refutation of this interpretation. That the word here rendered "carcases" means a lifeless corpse, the
following quotations from the same prophecy will prove:
"Thou art cast out of thy grave (keber) ... as a carcase trodden under feet" (Isa. 14:19).
"Behold, they were all dead corpses" (Isa. 37:36).
We submit that any interpretation of Mark 9:44 should not contradict the passage in Isaiah that gives it its
true setting.
Gehenna in Matthew
Let us now turn to the references to gehenna in Matthew. The first passage is found in the Sermon on the
Mount. This portion of Matthew is the Lord's instruction to His own people. To the self-same hearers
who heard the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12, to the self-same hearers who were told to be perfect as their
Father in heaven is perfect, is given the warning about "hell-fire". This is disconcerting if the Lord
intended gehenna to refer to the orthodox hell. Matthew 5:21-48 constitutes one undivided portion of
truth, addressed to one and the same people, and to whom all that is said is within the realm of possibility.
It will help us to see the passage as a whole:
Matthew 5:21-48
A a1 5:21.
Ye have heard of old time.
b1 5:22.
But I say unto you.
c1 5:22-26. Heart murder.
a2 5:27.
Ye have heard of old time.
b2 5:28.
But I say unto you.
c2 5:28-30. Heart adultery.
d 5:31.
B
It hath been said.
e 5:32.
But I say unto you.
f 5:32.
Avoidance of marriage covenant.
d 5:33.
Ye have heard of old time.
e 5:34.
But I say unto you.
f 5:34-37. Avoidance of oaths.
A a2 5:38.
Ye have heard.
b2 5:39.
But I say unto you.
c2 5:39-42. Non-resistance to evil.
a1 5:43.
Ye have heard.
b1 5:44.
But I say unto you.
c1 5:44-48. Love to enemies.
All these precepts are given with the object that those addressed "may be the children of their Father", and
they are differentiated from the publicans, the climax being reached in verse 48, where we read: "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect".
It is impossible to pick out some of these precepts and omit others. We have to admit that if gehenna in
verses 22 and 30 means eternal torment, then those who are the children of God and can rightly be
expected to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors, who are told to turn the cheek to the smiter,
and to manifest a very high standard of heart purity and obedience - that such, if they fail of this high and
spiritual law, will not suffer loss or be saved, yet so as by fire, but that, with the unsaved who have never
known God as Father, they must be tormented day and night everlastingly. That such is not the teaching
of any sane believer will but show that gehenna here means something different from the traditional hell.
10