io8 The Worm and the Fire. CHAP. 



where, however, the thought of purification is sub- 

 ordinate to those of light and life and all-penetrating 

 energy. 



The same is in all probability the true meaning of 

 another saying of Our Lord which has often been 

 quoted to show the hopelessness of the future 

 state ; and we cannot deny that such is its obvious 

 and superficial meaning. I quote from the revised 

 translation of the revised text : "If thy hand cause 

 thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee 

 to enter into life maimed, rather than having thy 

 two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquench- 

 able fire. And if thy foot cause thee to stumble, 

 cut it off; it is good for thee to enter into life 

 halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast into 

 Gehenna. And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, 

 cast it out ; it is good for thee to enter into the 

 kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having 

 two eyes to be cast into Gehenna ; where their worm 

 dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every 

 one shall be salted with fire." 1 



The mention of the worm and the fire is an 

 allusion to the concluding words of the Book of 

 Isaiah : 2 " They shall go forth, and look upon the 

 carcasses of the men that have transgressed against 



1 Mark ix. 43 et seq. 



2 There is no special significance in the position of these 

 words at the end of the book. The Book of Isaiah is little more 

 of a unity than the Book of Psalms. It is different with the 

 emphatic conclusion of such a book as, for instance, the Epistle 

 of James, which is obviously and unquestionably a unity. 



