Isaiah 66:24

Hebrew Bible

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 23 From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me,” says the Lord. 24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, and the fire that consumes them will not die out. All people will find the sight abhorrent.”

Wisdom of Solomon 4:18

Deuterocanon

16 The righteous who have died will condemn the ungodly who are living, and youth that is quickly perfected will condemn the prolonged old age of the unrighteous. 17 For they will see the end of the wise, and will not understand what the Lord purposed for them, and for what he kept them safe. 18 The unrighteous will see, and will have contempt for them, but the Lord will laugh them to scorn. After this they will become dishonored corpses, and an outrage among the dead forever; 19 because he will dash them speechless to the ground, and shake them from the foundations; they will be left utterly dry and barren, and they will suffer anguish, and the memory of them will perish. 20 They will come with dread when their sins are reckoned up, and their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.

 Notes and References

"... There is evidence that Isaiah 66:24 played a strong influence on Jewish views of the judgement around the turn of the era. In Judith 16:17 the writer warns that the Lord will take vengeance on the nations that rise up against Israel. He will give 'fire and worms' to their flesh. In contrast to Isaiah 66:24 where the fire and the worms are agents of destruction, here they become agents of torment; the wicked shall 'weep in pain forever' (Judith 16:17). Likewise Sirach 7:17 warns that the punishment of the ungodly will be 'fire and worms'. In contrast to Judith, Sirach does not clarify whether the punishment will result in destruction or prolonged torment. The Isaiah Targum oscillates between the two views. First the translator states that the breath of the wicked "will not die and their fire shall not be quenched" suggesting perhaps ongoing suffering. However, he adds that they will suffer only until the righteous say, 'we have seen enough' (Targum Isaiah 66:24). Summing the above, Mark 9:43-50 shows the influence of two very similar biblical traditions - Jeremiah's Ge-hinnom texts and Isaiah 66:24. From the former Mark retains the name Gehenna, and from the latter some descriptive remarks. Nothing in Mark's sources suggests torment by fire or other means of apostates for shorter or longer periods of time. Both envisage the complete destruction of the wicked ..."

Papaioannou, Kim Gary Places of Punishment in the Synoptic Gospels (pp. 56-57) Durham University, 2004

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