Matthew 10:26-31

Fear God, Not Man

10:26 “Do ¹  not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden ²  that will not be revealed, ³  and nothing is secret that will not be made known. 10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, ⁴  proclaim from the housetops. ⁵  10:28 Do ⁶  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁷  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁸  10:29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? ⁹  Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ¹⁰  10:30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. 10:31 So do not be afraid; ¹¹  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

[10:26]  ¹ tn Grk “Therefore do not.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[10:26]  ² tn Or “concealed.”

[10:26]  ³ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice here and in the next verb see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known.

[10:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom.

[10:27]  ⁵ tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ⁷ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ⁸ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[10:29]  ⁹ sn The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest items sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.

[10:29]  ¹⁰ tn Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”

[10:31]  ¹¹ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.