The Hebrew word olam [עוֹלָם] and the Greek word eón [αἰών] both mean “age” or “eon.” For evidence of this refer to Young’s Analytical Concordance, or any similar concordance. Incidentally, Robert Young in his “Literal Translation of the Bible” always translates these words by “age” and never once as “ever,” “everlasting,” or “eternal.” The Hebrew “olam” comes from a root meaning “hidden.” The word therefore means a period of time, but a period of unknown or hidden length. The word was often used to mean a man’s lifetime because it was an unknown period. The adjective eónios [αἰώνιος] is often translated “age-lasting” or “age-during,” but would be more properly translated “pertaining to the ages,” that is, something that occurs within the ages, but not necessarily lasting even throughout one entire age.
We have already spoken of “for ever” in connection with Jonah in the belly of the fish; of a Hebrew slave serving his master “for ever”; and of the Lord accepting Solomon’s temple, “to put My name there for ever.” Another illustration is the Aaronic priesthood. According to the King James version, Aaron and his sons were anointed as priests “forever,” It says, “Their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations” (Exod. 40:15). Yet we read in Hebrews 7:11,12 that the Aaronic priesthood is changed to that of Melchizedek. There would be no contradiction if the statement in Exodus were translated, as it should be, “to the age, throughout their generations.” That is, throughout their generations as long as that age lasted. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures which Jesus and His disciples used, the Greek word eón was the word used for the Hebrew word olam. According to Hebrew and Greek usage, therefore, these words mean a period of time, a period of unspecified length, the duration of which is determined by the fact or condition or person to which the term is applied.
To show how confusing the whole matter is in the King James Version New Testament, let us look at the word eón a bit more in detail. In the Greek text from which this version was prepared, the noun form is used 128 times, while the adjective form eónios is used 71 times. In the King James Version eón is translated “age” only twice. Thirty-eight times it is translated “world.” In the Scofield Bible we find 35 marginal corrections for the noun and three for the adjective, leaving about 160 passages where the translation is misleading and no corrections are made.
But there is still more confusion, as a little study of the Ephesian letter will show. The word eón is used six times in the first three chapters as follows: In 1:21 we read “not only in this world” where it should read “age”; in 2:2 we read, “according to the course of this world”; it should be “according to the eon of this world” —not the eon before the flood nor the eon of the millennium, but the eon of this world (kosmos); in 2:7 it is translated as it should be, “in the ages to come.” In 3:9 we read “which from the beginning of the world,” where it should read, “from the ages.” In 3:11, we find, “according to the eternal purpose,” where it should read, “the purpose of the ages,” while in 3:21 we discover “world without end” for the phrase, “to the age of the ages.” To add to the confusion, the word genea, which means “generation(s),” is translated “age” twice in the third chapter: in 3:5 “which in other ages,” and in 3:21 “throughout all ages.” Is there any wonder that people do not know what the Bible teaches about the “ages”?
In various places, the American Standard comes nearer to giving us the accurate understanding of the noun, but never once correctly translates the adjective, either in the text or in the margin. Both the English and the American Revised Versions correctly have, “to the consummation of the age” in the margin, yet leave the wrong translation, “end of the world,” in the text. Neither version translates Ephesians 3:21 accurately, “to the age of the ages.”
We have no difficulty in understanding “King of kings” or “Lord of lords.” Everybody knows that they mean the greatest King of all kings, and the highest Lord of all lords. It ought to be equally clear that “the age of the ages,” means the greatest age of all ages, the great consummation of the ages when God brings to completion what He has been busily engaged in during all other ages. Of course, if you grew up in the age of Darwinism and evolution, as this writer did, it may be as hard for you as it was for him to accept the Biblical teaching of God’s ages; nevertheless, many things in your Bible will continue to be confusing, and apparently contradictory, until you see this truth of the Scriptures.
God was before the ages. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7). The accurate translation is “foreordained before the ages.” “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9). But again, the accurate translation is, “before eonian times.” “In the hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2), should read: “before eonian times.” God was before the ages.
But God made the eons or ages through Christ. “God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us in His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds [ages]” (Heb.1:1,2). “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God” (Heb. 11:3). But it should read, “the ages were planned [or, “attuned”] by the Word of God.” God made the eons through Christ.
Christ reigns for the eons. “And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). This should read, “He shall reign over the house of Jacob for the eons”; indeed, the time will come when Christ will no longer reign over this kingdom. “Then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father” (1 Cor. 15:24). But the kingdom will continue under the Father’s rule, and it will have no end.
The ages will end. A literal translation of Heb. 9:26 is, “But now once, (or once for all) in order to a conclusion of the eons (or with a view to, or, unto an end of, the ages) hath He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Alexander Thomson’s translation).
There are so many Biblical statements that become clear when one grasps the truth of the ages. “Many are called, but few are chosen,” applies to the kingdom age and calling. There seems to be a conflict between the statement in Joel 3:10, “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears,” and the statements in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 where the swords are to be beaten into plowshares, and the spears into pruninghooks. But when one sees that the first statement applies to one age, and the other statements apply to another age, there is no conflict. When Jesus was talking about the so-called “unpardonable sin,” He said, “But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” The Scofield Bible translates “age” in the margin instead of “world,” just as the American Standard does, and that makes sense. He will not be forgiven in this age, nor in the millennium; he will carry his sin still unforgiven into the coming age. Many other statements flash clear when one sees the truth of the ages.
Throughout the eons there is sin and evil, condemnation and death. (Rom. 2:1-16; Rom. 5:12; Heb. 6:2; Rev. 20:11-15, and others). At the end of the eons, death is to be destroyed, and all will be justified (Rom. 5:18,19, Weymouth). All will be reconciled through Christ’s blood (Col. 1:20), all will be subject to God, and God will be All in all (1 Cor. 15:25-28). Only as one sees the plan of the Ages does he see the beauty of God’s Program for the redemption of the race.
But the question naturally arises, “How many ages are there?” Different Bible students might vary widely in their opinion here, and the present writer would be the last to claim infallibility. The Scriptures speak often of this present age. Again they speak of ages past, and ages to come.
There must have been an age, or ages, before the creation of man when the order of angels was created (Job 38:3-7). According to the Bible, Satan was a created being waiting on the doorstep of the world to lead men astray when man was first placed on this earth. We read in Genesis 2:15 that Adam was placed in the garden to dress it and keep it (i.e., to till it and guard it). Thus there was already a threatened danger which must have been in existence before Adam’s creation. When Adam failed to keep (guard) the garden the cherubim were set with flaming sword “to keep [i.e., “guard,” the same Hebrew word as in Gen. 2:15] the way of the tree of life.” When Adam was thrust out of the garden, the entire human family sank lower and lower into sin until God destroyed all but Noah and his family in the Flood, and then ushered in a new age. So there must have been two or more ages before this present evil one (Gal. 1:4). Similarly, in Ephesians 2:7 we read, “That in the ages to come…”; here, through the usage of the Greek eón in the plural, we learn that there shall be, at least, two ages after this one. Similarly, Revelation 20:10 speaks of “the ages of the ages” after the millenium. It will pay you to give this careful study. When you perceive the truth concerning the ages your Bible will become a new and more wonderful Book than you knew you had.