Jesus was urging that we fear god

JESUS WAS URGING THAT WE FEAR GOD
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 10:28 28Do not be afraidof those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of
the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
What To Fear
Matthew 10:28
W.F. Adeney
Fearhas a place in the economyof 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 fearwhich should be discouraged, am! there is a
necessaryfearwhich has to be cultivated.
I. THE DISCOURAGEMENTOF NEEDLESSFEAR.
1. In what it consists. This is the fear of man. The apostles were sentout as
sheepamong wolves. The gathering opposition of the authorities of Israel
againsttheir Masterwas likelyto turn againstthem also if they showed
themselves zealous in advocating his cause. The fear of the disciples under

these circumstances wouldbe a type of worldly fear. With us this is not the
dread of martyrdom; it is a horror of ridicule, a terror of being despisedby
fashion.
2. Why it is stimulated. There was realdanger to the apostles. Mencankill 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 declarationand justification of the wronged(vers. 26,
27).
(3) The limit of man's power. He cankill the body, but he cannot touch the
soul. Epictetus's mastercannot destroyhis slave's liberty of soul. The
Christian's persecutormay rob him of his brief bodily life, but not of his
eternal spiritual life.
(4) The merciful care of God, who sees everysparrow that falls and counts the
very hairs of our head, watching the least-valuedcreatures, observing the

leastminutiae 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 Christfor fearof
man? Such conduct will merit his rejectionof 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 whomhe 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 canbut kill the body; sin kills the soul. This is the
peculiar effectof 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 ofsin 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 seenafter death. Therefore we do well to be on our guard, not with abject
terror, but seeking securityin Christ. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Fearnot them which kill the body.
Matthew 10:28
Body and soul
D. Thomas, D. D.
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 honestworking out of duty may expose the body to destruction.

IV. That the neglectof the duty exposes both body and soul to destruction.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
God to be feared rather than man
R. South, D. D.
Christ cautions His disciples againstthree particular things.
1. Bodily torments.
2. Disgrace.
3. Death.WhichlastHe cautions againstfor these three reasons.
1. Becauseit is but the death of the body.
2. Becausehellis more to be feared.
3. Becausethey live under the specialcare of God's ever-seeing Providence,
and cannot, therefore, be taken awaywithout His permission.The words of the
text pregnant with greattruths.
1. That it is within the powerof 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 greaterweightto engage our
fears than the most exquisite miseries that the malice of man is able to inflict.
The prosecutionof 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 concernonly this life.
2. They do not take awayanything from a man's proper perfections.
3. They are all limited by God's overruling hand.
4. The good that may be extracted out of such miseries as are inflicted by men
is often greaterthan the evil that is endured by them.
5. The fear of those evils seldomprevents 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 greatestof 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 cando to a sinner. When tempted, ponder man's
inability and God's infinite ability to destroy. The case ofShadrach, Meshech,
and Abednego.
(R. South, D. D.)
Fear, anxious and prudential
R. South, D. D.
There are two kinds of fear.
1. A fear of solicitous anxiety, such as makes us let go our confidence in God's
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 absolutelyforbids us to fear those that kill the body; it being very
derogatoryto God, as if His mercy did not afford as greatarguments for our
hope as the cruelty of man for our fear.
2. The secondkind of fear is a prudential caution, whereby a man, from the
due estimate of an approaching evil, endeavours his ownsecurity. 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 passionof fear, if it might

not be exercisedand affectedwith suitable objects — that is, things to be
feared? Now under this sort of fear we may reckonthat 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
A Primitive Martyr.
Pardon me, Emperor, thou threatenestme only with a prison; but God
threatens me with hell.
(A Primitive Martyr.)
Fearing God rather than man
Bishop Latimer having one day preachedbefore Henry VIII. a sermonwhich
displeasedhis majesty, he was ordered to preach againthe following Sunday,
and to make an apologyfor 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 king's
most excellentmajesty, who cantake awaythy life if thou offendest;therefore
take heed that thou speakestnota word that may displease. But then, consider
well, Hugh; dost thou not know from whence thou camest — upon whose
messagethou art sent? Even by the greatand mighty God, who is all-present,
who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to castthy soul into hell!
Therefore, take care that thou deliver thy messagefaithfully." He then
proceededwith the same sermon he had preachedthe Sunday before, but with
considerablymore energy. Afterwards, the king sent for him, and demanded
of him how he dared preachin such a manner. He, falling on his knees,
replied, his duty to his God and his Prince had enforcedhim thereto, and he

had merely dischargedhis duty and his consciencein what he had spoken.
Upon which the king, rising from his seat, and taking the goodman by the
hand, embracedhim, saying, "Blessedbe God, I have so honest a servant."
Persecution
Flavel.
The devil drives but a poor trade by the persecutionof the saints;he tears the
nest, but the bird escapes;he cracks the shell, but loses the kernel.
(Flavel.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(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
(1Thessalonians 5:23).
Fearhim which is able . . .—Few words have given rise to interpretations
more strangelycontrastedthan these. Not a few of the most devout and
thoughtful commentators, unwilling to admit that our Lord ever presentedthe
Father to men in the characterofa destroyer, have urged that the meaning
may be thus paraphrased: “Fearnot 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 fearthe devil, but rather to resistand defy him
(Ephesians 6:11; James 4:7); and (2) it is a sufficient answerto the feeling
which has prompted the other explanation to saythat we are not told to think
of God as in any case willing to destroy, but only as having the powerto 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 almostidentical (“There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy,” James 4:12)where there cannot be a shadow of doubt as to the
meaning.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
10:16-42 Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were
to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with
worldly or political concerns, allappearance of evil or selfishness,and all
underhand measures. Christforetold troubles, not only that the troubles
might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them
what they should suffer, and from whom. Thus Christ has dealt fairly and
faithfully with us, in telling us the worstwe canmeet with in his service;and
he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost.
Persecutorsare worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own
kind. The strongestbonds of love and duty, have often been broken through
from enmity againstChrist. Sufferings from friends and relations are very
grievous;nothing cuts more. It appears plainly, that all who will live godly in
Christ Jesus must suffer persecution;and we must expectto enter into the
kingdom of God through many tribulations. With these predictions of trouble,
are counsels andcomforts for a time of trial. The disciples of Christ are hated
and persecutedas serpents, and their ruin is sought, and they need the
serpent's wisdom. Be ye harmless as doves. Not only, do nobody any hurt, but
bear nobody any ill-will. Prudent care there must be, but not an anxious,
perplexing thought; let this care be castupon God. The disciples of Christ
must think more how to do well, than how to speak well. In case ofgreatperil,

the disciples of Christ may go out of the way of danger, though they must not
go out of the way of duty. No sinful, unlawful means may be used to escape;
for then it is not a door of God's opening. The fear of man brings a snare, a
perplexing snare, that disturbs our peace;an entangling snare, by which we
are drawn into sin; and, therefore, it must be striven and prayed against.
Tribulation, distress, and persecutioncannot take awayGod's love to them, or
theirs to him. FearHim, who is able to destroy both souland body in hell.
They must deliver their messagepublicly, for all are deeply concernedin the
doctrine of the gospel. The whole counselof God must be made known, Ac
20:27. Christ shows them why they should be of goodcheer. Their sufferings
witnessedagainstthose who oppose his gospel. When God calls us to speak for
him, we may depend on him to teachus what to say. A believing prospectof
the end of our troubles, will be of greatuse to support us under them. They
may be borne to the end, because the sufferers shall be borne up under them.
The strength shall be according to the day. And it is greatencouragementto
those who are doing Christ's work, that it is a work which shall certainly be
done. See how the care of Providence extends to all creatures, evento the
sparrows. This should silence all the fears of God's people; Ye are of more
value than many sparrows. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
This denotes the accountGod takes and keeps of his people. It is our duty, not
only to believe in Christ, but to profess that faith, in suffering for him, when
we are calledto it, as wellas in serving him. That denial of Christ only is here
meant which is persistedin, and that confessiononly can have the blessed
recompence here promised, which is the real and constantlanguage offaith
and love. Religionis worth every thing; all who believe the truth of it, will
come up to the price, and make every thing else yield to it. Christ will leadus
through sufferings, to glory with him. Those are best prepared for the life to
come, that sit most loose to this present life. Though the kindness done to
Christ's disciples be ever so small, yet if there be occasionforit, and ability to
do no more, it shall be accepted. Christdoes not say that they deserve a
reward; for we cannot merit any thing from the hand of God; but they shall
receive a rewardfrom the free gift of God. Let us boldly confess Christ, and
show love to him in all things.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible

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 comparisonwith the
soul. Temporaldeath is a slight thing comparedwith eternal death. He directs
them, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospectof temporal death, but to
fear God, who can destroy both soul and body forever. This passageproves
that the bodies of the wickedwill be raised up to be punished forever.
In hell - See the notes at Matthew 5:22.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul—In
Lu 12:4, "and after that have no more that they can do."
but rather fear him—In Luke (Lu 12:5) this is peculiarly solemn, "I will
forewarnyou whom ye shall fear," even Him
which is able to destroyboth soul and body in hell—A decisive proof this that
there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternalworld; 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
containedin Luke (Lu 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.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
As I told you before, you will in the publication of my gospelmeet 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 comethto 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 powerover your
souls;but he that hath sent you to preach, and calledyou to the owning and
professionof the gospel, hath a powerover your souls as well as over your
bodies, and to punish both in hell. We have the same Luke 12:4,5. There is
nothing so effectualto drive out of our hearts a slavishfear of man in the
doing of our duty, as a right apprehension of the powerof God, begetting a
fear of him in our souls.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And fear not them which kill the body,.... This is a "periphrasis" of bloody
persecutors, who, not content to revile, scourge, andimprison, put the faithful
ministers of Christ to death, in the most cruel and torturing manner; and yet
are not so to be feared and dreaded by them, as to discourage and divert them
from the performance of their important work and office;for, as Luke says,
Luke 12:4 "after" that they "have no more than they can do". This is all they
are capable of doing, even by divine permission, when they are suffered to run
the greatestlengths in violence againstthe saints;this is the utmost of their
efforts, which Satan, and their own wickedhearts, can put them upon, or is in
the powerof their hands to perform: and the taking awayof the lives of good
men is of no disadvantage to them; but sends them the soonerout of this
troublesome world to their father's house, to partake of those joys that will
never end; so that they have nothing to fear from their most implacable
enemies;but should boldly and bravely go on in their master's service, openly,
freely, faithfully, and fully discharging the work they were called unto: for,
the loss of a corporallife is no loss to them, their souls live after death, in
eternal happiness;and in a little time God will raise up their bodies, and
reunite them to their souls, and be for everhappy together. A noble argument
this, which our Lord makes use of, to engage his disciples to a public and
diligent ministration of the Gospel, in spite of all opposers;who, when they
have vented all their malice, can only take awaya poor, frail, mortal life; and
which, if they did not, in a little time would ceasein course:

but are not able to kill the soul; which is immortal, and cannotbe touchedby
the sword, by fire and faggot, or any instruments of violence:it is immortal, it
survives the body, and lives in a separate state, enjoying happiness and bliss,
whilst the body is in a state of death:
but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. This is
a description of God, and of his power, who is able to do that which men are
not: all that they can do, by divine permission, is to kill the body; but he is
able to "destroy", that is, to torment and punish both body and soul "in hell",
in everlasting burnings; for neither soul nor body will be annihilated; though
this he is able to do. As the former clause expressesthe immortality of the
soul, this supposes the resurrectionof the body; for how otherwise should it be
destroyed, or punished with the soul in hell? Now this awful being which is
able to hurl, and will hurl all wickedand slothful, unfaithful and unprofitable,
cowardlyand temporising servants and ministers, soul and body, into the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone, is to be feared and dreaded; yea, indeed,
he only is to be feared, and to be obeyed: cruel and persecuting men are not to
be feared at all; God alone should be our fear and dread; though the
argument seems to be formed from the lesserto the greater;yet this, is the
sense ofthe word "rather", that God is to be feared, not chiefly and
principally only, but solely; and in some versions that word is left out, as in
the Arabic, and Ethiopic, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel.
Geneva Study Bible
And {n} 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 souland body in hell.
(n) Though tyrants rage and are cruel, yet we must not fear them.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 10:28. Τὸν δυνάμενον… γεέννῃ] who is in a position to consignbody
and soul, at the day of judgment, to everlasting destruction in Gehenna.
Comp. Matthew 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 ‫י‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫א‬‫ִמ‬‫ן‬, and expressing the idea of turning
awayfrom the objectof fear, occurs often in the LXX. and Apocrypha; the
only other instance in the New Testamentis Luke 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: φόβονοὖν ἀπώσασθε φόβῳ, τὸν τῶν
ἀνθρώπων τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 10:28-31. New antidote to fear drawn from a greaterfear, and from
the paternal providence of God. φοβήθητε ἀπὸ like the Hebrew ‫י‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫א‬‫ִמ‬‫ן‬, but
also one of severalways in which the Greeks connectedthis verb with its
object.—τὸ σῶμα:that is all the persecutoras such can injure or destroy He
not only cannotinjure the soul, but the more he assails the physical side the
saferthe spiritual.—τὸνδυνάμενον καὶ ψ. καὶ σ. Who is that? God, say most
commentators. Notso, I believe. Would Christ present God under this aspect
in such close connectionwith the Fatherwho cares evenfor the sparrows?
What is to be greatly fearedis not the final condemnation, but that which
leads to it—temptation to forsake the cause ofGod out of regard to self-
interest or self-preservation. Shortly the counselis: 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 agenthe is.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges

28. him which is able to destroy] Either (1) God, whose powerextends 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 powerthe
wickedsurrender themselves.
in hell] Literally, in Gehenna. See note, ch. Matthew 5:22.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 10:28. Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε, κ.τ.λ., andbe not afraid of etc.)The
connectionis as follows:He who publicly preaches hidden truth, him the
world afflicts: he who fears God, ought to fearnothing except Him: he who
does not fearGod, fears everything exceptHim: see 1 Peter3:14-15.[490]—
ἈΠῸ, of) This preposition is not repeated. I fear Him, is a strongerphrase
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 Luke 12:5), that is, GOD;see Jam 4:12.—καὶ ψυχὴνκαὶ σῶμα,
both soul and body) the two essentialparts of man.—ἀπολέσαι, to destroy, to
ruin) It is not said to kill: the soulis immortal.—ἐν Γεέννῃ, in hell) It is not
easyto preach the truth; and to none are severerprecepts 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 accountemployed. 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 greatmen. And yet the fear of
GOD is the only heroism truly worthy of the name; and in the absence of it, all
presence ofmind, as it is called, is false, and only indicates reckless
rashness.—V. g.

[491]i.e. Bengelwould render the passagethus—“Be notafraid 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 potestand potestas, which
cannot be preservedin the translation. The passageruns thus—“Eum qui
potest, et quidem cum summa ἐξουσίᾳ, potestate.”—(I. B.)
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 28. - And. Restating ver. 26a from a different point of view. Fearnot; be
not afraid of (RevisedVersion); μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπό. So Westcottand Herr, with
B (sic) and two or three other authorities. The RevisedVersion (cf.
Authorized Version parallel passage, Luke 12:4) expressesthe greater
difference from vers. 26 and 28b (φοβηθῆτε ἀπό with genitive, a Hebraism
expressing avoidance, shrinking, cowardlydreas; φοβηθῆτε with accusative,
concert-trationof regard) at the expense of the lesser(φοβηθῆτε, general
command, or perhaps "never once fear;" φοβεῖσθε, "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.,'61b). But
are not able to kill the soul (Matthew 6:25, note). But rather fear. Always
(φοβεῖσθε). Fear;yes, but the right object(φοβεῖσθε δὲ μᾶλλον, not μᾶλλον δὲ
φοβεῖσθε), and that intensely (-vide supra). Him which is able (τὸν
δυνάμενον). Mere power; but in the parallelpassage in Luke, authority. The
reference is, of course, to God (cf. James 4:12). To destroy (ἀπολέσαι). The
class ofwords to which this belongs denotes "utter and hopeless ruin; but they
convey no idea whether the ruined objectceasesto exist or continues a
worthless existence"(ProfessorAgar 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 seton
fire." Both soul and body in hell (Matthew 5:22, note). Matthew 10:28
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Fearnot them which kill the body - Των αποκτεινοντων. Those who slay with
acts of cruelty, alluding probably to the cruelties which persecutors should
exercise onhis followers in their martyrdom. But are not able to kill the soul.
Hence we find that the body and the soulare distinct principles, for the body
may be slain and the soulescape;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.
Fearhim - 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 heavenitself 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!
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.

Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/matthew-
10.html. 1832.
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Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
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 comparisonwith the
soul. Temporaldeath is a slight thing comparedwith eternal death. He directs
them, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospectof temporal death, but to
fear God, who can destroy both soul and body forever. This passageproves
that the bodies of the wickedwill be raised up to be punished forever.
In hell - See the notes at Matthew 5:22.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". "Barnes'Notesonthe
Whole Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/matthew-
10.html. 1870.
The Biblical Illustrator

Matthew 10:28
Fearnot 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 ofthe vesselinto 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 honestworking out of duty may expose the body to destruction.
IV. That the neglectof the duty exposes both body and soul to destruction. (D.
Thomas, D. D.)
God to be feared rather than man

Christ cautions His disciples againstthree particular things.
1. Bodily torments.
2. Disgrace.
3. Death.
Which lastHe cautions againstfor these three reasons.
1. Becauseit is but the death of the body.
2. Becausehellis more to be feared.
3. Becausethey live under the specialcare of God’s ever-seeing Providence,
and cannot, therefore, be taken awaywithout His permission.
The words of the text pregnant with greattruths.
1. That it is within the powerof 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 greaterweightto engage our
fears than the most exquisite miseries that the malice of man is able to inflict.
The prosecutionof this lies in two things.
I. In showing what is in those miseries which men are able to inflict that may
lessenour fears of them.
1. They are temporal, and concernonly this life.
2. They do not take awayanything from a man’s proper perfections.
3. They are all limited by God’s overruling hand.
4. The good that may be extractedout of such miseries as are inflicted by men
is often greaterthan the evil that is endured by them.
5. The fear of those evils seldomprevents 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 greatestof 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 cando to a
sinner. When tempted, ponder man’s inability and God’s infinite ability to
destroy. The case ofShadrach, 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 God’s
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 absolutelyforbids us to fear those that kill the body; it being very
derogatoryto God, as if His mercy did not afford as greatarguments for our
hope as the cruelty of man for our fear.
2. The secondkind of fear is a prudential caution, whereby a man, from the
due estimate of an approaching evil, endeavours his ownsecurity. 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 passionof fear, if it might
not be exercisedand affectedwith suitable objects-thatis, things to be feared?
Now under this sort of fear we may reckonthat to which Christ advises His

disciples in these expressions-“Beware ofmen,” and “ Flee from one city into
another. (R. South, D. D.)
Prison better than hell
Pardon me, Emperor, thou threatenestme only with a prison; but God
threatens me with hell. (A Primitive Martyr.)
Fearing God rather than man
Bishop Latimer having one day preachedbefore Henry VIII. a sermonwhich
displeasedhis majesty, he was ordered to preach againthe following Sunday,
and to make an apologyfor 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 king’s
most excellentmajesty, who cantake awaythy life if thou offendest;therefore
take heed that thou speakestnota word that may displease. But then, consider
well, Hugh; dost thou not know from whence thou camest-uponwhose
messagethou art sent? Even by the greatand mighty God, who is all-present,
who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to castthy soul into hell!
Therefore, take care that thou deliver thy messagefaithfully.” He then
proceededwith the same sermon he had preachedthe Sunday before, but with
considerablymore energy. Afterwards, the king sent for him, and demanded
of him how he dared preachin such a manner. He, falling on his knees,
replied, his duty to his God and his Prince had enforcedhim thereto, and he
had merely dischargedhis duty and his consciencein what he had spoken.
Upon which the king, rising from his seat, and taking the goodman by the
hand, embracedhim, saying, “Blessedbe God, I have so honest a servant.”

Persecution
The devil drives but a poor trade by the persecutionof the saints;he tears the
nest, but the bird escapes;he cracks the shell, but loses the kernel. (Flavel.)
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Exell, JosephS. "Commentary on "Matthew 10:28". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/matthew-10.html. 1905-
1909. New York.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him who is able to destroy both souland body in hell.
Tertullian wrote of this:
Here we have a recognitionof the natural immortality of the soul, which
cannot be killed by men; and of the mortality of the body which may be killed:
whence we learn that the resurrectionof the dead is a resurrectionof the

flesh; for, unless it were raisedagain, it would be impossible for the flesh to be
"killed in hell."[10]
The question of hell, that is, "Gehenna," will be examined more fully under
Matthew 25:41, which see. Suffice it here to note that Gehenna, or the Valley
of Hinnon, was used by Christ as a metaphor to describe the place of eternal
punishment of the wicked. Whatevermetaphor was employed, Christ left no
doubt of the reality and dreadful nature of that punishment.
ENDNOTE:
[10] Tertullian, On the Resurrectionin Ibid., Vol. III, p. 570.
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/matthew-10.html. Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And fear not them which kill the body,.... This is a "periphrasis" of bloody
persecutors, who, not content to revile, scourge, andimprison, put the faithful
ministers of Christ to death, in the most cruel and torturing manner; and yet

are not so to be feared and dreaded by them, as to discourage and divert them
from the performance of their important work and office;for, as Luke says,
Luke 12:4 "after" that they "have no more than they can do". This is all they
are capable of doing, even by divine permission, when they are suffered to run
the greatestlengths in violence againstthe saints;this is the utmost of their
efforts, which Satan, and their own wickedhearts, can put them upon, or is in
the powerof their hands to perform: and the taking awayof the lives of good
men is of no disadvantage to them; but sends them the soonerout of this
troublesome world to their father's house, to partake of those joys that will
never end; so that they have nothing to fear from their most implacable
enemies;but should boldly and bravely go on in their master's service, openly,
freely, faithfully, and fully discharging the work they were called unto: for,
the loss of a corporallife is no loss to them, their souls live after death, in
eternal happiness;and in a little time God will raise up their bodies, and
reunite them to their souls, and be for everhappy together. A noble argument
this, which our Lord makes use of, to engage his disciples to a public and
diligent ministration of the Gospel, in spite of all opposers;who, when they
have vented all their malice, can only take awaya poor, frail, mortal life; and
which, if they did not, in a little time would ceasein course:
but are not able to kill the soul; which is immortal, and cannotbe touchedby
the sword, by fire and faggot, or any instruments of violence:it is immortal, it
survives the body, and lives in a separate state, enjoying happiness and bliss,
whilst the body is in a state of death:
but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. This is
a description of God, and of his power, who is able to do that which men are
not: all that they can do, by divine permission, is to kill the body; but he is
able to "destroy", that is, to torment and punish both body and soul "in hell",
in everlasting burnings; for neither soul nor body will be annihilated; though
this he is able to do. As the former clause expressesthe immortality of the
soul, this supposes the resurrectionof the body; for how otherwise should it be

destroyed, or punished with the soul in hell? Now this awful being which is
able to hurl, and will hurl all wickedand slothful, unfaithful and unprofitable,
cowardlyand temporising servants and ministers, soul and body, into the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone, is to be feared and dreaded; yea, indeed,
he only is to be feared, and to be obeyed: cruel and persecuting men are not to
be feared at all; God alone should be our fear and dread; though the
argument seems to be formed from the lesserto the greater;yet this, is the
sense ofthe word "rather", that God is to be feared, not chiefly and
principally only, but solely; and in some versions that word is left out, as in
the Arabic, and Ethiopic, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "The New JohnGill Exposition
of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/matthew-10.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
And n fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
(n) Though tyrants rage and are cruel, yet we must not fear them.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/matthew-10.html.
1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul — In
Luke 12:4, “and after that have no more that they can do.”
but rather fear him — In Luke (Luke 12:5) this is peculiarly solemn, “I will
forewarnyou whom ye shall fear,” even Him
which is able to destroyboth soul and body in hell — A decisive proof this
that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternalworld; in
other words, that the torment that awaits the lostwill 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 (Luke 12:4), Jesus calls His disciples “My friends,”
as if He had felt that such sufferings constituteda bond of peculiar tenderness
betweenHim and them.
Copyright Statement

These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Matthew 10:28". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/matthew-10.html.
1871-8.
People's New Testament
Be not afraid. Of men, who can only destroythe body, but cannot harm the
soul.
But rather fear him, etc. FearGod, who can condemn the soulto banishment.
The command is to fearnot the displeasure of man, but that of God.
In hell. See note on Matthew 5:22. The word in the Greek is {Gehenna,}not
{hades}.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.

Original work done by Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 atThe
RestorationMovement Pages.
Bibliography
Johnson, BartonW. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "People's New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pnt/matthew-
10.html. 1891.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Destroyboth soul and body in hell (και πσυχην και σωμα απολεσαι εν γεεννηι
— kai psuchēn kai sōma apolesaiengeennēi). Note “soul” here of the eternal
spirit, not just life in the body. “Destroy” here is not annihilation, but eternal
punishment in Gehenna (the real hell) for which see note on Matthew 5:22.
Bruce thinks that the devil as the tempter is here meant, not God as the judge,
but surely he is wrong. There is no more neededlessontoday than the fear of
God.
Copyright Statement
The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Robertson's Word
Pictures of the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/matthew-10.html.
Broadman Press 1932,33.Renewal1960.

Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
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 fearhim,
even on this account, under this notion29,30.The particular providence of
God is another reasonfor your not fearing man. For this extends to the very
smallestthings. And if he has such care over the most inconsiderable
creatures, how much more will he take care of you, (provided you confess him
before men, before powerful enemies of the truth,) and that not only in this
life, but in the other also?
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "JohnWesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/matthew-10.html. 1765.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
28.And fear not those who kill the body To excite his disciples to despise
death, Christ employs the very powerful argument, that this frail and
perishing lift ought to be little regardedby men who have been createdfor a
heavenly immortality. The statementamounts to this, that if believers will
considerfor what purpose they were born, and what is their condition, they
will have no reasonto be so earnestin desiring an earthly life. But the words
have still a richer and fuller meaning: for we are here taught by Christ that
the fearof God is dead in those men who, through dread of tyrants, fall from
a confessionoftheir faith, and that a brutish stupidity reigns in the hearts of
those who, through dread of death, do not hesitate to abandon that confession.
We must attend to the distinction betweenthe two opposite kinds of fear. If
the fearof God is extinguished by the dread of men, is it not evident that we
pay greaterdeference to them than to God himself? Hence it follows, that
when we have abandoned the heavenly and eternal life, we reserve nothing
more for ourselves than to be like the beasts that perish, (Psalms 49:12.)God
alone has the power of bestowing eternallife, or of inflicting eternal death. We
forgetGod, because we are hurried awayby the dread of men. Is it not very
evident that we seta higher value on the shadowylife of the body (595)than
on the eternal condition of the soul; or rather, that the heavenly kingdom of
God is of no estimationwith us, in comparisonof the fleeting and vanishing
shadow of the presentlife?
These words of Christ ought therefore to be explained in this manner:
“Acknowledgethat you have receivedimmortal souls, which are subjectto the
disposalof God alone, and do not come into the power of men. The
consequence willbe, that no terrors or alarms which men may employ will
shake your faith. “Forhow comes it that the dread of men prevails in the
struggle, but because the body is preferred to the soul, and immortality is less
valued than a perishing life?”

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Calvin's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/matthew-
10.html. 1840-57.
Scofield's ReferenceNotes
hell
(See Scofield"Matthew 5:22").
Copyright Statement
These files are consideredpublic domain and are a derivative of an electronic
edition that is available in the Online Bible Software Library.
Bibliography
Scofield, C. I. "ScofieldReferenceNoteson Matthew 10:28". "Scofield
Reference Notes(1917Edition)".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/srn/matthew-10.html. 1917.

John Trapp Complete Commentary
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
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 whichlive in
horse dung, calledin Frenchescarbots, andput them unto his navel, covering
them with a dish, the which, within a short time, piercedinto 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 ancientminister and man of God,
was takenby the bloody Spaniards, who having first abused his daughter
before him, tied a small cord about his head, which with truncheons they
wreathedabout till they squeezedout his brains. So they rather roastedthan
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 ragedexceedinglyupon 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 Savioursaith not, that cankill 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 reachedno further than to his flesh,
Colossians 1:24;his soul was untouched, he possessedthat 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
satanicallyhated him, &c. Now we commit thy soulto 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 despatchof them) gave a burst, then the devil fetched
awaytheir 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 saidhe died a martyr, which causedthe 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 embraceddeath 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 saidhis senses offeeling were past
already.
But rather fear him] As one fire, so one fear drives out another. Therefore, in
the secondcommandment, lestthe fear of men’s punishment should keepus
from worshipping of God, greatpunishment is threatenedto 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 colourof discretion)fall back into the
rereward. They that draw back, do it to perdition, Hebrews 10:39. And is it
nothing to lose an immortal soul? to purchase an everlasting death? Should
servants fear their masters because they have powerover the flesh?
Colossians 3:23;and should not we fear him that candestroy both body and
soul in hell? Biron, Marshalof 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 powerto suppress. This Biron,

within a few months after, underwent the same death that Essexdid, 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.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/matthew-
10.html. 1865-1868.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Matthew 10:28. And fear not them, &c.— This was a saying familiar to the
Jews. See Wisdomof Solomon16:13-15 and compare Isaiah51:7-8. Our
Saviour most wiselycautions his disciples againstthe fear of man, since they

were going to encounterall the powers of the world and of darkness, by
promoting the gospelof purity, and of true holiness.
Dr. Doddridge observes very well, that these words contain a certain
argument, to prove the existence of the soul in a separate state, and its
perception of that existence, else the soul would be as properly killed as the
body; and accordinglyhe paraphrases the words, "Fearnot them who can
only kill the mortal body, but cannot kill or hurt the immaterial soul, which
will still survive in allits vigour, while its tabernacle lies in ruins." Our
Saviour, insteadof the word αποκτειναι, to kill, makes use of the word
απολεσαι, to destroy, in the secondclause, whichcarries with it the
significationalso of tormenting. See Grotius. What an awful verse is this
before us! How fit is it that this eternal and almighty God should be the object
of our humble fear, and that in compassionwith him we should fear nothing
else!All the terrors, and all the flatteries of the world, are disarmed by this:—
an idea which in every state of life should engage us to be faithful to God; so
shall we be most truly faithful to ourselves.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/matthew-10.html. 1801-
1803.

Expository Notes with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament
Observe here the following particulars,1. An unwarrantable fear condemned;
and that is, the sinful, servile, slavish fear of impotent man: Fearnot 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 fearhim; not only for his greatness andgoodness,but upon the
accountof his punitive justice;as being able to castboth soul and body into
hell, such a fear is not only lawful, but laudable, not only commendable, but
commanded, and wellbecomes the servants of God themselves.
This text contains a certainevidence 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 cankill the body, but it is denied that they
can kill the soul: it is spokenof temporal death; consequentlythen 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 sleepas the body
doth till the resurrection;for an intelligible, thinking, and perceivin being, as
the soulis, 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.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Burkitt, William. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". ExpositoryNotes with
PracticalObservations onthe New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wbc/matthew-10.html. 1700-
1703.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
28.]φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό is a Hebraism, ‫י‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫א‬‫ִמ‬‫ן‬ . 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 ofScripture 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 τὸνδιάβολονcould be instancedas = φυλάξασθαι τὸνδ., or if it
could be shewnthat 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 changedinto φοβεῖσθαι so usually followedby τὸν
θεόν in a higher and holier sense (there is no such contrastin Matthew 10:26,
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 Satanis ever
representedas the condemned of God, not ὁ δυν. ἀπολ., I must hold by the
generalinterpretation, and believe that both here and in Luke 12:3-7 our
Heavenly Father is intended as the right object of our fear. As to this being
inconsistentwith the characterin which He is brought before us in the next
verse, the very change of constructionin φοβεῖσθαι would leadthe mind on,

out of the terror before spokenof, into that better kind of fear always
indicated by that expressionwhenapplied to God, and so prepare the way for
the next verse. Besides, this sense is excellentlyin keeping with Matthew 10:29
in another way. ‘FearHim who is the only Dispenserof Deathand Life: of
death, as here; of life, as in the case ofthe sparrows forwhom He cares.’‘Fear
Him, above men: trust Him, in spite of men.’
In preparing my 2nd edn., I carefully reconsideredthe whole matter, and
went over Stier’s arguments with the connexionof the discourse before me,
but found myself more than ever persuadedthat it is quite impossible, for the
above and every reason, to apply the words to the enemy of souls. The similar
passage, James4:12, even in the absence of other considerations, wouldbe
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 = ψυχὴνἀπολέσαι in a context like this. But as connectedwith
νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής, whatmeaning can ἀπολέσαι bear, exceptthat of eternal
destruction? The strong things which he says, that his sense will only be
doubted as long as men do not searchinto 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 theirHeavenly Fatheras the sole objectof
childlike trust and childlike fear—the former from His love,—the latter from
His power,—His powerto 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
greatsubject, our Lord is to be conceivedas turning aside, upholding as an
objectof fearthe chief enemy, whose ministers and subordinates He is at the
very moment commanding us not to fear, and speaking ofhim (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, canso 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, retractedit for
reasons the same as those urged here.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". Greek TestamentCritical
ExegeticalCommentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/matthew-10.html. 1863-
1878.
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and ExegeticalCommentaryon the New Testament
Matthew 10:28. τὸν δυνάμενον … γεέννῃ] who is in a position to consignbody
and soul, at the day of judgment, to everlasting destruction in Gehenna.
Comp. Matthew 5:29. It is God that is meant, and not the devil (Olshausen,
Stier). Comp. James 4:12; Wisdom of Solomon16:13-15.
φοβεῖσθαι ἀπό, as a rendering of ‫י‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫א‬‫ִמ‬‫ן‬, and expressing the idea of turning
awayfrom the objectof fear, occurs often in the LXX. and Apocrypha; the
only other instance in the New Testamentis Luke 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: φόβονοὖν ἀπώσασθε φόβῳ, τὸν τῶν
ἀνθρώπων τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Meyer, Heinrich. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". Heinrich Meyer's
Critical and ExegeticalCommentary on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/matthew-10.html. 1832.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Matthew 10:28. καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε, κ. τ. λ., and be not afraid of etc.) The
connectionis as follows:He who publicly preaches hidden truth, him the
world afflicts: he who fears God, ought to fearnothing except Him: he who
does not fearGod, fears everything exceptHim: see 1 Peter3:14-15.(490)—
ἀπὸ, of) This preposition is not repeated. I fear Him, is a strongerphrase 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 Luke
12:5), that is, GOD see James 4:12.— καὶ ψυχὴνκαὶ σῶμα, both soul and
body) the two essentialparts of man.— ἀπολέσαι, to destroy, to ruin) It is not
said to kill: the soul is immortal.— ἐν γεέννῃ, in hell) It is not easyto preach
the truth; and to none are severerprecepts 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 accountemployed. Many witnesses to the truth

have been first excited, and afterwards led on, by the most fearful terrors
from God.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". Johann
Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/matthew-10.html. 1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
As I told you before, you will in the publication of my gospelmeet 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 comethto 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 powerover your
souls;but he that hath sent you to preach, and calledyou to the owning and
professionof the gospel, hath a powerover your souls as well as over your
bodies, and to punish both in hell. We have the same Luke 12:4,5. There is
nothing so effectualto drive out of our hearts a slavishfear of man in the
doing of our duty, as a right apprehension of the powerof God, begetting a
fear of him in our souls.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/matthew-10.html. 1685.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
Him; God.
Destroy-in hell; by making them miserable there for ever.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "FamilyBible New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/matthew-
10.html. American TractSociety. 1851.

Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
28. ἀποκτεννόντων. Among other instances of this Alexandrine form quoted
by Sturz (de dial. Mac. etAlex.) are ἁμαρτάννειν(1 Kings 2:25) and
ἀναβέννειν (Deuteronomy 1:41). See Crit. Notes, ch. Matthew 10:28.
τὸν δυνάμενον… ἀπολέσαι. Either [1] God, whose powerextends beyond this
life. Comp. Clem. Rom. Ep. II. 4, where there is a probable reference to this
passage, οὐ δεῖ ἡμᾶς φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλονἀλλὰ τὸν θεόν. Or [2]
Satan, into whose powerthe wickedsurrender themselves.
ἐν γεέννῃ. See note, ch. Matthew 5:22.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
"Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools
and Colleges".https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/matthew-
10.html. 1896.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
28. Fearnot them which kill the body — Neither miraculous powernor divine
promise insures the apostles againstbodily harm or bodily death. But they are
enjoined to possessa superiority to fear of these corporealinjuries. 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 soulis 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 canextinguish its corporeallife. They may
burn it to ashes, and scatterits particles to the four winds. Yet still the soul is
alive. No blows canmurder it, no fire can burn it, no waterdrown or quench
it. Nothing less than this can be the meaning of the text, and againstthe 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 saythat such a feeling is too base to be indulged, are contradictedby this
text. And those who deny any punishment from God after the death of the
body, contradictthese words of Christ. To destroy both souland body — The
Lord does not saykill both soul and body. To destroy is not to kill, still less to
annihilate, but to ruin. Our Lord’s words teach, not the dismissalof 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, designateda gorge southof Jerusalem,
otherwise calledTophet, where the offals of the city were ordinarily burned.
As a place of defilement and perpetual fire, it became to the Jewishmind the
emblem, and the word became the name, of the perpetual fire of retribution in
a world to come. Hence, loose reasonershave endeavouredto 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 fearedthan any evil that man can inflict. God is the author of that
evil; it lies beyond death, it is executedupon the soul as wellas the body. No
plausible interpretation can expel these meanings from this text.

The following statement is from Kitto’s Cyclopedia:
“Hell is representedby Sheolin 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
Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29-30;Matthew 10:28;Matthew 18:9; Matthew
23:15;Matthew 23:33;Mark 9:43; Mark 9:45; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5; James
3:6. It is also distinctively indicated by such phrases as ‘the place of torment,’
(Luke 16:28;) ‘everlasting fire,’ (Matthew 25:41;) ‘the hell of fire,’ ‘where
their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,’ (Mark 9:44.) The dreadful
nature of the abode of the wickedis 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,’ (Matthew 8:12;
Matthew 13:42; Matthew 22:13;Matthew 25:30;Luke 16:24; comp. Matthew
25:41;Mark 9:43-48;Judges 1:13; comp. Revelation14:10-11;Revelation
19:20;Revelation20:14; Revelation21:8.)The figure by which hell is
representedas 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. Revelation14:10-11, with Genesis 19:24;Genesis
19:28.)To this coincidence of description Peter also mostprobably alludes in 2
Peter2:6.”
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 Matthew 10:28, page 135.
“The valley of the son of Hinnom,” (Joshua 15:8,) so called from some
unknown person in very early times, running eastand west, intersects the
Kedron at the southeastcornerof the city. At this place the idolatrous
Israelites “burnt their children in the fire” (Jeremiah7:31) unto Moloch, a
deity representedby 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, (Jeremiah 19:6.) The deep “gorge”ofGehenna (as its Greek name is
written) is described by Prof. Hackettas “almostterrific.” “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, atlength, with a feeling so desolate and horror-
stricken, that it was a relief to getthrough with my task, and come forth
where I could see and hear againthe sights and sounds of a living world.” The
name of this ancient gloomy yet fiery recess was fifty used to designate hell.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Whedon's Commentary
on the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/matthew-
10.html. 1874-1909.

PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul, but rather fearhim who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
For they are to face up to final consequences,and therefore not be afraid.
What does it matter if the body is killed off? What they should remember is
that anyone who touches them cannot touch their inner life within them. Thus
if they are martyred they will simply go on to be with Him. So they need not
fear those who have the authority of life and death, because that is all that
they can do. Marcus Aurelius would later try to go one further. He ordered
that the bodies of Christians martyred in Lyons should be ground to powder
and thrown into the river with the intent of preventing their resurrection. But
he failed to achieve his aim, for all God requires for resurrectionis their
‘dust’ as found in the dust of the ground (Isaiah 26:19, compare Genesis 3:19).
The One Whom they therefore need to be in awe of is the One Who has the
powerof eternallife and eternaldeath. Let them therefore be in awe of Him,
the One Who candestroy both body and inner being in Gehenna.
We are reminded here of the Old Testamentwisdom teaching, ‘the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil that is understanding’ (Job
28:28;see also Psalms 111:10;Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 15:33;
compare Isaiah 33:6), by which of course is meant the same reverent awe as
we have here.
Note on Being ‘Destroyed’in Gehenna.
With regard to those who will be ‘destroyed in Gehenna’ there are conflicting
views. In his book on Immortality Plato regularly used this verb ‘to destroy’

in order to signify final death resulting in total lack of consciousnessand being
(he clearlydid not feel that any other Greek verb quite conveyed this idea). If
we accepthis use of the term, ‘destroy’ here would signify what we call final
annihilation after judgment. But the judgment cannot be made simply on the
basis of Greek terms alone.
In Jewishtradition, as in other Greek works (notall followedPlato), there
were suggestionsofeternal (or ‘age long’) punishment (e.g. Judith 16:17; 2
Esdras 7:36; Assumption of Moses Matthew 10:10). And some Greeks spoke
of Tartarus as the place of eternalconscious punishment, at leastfor some. In
2 Peter2:4, however, that term is used of the intermediate state of the fallen
angels. But none of these speak of that punishment as ‘destruction’ when
spokenof in these terms, and such ideas are not found in the Old Testament.
There are only two places in the Old Testamentwhere the fate of the wicked
after resurrectionis described, and those are Isaiah66:24 and Daniel 12:2. In
Isaiah66:24 the wickedare castbodily into the valley of Hinnom where they
are consumedby eternalmaggots and eternal fire. But it is the maggots and
the fire that are eternal, not the consciousnessofthe dead. In the case ofthe
dead it is their carcases whichwill be abhorred by all flesh. And it is their
carcasesthat the righteous will come to look on as a reminder of God’s
judgment. The valley of Hinnom was the place where the dead bodies of
criminals were thrown to be burned and eatenby maggots, andwhere the
fires were continually burning in order to dispose of the rubbish of Jerusalem,
so the point here is that the unrighteous dead are classedwith the criminal
fraternity and have become so much rubbish. But the everlastingnessdepends
on the everlastingnessofthe lives of the righteous. While there is clearly the
intention of indicating something rather more than the old Valley of Hinnom,
it has not become what we think of as Ge-henna, ‘the ‘Valley (ge) of Hinnom’.

The same is true in Daniel 12:2. It is the shame and everlasting contempt
which is everlasting, as in Isaiah66:24. But it is only the righteous who are
seenas having a conscious future.
Interestingly when we come to the New TestamentPaul actually says nothing
clearabout the destiny of the wickedapart from to callit ‘death’ (e.g. Romans
6:23), although he does speak of their being ‘eternally destroyedfrom the
presence ofthe Lord and the glory of His power’ (2 Thessalonians1:9). Jesus
on the other hand certainly speaksofconscious punishment beyond the grave,
but He nowhere says that the consciousness willbe everlasting (Mark 9:43;
Mark 9:48 merely applies the concepts ofIsaiah 66:24 to Gehenna). It says
nothing about the consciousnessofthose who are being punished). Indeed
some argue that the whole point of ‘destruction’ is that after their punishment
all the unrighteous are destroyed. It could for example be argued that such
verses as Luke 12:47-48 must be seenas pointing to the opposite of eternal
conscious punishment. Furthermore while Matthew 25:46 speaks of‘eternal
punishment’ that is in contrastto ‘eternal life’ and could thus tie in with
Plato’s concept. There is no suggestionofit being conscious, exceptin the
giving of the sentence. Nothing is more eternal than destruction and
annihilation. Besides the main use of ‘eternal’ in Scripture is in order to
indicate quality, not duration, compare eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:2) which
cannot mean an eternal judging.
The only place where more detail is given in is Revelation. There we read of
the Lake of Fire. But we must beware of reading this too literally, for Satanis
thrown in there and Satanis a spirit being. Realfire would not worry him at
all. The point of it for Satan, and for the wild beastand the false prophet, is
that they are thrown alive into it. Thus they are punished for ever and ever
(Revelation20:10). But that is apparently in contrastwith the unrighteous
who are thrown into it dead (compare the similar contrastin Revelation
19:20-21), and are not said to be punished for ever and ever. They are not in
the book of the living (Revelation20:15). And it should be noted in this regard

that Deathand Hades are thrown in with them at the same time, and the only
point behind that must be that they might be destroyed(Isaiah 25:8). Death
and Hades have no consciousness so theycannot be consciouslypunished.
Some have pointed to Revelation14:9-11 to support their position. But that in
fact supports Isaiah66:24 as indicating that it is the means of punishment that
are eternal. It is the smoke of their torment that arises for ever and ever, a
reminder of the trial by torture that they have faced. ‘And they have no rest
day or night’ (or more strictly ‘they are unceasing ones day and night’) is a
translation that assumes whatit wants to prove. Exactly the same Greek
words are used in Revelation4:8 where they cannotpossibly indicate anything
but continuing joy. So the realpoint is the comparisonbetweenthe two. Both
those who worship God and those who worship the Wild Beastdo so
continually. But clearly the worship of the Wild Beastceasesafterthe events
in Revelation19:20-21.
This all suggests thatwe must be very careful before we claim that Scripture
teaches eternalconsciouspunishment. While the fate of the unrighteous is
clearly intended to be seenas horrific, it is nowhere spelled out that it is a
matter of eternalconsciousness. Manywould feelthat ‘destruction’ must be
given its obvious meaning as in the end resulting in the removal from God’s
fullness, when God will be all in all, of all that offends. Perhaps we should
considerthat the wisestcourse is to teachwhat the Scriptures positively say
and leave such matters to Him.
(Of course those who believe in an ‘eternal soul’ thateven God cannot
destroywill already have made up their minds. They are bound by their
doctrine (which is nowhere taught in Scripture). But such a conceptmay seem
blasphemous to many. Can there really be anything that God cannot destroy?
If it were so then it would seem(and I say it reverently) that God has then
surely ceasedto be God).

End of note.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "PeterPett's Commentaryon
the Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/matthew-
10.html. 2013.
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
It also helps to conquer fear if the disciple will remember that the worst a
human adversarycan do does not compare with the worstGod cando. Jesus
was not implying that true believers might go to hell if they do not remain
faithful to God. His point was that God has powerover the disciple after he
dies whereas human adversaries cando nothing beyond killing the disciple"s
body. The believer needs to remember that he or she will stand before God
one day to give an accountof his or her stewardship. Walvoord took "him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" as a reference to Satan.
[Note:Walvoord, Matthew:. . ., p77.]
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". "Expository
Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/matthew-10.html. 2012.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Matthew 10:28. And be not afraid of them. Boldness and candorin speaking
God’s truth awakendeadly opposition. Such opposers, thoughthey can kill
the body, are not able to kill the soul. The word translated ‘soul’ sometimes
means ‘life,’ and is sometimes contrastedwith ‘spirit’; here where ‘body’ and
‘soul’ are contrastedand then joined as including the whole man, it must
mean ‘soul’ as we ordinarily use that word, i.e., the whole immaterial and
immortal part of man. Hence: the soul is not killed by the death of the body; it
is the higher part of our nature; the eternal safetyof the soul is infinitely more
important than the present safetyof the body.
But rather fear him who is able, etc. God, not Satan. We may ‘be afraid of’
the latter, but are to ‘fear’ the former. Satandoes not destroy ‘in hell’ but
before, so that men are punished there with him.
To destroy both soul and body in hell. God alone is the dispenser of life and
death, temporal and eternal. Hence reverence and awe, not fear and terror,
are required, as the change of terms implies. The change from ‘kill’ to
‘destroy’ is also significant. The latter implies not annihilation, but continued
punishment, affecting both the material and the spiritual part of man (‘both
soul and body’). The place of such punishment is ‘hell.’ There is no other

probable interpretation of the passage. Suchholy ‘fear’ is not carnal fear, but
sets us free from that.
Matthew 10:29 introduces, immediately after the command to ‘fear’ God, a
tender descriptionof His care, to call forth childlike trust. The two are joined
by Christ, are joined through and in Christ alone. He reveals God’s power
and care in harmony; He also harmonizes the corresponding fear and trust of
the believer, which are therefore indissoluble.
Two sparrows, or‘little birds.’
For a penny. Not the same word as in chap. Matthew 5:26 (‘farthing’), but
‘assarion’(worth about three farthings English, or a cent and a half
American), the tenth part of a Roman drachm; here used to express an
insignificant value, the birds being very plenty and destroyed in great
numbers.
Not one of them. Too small to be offered for sale exceptin pairs, yet God
marks the fall of one.
Fall on the ground, as ‘birds do, when struck violently, or when frozen, wet,
or starved’ Comp. Luke 12:6 : ‘Not one of them is forgotten before God.’
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "Schaff's Popular
Commentary on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/matthew-10.html. 1879-
90.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Fearnot 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
Chrysostomin Baradius)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentaryon Matthew 10:28". "George
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/matthew-10.html. 1859.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

fear not. Hebrew. yare"min. Deuteronomy1:29; Deuteronomy 5:5. Psalms
3:6; Psalms 27:1.
them = [and flee] from them. Greek. apo.
kill. Man causes the loss of life, but he cannotkill: i.e. "destroy" it. Only God
can do that.
the soul. Greek. psuche. See App-110.
destroy. Note the difference. Not "kill" merely. Compare Luke 12:4, Luke
12:5.
hell. Greek. geenna. See note on Matthew 5:22, and App-131.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/matthew-10.html. 1909-
1922.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. In
Luke 12:4, "and after that have no more that they can do."
But rather fear him - in Luke this is peculiarly solemn, "I will forewarnyou
whom ye shall fear," even Him --
Which is able to destroy both souland body in hell. A decisive proof this that
there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternalworld; 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 forever. In the corresponding warning
containedin Luke, Jesus calls His disciples "My friends," as if He had felt
that such sufferings constituted a bond of specialtenderness betweenHim and
them.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Matthew 10:28". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

- Unabridged". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/matthew-
10.html. 1871-8.
The Bible Study New Testament
Do not be afraid. The worst anyone could do was to destroy the body. God,
who will raise the dead, can destroythe soul. In hell. Eternal punishment
(GEHENNA—seenote on Matthew 5:22).
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Ice, Rhoderick D. "Commentary on Matthew 10:28". "The Bible Study New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ice/matthew-
10.html. College Press, Joplin, MO. 1974.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(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 (1
Thessalonians 5:23).

Fearhim which is able . . .—Few words have given rise to interpretations
more strangelycontrastedthan these. Not a few of the most devout and
thoughtful commentators, unwilling to admit that our Lord ever presentedthe
Father to men in the characterofa destroyer, have urged that the meaning
may be thus paraphrased: “Fearnot 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 fearthe devil, but rather to resistand defy him
(Ephesians 6:11; James 4:7); and (2) it is a sufficient answerto the feeling
which has prompted the other explanation to saythat we are not told to think
of God as in any case willing to destroy, but only as having the powerto 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 almostidentical (“There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy,” James 4:12)where there cannot be a shadow of doubt as to the
meaning.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the
soul; but rather fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Do not fear: Mt 10:26 Isa 8:12,13 51:7,12 Da 3:10-18 Lu 12:4,5 Ac 20:23,24 Ac
21:13 Ro 8:35-39 2Ti4:6-8 Heb 11:35 1Pe 3:14 Rev 2:10
Him: Ps 119:120 Ec 5:7 8:12,13 Isa 66:2 Jer 5:22 Heb 12:28,29
Who is able: Mt 25:46 Mk 9:43-48 Lu 16:22-26 Joh5:29 2Th 1:8-10 Rev
20:10-15
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul - Do not
fear is present imperative with a negative which means either stop fearing or
do not begin fearing them. Either way such courage is not natural but is
supernaturally enabled by the Holy Spirit that they might obey Jesus'
command! Though Satanmay have greatpower (Mt 6:13; Mt 24:22 1 Jn :19),
only God can destroysoul and body in hell.
Peterwrites
"But even if you should suffer for the sake ofrighteousness, youare blessed.
AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE
TROUBLED. but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready
to make a defense to everyone who asks youto give an accountfor the hope
that is in you, yet with gentleness andreverence (HOLY FEAR);" (1 Pe 3:14-
15+)
Do not fear death, a defeatedfoe for as Paul wrote
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR
STING?” 56Thesting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but
thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. (1
Co 15:55-58+).

But rather fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell - Fear
Him or fear God is in the present imperative which also calls for dependence
on the Holy Spirit to obey! Do you fear men or do you fear God? (cf Pr 29:25)
How does one fearGod in practicalterms? Here's a simple testto determine
whether you really fear God -- Ask yourself this question: "Do the words,
thoughts and deeds of the last 24 hours of my life truly reflecta reverence
(reverential fear) of the Lord, Who alone is "Holy, Holy, Holy"? (And by the
way, none of us are perfect, which is why 1 Jn 1:9+ is such a gift to cleanse us
eachnew day.) If you find your "fearfactor" is diminishing, and to sin
willfully no longer grieves you, then you need to beg that the Spirit would
enable in you a strong desire to choose the fear of the Lord (Pr 1:29+, cf Lk
10:42+, Heb 11:25+, Pr 23:17).
Destroy(622)(apollumi from apo = awayfrom or wholly + olethros = state of
utter ruin <> ollumi = to destroy <> root of apollyon [Re 9:11] = destroyer)
means to destroy utterly but not to cause one to ceaseto exist. Apollumi as it
relates to men, is not the loss of being per se, but is more the loss of well-being.
It means to ruin so that the person ruined canno longerserve the use for
which he or she was designed. The gospelpromises everlasting life for the one
who believes. The failure to possessthis life will result in utter ruin and
eternal uselessness(but not a cessationofexistence)In summary, apollumi
then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer
usable for its intended purpose. Woe!
GREG ALLEN
THAT GOD'S AUTHORITY IS GREATER THAN MAN'S (v. 28).

Jesus goeson to say, "And to not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul" (v. 28a). But this doesn'tmean that we should be without fear. Jesus
goes onto say, "But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell" (v. 28b).
The two words translated "fear" in this verse are exactlythe same in the
original language. But they describe two dramatically different kinds of fear.
One is describing the fear of man; which is a self-serving, self-interested,
cowardlykind of fearof someone who can - ultimately - cause us no eternal
harm whatsoever. This first kind of fear is forbidden to the believer.
Now the factis that, unless the Lord Jesus returns for us in our lifetime, all of
our bodies are destined to die. We can be certain of this. We can in no way
escape death- for, as the Bible says, ". . . it is appointed for man to die once"
(Hebrews 9:27). So, the very worstthing that men can do to us, in opposition
to the messagewe have been commanded to preach, is bring about something
that was alreadyappointed to happen to us anyway! And even then, that only
sends us to a situation far greaterand more glorious. As Paul said, "Forto
me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
So the first use of the word "fear" is meant to describe the fear of man; and
we are not to be characterizedby such a fear. But the other use of the word
"fear" is describing the fear of God; which is a healthy, reverential, realistic
response ofawe and obedience to the majesty and authority of God.
Jesus mentions the fact that God is able to do what man can do - that is, kill
the body. But He is able to do more than man can do - and that is, to destroy
both body and soul in the place of eternal judgment. And this isn't meant to
make believers afraid of eternal judgment as much as it is meant to make us
NOT afraid of man. It's meant to teachus that as great as human authority

may be, God's authority is always infinitely greater. We are to not fear man,
but fearGod instead.
And it's this secondkind of fear that makes it possible for us to be unafraid of
men. As someone has very well put it, we all have a choice:"FearGod or fear
everything!"1 All neurotic and soul-damaging fears that we can ever have will
ultimately come from just one thing: a failure to fear God first!
We could put it this way: FearGod; and you'll never have a reasonto fear
anything or anyone else.
WILLIAM BARCLAY
THE KING'S MESSENGER'S FREEDOM FROM FEAR (Matthew 10:26-
31)
10:26-31 "Do not fearthem; for there is nothing which is coveredwhich shall
not be unveiled, and there is nothing hidden which shall not be known. What I
tell you in the darkness, speak in the light. What you hear whisperedin your
ear, proclaim on the housetops. Do not fear those who cankill the body, but
who cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who is able to destroyboth soul and
body in Gehenna. Are two sparrows not sold for a penny, and not one of them
shall light on the ground without your Father's knowledge?The hairs of your
head are all numbered. So then do not be afraid; you are of more value than
many sparrows."

Three times in this short passageJesusbids his disciples not to be afraid. In
the King's messengerthere must be a certain courageousfearlessnesswhich
marks him out from other men.
(i) The first commandment is in Matthew 10:26-27, andit speaks ofa double
fearlessness.
(a) They are not to be afraid because there is nothing coveredthat will not be
unveiled, and nothing hidden which will not be known. The meaning of that is
that the truth will triumph. "Greatis the truth," ran the Latin proverb, "and
the truth will prevail." When James the Sixth threatened to hang or exile
Andrew Melville, Melville's answerwas:"You cannot hang or exile the
truth." When the Christian is involved in suffering and sacrifice and even
martyrdom for his faith, he must remember that the day will come when
things will be seenas they really are; and then the powerof the persecutor
and the heroism of Christian witness will be seenat their true value, and each
will have its true reward.
(b) They are not to be afraid to speak with boldness the messagethey have
received. What Jesus has told them, they must tell to men. Here in this one
verse (Matthew 10:27)lies the true function of the preacher.
First, the preacher must listen; he must he in the secretplace with Christ, that
in the dark hours Christ may speak to him, and that in the loneliness Christ
may whisper in his ear. No man can speak for Christ unless Christ has spoken
to him; no man canproclaim the truth unless he has listened to the truth; for
no man can tell that which he does not know.

In the greatdays in which the Reformation was coming to birth, Coletinvited
Erasmus to come to Oxford to give a series oflectures on Moses orIsaiah; but
Erasmus knew he was not ready. He wrote back:"But I who have learned to
live with myself, and know how scantymy equipment is, can neither claim the
learning required for such a task, nor do I think that I possess the strength of
mind to sustain the jealousyof so many men, who would be eagerto maintain
their own ground. The campaign is one that demands, not a tyro, but a
practicedgeneral. Neither should you call me immodest in declining a position
which it would be most immodest for me to accept. You are not acting wisely,
Colet, in demanding waterfrom a pumice stone, as Plautus said. With what
effrontery shall I teachwhat I have never learned? How am I to warm the
coldness ofothers, when I am shivering myself?"
He who would teachand preachmust first in the secretplace listen and learn.
Second, the preachermust speak what he has heard from Christ, and he must
speak evenif his speaking is to gain him the hatred of men, and even if, by
speaking, he takes his life in his hands.
Men do not like the truth, for, as Diogenessaid, truth is like the light to sore
eyes. Once Latimer was preaching when Henry the king was present. He knew
that he was about to saysomething which the king would not relish. So in the
pulpit he soliloquized aloud with himself. "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer!" he
said, "be careful what you say. Henry the king is here." He paused, and then
he said, "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! be careful what you say. The King of
kings is here."
The man with a messagespeaks to men, but he speaks in the presence ofGod.
It was said of John Knox, as they buried him, "Here lies one who fearedGod
so much that he never fearedthe face of any man."

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Jesus was urging that we fear god