‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
Parallel Translations
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‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
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where there worme dyeth not and the fyre never goeth oute.
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Where their worme dyeth not, and the fire neuer goeth out.
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Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Their worm which shall be cast into that flame.
Their worm which shall be cast into that flame.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire…
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Ver. 44. Where their worm] As out of the corruption of our bodies worms breed, which consume the flesh; so out of the corruption of our souls this never dying worm. This worm (say divines) is only a continual remorse and furious reflection of the soul upon its own wilful folly, and now woeful misery. Oh, consider this before thy friends be scrambling for thy goods, worms for thy body, devils for thy soul. Go not dancing to hell in thy bolts, rejoice not in thy bondage, as many do; to whom the preaching of hell is but as the painting of a toad, which men can look on and handle without fear.
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Never dieth, and the fire is not quenched] O quam diuturua et immensa est eternitas! Oh how long and enormous is eternity, said the devil once. {a} A child with a spoon may sooner empty the sea than the damned accomplish their misery. A river of brimstone is not consumed by burning.
{a} Manlii loc. com.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off,....…
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off,.... Such who are that to men, as the foot is to the body, the support of them through whom they have their maintenance and subsistence; and yet these, if they are a means of causing them to stumble and tail, or of leading out of the ways of Christ, and off from him, their company is to be shunned and abstained from;
it is better for thee to enter halt into life. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "eternal life", which is undoubtedly intended by "life"; and so reads the Cambridge copy of Beza's; and the meaning is, that it is better to go alone without such company into heaven,
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than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; See Gill on Mar 9:44.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Where their worm - That gnaweth the soul, (pride,…
Where their worm - That gnaweth the soul, (pride, self will, desire, malice, envy, shame, sorrow, despair) dieth not - No more than the soul itself: and the fire (either material, or infinitely worse!) that tormenteth the body, is not quenched forever. Isaiah lxvi, 24.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 44. See Clarke on Mr 9:43.
Verse 44. See Clarke on Mr 9:43.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 44. where their worm] These words are cited from…
44. where their worm] These words are cited from Isa_66:14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (44) Where their worm dieth not.—The words are taken…
(44) Where their worm dieth not.—The words are taken almost literatim from the closing verse of Isaiah (Isa_66:24), where they appear as part of the description of the triumph of Jehovah. The true worshippers should serve in His Temple continually, and they should go forth and see the carcases of the transgressors, “for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” The scenery is, like that of Isa_63:1-6, drawn from the slaughter of earthly battles, and the prophet exults in vision over the putrid carcases and the blazing fires that consume them, and thinks of that scene as perpetuated throughout eternity. The imagery was thus already familiar, and it coalesced naturally with the ideas of Gehenna. Possibly the valley of Hinnom, as the great cloaca of Jerusalem, receiving its solid as well as its fluid sewage, with putrid offal and blazing fires consuming them, had become in this way a visible type of the unseen Gehenna; but the authorities are hardly definite enough to warrant the positive statement that it presented such a scene. The interpretation of the symbols (for a literal acceptance of the words is obviously out of the question) is not far to seek. Well-nigh all Christian thinkers have seen in the gnawing worm, the anguish of an endless remorse, the memory of past sins. Fire retains its wonted force as the expression of the righteousness of God (Heb_12:29) manifesting itself to the consciousness of the sinner in all its awfulness, purifying where there is any desire, and therefore capacity, for purification, but never altering its essential character, even as the fire “never can be quenched.” So much the words declare distinctly, as the law of righteous retribution. They do not absolutely exclude the thought that the fire may consume or destroy that which it cannot purify; still less do they affirm that it will.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Where their worm dieth not and the fire is…
Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. These words are a quotation from Isa_66:24, and they are repeated three times in the Authorized Version. But the best ancient authorities omit them in the two first places, retaining them at ver. 48. The metaphor is very striking as well as awful. Ordinarily the worm feeds upon the disorganized body, and then dies. The fire consumes the fuel, and then itself expires. But here the worm never dies; the fire never goes out. The words of Cornelius a Lapide on the original passage in Isaiah are well worth recording here: "I beseech you, O reader, by the mercies of our God, by your own salvation, by that one little life entrusted to you and committed to your care, that you will ever keep before your eyes the living memory, as of eternity and of eternal torments, so also of the eternal joys on the other side offered to you by God, and concerning which you here cast the die, and that irrevocable. Let these two things never depart from your mind. In this world, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." Oh, what a void there is in earthly things! Oh, how vain is all our life without Christ! In the world to come, truth of truths, and all is truth; stability of stabilities, and all is stability; eternity of eternities, and all is eternity. An eternity in heaven most happy, in hell most miserable, "Where their worm dies not, and the. fire is not quenched. St. Bernard says "the worm that never dies is the memory of the past, which never ceases to gnaw the conscience of the impenitent."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Mar_9:44; Mar_9:46; Mar_9:48
Mar_9:44; Mar_9:46; Mar_9:48
Where their worm dieth not.
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The punishment of the wicked, dreadful and interminable
Some will say that this doctrine has no tendency to do good; it is idle to think of frightening men into religion. It is my duty not to decide what doctrines are likely to do good, but to preach such as I find in the Scriptures. I dare not pretend to be either more wise or more compassionate than our Saviour; and He thought it consistent, both with wisdom and compassion, to utter the words of our text. These expressions allude to the manner in which the Jews disposed of the bodies of the dead; placed in tombs they were consumed by worms; or on a funeral pile it was consumed by fire. You have seen this, but there is another death, of the soul. Those who die this death shall be preyed upon by worms which will never die, and become the fuel of a fire that will never be quenched. The language is indeed figurative, but not on that account less full of meaning.
I. In dilating upon these truths, I shall say little of the corporeal sufferings which await impenitent sinners beyond the grave. Such sufferings will certainly compose a part of the punishment; for their bodies shall come forth in the resurrection of damnation; as it is the servant of the soul, its tempter to many sins, and its instrument in committing them, there seems to be a manifest propriety in making them companions in punishment. But to the sufferings of the soul, the Scriptures chiefly refer. The clause-where their worm dieth not-intimates that the soul will suffer miseries, analogous to those which would be inflicted on a living body, by a multitude of reptiles constantly preying upon it; that as a dead body appears to produce the worms which consume it, so the soul dead in trespasses and sins, really produces the causes of its own misery. What are those causes, what is the gnawing worm?
1. its own passions and desires. That these are capable of preying upon the soul, and occasioning acute suffering, even in this life, need not be proved. Look at a man who is habitually peevish, fretful, and disappointed. Has he not gnawing worms already at his heart? Look at the envious, covetous, ambitious, proud; these passions make men miserable here; even while in this world there are many things calculated to soothe or divert mens passions. Sometimes they meet with success, and this produces a transient calm; at another time, the objects which excite their passions are absent, and this allows quietness. Men have not always the leisure to indulge their passions; they are under the operations of causes which tend to restrain them, such as sleep. But suppose all these removed, deprived of sleep, success, and the objects which excite his strongest passions constantly before him, and all restraints gone. Would not such a man be miserable? Nothing inflames the passions of men more than suffering.
2. The gnawing worm includes the consciences of sinners. Conscience has inflicted terrible agony, as in the case of Judas. Here she speaks only at intervals; there without intermission. Here she may be stifled by scenes of business or amusement, sophistical arguments; but there will be no means of silencing her; she will see everything in the clear light of eternity. What a God she has offended, Saviour neglected, heaven lost. Well may this be compared to a gnawing worm.
II. Our Saviour speaks not only of a gnawing worm, but of an unquenchable fire. So far as the soul is concerned, this refers to a keen and constant sense of Gods presence and righteous displeasure. He says of Himself, I am a consuming fire.
III. We learn from the passage before us, that those sufferings will be endless. Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. The passions and consciences of sinners endure as long as the soul of which they are a part. God lives forever, He must forever be displeased with sinners. It is impossible that I should deserve it. You know nothing of your sins, or of what sin deserves. As well might a man, who should put vipers into his bosom, complain of God because they stung him. Christ died to save them from their misery. (E. Payson, D. D.)
Preserving fire
Preserving fire, or salting with fire. Decay is a species of burning; and only those things that have been burnt, or cannot be burnt, will not decay.
I. Temptation is a preserving fire. The boy who has been sheltered at home is honest; but his integrity is not as firm as that of the honest merchant. The clay (Isa_64:8) is soft and plastic; but after it has been burnt in the furnace it will break before it will bend. All must pass through the fire of temptation. If you are to be a vessel of honour fit for the heavenly palace, the Lord must be your potter.
II. Affliction is a preserving fire. The metal comes forth from the furnace more useful (Mal_3:3).
III. The day of judgment is also compared to a fire (1Co_3:13). Fire is a searching test. All paint, enamel, pretence of every kind, will melt before it. Its results are enduring. All must pass through the fiery ordeal. Only such works can stand as proceed from gospel love.
IV. Another preserving fire is the fire of hell. The misery of hell is two fold: sin and its punishment. (J. B. Converse.)
Their worm dieth not-Conscience in hell
It has been discovered that there are worms which eat and live upon stone. Many such have been found in a freestone wall in Normandy. So there is a worm in hell-conscience-which lives upon the stony heart of the condemned sinner, which gnaws with remorse all whom grace has not softened.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.