Immortal Worms?

Compare Mark 9:42–48 with Isaiah 66:24. How do you understand

the expression “their worm does not die” (Mark 9:48, NKJV)?

Some interpret the singular noun “worm” (Mark 9:48) as an allusion

to the supposed disembodied soul or spirit of the wicked that, after

death, flies into hell, where it never dies and suffers eternal torment.

But this interpretation does not reflect the biblical notion of uncon-

scious death; it also ignores the Old Testament background of this

passage. Actually, “the singular ‘the worm’ is used generically for ‘the

worms’—it does not mean a single worm. The reference is to worms

which feed upon decaying bodies.”—Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene

A. Nida, A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Mark (London:

United Bible Societies, 1961), p. 304.

In Mark 9:48, Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24, which reads, “ ‘And they

will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against

me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will

not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind’ ” (NIV).

This frightening metaphorical scene portrays a battlefield with God’s

enemies dead on the ground and being destroyed. The bodies not con-

sumed by fire are decomposed by worms, or perhaps first by worms

and then by fire. Either way, there is no reference whatsoever to any

alleged soul escaping the destruction of the body and flying into hell.

But what about the “worms” that never die? The metaphoric language

of Isaiah 66:24 (quoted in Mark 9:48) does not imply that those worms

are immortal. (Immortal worms?) The emphasis is on the fact that the

worms do not leave their destructive task incomplete. In other words,

they continue to devour the bodies of the wicked until these bodies are

destroyed. By contrast, God’s faithful children will joyfully abide in

“ ‘the new heavens and the new earth’ ” and worship God in His very

presence (Isa. 66:22, 23, NIV). With such contrasting destinies in mind,

no wonder Jesus stated that it would be far better for someone to enter

the kingdom of God without a crucial part of his or her body—without

a hand, or foot, or even an eye—than to have a perfect body that will

be destroyed by worms and fire (Mark 9:42–48).

In the end, we are either totally saved or totally lost. There is no

middle ground. We can have either eternal life or will face eter-

nal destruction. What choices do you have to make today? How

should this reality—eternal life or eternal destruction—impact

those choices?