Luke 12:5

5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

Luke 12:5 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 12:5

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear,
I will be your monitor, and direct you to the proper object of fear and reverence, and whom you should be careful to displease and offend:

fear him, which after he hath killed;
your body, as the Persic version adds; hath taken away the life of it, by separating soul and body asunder, by sending one disease or another, or death in one shape or another:

hath power to cast into hell;
your soul, as the above version also adds; yea, to destroy both body and soul in hell, as in (See Gill on Matthew 10:28)

yea, I say unto you, fear him;
and none else, not with a servile, but with a filial fear.

Luke 12:5 In-Context

3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that.

5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins ? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.

7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek Gehenna.