Matthew 10:28

Mat_10:28

Fear not them which kill the body.

-It is prudent to give up the body in order to cave the soul; it is like casting the cargo of the vessel into the sea to preserve the crew from destruction. (Quesnel.)

Body and soul

I. That human nature is made up of body and soul.

II. That the body may be destroyed, while the soul remains uninjured.

III. That the honest working out of duty may expose the body to destruction.

IV. That the neglect of the duty exposes both body and soul to destruction. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

God to be feared rather than man

Christ cautions His disciples against three particular things.

1. Bodily torments.

2. Disgrace.

3. Death.

Which last He cautions against for these three reasons.

1. Because it is but the death of the body.

2. Because hell is more to be feared.

3. Because they live under the special care of Gods ever-seeing Providence, and cannot, therefore, be taken away without His permission.

The words of the text pregnant with great truths.

1. That it is within the power of man to divest us of all our temporal enjoyments.

2. That the soul of man is immortal.

3. That God has absolute power to destroy the whole man.

4. That the thought of damnation ought to have greater weight to engage our fears than the most exquisite miseries that the malice of man is able to inflict. The prosecution of this lies in two things.

I. In showing what is in those miseries which men are able to inflict that may lessen our fears of them.

1. They are temporal, and concern only this life.

2. They do not take away anything from a mans proper perfections.

3. They are all limited by Gods overruling hand.

4. The good that may be extracted out of such miseries as are inflicted by men is often greater than the evil that is endured by them.

5. The fear of those evils seldom prevents them before they come, and never lessens them when they are come.

6. The all-knowing God, who knows the utmost of them better than men or angels, has pronounced them not to be feared.

7. The greatest of these evils have been endured, and that without fear or astonishment.

II. In showing what is implied in the destruction of the body and soul in hell which makes it so formidable. It is the utmost Almighty God can do to a sinner. When tempted, ponder mans inability and Gods infinite ability to destroy. The case of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. (R. South, D. D.)

Fear, anxious and prudential

There are two kinds of fear.

1. A fear of solicitous anxiety, such as makes us let go our confidence in Gods providence, causing our thoughts so to dwell upon the dreadfulness of the thing feared as to despair of a deliverance. And with such a kind of fear Christ absolutely forbids us to fear those that kill the body; it being very derogatory to God, as if His mercy did not afford as great arguments for our hope as the cruelty of man for our fear.

2. The second kind of fear is a prudential caution, whereby a man, from the due estimate of an approaching evil, endeavours his own security. And this kind of fear is not only lawful, but also laudable. For, to what purpose should God have naturally implanted in the heart of man a passion of fear, if it might not be exercised and affected with suitable objects-that is, things to be feared? Now under this sort of fear we may reckon that to which Christ advises His disciples in these expressions-Beware of men, and Flee from one city into another. (R. South, D. D.)

Prison better than hell

Pardon me, Emperor, thou threatenest me only with a prison; but God threatens me with hell. (A Primitive Martyr.)

Fearing God rather than man

Bishop Latimer having one day preached before Henry VIII. a sermon which displeased his majesty, he was ordered to preach again the following Sunday, and to make an apology for the offence he had given. After reading his text the bishop thus began his sermon:-Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the kings most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest; therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then, consider well, Hugh; dost thou not know from whence thou camest-upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God, who is all-present, who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliver thy message faithfully. He then proceeded with the same sermon he had preached the Sunday before, but with considerably more energy. Afterwards, the king sent for him, and demanded of him how he dared preach in such a manner. He, falling on his knees, replied, his duty to his God and his Prince had enforced him thereto, and he had merely discharged his duty and his conscience in what he had spoken. Upon which the king, rising from his seat, and taking the good man by the hand, embraced him, saying, Blessed be God, I have so honest a servant.

Persecution

The devil drives but a poor trade by the persecution of the saints; he tears the nest, but the bird escapes; he cracks the shell, but loses the kernel. (Flavel.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Fear not them which kill the body — Neither miraculous power nor divine promise insures the apostles against bodily harm or bodily death. But they are enjoined to possess a superiority to fear of these corporeal injuries. And in these words is the primal source of the martyr spirit. It is courage founded on faith. Body… soul — We have here the two parts of man’s compound nature placed in contrast. They are two separate things.

The body is not the soul. The soul is not the body. This is demonstrably the doctrine of the text. Them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul — From these words, it follows that the body may be dead, and the soul alive. Men can murder the body, they can extinguish its corporeal life. They may burn it to ashes, and scatter its particles to the four winds. Yet still the soul is alive. No blows can murder it, no fire can burn it, no water drown or quench it. Nothing less than this can be the meaning of the text, and against the text no materialism can stand. But rather fear him — Namely, God. Fear, then, and fear as the dread of punishment, is a right and suitable feeling. And those who say that such a feeling is too base to be indulged, are contradicted by this text. And those who deny any punishment from God after the death of the body, contradict these words of Christ. To destroy both soul and body — The Lord does not say kill both soul and body. To destroy is not to kill, still less to annihilate, but to ruin. Our Lord’s words teach, not the dismissal of the soul from existence, but its catastrophe and ruin in existence. And this is an evil, a destruction, which we are bound to fear, as a possible reality beyond our bodily death. In hell — In Gehenna. This word Gehenna, or valley of Hinnom, in its primitive and literal sense, designated a gorge south of Jerusalem, otherwise called Tophet, where the offals of the city were ordinarily burned. As a place of defilement and perpetual fire, it became to the Jewish mind the emblem, and the word became the name, of the perpetual fire of retribution in a world to come. Hence, loose reasoners have endeavoured to maintain that this valley was the only hell. And upon this sophism the heresy of Universalism is mainly founded. But the present text demonstrates that beyond the death of the body, and therefore in a future state, there is a hell or Gehenna, which the soul may suffer, more terrible than bodily death, and more to be feared than any evil that man can inflict. God is the author of that evil; it lies beyond death, it is executed upon the soul as well as the body. No plausible interpretation can expel these meanings from this text.

The following statement is from Kitto’s Cyclopedia:

“Hell is represented by Sheol in the Old, and by Hades in the New Testament. But hell, as the place of final punishment for sinners, is more distinctively indicated by the term Gehenna, which is the word translated ‘hell’ in Mat_5:22; Mat_5:29-30; Mat_10:28; Mat_18:9; Mat_23:15; Mat_23:33; Mar_9:43; Mar_9:45; Mar_9:47; Luk_12:5; Jas_3:6. It is also distinctively indicated by such phrases as ‘the place of torment,’ (Luk_16:28;) ‘everlasting fire,’ (Mat_25:41;) ‘the hell of fire,’ ‘where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,’ (Mar_9:44.) The dreadful nature of the abode of the wicked is implied in various figurative expressions, such as ‘outer darkness,’ ‘I am tormented in this flame,’ ‘furnace of fire,’ ‘unquenchable fire,’ ‘where their worm dieth not,’ ‘the blackness of darkness,’ ‘torment in fire and brimstone,’ ‘the ascending smoke of their torment,’ ‘the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone,’ (Mat_8:12; Mat_13:42; Mat_22:13; Mat_25:30; Luk_16:24; comp. Mat_25:41; Mar_9:43-48; Jud_1:13; comp. Rev_14:10-11; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:14; Rev_21:8.) The figure by which hell is represented as burning with fire and brimstone is probably derived from the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as that which describes the smoke as ascending from it, (comp. Rev_14:10-11, with Gen_19:24; Gen_19:28.) To this coincidence of description Peter also most probably alludes in 2Pe_2:6.”

Is it not more probably derived from the fire of Gehenna?

In regard to the valley of Hinnom, see supplementary note, page 351 (End of Matthew).

Note to Mat_10:28, page 135.

“The valley of the son of Hinnom,” (Jos_15:8,) so called from some unknown person in very early times, running east and west, intersects the Kedron at the southeast corner of the city. At this place the idolatrous Israelites “burnt their children in the fire” (Jer_7:31) unto Moloch, a deity represented by a brass image with the face of a bull. The drum (toph) which was used to drown the cry of the victim gave the place the name of Tophet, (Jer_19:6.) The deep “gorge” of Gehenna (as its Greek name is written) is described by Prof. Hackett as “almost terrific.” “A wall of frowning rocks and precipices hangs over us on the left, and the southern extremity of Zion rises so steeply on the right that one must almost look up into the zenith in order to scale the top of it with the eye…

I found myself oppressed, at length, with a feeling so desolate and horror-stricken, that it was a relief to get through with my task, and come forth where I could see and hear again the sights and sounds of a living world.” The name of this ancient gloomy yet fiery recess was fifty used to designate hell.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:28 Jesus’ disciples are to fear only God by obeying him and testifying of him; in contrast to human authorities, God’s authority and judgment are unlimited. • hell: See study note on 5:29.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 10:28. Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε, κ.τ.λ., and be not afraid of etc.) The connection is as follows: He who publicly preaches hidden truth, him the world afflicts: he who fears God, ought to fear nothing except Him: he who does not fear God, fears everything except Him: see 1Pe 3:14-15.[490]—ἈΠῸ, of) This preposition is not repeated. I fear Him, is a stronger phrase than I am afraid of Him.[491]—ἈΠΟΚΤΕΝΌΝΤΩΝ,[492] who kill) From the root κτέω are derived κτένω, κτείνω, κτέννω. See Eustathius.—τὸν δυνάμενον, Him who is able[493]) and that too with the highest ability and authority (see Luk 12:5), that is, GOD; see Jas 4:12.—καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα, both soul and body) the two essential parts of man.—ἀπολέσαι, to destroy, to ruin) It is not said to kill: the soul is immortal.—ἐν Γεέννῃ, in hell) It is not easy to preach the truth; and to none are severer precepts given than to the ministers of the Word, as is evident from the epistles to Timothy and Titus. The most efficacious stimulus is on this account employed. Many witnesses to the truth have been first excited, and afterwards led on, by the most fearful terrors from God.

[490] The world admires the magnanimous spirit of those who fear nothing, and regards such a spirit worthy of heroes and great men. And yet the fear of GOD is the only heroism truly worthy of the name; and in the absence of it, all presence of mind, as it is called, is false, and only indicates reckless rashness.—V. g.

[491] i.e. Bengel would render the passage thus—“Be not afraid of them (μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν) which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear HIM (φοβὴθητε τὸν) which is able,” etc.—(I. B.)

[492] E. M. ἀποκτεινόντων.—(I. B.)

[493] In the original there is a play on the words potest and potestas, which cannot be preserved in the translation. The passage runs thus—“Eum qui potest, et quidem cum summa ἐξουσίᾳ, potestate.”—(I. B.)

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_10:28. Τὸν δυνάμενον … γεέννῃ] who is in a position to consign body and soul, at the day of judgment, to everlasting destruction in Gehenna. Comp. Mat_5:29. It is God that is meant, and not the devil (Olshausen, Stier). Comp. Jam_4:12; Wis_16:13-15.

φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό, as a rendering of יָרֵא מִן, and expressing the idea of turning away from the object of fear, occurs often in the LXX. and Apocrypha; the only other instance in the New Testament is Luk_12:4; not found in classical writers at all, though they use φόβος ἀπό (Xen. Cyr. iii. 3. 53; Polyb. ii. 35. 9, ii. 59. 8).

μᾶλλον] potius. Euth. Zigabenus: φόβον οὖν ἀπώσασθε φόβῳ, τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 10:28-31 . New antidote to fear drawn from a greater fear, and from the paternal providence of God. φοβήθητε ἀπὸ like the Hebrew יָרֵא מִן , but also one of several ways in which the Greeks connected this verb with its object. τὸ σῶμα : that is all the persecutor as such can injure or destroy He not only cannot injure the soul, but the more he assails the physical side the safer the spiritual. τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψ . καὶ σ . Who is that? God, say most commentators. Not so, I believe. Would Christ present God under this aspect in such close connection with the Father who cares even for the sparrows? What is to be greatly feared is not the final condemnation, but that which leads to it temptation to forsake the cause of God out of regard to self-interest or self-preservation. Shortly the counsel is: fear not the persecutor, but the tempter, not the man who kills you for your fidelity, but the man who wants to buy you off, and the devil whose agent he is.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. ἀποκτεννόντων. Reduplication of consonants was characteristic of the Alexandrine dialect; Sturz (de dial. Al. et Mac. p. 128), quotes as instances, ἁμαρτάννειν, φθάννειν, καταβέννειν, &c.

28. ἀποκτεννόντων. Among other instances of this Alexandrine form quoted by Sturz (de dial. Mac. et Alex.) are ἁμαρτάννειν (1Ki 2:25) and ἀναβέννειν (Deu 1:41). See Crit. Notes, ch. Mat 10:28.

τὸν δυνάμενον … ἀπολέσαι. Either (1) God, whose power extends beyond this life. Comp. Clem. Rom. Ep. II. 4, where there is a probable reference to this passage, οὐ δεῖ ἡμᾶς φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον ἀλλὰ τὸν θεόν. Or (2) Satan, into whose power the wicked surrender themselves.

ἐν γεέννῃ. See note, ch. Mat 5:22.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Though tyrants be never so raging and cruel, yet we may not fear them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul--In Luk 12:4, "and after that have no more that they can do."

but rather fear him--In Luke (Luk 12:5) this is peculiarly solemn, "I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear," even Him

which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell--A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world; in other words, that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the material as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever. In the corresponding warning contained in Luke (Luk 12:4), Jesus calls His disciples "My friends," as if He had felt that such sufferings constituted a bond of peculiar tenderness between Him and them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. Fear not them which kill the body] των αποκτεινοντων. Those who slay with acts of cruelty, alluding probably to the cruelties which persecutors should exercise on his followers in their martyrdom. But are not able to kill the soul. Hence we find that the body and the soul are distinct principles, for the body may be slain and the soul escape; and, secondly, that the soul is immaterial, for the murderers of the body are not able, μη δυναμενων, have it not in their power, to injure it.

Fear him] It is, not hell-fire we are to fear, but it is God; without the stroke of whose justice hell itself would be no punishment, and whose frown would render heaven itself insupportable. What strange blindness is it to expose our souls to endless ruin, which should enjoy God eternally; and to save and pamper the body, by which we enjoy nothing but the creatures, and them only for a moment!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) Are not able to kill the soul.—Here our Lord uses what we may call the popular dichotomy of man’s nature, and the word “soul” includes all that truly lives and thinks and wills in man, and is therefore equivalent to the “soul and spirit” of the more scientific trichotomy of St. Paul’s Epistles (1Th_5:23).

Fear him which is able . . .—Few words have given rise to interpretations more strangely contrasted than these. Not a few of the most devout and thoughtful commentators, unwilling to admit that our Lord ever presented the Father to men in the character of a destroyer, have urged that the meaning may be thus paraphrased: “Fear not men; but fear the Spirit of Evil, the great Adversary who, if you yield to his temptations, has power to lead you captive at his will, to destroy alike your outward and your inward life, either in the Gehenna of torture or in that of hatred and remorse.” Plausible as it seems, however, this interpretation is not, it is believed, the true one. (1) We are nowhere taught in Scripture to fear the devil, but rather to resist and defy him (Eph_6:11; Jas_4:7); and (2) it is a sufficient answer to the feeling which has prompted the other explanation to say that we are not told to think of God as in any case willing to destroy, but only as having the power to inflict that destruction where all offers of mercy and all calls to righteousness have been rejected. In addition to this, it must be remembered that St. James uses language almost identical (“There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy,” Jas_4:12) where there cannot be a shadow of doubt as to the meaning.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. him which is able to destroy] Either (1) God, whose power extends beyond this life. Clemens Rom. (Ep. II. 4) with a probable reference to this passage says, “We ought not to fear man but God.” Or (2) Satan, into whose power the wicked surrender themselves.

in hell] Literally, in Gehenna. See note, ch. Mat_5:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?.... A farthing, with the Jews, was a very small coin; according to them it contained four grains of silver (b); was the ninety sixth part of a "sela", or shilling (c); and sometimes they make it to be of the same value with an Italian farthing: for they say (d), it is of the value of eight "prutahs": and a "prutah" is the eighth part of an Italian farthing: it is used proverbially to signify a very little thing in the Misna (e);

"if of a command, which is light "as a farthing", which Bartenora explains a "very little thing", the law says, "that it may be well with thee", much more of the weighty commands in the law.''

Hence, in Munster's Hebrew Gospel, it is rendered by , "a little piece of money"; and this was the common price of two sparrows. Our Lord appeals to his disciples, for the truth of it, as a thing well known: according to the question in Luke, five sparrows were sold for two farthings, which makes them somewhat cheaper still. This shows they were of little account.

And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father: some copies add, "which is in heaven"; meaning, that one of them should not be shot, or be killed, without the knowledge, will, and pleasure of God. The design of Christ is to assert the doctrine of providence, as reaching to all creatures and things, even the most minute and worthless: he instances not in men, nor in the beasts of the field, but in the fowls of the air, and in those of the inferior sort, and more useless, in sparrows, yea in little sparrows; as the word may be rendered; whose price was so low, that two are obliged to be put together to fetch the least sum of money current: and yet the providence of God is concerned with each of these; so that not one of them is taken in a snare, or killed with a stone, or shot flying, or sitting, but by the will of God: from whence it may be strongly concluded, that nothing comes by chance; that there is no such thing as contingency with respect to God, though there is to men, with respect to second causes; that all things are firmly ordained by the purpose of God, and are wisely ordered by his providence: and our Lord's further view is, from this consideration, to animate his disciples to a free, open, and constant preaching of his Gospel, not regarding their lives for his sake; for since their heavenly Father, in his providence, takes care of the meanest, even of the most irrational creatures, so that the life of one of them is not taken away without his will, much more will he take care of them; nor could their valuable lives be lost without his will and pleasure. Much such a way of arguing is used by the Jews, who (f) say, , "a bird without God does not perish, much less a man"; or, as it is elsewhere (g) expressed,

"a bird "without God" is not hunted, or taken, how much less does the soul of a man go out of him?''

And again (h),

"a bird "without God" does not fly away, much less the soul of a man.''

Two birds, or sparrows, as the word may be rendered, in Lev 14:4 were used in cleansing the leper; one was killed, and the other let loose into the open field: and though it might be a contingent thing with men which was killed, and which preserved, yet not with God; and some think the allusion is here to that case.

(b) Maimon. in Misn. Peah, c. 8. sect. 1. (c) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maaser Sheni, c. 4. sect. 3. (d) Ib. in Misn. Eracin, c. 8. sect. 1. (e) Cholin, c. 12. sect. 5. (f) T. Hieros. Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. (g) Bereshit Rabba, fol. 69. 3. (h) Midrash Kohelet, fol. 81. 2. & Midrash Esther, fol. 89. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Ver. 28. And fear not them which kill the body] That cruelly kill it, αποκτεινειν (as the word signifies), that wittily torture it, as those primitive persecutors, with all the most exquisite torments that the wit of malice could devise: that kill men so that they may feel themselves to be killed, as Tiberius bade. Odull Gemmet suffered a strange and cruel death in France for religion. For when they had bound him, they took a kind of creatures which live in horse dung, called in French escarbots, and put them unto his navel, covering them with a dish, the which, within a short time, pierced into his belly, and killed him. The tragic story of their cruel handling of William Gardner, martyr, in Portugal, may be read in Mr Foxe’s Martyrology, fol. 1242. At the loss of Heidelberg, Monsieur Millius, an ancient minister and man of God, was taken by the bloody Spaniards, who having first abused his daughter before him, tied a small cord about his head, which with truncheons they wreathed about till they squeezed out his brains. So they rather roasted than burnt many of our martyrs, as Bishop Ridley, and others. Neither would they let the dead rest in their graves, as Paulus Phagius, whose bones they digged up and burnt: so they raged exceedingly upon the dead body of Zwinglius, after they had slain him in battle, &c. {a} Now these that cruelly kill the body we must not fear. Our Saviour saith not, that can kill the body at their pleasure, for that they cannot; but that do kill it, when God permits them to do it. And then, too, occidere possunt, laedere non possunt, as he told the tyrant: {b} they may kill the saints, but cannot hurt them, because their souls are out of gunshot. St Paul’s sufferings reached no further than to his flesh, Col 1:24; his soul was untouched, he possessed that in patience amidst all outward perturbations.

But are not able to kill the soul] As they would do fain, if it were in their power. David often complains that they sought after his soul, that they satanically hated him, &c. Now we commit thy soul to the devil, said the persecutors to John Huss. The Popish priests persuaded the people here at the burning of the martyrs, that when the gunpowder (that was put under their armholes for a readier despatch of them) gave a burst, then the devil fetched away their souls. When Cranmer often cried in the fire, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," a Spanish monk ran to a nobleman then present, and would have persuaded him that those were words of despair, and that he was now entering into hell. {c} Upon the patient and pious death of George Marsh, many of the people said he died a martyr, which caused the bishop shortly after to make a sermon in the cathedral, and therein he affirmed that the said Marsh was a heretic, burnt like a heretic, and a firebrand in hell. Of Nicolas Burton, martyr in Spain, because he embraced death for Christ with all gladness and patience, the Papists gave out that the devil had his soul before he came to the fire, and therefore they said his senses of feeling were past already.

But rather fear him] As one fire, so one fear drives out another. Therefore, in the second commandment, lest the fear of men’s punishment should keep us from worshipping of God, great punishment is threatened to them that worship him not. If I forsake my profession, I am sure of a worse death than Judge Hales had, said that martyr. There is a military law for those that forsake their captain, or else (under a colour of discretion) fall back into the rereward. They that draw back, do it to perdition, Heb 10:39. And is it nothing to lose an immortal soul? to purchase an everlasting death? Should servants fear their masters because they have power over the flesh? Col 3:23; and should not we fear him that can destroy both body and soul in hell? Biron, Marshal of France, derided the Earl of Essex’s piety at his death as more befitting a silly minister than a stout warrior: as if the fear of hell were not a Christian man’s fortitude; as if it were not valour but madness to fight with a flaming fire, that is out of our power to suppress. This Biron, within a few months after, underwent the same death that Essex did, and then if he feared not hell, he was sure to feel it.

{a} In corpus Zuinglii exanime valde saevitum uit, &c. Scultet. Annal., p. 348.

{b} Αποκτειναι με δυναται ο Νερων, βλαψαι δε ου. Thraseds, apud Dion. in Nerone.

{c} Melch. Adam. in Vit. Cranmer.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Them which kill the body - That is, people, who have no power to injure the soul, the immortal part. The body is a small matter in comparison with the soul. Temporal death is a slight thing compared with eternal death. He directs them, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospect of temporal death, but to fear God, who can destroy both soul and body forever. This passage proves that the bodies of the wicked will be raised up to be punished forever.

In hell - See the notes at Mat 5:22.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Fear not those that, &c. Men are afraid of a prison, yet they are not afraid of hell fire. They fear temporal punishments, but dread not the torments of eternal fire. St. Augustine in Baradius. --- He who continually fears hell, will never fall into it; but he who is negligent, will undoubtedly fall. (St. John Chrysostom in Baradius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As I told you before, you will in the publication of my gospel meet with opposition from men. Now that it is preached as it were in darkness, and whispered in men’s ears, there is no great noise made in the world; but the case will be otherwise when it cometh to be publicly revealed, and published upon the housetops. But consider, the enemies can only kill the bodies of my disciples: you have souls as well as bodies; they have no power over your souls; but he that hath sent you to preach, and called you to the owning and profession of the gospel, hath a power over your souls as well as over your bodies, and to punish both in hell. We have the same Luk 12:4,5. There is nothing so effectual to drive out of our hearts a slavish fear of man in the doing of our duty, as a right apprehension of the power of God, begetting a fear of him in our souls.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And. Restating ver. 26 a from a different point of view. Fear not; be not afraid of (Revised Version); mh fobhyhte apo . So Westcott and Herr, with B (sic) and two or three other authorities. The Revised Version (cf. Authorized Version parallel passage, Luk_12:4) expresses the greater difference from vers. 26 and 28b (fobhyhte apo with genitive, a Hebraism expressing avoidance, shrinking, cowardly dreas; fobhyhte with accusative, concentration of regard) at the expense of the lesser (fobhyhte , general command, or perhaps "never once fear;" fobeisye , "ever fear," habit). Them which kill the body. So R. Akiba refused to give up studying and teaching the Law when it was forbidden on pain of death (Talm. Bab., "Berach.," 61 b). But are not able to kill the soul. (Mat_6:25, note) But rather fear. Always (fobeisye). Fear; yes, but the right object (fobeisye de mallon , not mallon de fobeisye), and that intensely (- vide supra). Him which is able (tomenon). Mere power; but in the parallel passage in Luke, authority. The reference is, of course, to God. (cf. Jam_4:12) To destroy (apolesai). The class of words to which this belongs denotes "utter and hopeless ruin; but they convey no idea whether the ruined object ceases to exist or continues a worthless existence" (Professor Agar Beet, in Expositor, IV 1:28). Professor Marshall, in Expositor, IV 3:283, thinks Luke"s variant, "to cast," indicates that our Lord originally used an Aramaic word that properly meant "to set on fire." Both soul and body in hell. (Mat_5:22, note)

What to fear.

Fear has a place in the economy of life, but the common mistake of people is to put it in the wrong place. We have dangers, but not where we commonly look for them. There is a needless fear which should be discouraged, am! there is a necessary fear which has to be cultivated.

I THE DISCOURAGEMENT OF NEEDLESS FEAR.

1. In what it consists. This is the fear of man. The apostles were sent out as sheep among wolves. The gathering opposition of the authorities of Israel against their Master was likely to turn against them also if they showed themselves zealous in advocating his cause. The fear of the disciples under these circumstances would be a type of worldly fear. With us this is not the dread of martyrdom; it is a horror of ridicule, a terror of being despised by fashion.

2. Why it is stimulated. There was real danger to the apostles. Men can kill the body, and Christ does not deny this obvious fact. He does not offer his disciples a smooth course; on the contrary, he distinctly affirms that he has come to send a sword (ver. 34).

3. How it is discouraged. Various considerations prove this to be a needless and even an unworthy fear.

(1) The example of Christ. He is ill used. Why should the disciples complain if they receive the same treatment as their Master (vers. 24, 25)?

(2) The future revelation. Hidden things will be made manifest. Then the true life which seems to end in darkness will be brought to light and fully vindicated. It is hard to die under false opprobrium; but this is not the end. There will i.e. a final declaration and justification of the wronged (vers. 26, 27).

(3) The limit of man"s power. He can kill the body, but he cannot touch the soul. Epictetus"s master cannot destroy his slave"s liberty of soul. The Christian"s persecutor may rob him of his brief bodily life, but not of his eternal spiritual life.

(4) The merciful care of God, who sees every sparrow that falls and counts the very hairs of our head, watching the least-valued creatures, observing the least minutiae of his children"s condition (vers. 29, 30). This we must take on faith; for the sparrow falls in spite of God"s watchfulness. But Christ, who knows God, assures us that it is so; and if God is infinite it must be so.

(5) The guilt of cowardice. Dare we shrink from confessing Christ for fear of man? Such conduct will merit his rejection of us (vers. 32, 33).

II THE CULTIVATION OF LEGITIMATE FEAR.

1. The object of this fear. This is the awful destroyer of souls he who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. There is a childish fear of the devil that haunts the minds of superstitious people a terror that sat like a nightmare on the people of the Middle Ages. Such a fear is but physical. But that which Christ would inculcate is moral the dread of sin. Our great enemy is the spirit of evil, and he attacks us whenever we are tempted. Christ wants us to have a horror of doing wrong.

2. The grounds of this fear.

(1) Soul-destruction. Man can but kill the body; sin kills the soul. This is the peculiar effect of wickedness. If it only brought pain, the infliction might be a merciful chastisement, leading us to repentance. But it does far worse; it kills the soul. The wages of sin is death; the broad road leads to destruction; evil conduct paralyzes our better self, saps our higher energy, robs us of our faculties, blinds, crushes, deadens the life within.

(2) Future ruin. The power of man only appertains to earth; the results of sin are seen after death. Therefore we do well to be on our guard, not with abject terror, but seeking security in Christ. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And be not afraid - of any thing which ye may suffer for proclaiming it. Be afraid of him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell - It is remarkable, that our Lord commands those who love God, still to fear him, even on this account, under this notion.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

hell

(See Scofield "Mat 5:22").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Further consolation:

v. 28. And fear not them which, kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

v. 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

v. 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

v. 31. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Why harbor fear? All that the persecuting enemies can destroy or injure is the body, if God should so permit. Only one fear can and should live in the hearts of Christ’s disciples, a deep-seated fear, an awe and relevance which fears not the punishment, but stands in holy dread of Him that judges and condemns both soul and body in everlasting destruction. For this is not a mere human tempter, who tries to harm his neighbor’s soul by leading him into sin, nor is it Satan, for he has no absolute power over body and soul. It is the great God, the divine Judge Himself. Fear of human enemies implies lack of faith in Him, which may in turn lead to denial and thus to damnation. And again: Why fear? So little is the sparrow valued that one will be sold for one half an assarion , less than one cent; so small is the loss of a single hair that it is not even noticed. And yet: Not a single one of the lowest of birds falls to the ground without God’s consent; the very individual hairs of our head are numbered. Will He whose care embraces the smallest details of every-day life permit harm to befall those that put their unwavering trust in Him? Will He who gives the assurance that we are preferred above many sparrows permit the enemies to harm our bodies?

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here the following particulars,1. An unwarrantable fear condemned; and that is, the sinful, servile, slavish fear of impotent man: Fear not him that can kill the body.

2. A holy, awful, and prudential fear of the omnipotent God commended: Fear him that is able to kill both body and soul.

3. The persons that this duty of fear is recommended to and bound upon-Christ’s own disciples, yea, his ministers and ambassadors; they both may and ought to fear him; not only for his greatness and goodness, but upon the account of his punitive justice; as being able to cast both soul and body into hell, such a fear is not only lawful, but laudable, not only commendable, but commanded, and well becomes the servants of God themselves.

This text contains a certain evidence that the soul doth not perish wih the body; none are able to kill the soul, but it continues after death in a state of sensiblilty; it is granted that men can kill the body, but it is denied that they can kill the soul: it is spoken of temporal death; consequently then the soul doth not perish with the body, nor is the soul reduced int an insensible state by the death of the cody; nor can the soul be supposed to sleep as the body doth till the resurrection; for an intelligible, thinking, and perceivin being, as the soul is, connot be deprived of sensation, thought, and perception, any more than it can lose its being: the soul, after the death of the body, being capable of bliss or misery, must continue in a state of sensation.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Be not afraid. Of men, who can only destroy the body, but cannot harm the soul. But rather fear him, etc. Fear God, who can condemn the soul to banishment. The command is to fear not the displeasure of man, but that of God. In hell. See note on Matt. 5:22. The word in the Greek is Gehenna, not hades.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues to instruct his disciples about the persecution they will endure when they go to preach.

General Information:

Here Jesus also begins to give reasons why his disciples should not be afraid of the persecution they might experience.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul

This is not distinguishing between people who cannot kill the soul and people who can kill the soul. No person can kill the soul. AT: "Do not be afraid of people. They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul" (See: Distinguishing versus Informing or Reminding)

kill the body

This means to cause physical death. If these words are awkward, they can be translated as "kill you" or "kill other people."

body

the part of a person that can be touched, as opposed to the soul or spirit

kill the soul

This means to harm people after they have physically died.

soul

the part of a person that cannot be touched and that lives on after the physical body dies

fear him who is able

You can add "because" to clarify why people should fear God. AT: "fear God because he is able" (See: Connecting Words)

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?

Jesus states this proverb as a question to teach his disciples. AT: "Think about the sparrows. They have so little value that you can buy two of them for only one small coin." (See: Proverbs and Rhetorical Question)

sparrows

These are very small, seed-eating birds. AT: "small birds" (See: Translate Unknowns)

a small coin

This is often translated as the least valuable coin available in your country. It refers to a copper coin worth about one-sixteenth of a day's wage for a laborer. AT: "very little money"

not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge

This can be stated in a positive form. AT: "your Father knows when even one sparrow dies and falls to the ground" (See: Double Negatives)

Father

This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

even the hairs of your head are all numbered

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God knows even how many hairs are on your head" (See: Active or Passive)

numbered

"counted"

You are more valuable than many sparrows

"God values you more than many sparrows"

translationWords

fear

soul

hell

God the Father

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

28.] φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό is a Hebraism, יָרֵא מִן. The present indicates the habit. On the latter part of this verse much question has of late been raised, which never was, as far as I have been able to find, known to the older interpreters. Stier designates it as ‘the only passage of Scripture whose words may equally apply to God and the enemy of souls.’ He himself is strongly in favour of the latter interpretation, and defends it at much length; but I amquite unable to assent to his opinion. It seems to me at variance with the connexion of the discourse, and with the universal tone of Scripture regarding Satan. If such a phrase as φοβεῖσθαι τὸν διάβολον could be instanced as = φυλάξασθαι τὸν δ., or if it could be shewn that any where power is attributed to Satan analogous to that indicated by ὁ δυνάμενος καὶ ψ. κ. σ. ἀπολέσαι ἐν γ., I should then be open to the doubt whether he might not here be intended; but seeing that φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό indicating terror is changed into φοβεῖσθαι so usually followed by τὸν θεόν in a higher and holier sense (there is no such contrast in ver. 26, and therefore that verse cannot be cited as ruling the meaning of this), and that God alone is throughout the Scripture the Almighty dispenser of life and death both temporal and eternal, seeing also that Satan is ever represented as the condemned of God, not ὁ δυν. ἀπολ., I must hold by the general interpretation, and believe that both here and in Luk 12:3-7 our Heavenly Father is intended as the right object of our fear. As to this being inconsistent with the character in which He is brought before us in the next verse, the very change of construction in φοβεῖσθαι would lead the mind on, out of the terror before spoken of, into that better kind of fear always indicated by that expression when applied to God, and so prepare the way for the next verse. Besides, this sense is excellently in keeping with ver. 29 in another way. ‘Fear Him who is the only Dispenser of Death and Life: of death, as here; of life, as in the case of the sparrows for whom He cares.’ ‘Fear Him, above men: trust Him, in spite of men.’

In preparing my 2nd edn., I carefully reconsidered the whole matter, and went over Stier’s arguments with the connexion of the discourse before me, but found myself more than ever persuaded that it is quite impossible, for the above and every reason, to apply the words to the enemy of souls. The similar passage, Jas 4:12, even in the absence of other considerations, would be decisive. Full as his Epistle is of our Lord’s words from this Gospel, it is hardly to be doubted that in εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής, ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι, he has this very verse before him. This Stier endeavours to escape, by saying that ἀπολέσαι barely, as the opposite to σῶσαι, is far from being = ψυχὴν ἀπολέσαι in a context like this. But as connected with νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής, what meaning can ἀπολέσαι bear, except that of eternal destruction? The strong things which he says, that his sense will only be doubted as long as men do not search into the depth of the context, &c. do not frighten me. The depth of this part of the discourse I take to be, the setting before Christ’s messengers their Heavenly Father as the sole object of childlike trust and childlike fear—the former from His love,—the latter from His power,—His power to destroy, it is not said, them, but absolute, body and soul, in hell. Here is the true depth of the discourse: but if in the midst of this great subject, our Lord is to be conceived as turning aside, upholding as an object of fear the chief enemy, whose ministers and subordinates He is at the very moment commanding us not to fear, and speaking of him (which would indeed be an “ἅπαξ λεγόμενον horrendum”) as ὁ δυνάμενος κ. ψ. κ. σῶ. ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ, to my mind all true and deep connexion is broken. It is remarkable how Stier, who so eloquently defends the insertion of ὅτι σοῦ ἡ δύναμις in the Lord’s Prayer, can so interpret here. Reichel (whose works I have not seen) seems by a note in Stier, p. 380, to maintain the above view even more strongly than himself. Lange also, in the Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 721, maintained this view: but has now, Bibelwerk, i. p. 150, retracted it for reasons the same as those urged here.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(L) 28. And fear not those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But fear rather Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.] The second “fear not,” cf. v. 26. The warning there is against fear of slander; here, against fear of persecution to the death: “In your work of making My teaching public you will meet with persecution. Fear not physical death. But fear the wrath of God against unfaithfulness to Him, for He can destroy soul and body together in Gehenna.” The Talmud (B. Rosh ha Sh 16b 17a) says that the school of Shammai taught that at the judgement-day there would be three classes of men. Of these, one would remain in Gehinnom for twelve months, after which their bodies would be destroyed and their souls burned. But, as a rule, both in Apocalyptic and Talmudic literature, the punishment of the wicked is regarded as eternal; cf. Volz, Jüd. Eschat. pp. 286 f. Lk. has: “But I say unto you, my friends, Fear not those who kill the body, and after these things have nothing more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear Him who has power after killing to cast into Gehenna. Yea, I say unto you, fear Him.”

For φοβηθῆτε ἀπό, a Hebraistic idiom, cf. Blass, p. 88.

For γέεννα, cf. on 5:22.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.