CHAPTER 17
TRANSLATIONS OF OWLAM, AION and AIONIOS
Important Time-Related Hebrew and Greek Words
Most Christians believe in hell because they read verses in their Bibles that support the concept of everlasting punishment in a place called hell.
Does the Bible really teach everlasting punishment in hell for unbelievers? Has God truly condemned the overwhelming majority of humanity, those who die as unbelievers, to this hell? If Universal Reconciliation is the truth of the Bible, and it absolutely is, then one should not find a single statement in the whole of the Bible where it says that God will punish unbelievers forever. Yes, God does chastise unrepentant unbelievers, but not forever, because ultimately, in God’s time and His order extending beyond this age, all unbelievers will be humbled in repentance and come to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Nowhere in the original Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts of the Bible does it say that God will punish unbelievers, or even Satan and his fallen angels, forever.
The doctrine of everlasting punishment in hell is founded upon a combination of mistranslations and misinterpretations of the following Hebrew and Greek words, which first occurred when Jerome translated Scripture into the Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate in the fifth century.
- Mistranslations of the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek words hades, tartarus and gehenna, to mean hell.
- Mistranslations of the time-related Hebrew word owlam and the time-related Greek words aion and aionios, to mean everlasting when relating to God’s future punishment of unbelievers.
In Chapter 16, we discussed in detail the words sheol, hades, tartarus and gehenna, which have been mistranslated to mean hell. In this chapter, we will show you from Scripture that the words owlam, aion and aionios have also been mistranslated, in most popular versions of the Bible to mean 'everlasting' when relating to God's future punishment of unbelievers, in support of the doctrine of hell.
Let us first begin our study by considering the translation of aion. We shall consider both the correct and the incorrect translations of aion.
The Greek Word Aion
In the original Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament, the Greek word aion occurs 128 times. Aion (eon in English) is a time-related word. It is translated in the Bible in the following two ways:
1. A long period of time that begins and ends, meaning age or ages.
2. A continuous never-ending period of time, meaning forever, everlasting or eternal.
Its context in Scripture dictates whether aion should be translated to mean an age/ages or forever/everlasting/eternal.
Some Universalists do not accept that aion can ever be translated to mean forever, everlasting or eternal. We believe that this stance has not helped the cause of Biblical Universalism because there are many instances in the Bible where aion can only mean forever. The context in the Bible always dictates whether aion means age/ages or forever.
Let us first give you some examples from the Bible where the context dictates that aion means an age or ages, and not forever.
Matthew 24:3
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when these things will be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age (aion)?”
The expression ‘the end of the age’ is used several times in the Bible, which clearly shows that aion in certain contexts means an age, a time-period, which begins and ends. The KJV has preferred to translate aion in the majority of cases to mean ‘world’ where the Bible means age or ages. ‘World’ is a bad translation of aion because the Greek word for ‘world’ is kosmos and not aion. Also, when Christ returns, it will mark the end of the age, and not the end of the world (kosmos).
Ephesians 1:21
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age (aion) but also in that which is to come.
Notice that this present aion (age) will be followed by the next aion (age) which is to come.
Ephesians 3:5
which in other ages (aion) was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.
We can see from the context in the verses above that aion is an age (or ages) that begin and end. It is clear that the Greek word aion means an age (or ages) in the scriptures above, and it is not a continuous time-period that goes on forever.
Let us now give you examples from the Bible to show you that it is legitimate to translate aion to mean forever, everlasting or eternal, depending on the context.
1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal (aion), immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever (aion) and ever (aion). Amen
1 Peter 5:11
To Him be the glory and the dominion forever (aion) and ever (aion). Amen.
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever (aion) and ever (aion)!"
The NKJV translators have translated aion in these verses to mean eternal or forever. Most Bible versions translate aion in these verses in a similar way, as the translators feel justified in translating aion to mean eternal, everlasting or forever when describing the eternal attributes of God. Remember that it is always the context in Scripture that dictates whether aion means an age/ages or forever/everlasting/eternal.
Can aion ever be translated to mean ‘everlasting’ when relating to God's future punishment of unbelievers? Absolutely not, and you don’t have to be an expert in the Greek language to be one hundred percent sure of this. Aion can never mean forever, everlasting or eternal when describing God’s judgement of unbelievers or fallen angels. Why not? Because, such translations contradict the Word of God, which says that God is the Saviour of the world, and the Saviour of all men. Such mistranslations contradict many scriptures including those quoted in Chapter 3, Universal Reconciliation Scriptures – The Riches of Christ.
Most popular versions of the Bible like the KJV, NKJV, NIV, NAS and RSV translate aion to mean an age or ages approximately 30% of the time, and to mean forever, everlasting or eternal approximately 70% of the time. However, sadly and shockingly these versions mistranslate aion to mean 'everlasting' when relating God's future judgement of unbelievers. They do this in support of the doctrine of hell, thus bringing contradictions into the Word of God. We now give you examples of such mistranslations.
Mistranslations of Aion
2 Peter 2:17
These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever (aion).
In this verse, Peter is talking about the depravity of false teachers, the ‘wells without water’, who have forsaken the right way. The NKJV translation of aion in this scripture to mean forever is a serious mistranslation, which supports the false doctrine of everlasting punishment in hell, thus contradicting and negating the truth of the Bible that God is the Saviour of all men. Remember, any translation of the Word of God that leads to a contradiction arising with other Scripture is a mistranslation. A correct translation of 2 Peter 2:17 above is given in Young’s Literal Translation below.
2 Peter 2:17 (YLT)
These are wells without water, and clouds by a tempest driven, to whom the thick gloom of the darkness to the age (aion) hath been kept.
The meaning of this verse is that all of these unbelieving false teachers, the ‘wells without water’, who walk in spiritual darkness will be kept under the thick gloom of the darkness until they repent through God's judgement in the Lake of Fire. This is when ‘the thick gloom of darkness’ will be kept over them no longer, as fully discussed in Chapter 12, The Lake of Fire Judgement Age - Part 1.
Revelation 19:2-3
2 "For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her." 3 Again they said, "Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever (aion) and ever (aion)!"
In this scripture, as translated in the NKJV above and most other popular Bible versions, ‘Her smoke rises up forever and ever’ is a mistranslation of aion. The correct translation is ‘Her smoke rises up for an age of the ages’. The 'age of the ages' refers to Lake of Fire judgement Age when these unbelievers, who have been deceived by a false religious system (the great harlot) will be judged by God's Spiritual Refining Fire so that they come to repentance, as expalined in Chapter 12.
Revelation 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented (basanizo) day and night forever (aion) and ever (aion).
In this NKJV verse, both of the Greek words aion and basanizo have been mistranslated to mean ‘And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever’.
The correct translation of this verse is, ‘And they will be refined and purified day and night for an age of the ages’. We give a detailed comment on this verse in Chapter 13, The Lake of Fire Judgement Age - Part 2.
It is a sad and shocking fact that the translators of many popular Bible versions, especially the KJV, have been influenced by the Roman Catholic doctrine of hell as preached in the Latin Vulgate. Therefore, these translators have followed Jerome’s mistakes in the Latin Vulgate by also translating aion, when relating to the punishment of unbelievers after they die, to mean ‘everlasting’ punishment instead of the correct translation of ‘age-to-come’ punishment. Hence, they have brought contradictions into the Word of God, negating the most glorious truth of the Bible that God is indeed the Saviour of the world.
Let us now consider the translation of the Greek word aionios, which has been similarly mistranslated in support of the false doctrine of hell.
The Greek word Aionios
The Greek word aionios occurs 71 times in the New Testament. Aionios is the adjective of the noun aion, thus, aionios is also a time-related word. As in the case of aion, the Bible uses aionios in two ways to mean:
1. A long period of time that begins and ends, meaning age-lasting.
2. A continuous never-ending period of time, meaning everlasting or eternal.
Its context in Scripture dictates whether aionios refers to an age-lasting period of time or everlasting/eternal endless time. However, most popular versions of the Bible like the KJV, NKJV, NIV and NAS have translated aionios to always mean everlasting/eternal endless of time. Let us give some specific examples of this.
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal (aionios), life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time (aion) began.
Luke 18:29-30
29 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, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age (aion) to come eternal (aionios) life."
In these NKJV scriptures, please note that aionios life has been translated as eternal life. The phrase aionios life occurs as many as fifty times in the Greek Manuscripts of the Bible, so, it is very important to understand exactly what the Bible means by aionios life.
When the Bible speaks of aionios life, it is referring to the age-to-come immortal resurrected life in Christ, which believers will receive at the beginning of the next age when they rise in the First Resurrection in their new incorruptible immortal saved bodies, at Jesus’ return to this earth.
Please read Luke 18:28-29 above once again, as it confirms that all true believers will receive ‘eternal life’ in the coming age. Of course, the age-to-come resurrected immortal life for believers will be eternal and everlasting. Therefore, the translation of aionios life to mean eternal or everlasting life is a legitimate, acceptable and correct translation of aionios in its context, in these verses.
True believers have ‘aionios life’ by faith now but not yet in actuality. All believers will receive the gift of resurrected immortal age-to-come life in actuality at their resurrection, in the First Resurrection. This is confirmed by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:42, 50-54.
Mistranslations of Aionios
As in the case of aion, the problem with the translation of aionios is that it is mistranslated to mean ‘everlasting’ punishment, when associated with God’s future punishment of unbelievers, to justify a belief in hell. A key example of such mistranslation is in Matthew 25:46.
Matthew 25:46
And these will go away into everlasting (aionios) punishment, but the righteous into eternal (aionios) life.
This verse is used as a very important ‘proof text’ by theologians to support the doctrine of eternal punishment in hell. Augustine, who championed the doctrine of hell, depended heavily on this single verse to argue the case for endless punishment of unbelievers in hell.
Augustine argued that Jesus used the same word aionios to describe both the future punishment of unbelievers and the future life of the righteous. He incorrectly reasoned that since the future life of the righteous will be everlasting, then it necessarily follows that the future punishment of unbelievers will also be everlasting.
The problem Augustine had was that he believed the pagan doctrine of hell to be true, and he chose to ignore or disbelieve numerous Universal Reconciliation Scriptures in the Word of God. Augustine, uneducated in Greek, did not understand that the Greek words aion and its adjective aionios are time-related words, which can be translated in one two ways depending on the context in Scripture, as explained earlier. He did not understand that it was legitimate to translate aionios to mean 'age-to-come' when relating it to God's future punishment of unbelievers.
Let us now examine this same verse, Matthew 25:46, as given in Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible.
Matthew 25:46 (YLT)
And these shall go away to punishment age-during (aionios), but the righteous to life age-during (aionios).
Notice that the literal translation of the original Greek word aionios in its context here in Young’s Literal Translation is age-related. A better translation of aionios is age-to-come rather than age-during.
Matthew 25:46
And these will go away into an age-to-come (aionios) punishment, but the righteous into an age-to-come (aionios) life.
This is the most frequently quoted verse used in defence of the doctrine of hell, but we can see that the true meaning of it is quite the opposite of what the doctrine of hell teaches. At the First Resurrection, when the Millennial Age begins, believers will receive their age-to-come life in Christ, the fullness of their salvation, which will indeed last forever. At the Second Resurrection when the Lake of Fire Judgement Age begins, unbelievers will receive their age-to-come punishment, which will be corrective and not last forever as fully covered in Chapter 12, The Lake of Fire Judgement Age- Part 1.
If Jerome and Augustine had believed the truth of the Gospel that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world like early Greek Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, then Christianity might have been spared the horrendous and unbiblical teaching of the doctrine of eternal torture in hell.
Let us consider another example of a mistranslation of aionios.
Apostle Paul was a firm believer in Universal Reconciliation, and he makes many clear universalist statements throughout his writings. However, there is one of his statements in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that has been mistranslated to mean ‘everlasting’ destruction, so let us consider this verse in detail.
2 Thessalonians 1:9
These shall be punished with everlasting (aionios) destruction (olethros) from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
In this verse, taken from the NKJV, aionios destruction is incorrectly translated to mean everlasting destruction. An accurate translation is an age-to-come destruction. However, please also note that the Greek word olethros, which is translated ‘destruction’, does not mean annihilation.
Olethros comes from the root word ollumi, which is linked to the Greek word apollymi, the very same word used by Jesus in the beautiful story of the prodigal son, who was lost (apollymi) and found, as we explain in detail in the next chapter, Chapter 18. Therefore, in the verse above, destruction does not mean annihilation or eternal separation of unbelievers from the presence of the Lord. Yes, all unbelievers will suffer an age-to-come ‘destruction’ in the Lake of Fire, but this is referring to the destruction of their Adamic ‘old man’, which is the Second Death, as explained in Chapter 12. All unbelievers will die the Second Death in the Lake of Fire to be born again with New Life in Christ to enter the Kingdom of God.
It is because of the mistranslation of the Greek words aion and aionios that we end up with the unbiblical false teachings of:
Everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46)
Eternal judgement (Hebrews 6:2)
Eternal damnation (Mark 3:29)
Everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41)
Everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
All such unbiblical teachings are very serious mistranslations and should be correctly translated as age-to-come punishment, age-to-come judgement, age-to-come damnation, age-to-come fire etc. These all refer to God’s corrective and refining judgement of unbelievers in the Lake of Fire on the Great White Throne Judgement Day.
What about the Old Testament? Does the Bible teach ‘everlasting’ punishment in the Old Testament? Absolutely not, once we understand that the Hebrew word owlam is also mistranslated to mean ‘everlasting’ when relating to God's future judgement of unbelievers.
The Hebrew word Owlam
There are 439 occurrences of owlam in the original Hebrew Manuscripts of the Old Testament, and it is the exact equivalent of the time-related Greek words aion and aionios. Like aion and aionios, owlam is also translated in the Bible in two ways to mean:
1. A long period of time that begins and ends, meaning age-lasting.
2. A continuous never-ending period of time, meaning forever, everlasting or eternal.
Its context in Scripture dictates whether owlam means an age-lasting period of time or forever, everlasting or eternal. In the majority of the cases, owlam means forever, everlasting or eternal as shown in the examples given below.
Psalm 41:13
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting (owlam) to everlasting (owlam)! Amen and Amen.
Psalm 118:29
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever (owlam).
Mistranslations of Owlam
Just as in the case of the Greek words aion and aionios, a major problem arises when owlam is mistranslated to mean ‘everlasting’ when relating to God's future judgement of unbelievers. Let us now consider a few examples of such mistranslations.
Jeremiah 17:4
And you, even yourself, Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you; And I will cause you to serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever (owlam).
In this NKJV verse, the translation of owlam to mean that God’s anger against Israel will burn ‘forever’ is incorrect. It is a mistranslation, unless forever is interpreted as ‘a figure of speech’ to mean that God’s anger will burn for a long time. Now, let us allow the Bible itself to show us that God’s anger does not burn forever.
Psalm 103:9
He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever (owlam).
This verse clearly states that God’s anger will not last forever, which is the opposite of what Jeremiah 17:4 above it says. As we know that the Bible does not and cannot contradict itself, then these statements cannot both be true at the same time. The only way to reconcile both statements is to translate owlam to give its correct meaning of a long time or age in the context dictated by the scripture Jeremiah 17:4. So, a correct translation of this verse is:
Jeremiah 17:4
And you, even yourself, Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you; And I will cause you to serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn for a long time (owlam).
God’s anger against Israel, because of its rebellion, will last for a long time. However, it will not last forever, because God has promised to remember the sins of Israel no more through the New Covenant of Grace. God will make Israel a great nation of blessing and save all Israel, as we explain in Chapters 6, 7 and 11.
Let us give one more example of a mistranslation of owlam.
Daniel 12:2
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting (owlam) life, Some to shame and everlasting (owlam) contempt.
The first translation of owlam as ‘everlasting’ life is acceptable because we know that the age-to-come life, which believers will receive at Jesus’ return is indeed everlasting. The second translation of owlam as ‘everlasting’ contempt is a mistranslation because it creates a contradiction in the Word of God. It contradicts God’s Plan of the Ages for Universal Reconciliation. A correct translation of this verse is:
Daniel 12:2
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to age-to-come (owlam) life, some to shame and age-to-come (owlam) contempt.
Both Young’s Literal Translation and Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible translate this verse in a similar manner. Let us understand the proper meaning of this verse. This verse is similar to Matthew 24:46 already discussed in this chapter.
The age-to-come life is the resurrected immortal life in Christ that all believers will receive in the First Resurrection at the beginning of the next age, the Millennial Age, which starts at the return of Jesus Christ. The age-to-come contempt refers to God’s Lake of Fire Judgement Age, when all unbelievers will be judged after they rise at the Second Resurrection in their immortal, yet still unsaved bodies.
Conclusion
Besides aion, aionios and owlam, there are other time-related words in the Bible, which are the Greek word aidios and the Hebrew words ad and netsach. On a few occasions, these words are also mistranslated in many popular versions of the Bible to mean ‘everlasting’ when relating to God's future judgement of unbelievers, in support of the false doctrine of hell.
Translators of the Bible have a clear choice to make when translating any of the above-mentioned time-related words when related to God’s future judgement of unbelievers and fallen angels. This choice is whether to translate these words to mean ‘everlasting’ in support of the pagan unbiblical doctrine of hell, thus bringing contradictions into the Word of God, or to translate them to mean ‘age-to-come’ in support of God’s future corrective age-lasting judgement of unbelievers and fallen angels, which is in line with the Word of God.
We are saying loud and clear, by the authority of the Bible, that any translation of these words to mean ‘everlasting’ when relating to God's future judgement of unbelievers and fallen angels is a mistranslation. Such mistranslations contradict the Word of God and negate the Gospel of Jesus Christ that He is indeed the Saviour of the world.
Praise God that our God of the Bible is the Great Saviour of all men and He is definitely not a great torturer of most of humanity in hell, as sadly and shockingly portrayed by traditional Christianity.
We now need to repudiate the claim from hell-believing Christians that most of the biblical teachings about hell come from the lips of Jesus Christ Himself. We give a detailed answer in the next chapter.
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