G166 — αἰώνιος (aionios)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G166
Original: αἰώνιος
Transliteration: aionios
Pronunciation: ahee-o'-nee-os
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: From G165 αἰών (aion) — an age, perpetuity
Occurrences: 71 tokens in 69 unique verses across 19 books
First Occurrence: Mat 18:8 — "it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G165 (aion); perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well).

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 67.005 — Duration of Time without Reference to Points or Units of Time: eternal, everlasting - 67.006 — Duration of Time with Reference to Some Point of Time: from long past / until - Key domain neighbors: G165 αἰών (age/era), G126 ἀΐδιος (eternal/everduring), G1336 διηνεκής (always/forever), G3842 πάντοτε (always/at all times), G5550 χρόνος (time/period), G2540 καιρός (time/occasion)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [067] Time

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
eternal	32	46.4%
everlasting	21	30.4%
of eternal	8	11.6%
since the world began	1	1.4%
the world / the world began	2	2.9%
for ever	1	1.4%
Other (various phrases with eternal/everlasting)	4	5.8%

"Eternal" and "everlasting" together account for ~92% of all renderings.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 John	6	5.7
2 Thessalonians	2	4.3
Titus	2	4.3
Philemon	1	4.0
1 Timothy	4	3.5
2 Timothy	2	2.4
Hebrews	6	2.0
John	17	1.9
2 Peter	1	1.6
Romans	6	1.4
2 Corinthians	3	1.2
1 Peter	1	1.0
Galatians	1	0.7
Matthew	5	0.5
Mark	3	0.4
Luke	4	0.3
Acts	2	0.2
Revelation	1	0.2
Jude	2	—

John's writings dominate: the Gospel of John has the highest raw count (17), while 1 John has the highest density (5.7 per 100 verses). The Pauline epistles collectively account for 20 occurrences. The word is entirely NT; it does not appear in the OT (though LXX uses it to render H5769 olam).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Eternal Life as Gift through Christ¶

The dominant usage — "eternal/everlasting life" appears in ~43 of 69 verses. - John 3:16 — "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - John 17:3 — "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ" - Rom 6:23 — "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" - 1 John 5:11 — "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son"

2. Eternal Judgment and Punishment¶

Applied to the consequences of sin — fire, punishment, destruction, damnation. - Mat 25:41 — "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" - Mat 25:46 — "these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" - 2 Thess 1:9 — "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" - Jude 1:7 — "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire"

3. Eternal Attributes of God and the Divine¶

Describing God's character, purpose, Spirit, glory, or covenant. - Rom 16:26 — "according to the commandment of the everlasting God" - Heb 9:14 — "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God" - Heb 13:20 — "the blood of the everlasting covenant" - 1 Pet 5:10 — "the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory"

4. Eternal Realities and Heavenly Things¶

Things unseen, permanent, and belonging to the age to come — weight of glory, habitations, kingdom, salvation, redemption. - 2 Cor 4:17 — "worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" - 2 Cor 4:18 — "the things which are not seen are eternal" - 2 Cor 5:1 — "a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" - Heb 5:9 — "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him"

5. Eternal Purpose and Pre-temporal Reference¶

Pointing backward to God's purpose before time, or forward without limit. - 2 Tim 1:9 — "his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" - Rom 16:25 — "the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began" - Tit 1:2 — "eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began"

6. Eternal Kingdom and Eschatological Hope¶

2 Pet 1:11 — "an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord"
2 Thess 2:16 — "hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace"
Rev 14:6 — "having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ζωή (zoe)	G2222	~43x	"eternal life" / "everlasting life" — the dominant phrase
θεός (theos)	G2316	18x	God as source/guarantor: "gift of God is eternal life," "the everlasting God"
ἔχω (echo)	G2192	18x	"hath eternal life" — present possession of eternal life
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	13x	Christ as mediator: "eternal life through/by Jesus Christ"
Χριστός (Christos)	G5547	13x	Paired with Jesus: "in Christ Jesus"
πιστεύω (pisteuo)	G4100	9x	"believeth... eternal life" — faith as the condition
δίδωμι (didomi)	G1325	9x	"God hath given us eternal life" — life as gift
κύριος (kyrios)	G2962	9x	"our Lord Jesus Christ" in eternal-life contexts
δόξα (doxa)	G1391	5x	"eternal glory" / "eternal weight of glory"
αἷμα (haima)	G129	4x	"blood of the everlasting covenant," "eternal redemption" through blood

Word Family / Cognates¶

G165 αἰών (aion) — noun: an age, era; "for ever" (eis ton aiona); root from which aionios derives. 128 occurrences.

Synonyms¶

G126 ἀΐδιος (aidios) — eternal, everlasting; the closest NT adjective of unending duration
G165 αἰών (aion) — age, eternity; the root noun underlying aionios and its temporal field

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were identified by search_relationships.py.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
αἰών (aion)	G165	"eternal" (2x), "world" (30x), "ever" (51x)	aion is a noun meaning "age" or "era"; aionios is its adjective meaning "pertaining to the ages / eternal"
ἀΐδιος (aidios)	G126	"eternal" (1x), "everlasting" (1x)	aidios (only 2x: Rom 1:20, Jude 1:6) derives from ἀεί (always) and emphasizes continuous duration; aionios derives from aion (age) and covers both past and future
עוֹלָם (olam)	H5769	"everlasting" (54x in OT)	olam is the Hebrew conceptual equivalent; aionios is its standard LXX/NT rendering
עָלַם (alam)	H5957	"everlasting" (4x, Aramaic)	Aramaic equivalent of H5769, used in Daniel for "everlasting dominion"

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
עוֹלָם (olam)	H5769	100	26.16
דּוֹר (dor)	H1755	23	16.51
חֻקָּה (chuqqah)	H2708	20	16.30
בְּרִית (beriyth)	H1285	20	12.08
חֹק (choq)	H2706	14	12.29

H5769 olam is the overwhelmingly dominant Hebrew source (100 co-occurrences, PMI 26.16). The LXX consistently renders olam with aionios. The other Hebrew words (dor, chuqqah, beriyth, choq) appear in contexts where "everlasting" modifies statutes, generations, or covenants — further confirming aionios as the standard Greek adjective for the Hebrew concept of indefinite duration.