New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 13:42

Secrets of the Kingdom

And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:42 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Matthew 13:42, in plain English

They will be thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The consequences of evil are severe and final.

Why it's here

Jesus speaks about final judgment with sobering directness. He does not want anyone to take this lightly.

Who's speaking

Jesus describes the consequences of evil.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus does not mince words about the reality of judgment. He describes it so starkly because He loves people enough to warn them.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The evildoers will be thrown into the 'fiery furnace' (kaminon tou pyros) where there will be 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (klauthmos kai brygmos ton odonton), a recurring Matthean phrase for eschatological punishment.

Language and setting

The 'fiery furnace' allusion may recall Daniel 3 (Nebuchadnezzar's furnace) or the furnace imagery of Malachi 4:1. 'Weeping and gnashing of teeth' appears seven times in Matthew, always describing the experience of final exclusion.

Voice

Jesus describes the fate of the wicked.

Significance

Jesus does not shy away from describing the fate of the wicked: a fiery furnace of anguish, expressed in the vivid language of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In context

Matthew 13:40–44

40As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.

42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Read all of Matthew 13 — A farmer scatters seed, a woman hides yeast, a merchant finds a pearl. Jesus teaches in parables — and not everyone is meant to understand.

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