Eternal Life

How do you translate that?

Dave and I have been looking at the term ‘eternal life’ in the Book of John, and considering how to translate it clearly. If we say that people who believe in Jesus will ‘live forever’ or ‘never die’ without any clarification, it sounds like they will just go on living in this world, getting older and older but never dying. In Greek, the adjective ‘eternal’ (αἰώνιος) comes from the word ‘age’, meaning age-like, lasting an age. For Jews, ‘age’ usually referred to the everlasting age to come. To convey this meaning of eternal life being in a different place/age, not just getting older here on earth, we have translated it ‘live with God forever’. 

I also found it interesting that the use of the Greek term αἰώνιος in ‘eternal life’, means it is closely linked to some other concepts in the Bible about ‘age’. For example: Do not be conformed to this age (αἰωνι) = Do not conform to the pattern of this world (NIV Rom 12:2) The coming age (αἰωνι) = The age to come (NIV Mark 10:30)