Mt25:46.... These will go away into eternal (aionios) punishment, but the righteous into eternal (aionios) life.
In many Bible translations of Mathew 25:46, the word aionios that appears in the verse is translated as eternal but this is a poor translation.
The Greek form of aionios used by Matthew in Mt25:46 is αἰώνιον and its not difficult to demonstrate the word αἰώνιον does not necessarily mean eternal.
For example, in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the OT quoted by Jesus himself) in Genesis 17:13 the EXACT same Greek form for aionios with EXACTLY the same spelling i.e. αἰώνιον, is used that occurs in Mathew 25:46. God himself says,
He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting (αἰώνιον) covenant.
This verse refers to the physical rite of circumcision and aionios (αἰώνιον) in this instance obviously CANNOT mean everlasting or eternal as physical circumcision is not an everlasting or eternal rite.
Again, in Exodus 27:21 (Septuagint) God says,
In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute forever (Gk.aionios / αἰώνιον) unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Obviously, this cannot mean the lamps were to be kept lit forever, eternally, for eternity. The word 'aionios' in the Greek form αἰώνιον is used here in a temporal sense not in an absolute metaphysically eternal sense.
These are just 2 instances in the Septuagint where aionios means something temporal, where the Greek form for aionios i.e. αἰώνιον is used in a temporal way, the very same exact Greek form that appears in Matthew 25:46.
There are many more instances.
To sum up, In the Septuagint there are literally dozens of occurrences of the Greek form for aionios i.e.αἰώνιον (the exact same spelling as in Matthew 25:46) where it is used in a temporal sense.
Somebody may raise the objection that it does not matter how aionios in the Greek form αἰώνιον is used in the Septuagint.
I shall try to answer that objection and prove the Septuagint is an authoritative translation because it is quoted many times not just by Matthew but by Jesus himself and most of the N.T writers.
Therefore, it is important how the Septuagint uses words.
The writer of the book of Matthew was Jewish with an intimate knowledge of the Septuagint, the Bible of Greek speaking Jews of the Hellenized world.
Matthews familiarity with the Septuagint and respect for it is proven by the fact he quotes from it many times.
In fact, In Matthew, Jesus himself quotes from the Septuagint. In Matthew 9:13 Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6
"Go and learn what this saying means: I want mercy and not sacrifice.
Jesus follows the Septuagint which says,
"Because I want mercy rather than sacrifice
The Masoretic Hebrew text on the other hand says,
"For I desire goodness, not sacrifice
Again, in Matthew 3:3, Matthew writes,
Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.
Matthew here follows the Septuagint which says,
Prepare the way of the Lord. Make the paths of our God straight.
By contrast, the Masoretic Hebrew text says,
Clear in the desert a road for the Lord. Level in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Yet again, Matthew 21:9 says,
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
This is exactly the same as the Septuagint,
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Whereas the Masoretic Hebrew text says,
"May he who enters be blessed in the name of the Lord.
The doctrine of the Virgin Birth is an important belief in Christianity and the fact that it was predicted/ prophesied in the O.T. is of paramount importance.
The Septuagint supports this prediction more fully than the Masoretic Hebrew text.
The Septuagint version of Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew both use the Greek word parthenos, which unambiguously translates as Virgin.
By contrast, the Hebrew word almah, used in the Masoretic Hebrew text, would more accurately be translated as young woman rather than virgin.
I trust I have demonstrated the authority of the Septuagint as a translation from the ancient Hebrew language to the Greek language.
Accordingly, in order to understand the meaning of the Greek word aionios, specifically in the form αἰώνιον as appears in Matthew 25:46, a verse which is one of the main lynchpins of belief in eternal punishment, one must understand how it is used in the Septuagint, and in the Septuagint αἰώνιον does not always mean eternal as the exponents of ECT say it does.
Therefore, exponents of Eternal Conscious Torment are in error in this specific instance and should not present Matt25:46 as an irrefutable proof text for eternal punishment