[where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched].
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And if thy foot serve as a snare to thee, cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life lame, than having thy two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire unquenchable;
Three times in a row the Lord makes the same hard demand: hand, then foot, then eye. The foot carries us where we choose to go, and His question is not medical but eternal — what is a limb worth, next to life?
Kelly reads this warning as the Lord turning the searchlight on His own followers, in a world full of traps.
No doubt the disciple follows Him through a world full of stumbling-blocks, with dangers on every side. But more than that, He is pleased to cast the light of eternity right into the middle of its snares and pits. So this was not a mere question of the moment. It went far beyond the aims of party strife. Our Lord therefore strikes at the root of what was at work in the mistaken disciples.
Mark lists hand, then foot, then eye. The foot is the course a person takes. For Grant, the knife is a decision your own conscience must make.
Self-judgment is therefore absolutely necessary. "If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off." One's own conscience can see this. If the foot goes in the wrong direction, use the sharp knife: I must judge it without mercy… If someone never judges his own evil tendencies, he will never see his need of the salvation of God. The end of such a man is the torment of hell.
The command is not an order to injure the body. The picture is physical, but the demand is spiritual. It sounds so extreme because of what hangs on it.
A physical act here is plainly just a vivid way of describing a spiritual cutting off and casting out. Spare nothing that is a snare, even if it seemed as close and as necessary as the hand, foot, or eye. Eternity is in question, and so is a judgment which no one can escape, and which spares nothing contrary to God.
The word behind "hell" here is Gehenna, not the general word for the place of the dead. It was a real valley outside Jerusalem, and its history made it a fitting picture.
Gehenna is the Greek equivalent of two Hebrew words meaning "valley of Hinnom." It was the place near Jerusalem where the Jews made their children pass through fire to foreign gods. Later it became a defiled place. 2 Kings 23:10. A continual fire made it a fitting picture of the place of eternal punishment.
The fire of hell and the worm that does not die run through this passage. Grant explains what each one stands for.
The worm that does not die speaks of his accusing conscience, which never stops — a large part of the torment that never ceases. The fire is the holiness of God, who because of His very nature must judge sin. The same fire that in some cases brings warmth and blessing will in this case bring heat and torment.
In verses 43 and 45 the Lord says "life." At the eye in verse 47 He says "the kingdom of God." Kelly notes the change and gives a reason.
The change from "life" in verses 43 and 45 to "the kingdom of God" in verse 47 is perhaps due to the eye being in question… "Life" would have been just as true, and Matthew 18:9 does use it. But Mark 9:47 adds another vivid and characteristic touch.
The repeated closing line is not decoration. Kelly hears it as a sound that ought to change how believers speak to those around them.
The refrain says, "where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." On a stricken conscience it falls like the bell that tolls a condemned man to his doom. May it kindle the hearts of us who believe into an unusual earnestness for perishing souls!
- Snare. The foot pictures where you go. Anything in your path that trips you is a snare, not a harmless habit.
- Knife. The cutting is spiritual, not surgical. You refuse the thing outright, however near and necessary it feels.
- Conscience. Your own conscience must spot the wrong direction. Whoever never judges himself never sees his need of salvation.
- Life. Entering life "lame" costs far less than keeping both feet and losing everything.
- Fire. "Hell" here is Gehenna, the defiled valley of continual fire. That fire is the holiness of God, which must judge sin. That is why the Lord warns in such strong terms.