'ETERNITY' REVISITED: A Study of the Greek Word αἰὠν

Author(s): Heleen M. Keizer

Source: Philosophia Reformata, Vol. 65, No. 1 (2000), pp. 53-71
Published by: Brill
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 Philosophia Reformata 65 (2000) 53-71

'ETERNITY REVISITED

A Study of the Greek Word αιών

Heleen M. Keizer

The Greek word αιών (aiôn) has a wide-ranging meaning as well as

ranging history: it is most commonly translated as 'eternity' but has as
meaning 'life' or 'lifetime'; it has its place in Greek literature and ph
but also in the Greek Bible, where it represents the Hebrew word 'olâm.
article I intend to sketch the history of the meaning and interpretation
from the word's first attestation in Homer up until the beginning
Christian era. The expanded version of this study was defended as a
dissertation, entitled Life Time Entirety: A Study of ΑΙΩΝ in Greek Lite
Philosophy, the Septuagint and Philo, on 7 September 1999 at the Un
Amsterdam.1

In what follows, I will first give a survey of the 'history of aiôn' as it emerges
from the texts in which the word occurs (§1). Then I will single out a number
of passages — from Plato, Aristotle, the Septuagint, and Philo of Alexandria —
in which aiôn has a philosophical meaning or philosophical (and theological)
implications: passages which lead us into reflections on what is usually called
'eternity' (§2). At the end (§3) I will gather some fruits of insight this study
may offer in the field of reflection on 'eternity' and time, a field in which also
the tradition of reformational philosophy has made its contributions.

1. ΑΙΩΝ in Greek Literature and Philosophy, the Septuagint and Philo

Let me start with the remark that my approach is primarily of a philological

nature. I have examined (and discussed in my book) a large number of
passages, each time establishing the meaning of aiôn on the basis of the
context. I describe the history of the meanings of a word, and do not give a
historical or systematic exposiuon of a concept (such as, for example, the
concept of eternity) .2 My work covers the literary or general, the philosophical,
the 'Septuagintal', and Philo of Alexandria's exegedcal usage of aiôn. Thus, it
does not include the usage of the word in the New Testament and the
interpretation by the Church Fathers, nor its philosophical and religious
meaning in the Greco-Roman period and the Gnostic usage. This later — and
decisive — part of the history of aiôn is the subject matter of my ongoing
research.

' I am grateful to the editorial board of Philosophia Reformata for the opportunity given to
me to present a summary of my research in its pages. The book is not for sale in the bookstore,
but can be obtained from the author.
2 A word, in contradistinction to what I call a concept, normally has several meanings
(connected to various usages); a concept in my definition conveys a single (univocal) idea,
which sometimes cannot even be described by just one word.

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 54 HELEEN M. KEIZER

Mine is certainly not the first s

aiôn,3 Studies so far, however, ha
the biblical meaning of the word
both side by side. With regard t
mention the following points of
jump from the word's first atte
cal) concept of 'eternity' which th
new meaning, or they limit them
the biblical word aiôn pay little
word in its own right. Moreover,
the plural) and meanings (viz. 'age
Testament with unwarranted appe
to Philo, the extent to which he t
(= 'olâm) is not sufficiently recogni
out to have its own limitations, w
consistent and comprehensive way
The following survey presents m
word aiôn as it is used (a) in Greek
Greek philosophy, (c) in the Sept

la. Greek literature

The history of aiôn starts with aiôn being a word for 'life'; indeed, in Ho
aiôn is far from being a word for 'time' but rather has the connotation of 'fo
of life'.4 A word with which aiôn in Homer is combined, is psuchê. The G
language has yet two other words to designate life: there is zôê, indicatin
state of being alive (not yet in Homer), and bios, indicating the ways and
of maintaining that state. Thus while zôê refers to the life 'bred' and bios to t
life 'led', aiôn can well be characterized as designating the life 'had'.

3 See for broad studies C. Lackeit, Aion. Zeit und Ewigkeit in Sprache und Religion der Grie
Erster Teil: Sprache (diss. Kônigsberg, 1916); E. Degani, ΑΙΩΝ da Omero ad Aristotele (P
1961); G. Zuntz, Aion, Gott des Rômerreichs (Heidelberg, 1989) and ΑΙΩΝ in der Literatur
Kaiserzeit (Wien, 1992). For the specifically philosophicai meaning of aiôn I single
Böhme, Zeit und Zahl. Studiën zur Zeittheone bei Platon, Aristoteles, Leibniz und Kant (Frankfu
Main, 1974) and R. Brague, Du temps chez Platon et Aristote. Quatre études (Paris, 1982). F
Septuagint usage see e.g. H. Sasse, 'αιών, αιώνιος in G. Kittel, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum
Testament 1 (Stuttgart, 1933) 197-209, and for 'olâm E. Jenni, "Das Wort 'ôlâm im A
Testament", Zeilschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft M (1952) 197-248 and 65 (1953)
and " 'ôlâm Ewigkeit" in: E. Jenni & C. Westermann (eds.), Theologisches Handwôrterbuch
Alten Testament (München - Zûrich, 1976) 2, 228-243. For (philosophicai) aiôn in Phil
Whittaker, God Time Being. Two Studies in the Transcendental Tradition in Greek Philosophy
1971).
4 As regards etymology, the noun aiôn appears to be derived from the Indo-European
*aiw-, to which etymologists have attributed the meaning 'force of life' or 'duration (of l
both. The Latin word aevus/aevum has the same root, as does, e.g., English âge and Dutch
(âge; century).
■' Two thirds of this formulation I owe to C.S. Lewis, Studies in Words (Cambridge, 19
218 (here not talking about aiôn): " 'life', taken not as the life 'led' but as the life 'had', s
it is almost synonymous with lot or future".

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 55

investigation of aiôn in Greek literatur

me a coherent complex of meaning of t
up from the following three notions:
ness', 'wholeness', or 'entirety'. Aiôn r
hence, besides 'lifetime' it can also desi
the meaning of aiôn is a passage in Eu
of the personages heaves the sigh that s
home") can easily be rectified, "but aiô
'complete' or 'completed' life. From
frequenüy used also to designate ' (all) tim
a discernible part; the notion of 'comp
attached to it in that usage. It is remark
word in the plural, viz. twice in Empe
Hellenistic poet Theocritus (3rd cent. BC
lst cent. AD) : in all of these three cases it
générations'. Especially this last meani
used in the sense of a historical 'age' n
'Augustan age') — as alleged by C. Lack
I have not, however, found this borne out
interprétation of aiôn as 'period of tim
désignâtes for us a 'part' of time, it is
dénotés 'time' always in the sense of 'al
in the sense of either (all time of) t
According to the présentation of Lackei
relatively small ('life') to bigger ('pe
('eternity'). This is a logical line of argu
of meaning is not supported by the actua
'period' is, so to speak, an 'anachronisti
true for 'eternity'.6 So far, we have b
comprising the notions of life, time, an
aiôn in terms of eternity we will have to

lb. Greek philosophy

Gathering my conclusions about the r

philosophy of Empedocles, Plato, Arist
that this role is a cosmological one. In
we seem to meet aión for the fïrst time on a cosmic scale as the 'life' of the
cosmos, coinciding with the whole of time. For Plato (discussed in more detail
in §2a), aión — usually translated 'eternity' — is the unitary whole of

The interprétation in terms of 'period' or definable 'âge' feeds on the biblical usage:
notably the biblical use of aión in the plural (but see my remark in §lc) and, more importantly
still, on the New Testament speaking of 'the present aión (< 'olAm)' and 'the aión (< 'olüm) to
come' (although here too the two aiâns are not just two successive 'âges'). For 'eternity' as an
anachronistic meaning see §3.

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 56 HELEEN M. KEIZER

'life(time)' on the intelligible level, w

out' on the sensible level. In Plato for the fïrst time we find aiónios as the
adjective form of aiôn ('aiónic'). Aristoüe (more about him in §2b) defines aiôn
as that which encompasses the infinité time of the cosmos, in analogy of aiôn as
that which encompasses the time of an individual person's life; the particular
term Aristode uses here is telos ('the telos encompassing the time...'). In Plato's
system, aiôn is reserved for the intelligible, transcendent world; in Aristoüe
aiôn (called divine, and as telos touching upon the first, transcendent
principle) is the comprising sum of the immanent, sensible world of time itself.
Plato and Aristotle in their various ways position aiôn on a superior level from
which it gives 'meaning' to time.7 The Hellenistic philosophies of the Stoa and
Epicurus, by contrast, do not assume distinct levels of reality, hence aiôn in
their thought does not have a (transcendent) position above (immanent) time;
to the extent that they use the word in a philosophical sense or context, aiôn i
time on the cosmic scale, time which manifests itself to the eyes of man as
infinité

My examination of the expression 'from aiôn for/to aiôn' as fou

pseudo-Philolaus, Marcus Aurelius8 and the treatise On the cosmos (trans
under the name of Aristotle but of much-disputed authorship and dat
Latin tiüe is De mundo) led me to the conclusion that this expression m
'since ail (infinité) time and for ail (infinité) time',9 this in spite
resemblance to expressions like 'from age to age' or 'age after age'. In
philosophical reflection we find neither the plural of aiôn nor the sugges
a possible plural. Accordingly, we do not find aiôn in the sense of '
'world-period'. Aiôn is the entirety of the time that is concurrent wit
universe.

There are no indications that the term aiôn in Greek sources dating from
the period 1 have considered was charged with 'oriental' notions — as was
certainly the case later on, when the term came to be used in the syncretistic
environment of the Greco-Roman world. Regarding Greek sources, however, I
have so far left out of account an important body of Greek texts: texts which do
have aiôn with an 'oriental' meaning, since the word is used to represent the
Hebrew word 'olâm. I am speaking of the Septuagint, which must now be
discussed.

le. The Septuagint

The Greek Old Testament or 'Septuagint' consists in the first place of

Pentateuch (the five Mosaic books), which was translated byjewish translato
in Alexandria in the first half of the third century BC.10 In the second place th

7 Thus I would like to say, taking an anachronistic stance, that the Platonic and Aristotel
concepts of aiôn refer to what in Dutch can be called 'de zin van de tijd'.
8 Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) is of a much later period than the one I have considered
this study, but he is relevant for reasons of comparison.
9 As holds true also for the parallel expression in the Septuagint, for which see §2c.
10 Latin septuaginla = 'seventy' (also indicated by LXX), after the seventy translator
tradition has it.

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 57

Septuagint corpus comprises the Proph

these were translated after the Pentateuch, in the third and second centuries
BC. It also includes translations of non-canonical Hebrew or Aramaic books

(e.g. Tobit, Sirach), and, finally, some books not translated but ori
composed in Greek (e.g. Wisdom). All books that are translations of
(or Aramaic) originals show, notwithstanding their diversity in tr
techniques, an invariable pattern: they use the Greek words aiôn and
standard equivalent of the Hebrew word 'olâm (and Aramaic 'âhm).u
Septuagint aiôn thus is a 'stereotyped' rendering of 'olâm — 'stereo
being a common phenomenon in Septuagint translation. In order, t
understand the meaning of aiôn in the Septuagint I have first invest
meaning of 'olâm.]2
In the Hebrew Bible, the word 'olâm (and 'alam) is used either adver
adnominally,13 but never as a subject or object of a sentence — wi
notable exception: namely, the famous passage of Qohelet (Ecclesias
where 'olâm is the direct object in a sentence (and has the definite
There we find something which cornes closest to an explicit reflection o
God has given the 'olâm in the hearts of men. Having investigated the m
of 'olâm in all of the Hebrew Bible, I have come to the following dé
'olâm is time constituting the temporal horizon of created life (men
created world. This horizon can be far (e.g. the remote past, Genesis
rather near (e.g. the end of one's life, Exodus 21:6), purposed-but-p
("life for-'olâm", Genesis 3:22) as well as decided-but-diminished ("until 'o
until ...", Isaiah 32:14-15). In its widest sense 'olâm describes all time,
as given with création (e.g. Psalm 90:2; see also §2c). To say the same
words: 'olâm désignâtes time of which the limit is not known, in the sen
that the limit, though sure, cannot be fixed (Exodus 21:6, Isaiah 32:1
that a limit is not to be envisaged (e.g. Psalm 89). In practice, we ma
'olâm most often by 'all time', 'always',14 'ever'. The plural, 'olâmim
dividing-and-multiplying, that is, intensifying import. God is called the
'olâmim (Isaiah 26:4), but also God of 'olâm (Isaiah 40:28). His kingd
kingdom of all 'olâmim (Psalm 145:13). We do not find in the contexts in
the plural occurs any indication that it implies a restricted meanin
singular, i.e., that 'olâmim dénotés a plurality of distinct 'ages'. Nowhere
Hebrew Bible is any distinct 'olâm set against another distinct one —
happen later, notably in the New Testament.

11 The Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible has 439 instances (in 430 phrases) of
'olâm and 20 instances (in 17 phrases) of 'rilam. In only 17 cases the Septuagint doe
aiôn or aiônios as translation of 'olâm. An appendix to my dissertation lists ail instan
(and 'âlarn) and aiôn(ios) in the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint.
12 'Olâm and 'âlam may etymologically be related to the Hebrew root 'lm, 'to be
's I.e., either in an adverbial phrase such as le'olâm ("for 'olâm" - this most frequen
a genitive with the function more of less of an adjective (e.g. "covenant of 'olâm" > "
covenant", Gen.9:16).
14 The Dutch equivalent of 'always' is nicely altijd: literally 'all-time'.

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 58 HELEEN M. KEIZER

Το say that 'olâm is something like

word is always used in an adverbial
way. The term 'horizon' as such dén
definidon of 'olâm as 'time that constitutes the horizon' is meant to be taken to

include ail time which is contained within or reaches up to that horizon: 'olâm
includes what is inside the — always receding — borderline. The definidon is
perfectly in line with Qohelet 3:11 ("the 'olâm given in their hearts") and it
context. That context brings out that the 'olâm is the maximum of what is given
to the human view. Human beings are aware that there is also a 'beyond', but
this indeed is beyond their view: it is God's domain ("the work of God from
beginning to end", as Qohelet 3:11 calls it).
Comparing at this point the meaning of 'olâm in the Hebrew Bible with the
meaning of aiôn in Greek literature, we observe that aiôn has several
connotadons without parallel in 'olâm. The meaning of aiôn is constituted by
the nodons of 'life', 'urne', and 'whole'; an ensuing connotation was that of
defined life's 'lot'. The word 'olâm by itself does not convey a nodon of 'life'.
Moreover, although both 'olâm and aiôn dénoté dme which bears reladon to
life, the implied 'views' of dme (and life) are different. Ε. Jenni (1976) called
'olâm an Extrembegriff, I suggest that aiôn, then, might rather be called a
Totalbegriff. In aiôn, life and dme is seen as a whole (total, complete), which
implies a view 'from outside'. 'Olâm too refers to ail of dme, but seen a
constituting the temporal and human horizon, which implies a view 'from
inside'. While aiôn can stand for a determined life's 'lot', 'olâm is the 'scope' fo
life to be full.

The Septuagint, as noted, consistently renders 'olâm (and 'âlam) by either

aiôn or aiônios. But not only 'olâm itself, also the embedding phrases or
syntactic constructions in the Hebrew are consistently reflected in the Greek
version. Some Greek renderings reproduce the original in such a way that we
must call them Hebraisms. For example, also the use of aiôn in the plural,
reflecting the plural of 'olâm/'âlam in the original, can be considered a
Hebraism, since in the Septuagint corpus it is far more frequent than in the
contemporary, non-biblical Greek language. When the Greek renderings of
'o/âwephrases diverge from the Hebrew constructions (e.g. in the use of the
definite article where the Hebrew does not have one)16, this is usually due to
the rules of the Greek language and does not interfère in the conveyed sense
of aiôn = 'olâm. Sometimes, however, the divergence is due to the conscious
choice of translators and is intended to bring out an aspect of aiôn which either
may or may not also apply to 'olâm. An example of the prior is the strange
phrase eis ton aiôna chronon (literally "for/into the aiôn time", e.g. Isaiah 9:7); a
significant example of the latter will be discussed in §2c: aiôn used in a way
which goes beyond the usage of 'olâm.

15 Greek horizon [kuklosj = 'delimiting [circle]'.

1(5 As in eis ton aióna = le'olàm. The phrase eis ton aióna does not occur in earlier Greek
literature and is probably coined by the Septuagint translators. In the Septuagint it is the most
frequently occurring aiôn-ph rase.

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 59

An important expression in the Septuag

which is a translation of "God of 'olâm" (G
the Greek expression easily elicits an inte
property of God, it is worthwhile to noti
same title also as "God of the aión" (LXX-version of Daniel 5:4, Sinaiticus
version of Tobit 14:6), even "God of the aiôns" (Sirach 36:17[22] ). The Bible, I
observe, does not speak in terms of the 'eternity of God', only about the God of
eternity — if indeed we choose to use the latter term to represent 'olâm/ aión.
Inasmuch as there are biblical passages which refer to what we may call the
'eternity of God', they describe with the terms aión and aiônios God's presence
and power in all time (Isaiah 40:28, Psalm 90[LXX89]:2). Psalm 90[89]:4
refers to God's superiority over time, but without using 'olâm/aión. Aión is
bound up with création; 'God Eternal' is He who is God above and in all time,
He who never at any time Iets down his création. Instead of 'eternity', we may
call the 'olâm/aión the 'entirety' of time. With regard to the notion of infinity
the following can be said. The first 'olâm/aión-text in the Old Testament,
Genesis 3:22, shows life (Hebr. chai, which is life in full force and well-being) as
having the implied purpose of being without death and hence of being "for
'olâm/aión". Thus, when 'olâm/aión represents 'world without end' this is due
not to the very nature and définition of 'olâm/ aión but to the prospect of the
extinction of death.

ld. Philo of Alexandria

In Philo of Alexandria (ca. 15 BC - AD 50) we meet a Jewish exeget

philosopher whose native tongue was Greek (he probably did not k
Hebrew) and whose project was to interpret the Holy Scriptures (whic
him was the Septuagint, and primarily the Pentateuch) in such terms as
communicable in the Hellenistic intellectual milieu to which he belong
Philo is a valuable source for a study of the meaning and the early
prétation of the words aiôn and aiônios as they are used both in the Scrip
and in Greek philosophy.17 Since Philo is an exegete, a first distinction sugg
itself: namely, between Philo's own usage of aiôn/aiônios and his exege
these words when he finds them in the biblical text. Hence the question
be raised: is there a différence between the meaning of aiôn and aiônios
Philo uses these words on his own account and the meaning which he as
to them when they occur in a biblical passage which he is exegeting? I
indeed find a différence inasmuch as Philo himself uses aiôn in a philoso
sense. I label as philosophical a usage of aiôn which explicitly places the
in a particular relationship with chronosr, a spécifie form of this philoso
usage is the Platonizing usage, in which aiôn is attributed to the intelligible a
chronos to the material world. The interesting thing is, that Philo in my vie
sensitive to and respected the différence between the philosophica

17 In Philo's extensive extant Greek oeuvre we find 76 instances of aión (4 of wh

biblical quotations) and 29 of aitmios (6 in biblical quotations). An appendix to my disser
lists and categorizes them ail.

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 60 HELEEN M. KEIZER

biblical meaning of aióm. I infer his

never introducés the word in a phil
text containing aiôn or aiônios, but
expressions of time which lack thes
certainly do occasion him to speak o
Platonic, sense (see §2d).
When Philo uses aiôn on his own account, the word has as a rule the
meaning of '(all) time'; in four (or even eight) cases the right translation i
' (all) life' or 'lifetime'. Normally, aiôn in this usage is unthematized and has
non-technical meaning, though less so when Philo in three passages évaluât
'life' and 'day' alongside aiôn. These three passages show once more that th
notions constituting the meaning of aiôn are life, time, and a certain wholen
ireDresented bv 'dav'i.18
Biblical aiôn(ios) is understood by Philo as denoting time which has an
intrinsic relation to man and to the created world as a whole; this holds true
also where aiónios pertains to God. As is apparent from his paraphrases and
exegeses, the noun aiôn in the Greek Bible for Philo means: 'ail (continuous)
time'.19 The biblical adjective aiônios for him generally means: 'all time
enduring', also 'immortal';20 applied to God, it is explained by Philo as
referring to God's incessant care for his création,21 and applied to God's name
as designating that this name pertains to 'the aiôn related to us (men)'.22
As we noted, it is not the occurrence of aiôn(ios) in a biblical text that moves
Philo to start speaking of aiôn in a philosophical way; but other temporal
expressions in Scripture, such as 'today', 'three days', and 'three years', do.
Philo interprets these expressions in an allegorical way as referring to 'the aiôn'
or 'the whole aiôn'. In its turn, the aiôn is equated with 'all time (chronos)' or
'the whole of time', which is also 'tripartite time' (past, present and future).
More specifically, the aiôn is explained as time seen in its oneness, viz.
represented by the sun (and by 'today').23 Another temporal expression, viz.
'the other year', instigates Philo to speak of aiôn in an unmistakably Platonizing
way. Distinguishing between the material and the higher, invisible world, he
locates chronos in the former and elevates aiôn to the latter.24 The most
philosophical and Platonic treatment of aiôn, finally, is found in Philo's treatise

18 Jos. 24: "even the longest-lived is short-timed when measured against aiônSpec. 1.170:
"the seventh day ... the birthday of the whole cosmos [is] of equal value to aiôn"·, QE 2.20 "each
day of a wise man is of equal value to aiôn".
19 Gig. 19-20 (discussing Gen.6:3, which contains the phrase eis ton aiôna); LA 3.198-199
(Exod.21:5-6, eis ton aiôna)·, Plant. 51 and 53 (Exod.15:18, ton aiôna kai ep'aiôna kai etï).
20 LA 3.199; Fug. 78.
21 Plant. 89 (discussing Gen.21:33, theos aiônios).
22 Abr. 54; Mut. 12 (for this text see §2d). Both passages discuss Exod.3:15.
23 LA 3.25 (discussing Gen.35:4, which contains the word 'today'); Fug. 57 (Deut.4:4,
'today': "the truthful name of aiôn is 'today'. For the sun does not change but is always the
same, going now above now below the earth; and through it day and night, the measures of
aiôn, are distinguished"); San. 47 (Gen.30:36, 'three days'); Plant. 116 (Lev.l9:23, 'three
years'); Her.\6b (Gen.1:3-13, the two times three days of création). In the last-mentioned
passage Philo hints already at a Platonic distinction between aiôn and chronos.
24 Mul. 267 (discussing Gen.17:21, 'the other year'): "Aiôn is the description of the life
(bios) of the intelligible cosmos, as time (chronos) is of the perceptible".

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 61

On the unchangeableness of God. Philo ass

including 'the archetype and paradigm of
God as his 'elder son'. He continues: "in aió
but it is only in a present state".25 This sta
as evidence of Philo's familiarity with
eternity'. It is indicative of the elusiveness
scholar takes aión, where Philo relates it
mean 'duration'.27 In my view, Philo's p
centers on the concept of the unchangeab
notion of 'non-durational' or 'atemporal
there is no change: all the more, so Philo
be free from change. Aión thus represent
located here in the intelligible world, and
less than the perceptible is created by Go
God, as a double text emendation in this p
conclude that in whatever way Philo uses or
refer to what belongs to the created realm.

2. Philosophical and biblical aiôn

The preceding survey of the history of the

was necessarily concise and inevitably unsat
statements than arguments. The present
deficiency, although here too the exposit
Greek is concerned, restricted. For this s
from Plato and Aristotle which have b
meaning of aiôn, as well as such passages
give an exciting example of the biblical u
Hebrew and Greek aspects).

2a. Aiôn in Plato's Timaeus

The Timaeus, one of Plato's most famous dialogues, offers an account of the
nature and 'genesis' of the universe and of man. This account is set in the
broader context of a discussion about what might be the ideal society. The
dialogue ends by exhorting us to lift up our heads towards the heavens, in
order to contemplate and absorb the heavens' perfect, harmonious révolutions
and thereby to "attain to that end {telos) of life which is set before men by the
gods as the best both for the present and for the time to come" {Tim. 90d5-7).
According to Plato, the universe, especially in its wonderful aspect of the starry

23 Deus 32.
26 Together with Fug. 57, quoted in n. 23.
27 Cf. Whittaker (see n. 3) 12 and 33ff. (non-durational) with E. Starobinski-Safran, De fuga
et inventione, Les oeuvres de Philon d'Alexandrie (Paris, 1970) 77 η. 1 (duration).
28 The manuscript reading di'hön ho bios estin aulón in Deus 32 has been emended to aiön ho
bios estin autou and interpreted as "aiön is His [God's] life".

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 62 HELEEN M. KEIZER

heavens, tells us how we are to live,

setting that Timaeus (the main sp
account, including his discussion o
most common interprétation, in t
as opposed to 'time'. But what Pla
dispute. Our current notion of 'et
endlessness or timelessness, came
up to our own time, and it may w
really meant. I have attempted to
sophical aiôn in the Timaeus by t
philosophical meaning 'life(time)' —
The following passage from the
concerned. Timaeus is speaking of
the material cosmos, also called th
model. The model belongs to the
(genesis) — a basic distinction in
almost ail scholars start translating
As this [model] now is in fact an ev
finish also the Ail around us so far
Living Being happened to be aiônic
that completely on what is genera
motion of aiôn, and in the very act
aiôn, which remains at one, an ai
number: that which we have named

The context in which the term aiô

of the universe, namely an aspect
help us understand the term. Gree
'life' in a 'complete' sense. Timaeu
verse to be a living being (consisting
ing touch which will make the cr
level, that is, of the copy, which n
finishing touch should bestow an
we call time.
It is worthwhile to note that Plato in this passage, far from treating time as a
négative aspect of the material world, sees it as adding to the completeness of
this world as a successful copy of the immaterial one. This attitude towards the
role of time, maintained in Timaeus' subséquent discourse, is in contrast to
évaluations of time as a principle of decay and futility.
Also remarkable in our passage is, that of the two instances of the adjective
aiônios the first applies to the model and the second to the copy. This has
troubled commentators who considered aiônic as a property of the model qua
model, and interpreted it as 'eternal' in the sense of 'supra-temporal' (which
practically amounts to non-temporal), while the corresponding property of the
copy would precisely be its temporality. Along this line of thought, aiôn and
chronos tend to be contraries: something, however, which is hard to reconcile

29
Prol. 345c, Gorg. 448c, and Leg. III 701c.

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 63

with their relationship as model and copy

doctrine of Ideas it need not be a problem
aiônic, since according to this doctrine b
and its représentation in the material w
good, Horse and horse, etc. This point is
the copy is said to be 'homonymous' with
called aiônic, the copy can be predicated
although the copy is called aiônic (the d
called aiôn (the noun).
The demiurge makes an image of aiôn, l
is qualified as 'remaining at one' — a qu
aiôn's connotation of completeness or wh
(time) is said to be 'in motion' and 'proce
on in the dialogue the différence betwe
more explained as one between movem
'proceeding in time' and involved with
'unmovably staying the same' (37e5-38a8
imply motion, aiôn according to Plato impli
(places and hence of) number, but rest r
which is counted out in the orderly movem
of life' in the invisible world.
Two scholars, G. Böhme (1974) and R. Brague (1982), have already empha
sized the importance of the notion of 'life' for our understanding of aiôn in
Plato. As Böhme asserts, aiôn (Lebenskrafi, Leben, Lebenszeit) is not at ail a fitting
term to express what is outside time (das Ausserzeitliché) : we should understand
aiôn in the Timaeus as temporality par excellence.31 Time is the 'unfolding' of

We have seen that in the Greek word aiôn the notion of life, in which time is
implied, is linked with that of wholeness or completeness. The Timaeus applies
aiôn and aiônios exclusively and systematically on the scale of the cosmos (the
model as well as the copy) as a whole. Wholeness/completeness includes here
perfection.33 When we look at the wonderful starry image above our heads and
see the heavens' rational order, movement and numbers, which is what we call
time, Plato wants us to see this as the représentation of aiôn. Interpreted in this
way, time may be regarded as setting out fullness or completeness rather than
duration or infinity. It is certainly 'according to' duration, succession and even
infinity that time fulfills its rôle,34 but this role consists in displaying 'life/time
completeness'.35

30 The question of Böhme (see n. 3) 73 is to the point: "Wâre es nicht absurd innerhalb des
Kosmos ausgerechnet in der Zeit die Darstellung der Überzeitlichkeit suchen zu wollen?".
31 Böhme (see n. 3) 74.
32 Böhme (see n. 3) 95.
33 Tim. 39d: the material universe "as like as possible to the perfect (teleos) and intelligible
Living Being." Cf. in 37d, quoted in the text, apolelein ('to complete') and pantelós ('complete
ly'), words of the same root. Aristotle will speak of telos (see below, §2b).
34 Our passage, 37d, speaks of 'proceeding' and 'according to (kata) number'.
The 5th cent. AD neoplatonist Damascius in his commentary in Platonis Parmenidem c.
139 equates Platonic aiôn with holotês kai zóê, 'wholeness/totality and life'.

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 64 HELEEN M. KEIZER

Earlier in the dialogue, Timaeu

ever without end. We fïnd this in 36e, when Timaeus has narrated the
compounding of the body and soul of the material cosmos, which thus became
a living being. He then déclarés that this compounding accounted for the
"divine start of an unceasing and intelligent life (bios) for all time (chronos)".
Subsequently, in 37d which I have discussed here, time is credited with a
relationship with aión. This suggests that we should not so much interpret
Plato's aión in terms of chronos (supra-temporal, durational or non-durational,
etc.), but rather chronos in terms of aión.
The visible cosmos is regarded by Plato as a living being (zôion) with a body,
a soul (psuchê) and a life (bios) for all time (chronos), and considered to be a
copy of the everlasting (aïdion) Living Being. We have here a complete list of
Greek words which together constitute the semantic field of aión. Greek
language and thought knows of every human being's psuchê, zóê, bios and aión.
For Plato, psuchê, zóê and bios pertain also to the cosmic being — and so should
aión. Only then is the picture complete. The aión of the (idéal) cosmos is
lifetime as a completeness and this is what gives the time of our (material)
world its form.

2b. Aiôn in Aristotle's De caelo

In the fïrst book of De caelo, chapter 9, Aristotle offers an almost lexicographie

description of what the word aiôn in his view conveys. De caelo, in Greek Peri
ouranou, is a work on physics, dealing with cosmology: Aristotle uses the word
ouranos (Lat. caelum) not only to designate the heavens but also the cosmos, or
universe. The universe, Aristotle argues in I 9, is made of the totality of matter,
and so 'outside the universe' there is neither matter nor what is associated with
matter, viz. space and time. When Aristotle subsequently talks about the things
or beings 'over there', De caelo as a work on physics touches upon the divine: it
appears to refer to the prime, unmoved Mover, also elaborated as a plurality of
unmoved Movers, which is the divine transcendent principle discussed by
Aristotle in book XII, chapters 6-8, of his Metaphysics. I now quote De caelo I 9
279al8-30:

Therefore, those-over-there are not such as to be in place, nor does time cause
them to age, nor does change work in any way upon any of those that are
arrayed beyond the outermost motion: unalterable and impassive, in having the
best and most self-sufficient life (zôè) they continue (throughout) the whole
aiôn.
Indeed, that name [se. aiôn] has been divinely uttered by the ancients.
. For the completion (telos) which encompasses the time of everyone's life
(zôê), which cannot in nature be exceeded, has been named everyone's aiôn.
. Along the same line of thought also the completion of the whole universe,
the completion which encompasses time as a whole and infinity, is aiôn,
having taken the name from aei einai [to be always], being immortal and
divine.
From there dépends for ail other things, for some more directly, for others
more obscurely, being and life (zên).

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 65

Directing our attention to the digressio

that it is elicited by the statement tha
(diateleï) in having the best and most s
whole aiôn" (a21). The expression 'thr
aiôna) is in itself not philosophical or te
alternating with 'throughout the whole
the verb diatelein occurs in Aristotle al
and with other phrases carrying the w
expression 'throughout the whole aiórü
occasion to reflect on aiôn in a philosop
from chronos. In the immediately followi
of time and life. The focus of the définit
notoriously difficult to translate and ren
notion that characterizes aiôn and that is
from zôê (and bios).
Aristotie s lirst définition of aion, the telos which encompasses the time ot
everyone's life", fits in perfectly with what I have indicated above as charac
terizing aion in earlier writers ('the ancients'), viz. that the word refers to a
person's life as a complete(d) whole with the inherent aspect of time. Aristotie
subsequently points out that aiôn, thus defined, applies to the entire cosmos as
well — in doing so he impliciüy follows Plato.
That telos in the present discourse is something like 'completion' is brought
out by its being qualifïed as 'encompassing' (penechon) in the above passage
(and again in De caelo II 1 283b30) .37 The word telos is of the same root as teleios,
'complete' or 'perfect'. In Aristotle's (teleological) philosophy telos is also the
term for the final 'end' to which everything in the universe strives: the 'end'
which in the ultimate sense is the Prime Mover itself.38
At the start of the second book of De caelo, Aristotie summarizes what he has
demonstrated in the fïrst book. I quote De caelo II 1 283b26-30:
the universe as a whole neither has come into being nor admits of destruction,
as some assert that it does, but is one and everlasting (aïdios) with no beginning
or end (teleutê) of the (/its) whole aiôn, but containing and encompassing in
itself the infinité time (chronos).

From this passage it is unambiguously clear that aión applies to the universe
itself. The earlier quoted passage, by contrast, is ambiguous: aión in its capacity
of telos can be considered also as belonging to the level of the transcendent,

'lt' W. Κ. C. Guthrie (1939, Loeb) translates telos here as 'sura of existence', P. Moraux
(1965, Budé) and S. Leggatt (1995, Aris & Phillips) have 'term(e)'; R. Sorabji, Time, Création
and the Continuüm (London, 1983) 127, 'completeness', J. Barnes (1984, rev. Oxford transi.)
'fulfillment'. Plotinus also defines aión as a telos, a 'partless completion' (Α. H. Armstrong's
translation of telos ameres, Enn. III 7, 3 line 18, Loeb).
87 It is, moreover, defined here as "which cannot in nature be exceeded": in De caelo II 4
286bl8 this is the définition of teleion, i.e. the 'complete' or 'perfect'. See also Met. V 16 and X
4,2-3 1055al4-17.
88 Aristotle speaks of telos (the causa finalis or to hou heneka) also elsewhere in De caelo,
notably II 12 292bi-19 in relation to the movements of the heavenly bodies. The Prime Mover
as telos is discussed in Met. XII 7,4 994b9 and cf. 8,17 1074a30.

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 66 HELEEN M. KEIZER

Prime Mover from which "dépend

The digression on aiôn in the first
aiôn "has been divinely uttered by
understood as 'under divine inspir
of the utterance, i.e., aiôn, whi
"immortal and divine" (a27). Arist
means aei ôn, i.e., 'always being', a
and divine (a27).40 But 'divine' too
the sphere of the stars in the un
Likewise, the telos of an action — in this context we should think of the actions
of the celestial bodies — can be extemal (transcendent) to the action as well as
being the action itself.41
We can conclude that Aristoüe, unlike Plato, does not reserve aiôn for the
transcendent. Aiôn pertains to the entirety of time that is bound up with the
(everlasting) life of the universe. Time (chronos) exclusively belongs to and is
immanent in the universe; it is inextricably connected with movement, notably
of the celestial bodies, and change. But this movement has also an unchanging
aspect. Aristotle in the sequel to our first-quoted passage speaks of the
'outermost' cosmic sphere of fixed stars which moves unchangingly and
unceasingly in a circle, so that "the place it begins from and ends at are the
same" (De caelo 279a30-b3). The sphere of fixed stars 'borders' upon what is
transcendent, and so, we can say, does aiôn. Time according to Aristotle is
infinité but, due to aiôn, not incomplete: it is endless but not without 'end',
since its 'end', or 'completion', or 'fulfillment', i.e., telos, is aiôn.

2c. Psalms and Proverbs in the Septuagint

In this section I will discuss a number of passages from the Septuagint which,
in my view, are the most significant for establishing the connotations peculiar
to the Greek word aiôn as distinct from the Hebrew word it translates, i.e.,
'olâm. In these passages, which are from the books of the Psalms and Proverbs,
the Greek translation turns out to put things differently in comparison to the
Hebrew usage of 'olâm. I start with the opening of Psalm 89 (nr. 90 in the
Hebrew Bible). The subséquent quotation is from Proverbs 8, the famous
chapter about Wisdom's rôle and position in création. I give an English
translation of the Greek version; the Hebrew of both passages contains the
same 'otóm-phrase.

39 The relationship between aiôn and the transcendent principle is made explicit in Met.
XII 7,9 1072b26-31: "life (zóê) belongs [to god]. For the actuality of thought is life, and he is
that actuality; and the essential actuality of him is life most good and everlasting (aïrhos). We
hold, then, that god is a living being, everlasting, most good; and therefore life (zóê) and aiôn
continuous and everlasting belong to god; for that is what god is."
40 Aristotle uses this etymology to 'prove' that aiôn properly describes a divine life, since
'always being' is a divine property.
41 Cf. De caelo II 12 292bl-19 and Leggatt's commentary.

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 67

Psalm 89(90):lb-2:
lb Lord, you have been our refuge in génération and génération.
2 Before the mountains were bom and the earth was formed and the (inhabited) world
and from the aiôn (mé'olâm) until the aiôn ( 'ad-'olâm) you are.

Proverbs 8:22-24a [Wisdom says:]

22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways towards his works,
23 before the aiôn (mê'olâm) he founded me
in the beginning,
24 before he made the earth ...

Psalm 89 (90) :2b has the Standard rendering of the Hebrew e

mé'olâm, viz. aiôn governed by the préposition apo ('from, since').
expresses that God is prior to his création; verse 2b indicates moreo
the word 'and' — that He is present throughout all time (concurren
created world): 'from/since the aiôn until/so long as the aióri. By
backwards and forwards this compounded expression implies a posit
speaker inside, surrounded by, the aiôn.
Proverbs 8:23 too translates mé'olâm, but instead of apo it has the pré
pro. From a grammatical point of view this rendering can be deem
rect;42 on the point of interprétation it is revealing. Mé'olâm in th
Bible stands for 'since ever', 'from all time'. The Hebrew text of Proverbs 8:23
says that Wisdom is founded:
from 'olâm, from the beginning, from the old times of the earth.43
According to the Greek translation, however, Wisdom is founded:
before the aiôn, in the beginning, before the Lord made the earth.
So, while the Hebrew expresses that Wisdom was there since ever, the Greek
translation pronounces that she was there before the aiôn (ν. 23), i.e., before the
created world (v. 24). Thus the Greek translater of Proverbs synchronizes (the
start of) the aiôn with (the start of) création, and envisages also something
preceding the aiôn.
Now one may well hold that not only according to the Greek, but also
according to the Hebrew text of Proverbs 8 the Lord, in virtue of his being the
Creator, is pre-existent to his création (and hence to the 'olâm). However, this
pre-existence remains implicit in the Hebrew. The Greek translation by
contrast introducés the notion of 'before the aiôn', with the result that the
Creator's 'pre-existence' is made explicit, and not only his, but also that of
Wisdom.44 The application of pro aiónos in Proverbs 8:23 cannot be explained
from a common usage of this phrase in Greek, since the phrase is not found in

42 The préposition min/mê never means 'before'. The Hebrew word translated pro/'before'
in Ps.89(90):2 is beterem, literally 'at the beginning of.
43 Three times the same Hebrew préposition min/mê.
44 The idea that Wisdom (Sophia) précédés the whole of création, can well be placed in a
context of philosophical, Middle Platonist reflection. Cf. the role of Wisdom as God's agent in
création in the Wisdom of Solomon 7:25-26; 8:4; 9:1-2, and in Philo (who identifies Wisdom
with the Logos): Her. 199; Del. 54. For Philo see also §2d. I note that the sequence in Greek
Prov.8:23 'before the «ion, in the beginning, before ... the earth' bears the implication that 'in
the beginning (archê)' also refers to something prior to création. Such an interprétation of the
term archê (used also in Gen.Ll) can be found in Philo and the Church Fathers.

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 68 HELEEN M. KEIZER

eariier texts; nence ït appears to be consciously employed in this context. 1 he

préposition pro compels us to conclude that 'the aiôn' coïncides with the
created world.43

There are two other canonical instances of aiôn governed by pra Psalm
54(55):20 speaks of God "existent before the aións", and Psalm 73(74):12 says:
"God is our king before aiôn". The Hebrew in both texts has the word qedem,
which dénotés 'bygone days, olden times'. The Greek text in Psalm 54(55):20 is
very clear in expressing that God is 'pre-existent' with regard to the aións (now
in plural), which cannot but mean, again, to (the times of) the created world.
From the use of pro aiónos in Psalm 73(74):12 we get the impression that this
phrase has now almost become a standard aión-phrase in reladon to God:46
taken literally it yields a paradox since God is called 'our king' before 'we' were
there.

'Before' in the temporal sense has the implicaüon of 'outside': something

taking place before a certain stretch of time is 'outside' that time. Whereas
'olâm, as the 'temporal horizon of création', represents time as seen only 'from
inside', aiôn can convey the concept of time as seen 'from outside'. Unlike the
Hebrew, which never says "before 'olâm", the Septuaginta a number of times
says "before aiôn". Thus translators have exploited connotations of aiôn ('whole
of time', and 'surveyable from outside') which are peculiar to the Greek word
but absent from the Hebrew 'olâm. They have made explicit that aiôn
désignâtes (created) time as it accompanies the (created) world. The temporal
indication 'before (the) aiôn(s)' is applied and applicable only to God or his
Wisdom. 'Before the aións' recurs in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:7):
there indeed it is again applied to the wisdom of God.

2d. Philo's exegesis

Above (§ld) I have elaborated somewhat on the philosophical meaning of aión

in Philo, indicating only briefly Philo's exegesis of biblical aión. The present
section, by contrast, will demonstrate Philo's biblical exegesis. We will see that
the definitely 'Greek', even philosophical, approach of this exegesis employs
and confirms the biblical meaning of aión we have found in the Septuagint.
In his treatise On the change of names Philo quotes Exodus 3:14, where God in
the Greek version says: "I am He Who Is (ho ón)". According to Philo, this is
God's most authentic, but properly 'unnameable' name. In the subséquent
verse, Exodus 3:15, God reveals himself as "God of Abraham, God of Isaac and
God of Jacob" and adds: "This is my aiórixc name and a mémorial to
générations". Philo in On the change of names 12 gives the following word-to
word commentary:
For "this", he says, "is my aiónic name": being examined as it were in the aión
related to us, not in that (which is) before aión;
"and a mémorial": not set beyond memory or appréhension;

4o Exactly the same observations hold true for the two parallels of Prov.8:23 found in the
Greek ofSirach 1:4 and Sirach 24:9.
4fi See also below, §2d.

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 69

and again "to générations": not to ungenera

For those who have come to mortal birth (g
for the divine name...

We observe that Pilo, inspired by the biblical adjective aiónios, in h

explanation uses the substantive aiôn. 'Aiónic as a biblical predicate of God
name is interpreted by him as: "being examined in the aiôn related to us",4
i.e., having its relevance in time (and life) as we, generated human beings
know it. This 'human-relatedness' of the aiónic name is elaborated by the
sequel of the biblical quotation and Philo's commente on it: the aiónic nam
Philo explains, is within human compréhension ("mémorial") and designed t
be used by generated, i.e., created [human] beings ("générations").
In his interpreting remark, Philo opposes 'in the aiôn related to us' to '
that before aiôn . The structure of the sentence enticed J. Whittaker (1971)
read the latter expression as 'in the aiôn before aiôn'48 — a reading, howeve
which taken literally and logically amounts to an internai contradiction. Th
Greek language allows for substantivizing of prepositional phrases, and, in m
view, the prepositional phrase pro aiônos is best understood as derived from the
Septuagint. It can be understood as an indication of the 'time' that belongs
God, as in Psalm 73(74): "God is our king before aiôn". We have seen abov
that 'before (the) aiôn' in the Septuagint means 'before the time of the wor
i.e., before God created the cosmos.
Philo thus explains the biblical predicate aiónic as referring to the aiôn, i.
to something 'related to us', and he contrasts it with the biblical locution p
aiônos, which is an indication of the domain of God. Aiónic qualifies the na
"God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob". Whereas God himself is undoubted
'before aiôn', his aiónic name precisely describes his relation to man, i.e., to the
aiôn. This contrast between aiónic and 'that which is pro aiônos' reflects Phi
interprétation of Exodus 3, verses 14 and 15, developed in the wider context
our passage.49 According to Philo, God in Exodus 3:14 is speaking of Himse
as He truly is, i.e., in and for himself; in Exodus 3:15, by contrast, he nam
himself with his 'aiónic name' in a relaüonal and accommodaüng way. Thi
distinction made by Philo between God as he is in himself and God as he
stands in relation to his people, is inspired by Greek philosophy and t
ontologizing Greek translation of Exodus 3:14. It cannot be sustained in t
light of the biblical context itself (be it the Hebrew or the Greek), which sa
precisely that 'He Who Is has sent Moses to his people'.50 Notwithstanding t
fact, Philo's usage and interprétation of aiôn and aiónios here is completely
line with what we have found regarding the biblical meaning of these wor

47 'Related to us', Gr. kath' hêmas, means both 'concerning us (humans)' and 'with whi
we are concerned'.

48 Whittaker (see n. 3) 35 en loi pro aiônos aiôni. According to Whittaker, "ho kath ' hêm
corresponds to the life-period of the universe and ho pro aiônos to that of God." Whit
incorrectly — speaks of 'the aión of God' on account of both this text and Deus 32 (cf. η
49 See D. T. Runia, Philo and the Church Falhers. A Collection of Papers (Leiden - New
Köln, 1995) 214.
'i! Runia (see n. 49) 216, also quoted by Α. P. Bos, Geboeid door Plato. Hel christelijk geloof
bekneld door het glinsterend pantser van de Griekse filosofie (Kampen, 1996) 97.

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 70 HELEEN M. KEIZER

Philo's concise comment on Proverbs 8

31 will corroborate this agreement:
"God acquired me as the very first of h
me" [says Wisdom]; for it was necessary
younger than the mother and nurse of th

Το say that Wisdom was founded 'bef

same as saying that 'the mother and n
come to genesis. Hence the latter, i.e.,
concurs with the aiôn. Philo's interpré
on aiôn given in the earlier quoted pas
the Septuagint translation of Proverb
created world.

3. Eternity and entirety

Discerning as I do in the (extra-biblical) meaning of aiôn three notions, I have

described the fïrst as 'life', the second as 'time', and the third variously as
'whole', 'completeness', 'totality', or 'entirety'. The third notion distinguishes
aiôn when used as a word for 'life' from the other words zôê and bios, and when
aiôn is used as a word for 'time' this notion adheres to its meaning no less. Aiôn
is the 'entirety' of time; 'eternity' is too much an 'anachronistic', misleading or
unclear rendering.
The noun 'eternity', that is, aeternitas, by its very form witnesses to a
development of language and thought. From the simple Latin noun aevum was
derived the adjective ae(vi)ternus, from which then was formed the abstract
noun aeternitas (fïrst attested in Cicero, lst cent. BC). An analogous develop
ment took place in Greek, where aiôn produced the adjective aiónios and
ultimately also the (rare) abstract noun aióniotês (fïrst attested in Didymus the
Blind, 4th cent. AD). Seen in this light, the word aiôn has its counterpart in
aevum (as is also true etymologically), so that the interprétation of aiôn as
aeternitas/'e.ternity' entails a sort of asymmetry already from a historical
linguistic point of view. Additionally, the term 'eternity' conveys meanings
which have developed later (notably in Christian and Médiéval context) than
the period in which the meanings of aiôn originated. Thus we should recognize
all the more that aiôn cannot be explained as 'eternity' without qualification.
My study has led to the conclusion that infïnity is not an intrinsic or
necessary connotation of aiôn, either in the Greek or in the biblical usage (<
'olâm). The word's primary meaning in Greek is 'lifetime', with the connota
tion of completeness. It is in the secondary sense of 'all time' that aiôn takes on
an implication of being infinité. In the biblical usage, the temporal horizon
described by aiôn ( 'olâm) is for its being finite or infinité wholly dépendent on
the One decreeing it.
Where in Aristotle aiôn is said to encompass all (infinité) time of the
universe, it is called 'divine' and regarded as bordering on the transcendent;
aiôn, moreover, is also applied by Aristotle to the transcendent divine principle
itself. The biblical aiôn, as noted, is created. Neither Philo, nor later the

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 'ETERNITY' REVISITED 71

Church Fathers use the word to refer t

to the Latin term aeternitas, which in Mé
'eternity'. Greek aiôn and biblical aiôn (
'entirety of time', each bringing in its ow
is more than just time going on: it is time
In conclusion, let me pluck and name
fields. The first fruit is the conclusion
that the word aiôn refers to time, that is
entirety (analogous to a lifetime). The se
relevance: that in the biblical usage aiô
création, not to God in himself. The third
perspective characteristic of Greek th
cosmos — viewed as a whole, from 'o
biblical world of thought (viz. through
final fruit may be formulated as fo
Totalbegriff (in Greek thought) and a E
context) instructs us about the position
knowledge.

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