Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28. And be not afraid of them. Boldness and candor in speaking God's truth awaken deadly opposition. Such opposers, though they can kill the body, are not able to kill the soul. The word translated ‘soul' sometimes means ‘life,' and is sometimes contrasted with ‘spirit'; here where ‘body' and ‘soul' are contrasted and 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 safety of the soul is infinitely more important than the present safety of 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. Satan does 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. Such holy ‘fear' is not carnal fear, but sets us free from that.

Matthew 10:29 introduces, immediately after the command to ‘fear' God, a tender description of 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 except in 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.'

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Matthew 10:28

Old Testament

New Testament