Bibliotheca Sacra 149 (Oct. 1992) 454-70.
Copyright © 1992 by Dallas Theological Seminary. Cited with permission.
Part 2 (of 2 parts):
Gehenna in the Synoptics
Hans Scharen
Associate Pastor, Midlothian Bible Church
Midlothian, Texas
The first article in this series discussed the development of the
concept of Gehenna in the Old Testament and the intertestamental
period.1 It was observed that this concept is rooted in the literature
of intertestamental Judaism, specifically within the more narrowly
defined subject of apocalyptic eschatology, and that several ideas
were associated with the concept. In contrast to this variety, the
New Testament presents Gehenna as the final eschatological pun-
ishment for the wicked. The aim of this study is to confirm and am-
plify this latter idea based on New Testament texts and vocabulary.
Warnings about Personal Destiny
MATTHEW 5:222
Matthew 5:21-22 contains the thesis and antithesis of a saying
1 Hans Scharen, "Gehenna in the Synoptics, Part 1," Bibliotheca Sacra 149 (July–
September 1992): 304-15.
2 The Greek text of this verse has no variant readings deserving serious discussion,
though form-critical as well as tradition-historical considerations have generated a con-
siderable amount of discussion among New Testament scholars. As Metzger notes, the
reading with ei]kh is widespread after the second century. But there seems to be good
reason to believe that it represents a scribal gloss so as to "soften the rigor of the precept"
(Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament [New York:
United Bible Societies, 19711, 13).
Opinions vary regarding the verse's integrity. There appears to be a consensus
among many scholars that one or more of the three clauses of 5:22 are secondary,
though there are some dissenting opinions, among them that of Guelich, who, after a
survey of these discussions concluded that "there is no valid reason why Mt 5:22 could
not have been an authentic whole rather than a composite unit" (Robert A. Guelich,
"Mt 5:22: Its Meaning and Integrity," Zeitschrift fur die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 64
[1973]: 4749). Luz also opts for its unity and says it is a genuine saying of Jesus (Ulrich
Luz, Das Evangelium nach Mattaus, Evangelischer Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen
Testament [EKKNT] I/1 [Zurich: Benziger Verlag, 1985], 1:251).
454
Gehenna in the Synoptics 455
of Jesus that discusses the relationship between brothers (a]delfoi>)
within the kingdom of heaven. It follows the exhortation of Jesus in
verse 20, that entrance into (=belonging to) this kingdom requires a
better righteousness than that taught and displayed by the religious
leaders (scribes and Pharisees) of the day. The thesis in verse 21 is
introduced by the words, "You have heard . . ." and the antithesis is
introduced in verse 22 by the words "but I say unto you. . . ."3 The
thesis contains the Mosaic injunction against murder and the conse-
quent liability to court proceedings of anyone committing this crime.
In the antithesis (v. 22) Jesus refuted a superficial interpretation of
the sixth commandment (Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:17), such as could be
practiced by mere perfunctory adherence to a legal ordinance de-
signed to regulate human relationships. The "I say unto you" nulli-
fies any claim of righteousness attained in that perfunctory way.
The true intent of the command against murder is more radical in its
demand. It is concerned with the disposition of the heart, not mere
externals.4
The difficulty of interpreting the triadic structure of the an-
tithesis has created much scholarly discussion.5 The main point rel-
evant to determining the meaning of Gehenna in this text is the in-
congruity between the crimes listed and the severity of their respec-
tive punishments. The order of these punishments displays an obvi-
ous ascendence in severity: court (court proceeding), Sanhedrin, Ge-
henna of fire. "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his
brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his
brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and who-
ever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery
hell [Gehenna]." Thus one would expect a corresponding ascendence
in severity of infractions of legal ordinances. But this correspondence
3 As noted in the previous article in this series, this formula indicates a departure and
contrast from the teaching of the Old Testament, the contrast involving transcendence
rather than contradiction, as indicated by Jesus' statement in Matthew that He did not
come to abolish "the Law or the Prophets" but "to fulfill" (plhro<w) in the sense of bring-
ing or revealing their full, definitive meaning in His person and work as the Messiah
(Scharen, "Gehenna in the Synoptics," 331).
4 This notion was in essence taught by Moses in his stress that obedience to God must
come from the heart (see, e.g., Deut. 11:13; 13:3; cf. Lev. 19:17-18), but it was missed by
the Jewish religious leadership in Jesus' day.
5 See, for example, W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commen-
tary on the Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1: Matthew I-VII, International Critical Commentary
(Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988), 515-16, for a brief, recent documentation of the vari-
ous interpretive approaches. Cf. Guelich, "Mt 5:22: Its Meaning and Integrity," 39-52,
for a fuller discussion of the lexical and structural problems with their respective
interpretations. The former center mainly around the exact meanings of kri<sei, r[aka,
and mwre<; the latter focus mainly on the parallelism between the individual members
of the triad (triple response) as it relates to the apparent incongruity of the judgments.
456 Bibliotheca Sacra / October-December 1992
does not occur. In the first part of the verse the infraction is anger,
which makes a person liable to general court proceedings (v. 22a); in
the second section the infraction is calling someone "numbskull"
(r[aka<), which makes a person liable to proceedings by the Sanhedrin
(v. 22b); a person who calls someone a "fool" (mwre<) as an invective is
condemned to Gehenna (v. 22c).6 Several scholars have attempted to
alleviate the tension created by the incongruity between crime and
punishment, either by emending the text, or by amplifying the slight
disparity between the listed crimes, or by attenuating the disparity
between the respective punishments.
The attempted attenuation consists in transferring the concept of
the Gehenna of fire from a figurative to a literal realm on earth.
Those who hold this view maintain that Gehenna refers to the lit-
eral site of the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem (the supposed
depository of city offal with its perpetually burning fires), not to the
final judgment of God involving the destiny of the wicked or enemies
of God. It is argued that the burning of one's corpse at this site would
involve a greater condemnation than being judged and condemned by
the Sanhedrin and would represent the climax of the noted intensifi-
cation of the punishments described in the antithesis in 5:22. Thus
one would observe a closer correspondence between the crimes and
their respective punishments.7 The obvious question is whether this
literal interpretation of the "Gehenna of fire" is legitimate and rep-
resents Jesus' use of it. The absence of archaeological as well as liter-
ary evidence for such a site in the valley of Hinnom, as pointed out
earlier, argues against it.8
Guelich's interpretation requires no emendation of the text and
fits the context better in that it does justice to Jesus' antithetical
statement with its implied radical demand for a "better righteous-
ness," which, as in the case of His teaching on adultery, does not fo-
6 Lexical studies indicate that there is little difference between calling someone r[aka<
or mwre< despite attempts by some commentators to see a significant difference. The
former is an Aramaic derivative of an uncomplimentary nature, and the latter is a com-
mon Greek term of similar nuance.
7 This traditional interpretation is based on Rabbi David Kimchi's commentary on
Psalm 27. See, for example, Henry Burton Sharman, The Teaching of Jesus about the Future
according to the Synoptic Gospels (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1909), 257-58. He
opts for this interpretation which is representative of the older, critical commentators.
But this approach is not confined to the commentaries of an earlier era; it is still repre-
sented in recent discussions. For example Strawson states that Jesus had in mind the
"physical fact of the valley of Hinnom" (William Strawson, Jesus and the Future Life
[Philadelphia: Westminster, 1959J, 145).
8 See Scharen, "Gehenna in the Synoptics," 328, n. 18. Cf. idem, “The Development
of the Concept of Gehenna and its Use in the Synoptics” (ThD diss., Dallas Theological
Seminary, 1991), 176, n. 96.
Gehenna in the Synoptics 457
cus on the external act but on the inner attitude of the heart. The in-
ner emotion of anger and its often verbal expression in the use of in-
vectives against one's brother (or neighbor), both of which often lead
to murder, are judged alike. In the sight of God, intention and result
are viewed on the same plane and constitute a serious violation of
the apodictic injunction, "You shall not murder." Jesus' words in verse
22 transcend the Old Testament declaration of a right standing
before God on the basis of adherence to legal ordinances and demand
the satisfaction of the apodictic law which expresses God's true
intention in this respect. Therefore it is invalid to attempt to make
casuistic distinctions concerning degrees of punishment via legal
ordinances and assume that one has met God's true intention
(absolute demand) by meeting the demands of the ordinances. Jesus
shattered this legalistic conception of righteousness.
Guelich notes that Jesus' use of the same legal format—but filled
with "logic chopping" by the intentional incongruity between crime
and punishment—satirically comments on the fallacious reasoning of
scribal exegesis and suggests that these ordinances in 5:22 should not
be taken in a literal sense.9 This interpretation sees the "Gehenna of
fire" referring to the final eschatological judgment.10 Without this
meaning, the intended incongruity between crime and punishment
disappears along with Jesus' satirical thrust aimed at the scribal in-
terpretation of the law.
MATTHEW 10:28 (= LUKE 12:4-5)
This verse is part of Jesus' discourse in Matthew that deals with
the related topics of mission and martyrdom. Within this general
context Jesus exhorted the disciples to fearlessness in the face of op-
position and persecution. "And do not fear those who kill the body,
but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to de-
stroy both soul and body in hell ['Gehenna')." The parallel text in
Luke (12:4-5) follows a woe section (11:41-54) directed against the
lawyers (Pharisees and scribes) and is preceded immediately by Je-
9 Guelich, "Mt 5:22: Its Meaning and Integrity," 51. He states that these ordinances
are obviously not to be taken literally. "No one would ever attempt to take another to
trial for anger, nor to the Sanhedrin for using the common invective r[aka<, nor would
one be subject to eternal damnation for using the nearly synonymous mwre<." Zahn ob-
serves that the choice of form and content was deliberately satirical to demonstrate the
inadequacy of the Jewish understanding of the Law (Theodor Zahn, Das Evangelium des
Matthaus, 4th ed. [Leipzig: A. Deichert, 1922], 228). One may observe here the
difficulty of initiating court proceedings against someone on the basis of anger or the
use of invectives.
10 Guelich's words, "subject to eternal damnation," make this clear ("Mt 5:22: Its
Meaning and Integrity," 51). The majority of modern scholars opt for this interpretation
of "the Gehenna of fire" (e.g., Carson, Davies and Allison, Luz).
458 Bibliotheca Sacra / October—December 1992
sus' warning against their hypocrisy, which will not remain uncov-
ered (12:1-3).11 This warning is addressed to Jesus' disciples. As
Marshall observes, the general contexts in the two Gospels are thus
not dissimilar, in that both sayings are addressed to the disciples
rather than to the crowds or Jesus' opponents, and both are set in the
immediate context of troubles impending for the disciples.12
Jesus' exhortations in Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:4-5 show an
antithesis between the fear of men and the fear of God. In Matthew,
Jesus contrasted the ability of man who can kill (a]poktenno<ntwn)
only the body with that of God who can destroy (a]pole<sai) both
body and soul in Gehenna.13 In Luke, on the other hand, the contrast
is between man who can kill (a]pokteino<ntwn) and God who both kills
(a]poktei?nai) and casts (e]mbalei?n) into Gehenna, after killing. The
fear of men, then, deals with the fear of death, which men are able
to inflict in that they are able to kill (a]poktenno<ntwn) the body
(sw?ma) but not the soul (th>n de> yuxh>n mh> duname<nwn a]poktei?nai).
The fear of God deals with God's ability to destroy both body and
soul in Gehenna (to>n duna<menon kai> yuxh>n kai> sw?ma a]pole<sai e]n
gee<nn^). Since both man and God are able to kill, the emphasis of
the saying lies on God's ability to destroy in or cast into Gehenna,.
This significant saying is one of the more explicit statements in
Scripture relating to judgment in the afterlife.14 One observes a
sw?ma/yuxh< dualism (dichotomy) in both parts of the Matthean say-
ing. Luke, however, did not make this distinction; he mentioned only
the body. This, however, should not be interpreted as a Lucan objec-
tion to such a distinction, since it occurs in his writings elsewhere
(Luke 12:19-23; Acts 20:10).15 This dualism, though, must not be
pressed too far in the direction of Hellenistic anthropology, which
saw the body and soul as distinct ontological parts of man with the
yuxh< ("soul") constituting the true human ego and possessing immor-
tality, the sw?ma ("body") being an obstacle or prison or at best an in-
different means of attaining the immortality of the yuxh< in a realm
11 The larger context is the extensive central section, usually referred to as the travel
account, in which Jesus uttered many sayings to His disciples and the crowds on His