Age (aion) as implied by the numerous ways it is translated into English (see next paragraph) is somewhat difficult to define. The specific meaning of aion is best determined by the context in which it is used. As a generalization aion usually refers to some aspect of time past, present or future.
As discussed below it is also used with a more figurative meaning in which it refers primarily to the ethical/moral system of the world. To make matters even more confusing, in a number of the 97 NT uses of aion the meaning has both a time and an ethical connotation. The following notes summarize some of the main uses of aion but are not intended to be all-inclusive.
Aion is used 122 times (Mt. 12:32; 13:22, 39, 40, 49; 21.19" class="scriptRef">21:19; 24:3; 28:20; Mk. 3:29; 4:19; 10:30; 11.14" class="scriptRef">11:14; Lk. 1:33, 55, 70" class="scriptRef">70; 16:8; 18" class="scriptRef">18.30" class="scriptRef">18:30; 20:34f; Jn. 4:14; 6:51, 58; 8:35, 51f; 9:32; 10:28; 11:26; 12:34; 13:8; 14:16; Acts 3:21; 15:18; 25" class="scriptRef">Ro 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 12:2; 16:27; 1 Co. 1:20; 2:6, 7, 8; 3:18; 8:13; 10:11; 2 Co. 4:4; 9:9; 11:31; Gal. 1:4, 5; Ep 1:21; 2:2, 7; 3:9, 11, 21; Phil. 4:20; Col. 1:26; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:17; 2Ti 4:10, 18; Titus 2:12; He 1:2, 8; 5:6; 6:5, 20; 7:17, 21, 24, 28; 9:26; 11:3; 13:8, 21; 1Pe 1:25; 4:11; 5:11; 2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Jn. 2:17; 2 Jn. 1:2; Jude 1:13, 25; Re 1:6, 18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5) and is translated variously as: age, 20; ages, 6; ancient time, 1; beginning of time, 1; course, 1; eternal, 2; eternity, 1; ever, 2; forever, 27; forever and ever, 20; forevermore, 2; long ago, 1; never, 1; old, 1; time, 1; world, 7; worlds, 1.
If you would like more detail on aion, click one of the following links for work by the respected lexicographer, W E Vine: Age [aion]; Course [aion]; Eternal [aion]; World [aion]
Aion is also combined with Greek prepositions to produce several unique references to time and this further compounds the difficulty of presenting a single, uniform, crisp definition. Below is a list of these phrases with representative Scriptures:
apo aion (3 occurrences of this phrase) = literally "from the age" translated from of old, long ago, from ancient time: Lk 1:70; Acts 3:21, 15:18
eis ton aiona (27 occurrences of this phrase) = literally "to the ages", usually translated forever, as in Jn 6:51;(phrase is used 27x in the NT [Mt. 21:19; Mk. 3:29; 11:14; Lk 1:55; Jn. 4:14; 6:51, 58; 8:35, 51, 52; 10:28; 11:26; 12:34; 13:8; 14:16; 1Co. 8:13; 2Co 9:9; He 1:8; 5:6; 6:20; 7:17, 21, 24, 28; 1Pe 1:25; 1Jn 2:17; 2Jn 1:2] and to really confuse you, when preceded by a negative particle is translated 8x as "never", eg Mk 3:29). This phrase is used 7x to refer to Jesus as "forever", especially His priesthood.
eis tous aionas (26 occurrences of this phrase - Lk. 1:33; Rom. 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; 2 Co. 11:31; Gal. 1:5; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 1:17; 18" class="scriptRef">2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:8, 21; 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11; Rev. 1:6, 18; 4:9f; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5) = literally "to the ages", usually translated "forever": Romans 1:25 (note)
eis tous aionas ton aionon = literally "unto the ages of the ages" usually translated "forever & ever" in 1Ti 1:17, Hebrews 1:8 (note)
eis tous aionas ton aionon (20 verses - Gal. 1:5; Php 4:20; 1Ti 1:17; 18" class="scriptRef">2Ti 4:18; He 13:21; 1Pe 4:11; 5:11; Re 1:6, 18; 4:9, 10; 5:13, 14; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5) = literally "to the ages of the ages" translated "forever and ever" or "forevermore": Gal 1:5. This phrase "to the ages of the ages" occurs most often in the book of the Revelation (12x), the last use in Scripture recording the glorious truth that
"there shall no longer be any night and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them and they shall reign forever and ever ("to the ages of the ages")" (Rev 22:5)
ek tou aionos (2 occurrences of this exact form) = literally "out of/from the age" translated "since the beginning" (of time) Jn 9:32; and "out of this present evil age" Gal 1:4
pro ton aionon = literally "before the ages" translated in NIV "before time began" 1Cor 2:7;
pro ton aionon = literally "from the ages" Ephesians 3:9 (note), Col 1:26 (note)
Aion in the plural is used as a spatial concept, specifically as a synonym for the created universe as having a beginning and moving forward through long but limited time. In Hebrews we see the following examples of aion with this use:
"in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (aion)" (see note Hebrews 1:2)
"By faith we understand that the worlds (aion) were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." (see note Hebrews 11:3).
Here are a few examples of the ways aion is used in the NT in an attempt to give you a sense of how you have to use the context to interpret the intended meaning:
Mt 12:32 "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age (aion) or in [the age] to come."
Eph 1:21-note "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age (aion), but also in the one to come."
In both of these preceding passages aion refers primarily to the time period we are living in now and which precedes the time period or age to come which is often referred to as the Messianic age during which Christ will reign for 1000 years. See the next verse for who is ruling this current age or time period.
2 Corinthians 4:4
"in whose case the god of this world (aion) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
In a clear reference to Satan, Paul explains that the time period we are living in now (which precedes the Messianic age to come as discussed above) is ruled by Satan. In this case although Paul is referring primarily to a time period, the context indicates that it is a time period with a definite anti-God ethic or moral atmosphere. So in this use you can get a sense of how the time and ethical meanings of aion can overlap in a single verse.
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world (aion), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (note)
In this use there is clearly an ethical sense intended. Don't be poured into the mold of this world and the way it thinks and acts which is predominantly anti-God.
Figuratively "aion" refers to the popular culture and manner of thinking that is in rebellion against God and which will try to conform us to its ungodly pattern. As discussed more below, this figurative ethical/moral meaning of aion is closely related but still subtlety different from kosmos which like aion is also occasionally translated "world" (albeit much less often than is kosmos). Remember that there are 3 closely related words which the NT translates "world" -- aion, kósmos and oikouméne (the inhabited earth). Click to study Vine's overview of kosmos, aion and oikouméne.
Bengel defines aion as
the subtle, informing spirit of the kosmos or world of men who are living alienated and apart from God.
Trench adds that kósmos is the
"world contemplated under aspects of space"; aion is the world "contemplated under aspects of time."
Both aion and kosmos are used in the following verse, where Paul is reminding the Ephesians who they were before Christ became their life, writing that they had
formerly walked according to the course ("ways", NIV) (aion) of this world (kosmos), according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (see note Ephesians 2:2)
Here both aion and kosmos are used together to convey the sense of "the spirit of this age" in which we live. It describes a lifestyle in which people follow the ways of the world. It is dominated by the humanistic philosophy that seeks to eliminate God from every aspect of life. This is the same meaning that Paul intends to convey in using aion in Titus 2:12 in the phrase "in this present age". It's not just the time we live in but also the ethical/moral atmosphere which surrounds us and which we "inhale". John also uses both aion and kosmos in his encouraging reminder to believers that this
world (kosmos) is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever (eis ton aiona - to the age). (1Jn 2:17)
Trench goes on to explain that aion
"has a primary and physical, and then, super induced on this, a secondary and ethical, sense. In its primary, it signifies time, short or long, in its unbroken duration...but essentially time as the condition under which all created things exist, and the measure of their existence." He goes on to comment that aion "thus signifying time, ... comes presently to signify all which exists in the world under conditions of time...and then, more ethically, the course and current of this world’s affairs."
Trench adds that
We speak of ‘the times,’ attaching to the word an ethical signification; or, still more to the point, ‘the age,’ ‘the spirit or genius of the age,’ ‘der Zeitgeist.’ (the spirit of the age) All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world (Ed note: sadly American television is an all too accurate barometer of this godless "spirit"), which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitute a most real and effective power, being the moral, or immoral, atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale,—all this is included in the aion. (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament.)
Vine says that aion
signifies a period of indefinite duration, or time viewed in relation to what takes place in the period. The force attaching to the word is not so much that of the actual length of a period, but that of a period marked by spiritual or moral characteristics. (Vine, W E: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. 1996. Nelson)
Hodge adds an interesting comment writing that
The origin of this word (aion), as it is used in the New Testament, is found in an expression frequently used by the Jews, who were accustomed to distinguishing between the times before the Messiah and the times under the Messiah by calling the former period this world or “this age” and the latter “the world (or age) to come.
This "now age" or "present age" indeed does imply that there is a "next" age referring to the Messianic, millennial Kingdom with Christ reigning on earth, which is followed by the
new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (see note 2 Peter 3:13).
Vincent explains that aion refers in essence to
time, as the condition under which all created things exist, and the measure of their existence: a period of existence; a lifetime; a generation; hence, a long space of time; an age, era, epoch, period of a dispensation. On this primary, physical sense there arises a secondary sense, viz., all that exists in the world under the conditions of time. From this again develops a more distinctly ethical sense, the course and current of this world’s affairs... and this course as corrupted by sin; hence the evil world.
It is this latter sense that Paul intends here in Titus 2:12.
Kenneth Wuest adds that
this present age...is not content to perish in its own corruption, but seeks to drag all men with it down to its own inevitable destruction. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)
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Titus 2:12 Barnyard Ducks - Does the following anonymous poem describe how you feel?
My soul is like a barnyard duck
Muddling in the barnyard muck,
Fat and lazy with useless wings;
But sometimes, when the northwind sings
And wild ducks fly overhead,
It ponders something lost and dead,
Then cocks a wary, bewildered eye
And makes a feeble attempt to fly.
It's quite content with the state it's in,
But it's not the duck it might have been.
Are you haunted by the fear that you'll never be what God meant you to be? That you're preoccupied with the trinkets of this passing world? Are you "living in the barnyard" when you could be soaring?
Do you really want to fly? Do you long to soar above the pettiness and insignificance of the barnyard muck?
You can! Put aside the sin and worldly weights that are holding you down (Heb. 12:1) and get busy with the tasks the Lord has for you. Only in Christ do we find the fulfillment He longs for each of us to enjoy.
Remember that Jesus came to set you free and let you soar as you look for His coming (Titus 2:11-13). Isn't it time you got out of the mud and did some flying? -- Haddon W. Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
In this world but never of it,
Help me, Lord, to live this day
Free from all that would entangle,
Of the dazzle and array. -- Graves
If your Christian life is a drag,
worldly weights are probably to blame.
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Greek Word Studies ( - )
Read freely Greek Word Studies from the Austin Precept text commentary of the Bible in text and pdf format. Precept Austin is an online free dynamic bible commentary similar to wikipedia with updated content and many links to excellent biblical resources around the world. You can browse the entire collection of Commentaries by Verse on the Precept Austin website.We have been "bought with a price" to be "ambassadors for Christ" and our "salvation is nearer to us than when we believed" so let us "cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" "so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." (1Cor 6:20, 2Cor 5:20, Ro 13:11, 2Cor 7:1, 1Jn 2:28)