWN AIWNWN (Gal 1:5, Phil 4:20, 1 Tim 1:17, 2 Tim 4:18). I was told once that the use of the genitive of a noun attached to the same noun was a
way of superlativizing the noun: BASILEUS TWN BASILEWN = "king without par," NOHSIS NOHSEWS = pure intellection.>>>
This makes perfect sense to me, if I am indeed understanding you correctly, as this way of understanding the Koine grammar would be akin to the proper understanding of HAGIA HAGION in Hebrews 9:3. That is, "the age of the ages" would be a reference to the crowning age of all ages, just as "the holy of the holies" would refer to the innermost and Holiest chamber of all. It would strike me as most sensible, then, to understand "the ages of the ages" to refer to the final ages, superior to the ones which were precedent, and to understand "the holies of the holies" to refer to the innermost and most sacred of the chambers. What do you think?
Thanks for the response.
-Gabe Chesster
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