[B-Greek] AIWNIOS: It semantic range in New Testament Usage

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Fri Aug 26 17:51:46 EDT 2005


On Aug 26, 2005, at 5:34 PM, gabe coia wrote:

> B-Greekers,
>
> William Barclay, in his New Testament Words, writes:  
> "...aionios...is the word of the eternal order as contrasted with  
> the order of this world; it is the word of deity as contrasted with  
> humanity; essentially it is the word which can be properly applied  
> to no one other than God."
>
> Is the meaning suggested by Barclay actually part of the semantic  
> range of AIONIOS as it is used in the New Testament? I have  
> reviewed the TDNT, BDAG, TGL and the FGL and haven't found any  
> vindication for Barclay's claim.  Is the word ever used to  
> predicate divinity?

I would hope that we could keep the discussion focused strictly on  
the question raised in the subject-header rather than upon the  
validity of Barclay's statement.

I will note that in my quick survey of GNT usage of the adjective  
AIWNIOS i found one instance of its being used adjectivally with a  
form of QEOS; more than anything else it is used with ZWH, and not  
just by the author of GJn; it is also used with hAMARTHMA (sin),  
KOLASIS (punishment), and I think I saw it once with PNEUMATOS in a  
genitive formation.

My understanding of the entries in BDAG indicate that while AIWNIOS  
is quite commonly used as "pertaining to a period of time without  
beginnng or end," or "pertaining to a period of unending duration,  
without end," it is also used as "pertaining to a long period of  
time, long ago."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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