“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”.
Matthew 10:28
The Bible teaches that the soul of a sinner will be destroyed in hell. Many believe that the soul never dies, but God says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).
The word “soul” Psuchē (plural, psuchai) is translated 40 times in the New Testament as “life” or “lives,” clearly with the meaning commonly attributed to the word “life” (Matthew 2:20; 6:25; 16:25; etc.). It is rendered 58 times as “soul” or “souls” (Matthew 10:28; 11:29; 12:18; etc.). In some of these instances it means simply “people” (Acts 7:14; 27:37; 1 Peter 3:20; etc.).
In other instances it is translated as, or equivalent to, some personal pronoun ( Matthew 12:18; 2 Corinthians 12:15; Psalms 16:10). At times it refers to the emotions (Mark 14:34; Luke 2:35; etc.), to the natural appetites (Revelation 18:14), to the mind (Acts 14:2; Philippians 1:27), or to the heart (Ephesians 6:6).
There is nothing in the word psuchē itself that even remotely implies a conscious entity that is able to survive the death of the body and hence be immortal. In no instance of its use in the Bible does psuchē refer to a conscious entity able to exist apart from the body. The Bible knows nothing of a living, conscious soul that, supposedly, survives the body.
Therefore, according to Scripture, the wicked will be destroyed in hell fire–both soul and body.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
