Theorem II. The eternity of punishments is established by those testimonies in which they are said to endure unto ages of ages.

13. Demonstration. The duration of the punishments which await the wicked is described by this circumlocution by John the Apostle in the Apocalypse: “And the smoke of their torments shall ascend unto ages of ages, εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων.”¹ And in the same book: “And her smoke ascendeth unto ages of ages, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.”² And again: “They shall be tormented day and night unto ages of ages, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.”³ But the arguments by which it is proved that the circumlocution εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων describes a duration which lacks an end and is bounded by no limit are several in number and most efficacious.

It is proved, I. by the very character of the circumlocution, which excludes every limitation, since the repetition of the same noun of which it consists is the most evident indication of the superlative degree. Hence Glassius⁴ establishes this canon:⁵ “The superlative is expressed by a substantive in the genitive case governing itself. Exod. 26:33: ‘And the veil shall divide between the holy place, וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים, and the holy of holies,’ that is, the most holy place. Num. 3:32: ‘וּנְשִׂיא נְשִׂיאֵי הַלֵּוִי, and the prince of the princes of Levi, Eleazar the son of Aaron,’ that is, the highest prince of the Levitical order. In 1 Tim. 6:15 God is called βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων, καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων [King of those who reign and Lord of those who rule]. Apoc. 1:6: ‘To him be glory and dominion, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων [unto ages of ages].’ In chapters 17:14 and 19:16, the Lamb, or Christ, is called κύριος κυρίων καὶ βασιλεὺς βασιλέων [Lord of lords and King of kings]. This construction is not so proper to the sacred writers that no examples of it are also found in profane authors.”⁶

It is proved, II. by the opposition established between the millennium of the kingdom of the saints and the ages of ages which are attributed equally to rewards and to punishments after the judgment.⁷

It is proved, III. if attention is given to the prophecy of Isaiah from which the author of the divine Apocalypse borrows his words. Isaiah foretells the vengeance of God upon all nations, and particularly upon Idumea, and depicts it thus: “And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its ground into sulphur, and its land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall ascend forever; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; unto ages of ages there shall be none passing through it.”⁸ Now one of two things must be true: either words are lacking by which a desolation destined to endure perpetually may be described, or the words which Isaiah employs and John imitates are altogether of this kind.

It is proved, IV. by an induction from all the passages in which this circumlocution, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, recurs. It is never read in the Alexandrian version, and in the New Testament it is employed only either of the felicity of the elect,⁹ and of the glory which they render to God himself and which, in turn, they shall receive from God in heaven;¹⁰ or of the immortal life which Christ enjoys after the resurrection;¹¹ or of the perpetual kingdom of Christ;¹² or, finally, of the very life of God.¹³ Therefore this is a circumlocution which, as often as it is employed—excepting the passages concerning whose signification we are inquiring—so often expresses a duration bounded by no limits. Therefore those who restrict the circumlocution εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, when employed of the punishments with which the wicked are chastised, to a certain duration destined to cease, disgracefully serve a hypothesis and fight against a certain and ascertained signification.

It is proved, V. by an accurate consideration of the words of the Apocalypse: Καὶ ἓν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζώων ἔδωκε τοῖς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλοις ἑπτὰ φιάλας χρυσᾶς, γεμούσας τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. “And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God who liveth unto ages of ages.”¹⁴ But to what purpose is this description of the life of God as destined to endure eternally? In order that it may be understood what and how great is the force of that indignation with which he pursues the wicked. But the image of the life of God destined to endure perpetually would in no way conduce to amplifying and magnifying the greatness of the vengeance to which the wicked are subject, unless this were the sense: the vengeance upon the wicked will endure as long as God lives.

It is proved, VI. by a comparison of the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων with the corresponding Hebrew phrase עוֹלָם וָעֶד. For it is evident that the latter corresponds to the former, both from the solemn doxology of God which we read in the Psalms,¹⁵ and to which John has regard in the Apocalypse, and from the Chaldean paraphrast, who renders the Hebrew phrase עוֹלָם וָעֶד by עָלְמֵי עָלְמִין, which wholly accords with the Greek expression. Now no one who observes, moreover, that the Hebrew phrase לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד, “unto an age and yet further,” is equivalent to the other and more frequent phrase מֵהָעוֹלָם וְעַד־הָעוֹלָם,¹⁶ will deny that eternity is expressed by it.

Therefore the notion of eternity also underlies the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

But by this phrase is expressed the duration of the punishments with which the wicked are chastised. Therefore the punishments by which God punishes the impious are eternal.

Scholion I

14. But there are those who reply that this conclusion is broken by the fact that texts are present in which the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων expresses a duration which will at some time be ended. But I deny that texts of this kind exist; I deny that even one passage can be adduced in which any notion other than that of perpetual duration underlies the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων; and finally I deny that, besides those commemorated by us,¹⁷ there are other texts in which the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων occurs. Wherefore this objection is sufficiently answered by denying the supposition. But if these things do not suffice for anyone, let him recall anew what we disputed above.¹⁸

Scholion II

15. But, they say, do not the phrases לְעוֹלָם לָעַד, וְעַד־עוֹלָם, and בְּדוֹר דּוֹרִים plainly correspond to the other, עוֹלָם וָעֶד? Yet the former frequently occur in the Psalms,¹⁹ and nevertheless do not signify perpetual duration.

I deny that the former phrases correspond to the latter; I deny that they are twins of this phrase. In the former, עַד precedes; in the latter it follows.

Again, I deny that the texts adduced are of such a kind that they cannot be understood of eternity, but of an eternity which accords with the subject under discussion. Gussetius subtly observed, under the word עוֹלָם, that its native signification is such that everywhere it denotes the duration of a thing, as great as that duration ought to be; or that עוֹלָם has the same value as to endure so long as the thing ought to endure. But the souls of the impious are immortal. Therefore, when עוֹלָם is referred to them, it expresses a duration lacking an end.

Scholion III

16. But do we not read in the prophecy of Jeremiah: “I shall dwell with you in this land which I gave to your fathers, לְמִן־עוֹלָם וְעַד־עוֹלָם, from age unto age”?²⁰

We certainly read this; but what follows from it? We have already observed²¹ that by the word עוֹלָם perpetuity is indeed signified, but a perpetuity corresponding to the subject to which it is attributed. Therefore the phrase וְעַד־עוֹלָם retains its signification, but one accommodated to the subject of the attribution.

In addition, Noldius abundantly proved that the prefix ל, although more than once it is without force, nevertheless sometimes signifies indeed, nay indeed, or even unto. Therefore the words of Jeremiah can be rendered thus: “I shall dwell with you in this land; indeed, I shall dwell with you from age unto age,” so that by one and the same discourse the full and consummate fruit of the covenant entered into with God is explained.

Finally, that which we press most strongly is the usage of speech among the writers of the New Testament. But among the writers of the New Testament the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων does not even once denote anything other than eternity lacking an end.

Scholion IV

17. There remains a final difficulty, which Louis Gerhard and Petersen advance in their Dialogues.²² They say, therefore, that in order to explain the complete eternity of heavenly felicity, the word πάντες [all] is added in the Scriptures, which is in no way done when punishments are under discussion. Hence they bring forward three testimonies, the first from the Epistle to the Ephesians: εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων [unto all the generations of the age of ages];²³ the second from the Epistle of Jude: νῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας [now and unto all the ages];²⁴ and the last from the Psalter: ἡ βασιλεία σου βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, בְּכָל־עוֹלָמִים [thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages].²⁵

But, what is astonishing, these examples miss the point entirely. The second and third miss the point, since they do not contain the phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. The first misses the point, in which we read not the abstract phrase πάντες αἰῶνες [all ages], but the concrete πάσας γενεάς [all generations]. Therefore the true reason for the addition is that the ellipsis is supplied by the word πάντες. I shall state this very thing more clearly: since not αἰῶνες τῶν αἰώνων [ages of ages], but simply αἰῶνες [ages], are commemorated, the elliptical expression is supplied by the addition of the word πάντες [all].