αἰώνιος G0166
Eternal, everlasting; pertaining to an age without end, especially of divine life, punishment, and covenant realities.
A weighty theological adjective applied to the most consequential realities in the New Testament: eternal life (John 3:16; Matt 19:16), eternal punishment (Matt 25:46), the eternal covenant (Heb 13:20), and the eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14). Derived from aion (age), aionios describes what belongs to or extends through the age to come — a duration beyond human measure. Translations across all major language families converge remarkably: Spanish 'eterno/eterna,' French 'éternel,' German 'ewig,' Hindi 'anant' — each capturing the sense of boundless duration.
2. forever — An adverbial or intensified sense meaning 'forever, in perpetuity,' attested only at Philemon 1:15, where Paul suggests Onesimus was separated 'for a time so that you might have him back forever (aionion).' The shift from adjective to quasi-adverb is reflected in Spanish 'eternamente' and English 'forever,' both departing from the standard adjectival rendering, suggesting a subtle pragmatic extension from quality ('eternal') to temporal extent ('for all time'). 1×
AR["أَبَديًّا"]·ben["চিরকালের-জন্য"]·DE["ewig"]·EN["forever"]·FR["éternel"]·heb["עוֹלָמִית"]·HI["सद-के-लिये"]·ID["kekal"]·IT["eterno"]·jav["langgeng"]·KO["영원히"]·PT["eternamente"]·RU["навечно"]·ES["eternamente"]·SW["milele"]·TR["sonsuza-dek"]·urd["ابدی"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. eternal — Eternal or everlasting, describing what pertains to unending duration or the age to come. Covers 70 of 71 occurrences across the full theological spectrum: eternal life (Matt 19:16, 29; John 3:16), eternal fire and punishment (Matt 18:8; 25:41, 46), eternal glory (2 Tim 2:10), and the eternal God (Rom 16:26). The striking uniformity of translations — Spanish 'eterno,' French 'éternel,' German 'ewig' — reflects a stable, unambiguous core meaning across all contexts. 70×
AR["أَبَدِيٍّ","أَبَدِيَّةً","أَبَدِيَّةٌ","أَبَدِيَّةٍ","الأَبَدِيَّةِ","الأَبَدِيِّ","الْأَبَدِيَّةِ"]·ben["অনন্ত","চিরস্থায়ী"]·DE["ewig"]·EN["eternal","of-eternal"]·FR["éternel"]·heb["נִצְחִיּוֹת","נִצְחִית","עוֹלָם","עוֹלָמִיים","עוֹלָמִים","עוֹלָמִית"]·HI["अनंत","अनन्त","अनन्त,","अनन्त;","अनन्त।","के"]·ID["kekal","kekal,","kekal.","kekal;"]·IT["eterno"]·jav["langgeng","langgeng,","langgeng.","langgeng;"]·KO["영원한","영원한-을"]·PT["de-eterno","eterna","eterna,","eterna.","eterna;","eterna?","eternas","eterno"]·RU["вечного","вечное","вечную","вечную,","вечную?","вечные","вечный"]·ES["de-eterno","eterna","eternas","eterno"]·SW["-","atarithi","wa-milele","wokovu-wa-milele","ya-milele","za-milele"]·TR["ebedi","sonsuz"]·urd["ابدی","ہمیشہ-کے"]
Matt 18:8, Matt 19:16, Matt 19:29, Matt 25:41, Matt 25:46, Matt 25:46, Mark 3:29, Mark 10:17, Mark 10:30, Mark 16:20, Luke 10:25, Luke 16:9 (+38 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
αἰώνιος, ον, also α, ον NT+5th c.BC+:— lasting for an age (αἰών 11), perpetual, eternal (but distinct from ἀΐδιος, Refs 5th c.BC+; κακά, δεινά, NT+5th c.BC+; αἰ. διαθήκη, νόμιμον, πρόσταγμα, LXX+NT+3rd c.AD+; κόλασις NT+6th c.AD+ __2 holding an office or title for life, perpetual, γυμνασίαρχοςRefs __3 = Latin saecularis, Refs 2nd c.AD+ __4 adverb -ίως eternally, νοῦς ἀκίνητος αἰ. πάντα ὤνRefs 5th c.AD+; perpetually, μισεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+ __5 αἰώνιον, τό, ={ἀείζωον τὸ μέγα}, Ps.-Refs 1st c.AD+