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28 Do[a] not be afraid of those who kill the body[b] but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 10:28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
  2. Matthew 10:28 sn A similar exhortation is found in 4 Macc 13:14-15, reflecting the view of Judaism in the intertestamental period. The statement here assumes there is more to a person than a body. As J. Nolland states, “Fear of God is to displace fear of death-dealing persecutors. The stakes are higher with God” (Matthew [NIGTC], 436).
  3. Matthew 10:28 sn While destroy is sometimes taken to mean annihilation, it does not necessarily have to imply that here (“Of eternal death… Mt 10:28, ” BDAG 116 s.v. ἀπόλλυμι 1.a.α). There are some Jewish intertestamental texts that appear to reflect a belief in everlasting punishment for the wicked (Jdt 16:17; 1QS 2:8) as well as Rev 14:11 in the NT. See also the note on the word hell in 5:22.

28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One(A) who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

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