But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
crx81
Favorite Answer
The word used in Rev. 21:8 for "cowardly" is the transliterated Greek word: delios, meaning timid or fearful, and coming from the word "deos" meaning "dread". It is only used 3 times in the N.T. The other two are:
Mt 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
It seems to me that of the 3 uses, 2 clearly are used in connection with lack of faith in God. However, those 2 uses are also clearly used when speaking to believers, disciples in fact, so I don't think we can make the connection that lack of trust in God during dramatic circumstances in life equals being cast into hell, as the disciples (with the exception of Judas) obviously did not meet that fate.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Greek text does not use punctuation like English does, so the punctuation added was added in translation, and can not be thought of as inspired as is the case with the orginal text. With that in mind, the NKJV translates that verse:
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers..."
If you remove the coma after "fearful" you have "fearful and unbelieving". Other translations seem to lean this way, such as the Bible in Basic English:
"But those who are full of fear and without faith, the unclean and takers of life..."
I'm going to have to say that these people are unbelieving and therefore having no faith in God whatsoever, causing them to "cower in fear" due to their lack of control over circumstances and lack of faith in the God who does control thier circumstances.
That's the best I can come up with. Hope it helps!
velasques
Explain Revelation 21
William
The cowardly are those who are bound for hell due to their own deserved sinful conduct as reflected in their heart. Those who are not Christians are those who are cowardly in that they fear God's judgment. Cowardly does not define the Christian. The Christian may act cowardly in the face of danger, but the cowardly that this verse 21:8 speaks is of the people who fear God's judgment due to sin, for they know that they deserve God's judgment and they are cowards to face God. No Christian is cowardly toward God; for we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: see Romans. All through Scripture the "cowardly" of this type are those who run away from the judgment of God over sin. And the long list of descriptions that follow define the unbeliever, those not in Christ, and "cowardly" is listed first due to the fact that "cowardly" is to give the general condition of the sinner due to the fact they are seeped into sin by nature and in acts: murderers, adulterers, liars and so forth. This verse is NOT to be a description toward a Christian: it has everything to do with who ends in the lake of fire: no one outside of Christ is spared. THIS is a cowardice to face God in his wrath over sin. And lest the Christian think his sin is forgiven so he can sin in practice, he or she needs to think this over: for such a Christian will find him or herself facing the same judgment, and when he or she does, he or she will also cower on judgment day: a warning, no matter what you have heard to the contrary. God does not play favorites. Romans 2:9..
Anonymous
lionheart007,
I believe that the last time that I looked the Greek word up it was accurate to translate that word as cowardly. (I am without my usual references right now.)
Cowards, if I get this right, are those that fear and act upon their doubts . . . something that we all do or have done at times. Peter was being a coward when he denied the Lord three times in the Gospels, for instance.
And in context with this verse, you can add 'coward' to the long list of things that we may be judged upon IF, I repreat IF we are NOT covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are ALL guilty before Him, our own righteousness meaning NOTHING, without the atonement provided by Jesus Christ.
It is only thought Him that we escape the wrath of God. Glory to Him, glory to God. And thanks to Him for His mercy, Grace, and sacrifice.
Fish <><
The cowardly are Christians who do not remain faithful under difficulties and persecution. Those who forsake Christ are listed with those who commit the most abominable sins. Idolaters worship the beast and liars spread his deception.