The Gnashing Teeth Of Jesus’s Opponents

By David H. Wenkel

[David H. Wenkel is an adjunct faculty member in New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois.]

Abstract

One of Jesus’s memorable statements is “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The presence of “weeping” often leads to the conclusion that this language is about sorrow and mourning. However, parallels in the New Testament, Old Testament, and extrabiblical literature, along with the use of the phrase in the narrative scenes of Matthew and Luke, suggest that the “gnashing of teeth” is an act of rage. Understanding this phrase correctly contributes to the identification of Jesus’s opponents.

Introduction

The phrase “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ Luke 13:28).[1] As early as Tertullian (c. AD 155–240), Christian commentary on this passage has been largely apologetic, focusing on the nature and reality of hell, eternal judgment, or a universal bodily resurrection.[2] But some questions about this phrase and its meaning remain unconsidered. What exactly does this phrase communicate about those who undergo God’s judgment? And why did Jesus explain the future state of his opponents in this manner?

There are three approaches to the interpretation of this phrase. The first approach focuses exclusively on “gnashing of teeth” and interprets it as an indication of rage.[3] This approach places the emphasis on the latter part of the expression (“gnashing teeth”) and requires that the former part (“weeping”) be understood as an expression of anger. The second approach, perhaps the most common, focuses exclusively on the word “weeping” and lament for sin.[4] This approach views the latter part of the expression as an act of regret or distress. One major reference work concludes that the presence of “weeping” seems “to indicate that the gnashing of the teeth is not an indication of rage but of extreme suffering and remorse.”[5] The third and last approach views the “and” (καί) as joining two dissimilar responses so that the phrase communicates both weeping/crying in regret and grinding teeth in anger or rage. Many scholars leave the first two options on the table without coming to any firm conclusions.[6] One recent study attempts to incorporate all of these elements and defines “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as “physical pain that results from eternal torment as well as emotional pain that results from the anger and remorse that the condemned might feel.”[7]

Some scholars may simply interpret the phrase by relying heavily on word-study analysis. But the interpretation of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is complicated by an idiom (“gnashing of teeth”) within the phrase. It is not clear whether this whole expression should be understood as consisting of one or two responses. While it is clear that κλαυθμός means “weeping,” it is not clear whether βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων (“gnashing of teeth”) means something like “anger” or emotional “pain.”[8] If one relies on the word “weeping” for a hermeneutical key, then the idiom “gnashing of teeth” is interpreted as “anguish.”

This study focuses exclusively on the idiom “gnashing of teeth” and proposes that it should be understood as an expression of rage. The “gnashing” may extend from the act of weeping with regret, but it is also an act that brings temporal anger into an eternal state. The rage of those who hated Yahweh’s words and ways in Jesus the Messiah is now complete. While heaven completes the joy of God’s people, hell finalizes the anger of those who oppose the kingdom of God and its King.

This examination first considers references to divine judgment and “gnashing of teeth” in the Old Testament, New Testament, and extrabiblical literature. The next section moves beyond word studies and into literary studies, considering how Jesus’s audience(s) responded to his teachings that include references to “gnashing of teeth.” Although literary evidence is generally overlooked by studies of this phrase, it adds another layer of information for understanding Jesus’s teaching. The responses of Jesus’s audiences suggest that his opponents reacted with murderous anger toward Jesus. The last part of this study examines the broader theological context and considers the significance of Jesus’s identification of his opponents as raging in hell against God.

Parallel Acts Of Rage

The word most closely associated with “gnashing of teeth” is κλαυθμός (“weeping”), which possibly points to the emotional pain of regret. But there are other pieces of evidence to consider. Lexical parallels to the phrase “gnashing of teeth” all point to the presence of rage. This section considers New Testament, Old Testament, and extrabiblical parallels.

The closest parallel in the New Testament occurs in the narrative of the stoning of Stephen: “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth [ἔβρυχον τοὺς ὀδόντας] at him” (Acts 7:54). This parallel combines the element of rage with the act of grinding teeth. Their rage is so strong that it ends in Stephen’s death by stoning, making him the first Christian martyr. This parallel is significant because the book of Acts intentionally portrays Stephen as a “Deuteronomistic rejected prophet” and antitype of the prophet-like-Moses—Jesus.[9]

Every reference to “gnashing of teeth” in the Old Testament signals rage or murderous passions. The first close verbal parallel appears in Job 16:9: “He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me [ἔβρυξεν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τοὺς ὀδόντας, LXX].” Surprisingly, here it is Yahweh who is gnashing his teeth as Job’s supposed opponent. G. H. Wilson comments, “At the end of the verse, God has clearly become the ‘opponent’ (Heb. tsar, ‘enemy, foe, opponent’) who ‘pierces’ Job with his eyes.”[10] Job’s friends believe that his suffering is an attack by God. The immediate context emphasizes the emotion of God’s anger and the imagery of an animal baring its teeth at its prey.

In Psalm 35:16 (34:16 LXX), the psalmist says of his enemies, “like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth [ἔβρυξαν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτῶν, LXX].” This imagery continues in the following verse: “Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!” (v. 17). David pictures his enemies as lions who “hate [him] without cause” (v. 19) and seek his destruction. This imagery also ties the language of gnashing teeth to other poetic texts: “A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion” (Prov 19:12).

Again in Psalm 37:12 (36:12 LXX), “the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him [βρύξει ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ, LXX].” While the psalmist does not describe the emotional state of the enemy, the intent of the “wicked plots” is murderous. The wicked “draw the sword and bend their bows . . . to slay those whose way is upright” (v. 14).

In Psalm 112:10 (111:10 LXX), gnashing of teeth is directly linked to anger: “The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth [τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ βρύξει, LXX] and melts away.”[11] The wicked man is angry with Yahweh’s gracious provision for the righteous who “fears the Lord” (v. 1).

Finally, the poetic language of Lamentations 2:16 describes the joy of Jerusalem’s enemies and this act of “gnashing of teeth” as a sign of “hatred”: “All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth [ἔβρυξαν ὀδόντας, LXX], they cry ‘We have swallowed her’.”[12]

The imagery of gnashing teeth also appears in several Dead Sea Scrolls. Psalm 37:12 appears in scrolls such as 4Q171 (“the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes [his teeth a]t him”).[13] And the imagery of wicked persons with the teeth of young lions or like swords and spears appears in the Thanksgiving Hymn (1QH). This is similar to the men whose teeth are like “spears and arrows” in Psalm 57:4. Scrolls 4Q98 and 4Q83 contain portions of Psalm 35:16: “Like godless jesters at a feast they gnashed their teeth at me.”[14] Such references in the Dead Sea Scrolls mean that

Old Testament texts are significant for understanding Jesus’s first-century milieu.

Parallels from extracanonical Jewish literature offer further evidence that the “gnashing of teeth” is an act of rage.[15] Sirach 51:3 states, “In the face of my adversaries you have been my helper and delivered me . . . from grinding teeth about to devour me [ἐκ βρυγμῶν ἑτοίμων εἰς βρῶμα].” The context includes salvation from “Hades” (v. 5) and “death” (v. 6). The “enemies” (v. 8) seek “death” (v. 9) and “destruction” (v. 12). The imagery is that of praise for deliverance from hell and those who inhabit it.

In the Sibylline Oracles[16] as in 1 Enoch and the Synoptics, a judgment from “heaven” brings “burning” and “fire” in Hades (Sib. Or. 2.196–7).[17] The oracle prophesies, “All the souls of men will gnash their teeth, burning in a river, and brimstone and a rush of fire” (2.204). Later, it explains that God’s judgment will cause sinners to “wail” (2.297) and “they will not have their fill of tears, nor will their voice be heard as they lament” (2.300–1). But in a significant transition, this wailing in lament gives way to rage: “They will all gnash their teeth, wasting away with thirst and raging violence” (2.305–6).

If these texts in book 2 of the Sibylline Oracles predate Jesus, then it is possible that his Jewish contemporaries would have understood the imagery. But if they are a later Christian redaction, then they provide a window into one of the earliest Christian interpretations of Jesus’s teaching.[18] In either case, they supply important extrabiblical evidence that closely parallels Jesus’s language and points to the conclusion that “gnashing teeth” is an act of rage. Notably, however, the Oracles portray the gnashing of teeth as an act that can follow weeping. Perhaps sadness and rage are not necessarily exclusive.

Literary Acts Of Rage

Because the expression “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” is without “precise parallels in secular Greek and Jewish literature,” it must be considered in its context.[19] Further understanding of “gnashing of teeth” can be provided by asking, What is the response of those who heard Jesus’s words? Did they feel remorse or rage? The seven instances where Jesus referred to “weeping and gnashing of teeth” correlate to four distinct scenes in the Gospel of Matthew with one parallel from Luke.[20]

This language first appears when the Gentile centurion calls for Jesus to heal his servant (Matt 8:5–13). Jesus “marveled” (v. 10) at the faith of this Gentile and addressed the disciples “who followed him” (v. 10): “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 8:10–12 // Luke 13:28–30).

This speech clearly indicates that Gentiles will be included in the kingdom.[21] David deSilva comments, “Jesus strikes at the heart of Jewish doctrines of election as he claims that Gentiles will enter the kingdom of heaven while the blood relations of Abraham find themselves excluded.”[22] The “sons of the kingdom” are the Jews who lack faith and are thus separated from the feast in the kingdom of heaven. Unless the Jews have faith like this Gentile centurion, they will be cut off. Gentiles will be able to eat with the patriarchs while those in Israel who do not exercise faith will be cast out. Because this is a private conversation between the disciples and some Gentiles, these inflammatory remarks do not provoke backlash.

The parallel text in Luke 13 occurs as part of Jesus’s teaching about the narrow door (Luke 13:22–30). This teaching moves from “negative image to positive, while Matthew’s is the reverse.”[23] “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” occurs as part of Jesus’s response to the query “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (v. 23). Jesus’s answer follows Luke’s penchant for reversal.[24] Those who assume they will be on the inside are found to be on the outside of the messianic banquet in the kingdom of God (v. 29).[25] The concluding statement of the pericope challenges assumptions about who actually belongs in the categories of “in” and “out” in the messianic kingdom: “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (v. 30).

In the second scene from Matthew, Jesus addresses a “whole crowd” on the beach from a boat just off the shore (Matt 13:2, 34). Included in this teaching is the parable of the weeds of the field, or the parable of the sower. Then the narrative transitions from public to private as his disciples ask Jesus the meaning of this parable (v. 36). It is in this private discussion that the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” appears twice (vv. 42, 50).

Both occurrences in this discussion appear with statements about the radically different destinies of the righteous and the wicked. In the first occurrence, the contrast follows immediately: “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (vv. 42b–43a). In the second occurrence, the contrast appears immediately before the saying: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 49–50).

These two pericopes highlight how this teaching about hell functions in Jesus’s private teaching with his disciples. The apocalyptic language encourages a binary mode of thinking. People will either be taken away with the righteous by angels, or they will be in the place where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”[26]

The third scene differs from the previous two in that the narrative places Jesus in a public context. Jesus uses the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” for a third time in the Gospel of Matthew: “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen” (22:13b–14). This speech comes at the end of the parable of the wedding feast, delivered in front of the crowds that contained both the chief priests and Pharisees (21:46). Because this is a mixed crowd, Jesus addresses them exclusively in parables (22:1). Two points are noteworthy. First, the final statement further encourages a binary way of thinking about the “kingdom of heaven” (v. 2). Although many are called into the kingdom, only a few will finally qualify to be on the inside. Second, this teaching provokes his opponents to try to discredit his public ministry, as exemplified by the continuing narrative: “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words” (v. 15).

Jesus’s lengthy teaching on the Mount of Olives contains the last two uses of this enigmatic phrase. Jesus delivered this teaching privately to his disciples (24:3). He began by preparing the disciples for their future ministry of gospel proclamation: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (v. 9). Although the first reference to “weeping and gnashing of teeth” does not appear until much later in this large textual unit (v. 51), this initial teaching in verse 9 explains the assertion in verse 51. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a “household” over which the master has placed various servants (v. 45). Some servants are found faithful and some wicked. But the faithful servants suffer beatings by the wicked servants (v. 49). This example of the household parallels the earlier statements about the disciples enduring tribulation and hatred. Jesus concluded the example about the household with this: “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 50–51). The faithful servants who suffer will finally be vindicated by the returning master, who will violently judge the wicked servants with both bodily death and eschatological judgment.

The second reference to “weeping and gnashing of teeth” occurs farther along in this private teaching on the Mount of Olives. Following the parable of the ten virgins is the parable of the talents (25:14–30). This parable mirrors the previous passage containing Jesus’s phrase in that it has faithful servants (v. 23) and wicked servants (v. 26). This strict antithesis is re-stated as a division between the “one who has” and the “one who has not” (v. 29). The parable concludes with a reference to judgment in Gehenna: “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 30). Like every other example in our study, the parable of the talents also encourages a binary way of thinking about personal destiny with respect to God’s final judgment. People are either in the kingdom of heaven or they are outside of it. When the Son of Man comes, the first act he will accomplish is to “sit on his glorious throne” (v. 31). From this throne, he will first gather “all the nations” (v. 32a) and then “he will separate people one from another” (v. 32b).

Identifying Acts Of Rage

Thus far, this study has established that the idiom “gnashing of teeth” within the larger phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” refers to an act of rage. There is no extant precedent for this precise phrase in either Greek or Hebrew literature. Perhaps Jesus intentionally coined this memorable phrase as a didactic technique. At the very least, the Gospels testify that he used it repeatedly. So why would Jesus repeatedly use this apocalyptic phrase in both private and public contexts? Henning rightly concludes that these teachings appeal “to the audience’s senses as well as their emotions, moving them to behave ethically in this life.”[27] But this ethical sense of ought derives from a sense of is. In other words, ethics flow from identity. Jesus’s teaching is keenly pointed toward establishing personal identity, not just moving people toward ethical action. The phrase in question is best understood as an act of identification. It is an act of proto-ecclesiology that supports the contrast between those who identify with the kingdom of heaven and those who identify with Gehenna. This act of identification has implications for two groups of people: Jesus’s disciples and Jesus’s opponents.

First, Jesus privately referred to his opponents “gnashing” their teeth in hell in order to define for his disciples by contrast a distinct group of individuals who share in the kingdom of heaven. There is an antithesis between the righteous and the wicked. Every instance of “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” is accompanied by statements about the radical separation of the righteous and the wicked. Jesus identified people in the following polarities: as faithful or wicked (Matt 24:45), foolish or wise (25:2), sheep and goats (v. 32), those on the right and those on the left (v. 33). Jesus allowed for no neutral ground when it comes to personal identification with his kingdom by faith.

Furthermore, what is revealed in future eschatological scenes of judgment will enable the disciples to interpret their present and future tribulations. Apocalyptic statements about Gehenna (or hell) warn those in the present about future divine acts of judgment. The phrase also warns the disciples about the murderous rage that Jesus would face as he approached the cross. This is especially clear in the parallels between the warnings of future tribulation and hatred (24:9) and the imagery of the household with wicked servants who beat the faithful servants (vv. 45–51). After the resurrection and ascension, this language would continue to warn the disciples about the rage of their opponents in the synagogues and elsewhere. The emphasis of these statements is not about the place of hell, but on the need for those who hear Jesus’s words and see his deeds to “align themselves with the kingdom of heaven.”[28]

Second, Jesus publicly referred to his opponents “gnashing” their teeth in hell in order to identify them as those associated with Hades/Sheol. In a strange twist, unbelieving Israel rejects Jesus the Messiah and becomes like the raging nations of Psalm 2:1. Israel becomes like the ungodly pagan nations who hate Yahweh and oppose his anointed (v. 2). They initially plot to trap Jesus in his words, but eventually progress to a plan to kill Jesus (Matt 26:4) by crucifixion (27:32–44). Jesus’s opponents who hated him with a murderous anger find their hatred of God brought to its finalization while enduring the judgments of God in hell.[29] Thus, the language “gnashing teeth” serves as a counterpoint for the identity of those associated with the kingdom of heaven. Those who raged at Jesus on earth will continue their rage in Gehenna. The language of hell and its future judgments identifies people in the present. Jesus’s unrepentant opponents are the people of the underworld because they embody the very qualities of hell itself. The Old Testament portrays Sheol or the underworld as a “monster with a gaping mouth.”[30] For example, Isaiah 5:14 states, “Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure.” It is only fitting that those who gnash their teeth will find themselves in the place that is like a monster with a gaping mouth. The people of the kingdom of heaven exhibit the qualities of heaven and, correspondingly, the people of Gehenna exhibit its qualities. Ryken comments, “The wicked, who have gnashed their teeth in anger all their lives, will continue to do so, but now at God’s behest, in hell.”[31]

Jesus’s teaching urges the reader to consider the identification of those privy to his private teachings and the identity of the various parties in the public scenes. The repetition of dramatic imagery of human suffering provokes the imagination and points toward personal application,[32] because feelings are deeply tied to identity. The reader of Matthew and Luke (especially Matthew with his repetition) is confronted by a binary reality about personal identity. Either one is participating in the kingdom of God or one is participating in the kingdom of Satan. The person who is participating in the kingdom of God by faith is filled with joy now and forevermore.[33] And the one filled with sorrow and rage at God and his Son in the present will find that same emotion established in eternity.

Conclusion

This narrow study of Jesus’s memorable phrase “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” focused narrowly on the act of gnashing one’s teeth. Because this exact phrase is unique to Jesus, related elements from parallel texts and literary characteristics are extremely important. This study draws three main conclusions. First, parallel texts from the Old Testament point to the “gnashing of teeth” reflecting the emotion of rage in those who are being punished in hell. Some extrabiblical sources even depict remorse turning to rage. Second, the literary contexts of the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke encourage a binary way of thinking about personal destiny with respect to God’s final judgment. Third, the phrase establishes two distinct identities. Jesus used the phrase differently in private contexts with his disciples than in public contexts with various types of people in the audience. In private contexts, the phrase encouraged the disciples to identify themselves with the kingdom of heaven; in public contexts, it encouraged his opponents to identify with hell. The way that people responded to Jesus in his earthly ministry reflected their true identities. For those who opposed Jesus, their murderous anger against him would continue in eternal judgment and their rage would be established forever.

Notes

1. Helyer comments, “These passages seem to refer to final judgment, not the intermediate state.” Larry R. Helyer, Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A Guide for New Testament Students (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002), 401. Pennington finds a strong connection between the “place of gnashing of teeth,” Gehenna, and raging fire. Jonathan T. Pennington, Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 207.
2. Tertullian argues that hell is a torment for the eyes and a place where people are “bound hand and foot.” Tertullian, “On the Resurrection of the Flesh,” trans. P. Holmes, in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian:The Ante-Nicene Father, vol. 3, ed. A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 571, §35.
3. For example, Ritz states, “Those who are excluded ‘see’ Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in fellowship with the Gentiles and rage with ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ This conduct expresses their hostility to God, not their misery.” H. J. Ritz, “ Ἰσαάκ,” in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2, ed. Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 200. Similarly, I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Exeter: Paternoster, 1978), 567.
4. Referring to Luke 13:28, Wiersbe’s pastoral commentary states, “It is a picture of people who are overwhelmed with regret because they see how foolish they were to delay; but, alas, it is too late.” Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 227. Similarly, Mounce defines the phrase as “sorrow and remorse.” R. H. Mounce, Matthew, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 80. Turner refers to “unspeakable anguish.” D. L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 233.
5. Moisés Silva, ed., “βρύχω, βρυγμός,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 1:534.
6. Hasler states, “The accompanying verbal expression gnash with the teeth designates the enraged baring of the teeth of the mortal enemy or the despairing gnashing of teeth of the damned in hell.” V. Hasler, “βρυγμός,” in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 1:228. Similarly, the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis summarizes the meaning of βρύχω as “to gnash (the teeth as a sign of rage and distress),” even though it shortly after suggests that, in context, it indicates suffering (see above). Silva, “βρύχω, βρυγμός,” 1:533–34. Bauer, et al., make no conclusion at all about the meaning of the phrase. Walter Bauer, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., ed. Frederick William Danker (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2000), s.v. βρυγμός. Similarly, Alfred Plummer, Luke, International Critical Commentary (London: T&T Clark), 346.
7. Meghan Henning, Educating Early Christians through the Rhetoric of Hell: “Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth” as Paideia in Matthew and the Early Church, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II 382 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 162.
8. Louw and Nida explain the two choices as “the grinding or the gnashing of the teeth, whether involuntary as in the case of certain illnesses, or as an expression of an emotion such as anger or of pain and suffering.” J. P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 253.
9. D. P. Moessner, “ ‘The Christ Must Suffer’: New Light on the Jesus-Peter, Stephen, Paul Parallels in Luke-Acts,” in The Composition of Luke’s Gospel: Selected Studies from Novum Testamentum, ed. David E. Orton (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 131. For comments on verbal and thematic parallels see Shelly Matthews, Perfect Martyr: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian Identity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 16.
10. Gerald H. Wilson, Job, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012), 176.
11. Nolland sees gnashing of teeth as an expression of “vexation” as opposed to “hostility and anger” based on his understanding of Psalm 112:10 in relation to Matthew 8:12. John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 358. However, the Hebrew verb כָעָס in Psalm 112:10 can also mean “anger,” as indicated by the ESV.
12. Tremper Longman III, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012), 359.
13. Géza Vermès, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 4th ed. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), 349.
14. P. W. Skehan, E. Ulrich, and P. W. Flint, Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XVI: Psalms to Chronicles, vol. 11 (Oxford: Clarendon, 2000), 145–49.
15. In 1 Enoch, the “spirits of sinners, blasphemers, those who do evil” suffer the judgment of God (108:6). The text then indicates that the “flame of a fire” accompanies “a voice of weeping, crying, and lamenting as well as strong pain” (108:5). However, there is no reference to “gnashing teeth” in 1 Enoch. James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York: Yale University Press, 1983), 88.
16. For comments on the Judeo-Christian character of book 2 of the Sibylline Oracles, see J. L. Lightfoot, The Sibylline Oracles: With Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on the First and Second Books (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), viii.
17. For a recent study of hell in the apocrypha and Second Temple Jewish texts, see Mark T. Finney, Resurrection, Hell and the Afterlife: Body and Soul in Antiquity, Judaism and Early Christianity (London: Routledge, 2014), 159–61.
18. “The full extent of the Christian redaction is uncertain.” John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 239.
19. T. McComiskey, “βρύχω,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 2:421–22.
20. Matthew writes on hell more than the other Synoptics and does “not share the modern aversion to hell.” Dale C. Allison Jr., Studies in Matthew: Interpretation Past and Present (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 248.
21. “This passage is the first in the gospel which indicates that Gentiles will also be included in the kingdom (compare 21:43; 22:14; and 25:32).” D. Kittle, “Matthew: Messiah’s Authentication and Opposition,” Central Bible Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1971): 15.
22. David A. deSilva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000), 202.
23. Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51–24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 1238–39. Pao and Schnabel suggest that Luke 13:29 resembles Psalm 112:10 (111:10 LXX). David W. Pao and Eckhard J. Schnabel, “Luke,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, ed. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: 2007), 335.
24. John O. York, The Last Shall Be First: The Rhetoric of Reversal in Luke, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement 46 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991).
25. A “great reversal is pictured as a result of which those who were outsiders will be let in, and those who thought they were in will be left out.” Robert J. Shirock, “The Growth of the Kingdom in Light of Israel’s Rejection of Jesus: Structure and Theology in Luke 13:1–35, ” Novum Testamentum 35, no. 1 (1993): 15–29.
26. For a study on the significance of a shining face see David H. Wenkel, Shining Like the Sun: A Biblical Theology of Meeting God Face to Face (Wooster, OH: Weaver, 2016).
27. Henning, Educating Early Christians, 163.
28. Pennington, Heaven and Earth, 207.
29. The early nineteenth-century commentator John Gill writes aptly on Matthew 13:42: “There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth; declaring the remorse of conscience, the tortures of mind, the sense of inexpressible pain, and punishment, the wicked shall feel; also their furious rage and black despair.” John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol. 1, Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1809), 154.
30. Anique de Kruijf, “A Glimpse of the Beast: Leviathan in Late Medieval and Early Modern Art,” in Playing with Leviathan: Interpretation and Reception of Monsters from the Biblical World, ed. Koert van Bekkum, Jaap Dekker, Henk van den Kamp, and Eric Peels, Themes in Biblical Narrative 21 (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 252.
31. Leland Ryken, et al., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000), 847.
32. Referring to the torments of the damned, Luz comments, “Matthew can massively threaten and frighten his readers.” Ulrich Luz, Matthew 21–28: A Commentary, Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2005), 289.
33. Hagner observes that these phrases in Matthew stand in “sharp contrast to the words of blessing” found in the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14–30, esp. 21, 23). Donald Hagner, Matthew 14–28, Word Biblical Commentary 33B (Dallas: Word, 1998), 736.