[B-Greek] More on AIONIOS

Chesster67 at aol.com Chesster67 at aol.com
Thu Oct 28 00:16:02 EDT 2004


<<<Gabe, when I say the strict sense of "eternal" I mean absolutely never ending and/or without beginning.
In certain contexts AIWNIOS can imply this sense when understood together with other words in the context, but the basic meaning is as L&N says "pertaining to an unlimited duration of time.">>>

Hi Iver, and thanks for the further response.

Perhaps you are right about the basic meaning of AIWNIOS, yet I wonder what you would say to the following suggestion:  As the basic meaning of AIWN is "an indefinite period of time" (if that is indeed true), so the basis meaning of AIWNIOS is "pertaining to an indefinite period of time."  Or is this the root-fallacy?  Also, I cannot make sense of the notion of a duration of time which has a beginning yet has no end. A beginning is a limit, and so unlimited time must be without beginning or end - the strict sense of eternity that you mention.  But just to be sure, is this notion (like the geometric ray) that which is being conveyed by "pertaining to an unlimited duration of time"? 

Now, as a beginning student of Koine, and of languages in general, I am utterly perplexed by the science of determining basic meaning of words.  Let me just ask, if it could be shown that the predominant historical usage of AIWN denotes a period of time, would we then have reasonable grounds to conclude that the basic meaning of AIWNIOS likewise pertains to a period of time?  


<<<Let me try to explain by example. If a man on his wedding day says to his bride: "I will love you with an eternal love" this implies that somehow he will love her even beyond death. But if he says "I will love you for ever", he just means that he cannot imagine an end to his love, but obviously it
will not go beyond death. It is this last sense that is closest to the Hebrew olam and Greek AIWNIOS. It is unlimited without a specified end, but it does not have to be "eternal" in the English sense of that word.>>>

Most interesting.  But I'm having trouble applying this suggested meaning to such phrases as AIWNIOS ZWH.  

Is there a qualitative aspect of the words "for ever" in the sentence above?

<<I don't think so, but I can see that this can be subjective. My preference is to say that the qualitative aspect is from the word "love" rather than "for ever". What if he had said "I will hate you for ever"?>> I certainly see the sense in what you are saying.

Thanks again.

Gabe Chesster



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