Matthew 25:46

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
these	οὗτοι houtoi	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
shall go away	ἀπελεύσονται apeleusontai	G565	to go off (i.e. depart) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
everlasting	αἰώνιον, aiōnion	G166	perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine
punishment	κόλασιν kolasin	G2851	penal infliction · noun — accusative singular feminine
but	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
the righteous	δίκαιοι dikaioi	G1342	equitable (in character or act) · adjective — nominative plural masculine
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
life	ζωὴν zōēn	G2222	life (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
eternal	αἰώνιον.¶ aiōnion	G166	perpetual (also used of past time · adjective — accusative singular feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnat…
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on hi…
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall ha…
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 25:46

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,.... Their excuses will not be regarded, their pleas will be of no avail, their pretensions to interest in Christ, and love to him, will be set aside; the sentence will remain irrevocable, and there will be no appeal from it, for there is no higher tribunal to bring the cause before; judgment having passed, the execution of it immediately follows: these goats, or formal professors, shall be obliged, whether they will or not, to depart from the presence of Christ; the angels will be ordered to take and cast them into everlasting burnings; they will be driven by them into hell, the place appointed for them; where they shall endure "everlasti…

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John Calvin on Matthew 25:31–end

Matthew 25:31-46 Matthew 25:31-46 Luke 21:37-38 31. Now when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32. And all the nations shall be assembled before him; and he shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. 33. And he shall place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. 34. Then will the King say to those who shall be on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 25:46

The Greek term translated eternal can mean either “lasting forever” or “lasting for an age,” in this case “the age to come” (13:39-40, 49; 24:3; John 17:3; 2 Thes 1:9; Phlm 1:15; 1 Jn 5:11, 13). Some hold out hope that the punishment of the damned will, after “an age,” be ended by annihilation or forgiveness. The parallel between eternal life and eternal punishment suggests strongly that it means “lasting forever,” since eternal life does not end (see also Luke 16:19-31; Heb 6:2; Rev 20:10).

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

Let the thoughtful reader observe that punishments are eternal, and that that continuing life has thenceforward no fear of fall.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Verse 46.) And these shall go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Wise reader, take note that both eternal punishments and perpetual life should no longer have fear of ruin.
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

I should prefer no good to a vain good: what profits it that that should exist whose existence profits not? It is our own good things whose position is now sinking; it is the system of Christian modesty which is being shaken to its foundation-(Christian modesty), which derives its all from heaven; its nature, "through the layer of regeneration; " its discipline, through the instrumentality of preaching; its censorial rigour, through the judgments which each Testament exhibits; and is subject to a more constant external compulsion, arising from the apprehension or the desire of the eternal fire or kingdom.
— Tertullian, On Modesty

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Eternal death — The miserable fate of the wicked in hell (Matt. 25:46; Mark 3:29; Heb. 6:2; 2 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 18:8; 25:41; Jude 1:7). The Scripture as clearly teaches the unending duration of the penal sufferings…
Eternal life — This expression occurs in the Old Testament only in Dan. 12:2 (R.V., “everlasting life”). It occurs frequently in the New Testament (Matt. 7:14; 18:8, 9; Luke 10:28; comp. 18:18). It comprises the…
Judgment, The final — The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day (Matt. 25; Rom. 14:10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him…
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Death, Eternal · The portion of the wicked — The portion of the wicked
Duty · OF MAN TO MAN — OF MAN TO MAN
Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hell · Described as: Everlasting punishment — Described as: Everlasting punishment
Hospitality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Immortality · 2:11; — 2:11;
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Judgment, The · Final punishment of the wicked will succeed — Final punishment of the wicked will succeed