αἰών, -ῶνος, ὁ, (as if αἰὲν — poetic for ἀεί — ὤν, so teaches Aristotle, de caelo 1, 11, 9, vol. i., p. 279^a, 27; [so Proclus book iv. in Plato, Timaeo, p. 241; and others]; but more probable is the conjecture [cf. Etym. Magn. 41, 11] that αἰών is so connected with ἄημι to breathe, blow, as to denote properly that which causes life, vital force; cf. Harless on Ephesians 2:2). [But αἰών (＝αἰϝών) is now generally connected with αἰεί, ἀεί, Sanskrit êvas (aivas), Latin aevum, Gothic aivs, German ewig, English aye, ever; cf. Curtius, § 585; Fick, Part i., p. 27; Vanicek, p. 79; Benfey, Wurzellex, i., p. 7f; Schleicher, Compend. edition 2, p. 400; Pott, Etymologicum Forsch., edition 2, 2:2, p. 442; Ebeling, Lex. Homer under the word; Liddell and Scott, under the word ἀεί; Cremer, edd, 2, 3, 4 (although in edition 1 he agreed with Prof. Grimm); Pott and Fick, however, connect it with Sanskrit âyus rather than êvas, although both these forms are derived from i to go (see Pott, Sehleicher, Fick, Vanicek, as above).]
In Greek authors:
1. age (Latin aevum, which is αἰών with the Aeolic digamma), a human lifetime (in Homer, Herodotus, Pindar, Tragic poets), life itself (Homer Iliad 5, 685 μὲ καὶ λίποι αἰών etc.).
2. an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity, (Plato, Tim., p. 37 d. 38 a.; Tim. Locr., p. 97 d. [quoted below]; Plutarch, others).
With this signification the Hebrew and Rabbinic idea of the word עוֹלָם (of which in the Sept. αἰών is the equivalent) combines in the Biblical and ecclesiastical writings.
Hence, in the N. T. used:
1.
a. universally: in the phrases εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, לְעוֹלָם (Genesis 6:3), forever, John 6:51, 58; John 14:16; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 6:20, etc.; and strengthened εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, Hebrews 1:8 [from Psalm 44:7 (Ps. 45:7) Alexandrian LXX, cf. Winer's Grammar, § 36, 2] (Tobit 6:18; Psalm 82:18 (Ps. 83:18), etc.); εἰς αἰῶνα, Jude 1:13; εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος unto the day which is eternity (genitive of apposition), 2 Peter 3:18 [cf. Sir. 18:10 (9)]; with a negation: never, John 4:14 [Lachmann in brackets]; John 8:51; 10:28; 11:26; 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13; or not for ever, not always, John 8:35; εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, unto the ages, i. e., as long as time shall be (the plural denotes the individual ages whose sum is eternity): [Luke 1:33]; Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5; Romans 11:36; [Romans 16:27 R G Tr WH]; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Hebrews 13:8; εἰς πάντας τ. αἰῶνας, Jude 1:25; εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (in which expression the endless future is divided up into various periods, the shorter of which are comprehended in the longer [cf. Winers Grammar, § 36, 2; among the various phrases to express duration composed of this word with preposition or adjuncts (which to the number of more than fifteen are to be found in the Sept., cf. Vaughan on Romans 1:25), this combination of the double plural seems to be peculiar to the N. T.]): [Romans 16:27 L T]; Galatians 1:5; [Philippians 4:20]; 1 Timothy 1:17; [2 Timothy 4:18; 1 Peter 4:11]; Revelation 1:6, 18; Revelation 4:9; Revelation 5:13; Revelation 7:12; Revelation 10:6; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 15:7; Revelation 19:3; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 22:5; εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων, Revelation 14:11; ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων the (whole) age embracing the (shorter) ages, Ephesians 3:21 (cf. Meyer [or Ellicott] at the passage); ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων from the ages down, from eternity, Colossians 1:26; Ephesians 3:9; πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων before time was, before the foundation of the world, 1 Corinthians 2:7; πρόθεσις τῶν αἰώνων eternal purpose, Ephesians 3:11.
b. in hyperbolic and popular usage: ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος (מֵעוֹלָם Genesis 6:4, cf. Deuteronomy 32:7) from the most ancient time down (within the memory of man), from of old, Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21; Acts 15:18 (Tobit 4:12 οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος; οἱ ἀπʹ αἰῶνος Ῥωμαῖοι, Dion Cass. 63, 20, 2 cf. 5; Longinus, 34 τούς ἀπʹ αἰῶνος ῥήτορας); also ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος, John 9:32 (1 Esdr. 2:19, 22 (23); Diodorus 4:83 of the temple of Venus τήν, ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀρχήν λαβόν, 17, 1 τούς ἐξ αἰῶνος βασιλεῖς [excerpt. de legat, xl.], p. 632 τήν ἐξ αἰῶνος παραδεδομένην ἐλευθερίαν).
2. by metonymy of the container for the contained, οἱ αἰῶνες denotes the worlds, the universe, i. e. the aggregate of things contained in time [on the plural cf. Winers Grammar, 176 (166); Buttmann, 24 (21)]: Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 11:3; and (?) 1 Timothy 1:17; [Revelation 15:3 WH text; cf. Psalm 144:13 (Ps. 145:13); Tobit 13:6, 10; Sir. 36:22; Philo de plant. Noë § 12 twice; de mundo § 7; Josephus, Antiquities 1, 18, 7; Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 61, 2; 35, 3 (πατὴρ τ. α.); 55, 6 (θεὸς τ. α.); Apostolic Constitutions 7, 34; see Abbot in Journal Society for Biblical Literature etc. i., p. 106 n.]. So αἰών in Wis. 13:9; Wis. 14:6; Wis. 18:4; the same use occurs in the Talmud, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic; cf. Bleek, Hebräerbr. ii., 1, p. 36ff; Gesenius, Thesaurus ii., p. 1036; [cf. the use of οἱ αἰῶνες in the Fathers, equivalent to the world of mankind, e. g. Ignatius ad Eph. 19, 2]:
3. As the Jews distinguished הַזֶּה הָעוֹלָם the time before the Messiah, and הַבָּא הַעוֹלָם, the time after the advent of the Messiah (cf. Riehm, Lehrb. d. Hebräerbr., p. 204ff; [Schürer, § 29, 9]), so most of the N. T. writers distinguish ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος this age (also simply ὁ αἰών, Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19 G L T Tr WH; ὁ ἐνεστὼς αἰών, Galatians 1:4; ὁ νῦν αἰών, 1 Timothy 6:17; [2 Timothy 4:10]; Titus 2:12), the time before the appointed return or truly Messianic advent of Christ (i. e., the παρουσία, which see), the period of instability, weakness, impiety, wickedness, calamity, misery — and αἰὼν μέλλων the future age (also ὁ αἰὼν ἐκεῖνος, Luke 20:35; ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐρχόμενος, Luke 18:30; Mark 10:30; οἱ αἰῶνες οἱ ἐπερχόμενοι, Ephesians 2:7), i. e., the age after the return of Christ in majesty, the period of the consummate establishment of the divine kingdom and all its blessings: Matthew 12:32; Ephesians 1:21; cf. Fritzsche on Romans, vol. 3:22f.
Hence, the things of 'this age' are mentioned in the N. T. with censure: ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος, by metonymy, men controlled by the thoughts and pursuits of this present time, Romans 12:2, the same who are called υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰ. τούτου in Luke 16:8; Luke 20:34; κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου conformably to the age to which this (wicked) world belongs, Ephesians 2:2 [cf. Trench, § 59 under the end]; ἀγαπᾶν τὸν νῦν αἰῶνα, 2 Timothy 4:10 (see ἀγαπάω); ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰ. τούτου, 1 Corinthians 2:6 (see ἄρχων); ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰ. τούτου, the devil, who rules the thoughts and deeds of the men of this age, 2 Corinthians 4:4; αἱ μέριμναι τοῦ αἰῶνος, the anxieties for the things of this age, Mark 4:19; πλούσιος ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι, rich in worldly wealth, 1 Timothy 6:17; σοφία τοῦ αἰ. τούτ. such wisdom as belongs to this age — full of error, arrogant, hostile to the gospel, 1 Corinthians 2:6; συζητητὴς τοῦ αἰ. τούτ. disputer, sophist, such as we now find him, 1 Corinthians 1:20; συντέλεια τοῦ αἰ. τούτ., the end, or rather consummation, of the age preceding Christ's return, with which will be connected the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the demolition of this world and its restoration to a more excellent condition [cf. 4 Esdr. 7:43], Matthew 13:39f, 49; Matthew 24:3; Matthew 28:20; it is called συντέλεια τῶν αἰώνων in Hebrews 9:26 [so Test xii. Patr., test. Levi 10, test. Benj. 11 (cf. Vorstman, p. 133)]; τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων the ends (last part) of the ages before the return of Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:11; δυνάμεις τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, powers which present themselves from the future or divine order of things, i. e., the Holy Spirit, Hebrews 6:5; τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκείνου τυχεῖν, to partake of the blessings of the future age, Luke 20:35. Among the N. T. writers James does not use the word αἰών.

BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's