Gehenna in New Testament
In
the New Testament, the noun γέεννα appears 12 times
in NT. In Mark the word gehenna appears 3 times and only in
chapter 9. They are in verse 43, 45 and 47, in the periscope of Jesus’ warning
of causing anyone to stumble. In Matthew the word appears seven
times (Ch. 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33), three times in Mark (Ch. 9:43,
45, 47), once in Luke (Ch. 12:5), and once in the Epistle of James (Ch. 3:6).
It does not appear in the writings of John, Paul or Peter, and it is not found
in Acts, Hebrews or Jude. Thus, of the twelve occurrences in NT, the term
appears eleven times in the Synoptic Gospels, and all of them are Christ’s
utterances.
Gehenna in Matthew
The
noun gehenna occurs seven times in
Matthew and three times of hrem are uttered in beatitude sermon. In Matthew
chapter 5: 22, 29 and 30. In v. 22, Jesus exhorts the disciple to have a higher
standard of morality than the scribes and
Pharisees. Jesus states that failure to have a higher standard would
cause them to be guilty enough to go
into the gehenna.
The
passage of Matthew 5: 29-30 and Matthew 18:9 are parallel discourses with Mark
9:43, 45, and 47 where they are employed to describe a figurative and
hyperbolic exhortation of Christ’s radical demands to “cut off” part of body as
a warning of the seriousness of doing sin. However in Matthew 5, it does not have
phrase “if your foot causes you to stumble” and does not quote the expression of
“their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” from Isaiah as Luke 9
does. In addition, another distinctive feature is, if in Matthew 5: 29-30, the
focus of Jesus’ teaching is the seriousness of breaking the marital bond, in Mark
9:43, 45, 47, the focus of Jesus to warn people of being a stumble to anyone.
However both of the passage warns his disciples that the unrepentant people would
go to gehenna.
In Matthew 10:28, Jesus depicts gehenna as a place of punishment where the
body and soul will be perished or destroyed. Third gehenna appears in chapter 18: 9, the tone is similar to chapter 5:
29, 30. The fourth appearance of Matthew is in chapter 23: 15, 33 where Jesus
condemns the hypocrite Pharises would not escape from gehenna.
In
Matthew 23:15, 33 Jesus condemns the scribes
and Pharisees who convert the gentiles to be “a son of gehenna” that deserve to
be punished and they themselves would not be able to escape from gehenna. In
Luke 12:5 Jesus warn his disciples not fear them who can kill their body but
fear Him who can kill body and soul in gehenna.
Gehenna in Luke
The Greek word gehenna in Luke occurs only once. In Luke 12:4-5
reads, "And I say to you, My
friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no
more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after
He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! The
context of the passage is an encouragement for his disciples to be able to cope
of their future missionary work. Luke’s use of
gehenna is similar to Mathew 10:28. The text is Jesus’ depiction of gehenna as a place of punishment where the body and
soul will be perished or destroyed.
Gehenna in James
The last occurrence of gehenna is in James. Like
in Luke, gehenna in Luke occurs only
once. James 3:6 reads, “And the tongue is
a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members
as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life,
and is set on fire by hell.” In the passage James reminds his readers
the potential danger of tongue and it has destructive power similar to that of fire.
He also warns that all evil are worthy for final judgment in gehenna.
Analyzing
of the 12 gehenna occurrences in NT,
they can be into three categories. First, warnings addressed to the disciples
concerning stumbling blocks (Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48); second,
warnings addressed to the disciples in relation to their personal destiny
(Matt. 5:22; 10:28; Luke 12:4-5); and third, condemnation of the scribes and
Pharisees (Matt. 23:15, 33). All of them shows that gehenna is a the place
where God will bring retribution upon sinners.
Spiros
Zodhiates states that the notion of punishment is graphically presented in the
idea of Gehenna and it always present as the final place of punishment into
which the wicked are cast after the last judgment.[1]
[1]Spiros
Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary : New Testament, electronic
ed. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000, c1992, c1993), G1067.
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