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Gal. i. 5. Our God and Father, to whom be glory, εις τες αιώνας των αωίνων, for ever and ever.

1 Pet. iv. 11. That by Jesus Christ God may be glorified, to whom be glory and dominion,

αίωνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever.

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1 Pet. v. 11. To God be glory and dominion, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever.

Rev. i. 6. To his God and Father be glory and dominion, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and

ever.

Rev. i. 18. I am he that liveth and became dead, and behold I live, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hades.

Rev. v. 13. To him that fitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be bleffing, and dominion, &c. εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever, or, for ages of ages. This doxology must be understood in a different fenfe when applied to God the Father, from what it is when applied to the Lamb. Compare 1 Chron. xxix. 20; Rev. xv. 3. As applied to the Father, it means, respecting duration, for ever and ever.

Rev. vii. 12. Bleffing and glory, &c. to our God, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever.

Αιωνιος.

I Tim, vi. 16. To him who only hath immortality be honour and dominion, aseviov, everlasting..

1 Pet. v. io. The God of all favour, who hath called us to την αιωνιον αύτε δόξαν, his everlafting glory, by Chrift, &c.

V. Av and alwvos fometimes mean duration without beginning and without end.

Αιων.

Rev. v. 14. And the elders worshipped him that liveth, εις τες αιωνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever.

Rev. iv. 9, 10. The elders fall down before him who fat on the throne, and worship him who liveth, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever; v. 8 Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come, ver. II, who created all things.

Rev. x. 6. Swear by him who liveth, 85 785 αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever, who created heaven and earth, &c.

Rev. xv. 7. Full of the wrath of God, who liveth, εις τες αιώνας των αιώνων, for ever and ever. v. 3ο God Almighty, v. 4. who only is holy.

Isaiah lvii. 15. Thus faith the Most High, who dwelleth, εν υψηλοις τον αιώνα, in the heavens for

ever.

Αιωνιος.

Rom. xiv. 26. According to the commandment,

78 alwvis Dex, of the everlasting God.

Heb. ix. 14. Chrift, who through,

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alwve, the everlasting Spirit, offered himself to God,

For avi fome read ayır.

A occurs about a hundred times in the New Teftament, in feventy of which, at least, it is clearly used for a limited duration. In the Septuagint translation of the Old Teftament, alfo, it is even repeated, and feveral times it is repeated twice, without meaning eternity; and in two inftances fignifies no longer a period than the life of one man only.

Εις αιώνα αιώνος is ufed for limited periods of duration in the following paffages, though translated for ever.

Pf. xxxvii. 29. The righteous fhall dwell in the land for ever; i. e. from generation to generation. Pf. lxi. 8. I will fing praise to thy name for ever; i. e. from one period of my life to another.

Pf. cxii. 9. His righteousness endureth for ever; i. e. he is merciful through the feveral periods of his life.

Pf. cxxxii. 14. This is my reft for ever; i. e. from age to age.

Εις τον αιώνα και εις τον αιώνα τ8 αιώνος, is employed to exprefs limited duration in the following texts, though translated for ever and ever.

Pf. x. 16. The Lord is king for ever and ever, the heathen are perished out of his land. But God has long ceased to be king over Judea in the fense here intended.

Pf. xlviii. 14. This God is our God for ever and ever; i. e. from age to age. For he has long ceased to be the God of the Jews in the sense here intended.

Pfalm cxix. 44. So fhall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever; i. e. through the feveral ages or periods of my life on earth.

Pfalm cxlv. 2. I will praife thy name for ever and ever; i. e. through every period of my life.

Pfalm cxlv. 21. Let all flesh blefs his holy name for ever and ever; i. e. from age to age, through

every age.

Pfalm cxlviii. 6. He hath established the heavens for ever and ever; i. e. throughout all ages. Comp. 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10.

That a is ufually applied to limited duration, appears alfo from € and eTexɛwa being added to it, to express a very long period in the following places. Exod. xv. 18. The Lord fhall reign, Tov alava, Hai en diva, nas, from age to age, and farther. επι Dan xii. 3. And they that turn many to righteoufnefs as the stars, eis Tes aivas, xaι ETI, through the ages, and farther.

Mic. iv. 5. And we will walk in the name of Jehovah our Gop, εις τον αιώνα, και επέκεινα, through the age, and beyond it.

Aravos, the adjective, is used about seventy times in the New Testament, in more than fifty of which it is applied to the future ftate of the righteous, and is then, except in a few inftances, joined with Cwn, life. As the duration of the happiness of the righteous, as well as of the punishment of the wicked, is the fubject of which we are treating, the meaning of the word cannot be determined from these instances

according to the fifth rule of interpretation mentioned in the introduction. Under the fecond and third fubdivifions we have mentioned feveral instances in which alwvios fignifies a limited duration, when applied to other fubjects.

It appears, then, from the different fenfes of the adjective avios, and from the much more frequent application of awv the fubftantive, to denote a li mited, than an eternal duration, that no conclufion can be fairly drawn merely from the use of these words, for the abfolute eternity either of the punishment of the wicked, or of the happiness of the righteous. The extent of duration must be determined by the nature of the subject, by other expressions that are applied to it, and by those parts of fcripture which clearly illuftrate the meaning of these terms.

In Matt. xxv. 46, alios is ufed to exprefs the duration of both the punishments and the rewards of a future life. But the fubject in each inftance, the different substantives joined with the adjective, and other paffages of the New Testament, which explain the extent of duration in each cafe, manifest that the fame term should be understood as expreffing different periods. Cwn, life, is the substantive added το αιώνιος, refpecting the righteous; κολασις, chastisement, or corrective punishment, respecting the wicked. Zwn countenances the sense of truly everlafting with regard to the righteous. In this fenfe it was evidently used by the Jewish scribe, who asked Jefus what he fhould do to obtain any alwviov, eter

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