An Analytical Study of Words
Chapter Ten

Bibles Without
"Everlasting Punishment"

"And these shall go away into punishment of the ages, but the righteous into life of the ages."
              -New Testament in Modern Speech

"And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian."
              -Concordant Literal Translation

"And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during."
              -Young's Literal Translation

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        It is sad to note, but nevertheless true, that most Christians do not realize there are very dramatic differences in translation from one Bible to another. We have heard so often that the "inspired" or "inerrant" Word of God is basically the same in all translations. This is just not true. But one will not see this unless they place several side by side and make some comparisons. Listed below are a few translations which we will compare to the King James Bible on the verse Matthew 26:46.

        Concerning the duration of chastening, Matt. 25:46 says (KJV),

        "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

        Scarlett's New Testament written in 1792 has "aeonian punishment" in place to "everlasting punishment."

        "And these will go away into aeonian punishment: but the righteous into aeonian life."

        The New Covenant by Dr. J.W. Hanson written in 1884 renders Matt. 25:46:

        "And these shall go away into aeonian chastisement, and the just into aeonian life."

        Young's Literal Translation first published in 1898 and reprinted many times since uses the following words:

        "And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during."

        Professor Young also compiled Young's Concordance, wherewith one can check the translation of each Hebrew or Greek word as translated in the KJV.

        The Twentieth Century New Testament first printed in the year 1900 has:

        "And these last will go away 'into aeonian punishment,' but the righteous 'into aeonian life.'"

        The Holy Bible in Modern English by Ferrar Fenton first published in 1903 gives the rendering:

        "And these He will dismiss into a long correction, but the well-doers to an enduring life.

        The New Testament in Modern Speech, by Dr. Weymouth, says:

        "And these shall go away into punishment of the ages, but the righteous into life of the ages."

        Dr. Weymouth most frequently adopts such terms as "life of the ages," "fire of the ages;" and in Rev. 14:6, "The good news of the ages." It is a matter to regret that the editors of the most recent edition of Dr. Weymouth's version have reverted to the KJV renderings for the passages containing the Greek word aion, eon, or age.

        The Western New Testament published in 1926 renders Matt. 25:46 as follows:

        "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

        The translation, however, has a footnote on Matthew 21:19 on the word "forever" which is the same word for "eternal" which says: "Literally, for the age (and elsewhere) This Bible does not use the word "Hell" at all.

        Clementson's The New Testament (1938) shows,

        "And these shall go away into eonian correction, but the righteous into eonian life."

        Wilson's Emphatic Diaglott (1942 edition) translates the verse,

        "And these shall go forth to the aionian cutting-off; but the righteous to aionian life."

        It should be noted that the "cutting-off" refers to pruning a fruit tree to make it bear more fruit. The idea behind the word is not destructive but productive! Had Jesus wanted to emphasize a destructive end, He would have used the word "timoria."

        The Concordant Version (1930):

        "And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian."

        The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed printed in 1958 says:

        "And these shall go away into agelasting cutting-off and the just into agelasting life."

        Rotherham, in his Emphasized Bible (1959), translates this verse,

        "and these shall go away into age-abiding correction, but the righteous into age-abiding life."

        The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible copyrighted in 1976 has "age-abiding correction" instead of the incorrect and quite frankly, blasphemous "everlasting punishment." This phrase "everlasting punishment," when one really thinks about it, renders the work of Christ worthless. It says that His forgiveness, His love, His grace, His mercy, the power of His blood, all these and more become limited when one translates "aionion kolasin" as "everlasting punishment."

        "And these shall go away -abiding correction, but the righteous into age-abiding life."

        There are other Bible translations besides these which have either completely eliminated the concept of eternal punishment from their pages, or have made great strides towards wiping this pagan concept off God's Word. Even some King James Study Bibles will show the reader in the margins or appendixes that the King's translators were incorrect in their rendering of "eternal punishment" and "Hell." The great Companion Bible by Dr. Bullinger is an example of that.

        In summary, then, as we gain more knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages, the pagan concept of "eternal punishment" is becoming manifest as a pagan concept which cannot be found in the original languages of the Bible. Therefore, more and more of the translations printed since the King James Bible of 1611 have dramatically departed from the King's translators translations for words closer to the actual Greek and Hebrew meanings rather than "tradition." The word "Hell," for example, has almost completely disappeared from most translations in the Old Testament. It occurs in most translations only 11 to 14 times and not at all in many translations. The day will come when the pagan concept of "Hell" will no longer be found in any Bible translation. It wasn't in the original languages. The foundation of the Bible, that is, the Old Testament, knows of no such place. Why should we perpetuate Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Angle-Saxon mythology? This is where the concept came from. Here is where the word "Hell," the goddess of the underworld, came from. Leave it there. This idea does not belong on the previous pages of our Bibles.