Temptation Warning

Then, Jesus seemed to use hyperbole to teach His apostles the importance of removing things from their lives that could offend and cause others to sin. He said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into the eternal and unquenchable fire of hell. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into the eternal and unquenchable fire of hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’ For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

See Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-50; Isaiah 66:24

Notes:

1. Hell: in verses 43, 45, and 47 is the Greek word Gehenna. We first learn about Gehenna in the Old Testament. The word is derived from the Hebrew 'ge Hinnom,' or the “valley of Hinnom,”  a valley that marked the western and southern borders of Jerusalem. The valley may have become a metaphor for hell because of the evil things that King Ahaz of Judah did in that valley, as described in 2 Chronicles 28.

2. "where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched": This phrase is a reference to Isaiah 66:24. For the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, two of the source manuscripts—the Byzantine text-type (BYZ) and the Textus Receptus (TR)—include verse 44, which is a restatement of verse 48. This may suggest that verse 44 was a later addition to reinforce the words of verse 48.

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