Times Eternal And God's Chosen
I find the equivalent of an English prepositional phrase, pr'o chro'non aioni'on, (Westcott and Hort, Titus 1:2), my transliteration, meaning, “before times eternal” (my translation), consisting of a plural noun “times” and adjective “eternal” with the preposition “pro”. I personally would think the phrase implies following the eternity that is/was before it (Ps. 90:2) and before the Earth was created, beginning toward the other infinite extremity. It is translated, “before the world began” in the KJV.
The second verse is a continuation of the first, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began... ” (KJV, Titus 1:2).
God has existed from eternity (KJV, Psalm 90.2). Christians are God's chosen and eternal people: According to Ephesians 1:4 (KJV), we were chosen before the foundation of the world:
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...”.
We were made to be holy and blameless. If God is for us and makes us holy and blameless, how terrible are those who attempt to mock, defile and desecrate us (or even refuse to acknowledge that we belong to God as his chosen), and dare make us have less dignity and destroy us! May God convict and bring guilt and remorse upon those who do not serve him and mistreat actively or passively his chosen. How terrible it is for any of us to allow ourselves to be deceived and self-afflicted! Amen. Faith and confession brings forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)
The same phrase “before times eternal”, my translation, (Westcott and Hort, 2 Ti. 1:9) is used in the Greek for 2 Timothy 1:9 as it is in Titus 1:2, however, the KJV translates it as “before the world began”:
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” (KJV, 2 Timothy 1:9).
Eternity was before the world began and it will continue afterward. So, the time we currently live in is between eternities. We are made as kings and priests in this life although we are a work in progress through his grace, and have a wonderful future to look forward to beyond this life. May we live holy and blameless lives in love. May our local churches be operated by men with pure reputations and without blame (1 Timothy 3:10).
Works Cited
The Greek New Testament. Edited by Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort,
Harper & Brothers, 1881. Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University,
http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg001.perseus-grc1, Accessed 3 May
2026.
Links:
Christians have two birthdays (natural and spiritual) and one death