What does the Bible Say about Death? Home

Look first to the oldest book in the Bible, Job, and observe the plain meaning it gives death.

§ “How oft is the candle of the wicked put out.” 21:17

§ “they are stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.” 21:18

§ “They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.” 21:26

§ “By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed”. 4:9

§ “He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.” 20:8

§ “If He set His hear upon man, if He gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” 34:15

§ “He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” 14:2

§ “There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again…But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” 14:7-10

§ “As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: … they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” 14:11,12

§ “Thou shalt destroy them.” 5:6

§ “The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” 37:20

The book of Psalms is full of such passages as these:

§ “The way of the ungodly shall perish.” 1:6

§ They “are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” 1:4

§ “As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” 68:2

§ “For, lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish.” 73:27

§ “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do fourish; it is that they shall be destroyed forever.” 92:7

§ “For, lo, Thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, Thine enemies shall perish.” 92:9

§ “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be.” 37:10

§ “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” 146:4

§ “The redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever.” 49:8

§ “Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations…Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not: he is like the beats that perish.” 49:11,12

§ “Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.” 49:20

§ “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.” 104:35

Destroyed Without Remedy

Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, declares:

§ “The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.” 13:9

§ “He that speaketh lies shall perish.” 19:9

§ “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” 29:1

§ “The expectation [thread of life] of the wicked shall perish.” 10:28

§ “There shall be no reward [literally, “no hereafter,” “no futurity”} to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out. 24:20.

The prophets declare:

§ “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4

§ “The destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” Isaiah 1:28

§ “They shall be as though they had not been.” Obadiah 16

§ “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1

Turning now to the New Testament, we find the same truth taught. Passages which could be quoted are very numerous. Those here cited are sufficient to establish the New Testament teaching of the condition of man in death.

§ “Destroy both soul and body.” Matthew 10:28

§ “Shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.” Matthew 13:41,42

§ “Ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3,5

§ “Cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:5

§ “Every soul, which will not hear,…shall be destroyed.” Acts 3:23

§ “As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law.” Romans 2:12

§ “Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” Romans 9:22

§ “If Christ be not raised,…they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” I Corinthians 15:17,18

§ “whose end is destruction.” Philipians 3:19

§ “Who shall be punished with everlasting [not “torment,” but] destruction.” 2 Thessalonians 1:9

§ “Which drown men in destruction and perdition.” I Timothy 6:9

§ “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (It does not stop short of death.” James 1:15

§ “Utterly perish in their own corruption.” 2 Peter 2:12

§ “Perish,” destruction. 2 Peter 3:4-9

Not Alive Somewhere Else

The force of these passages, only a few of many that say the same thing, all point in one direction and lead to one conclusion: When a man dies, his life is ended. He is not alive somewhere else. This is asserted in every way in which it is possible for language to assert it, positively and negatively, literally and metaphorically, by parable and by every variety of figure of speech.

The wicked when they die are said to perish, to be destroyed, to become like chaff and stubble, to be utterly consumed root and branch, to be dashed in pieces as a potter’s vessel, to be ground to powder, thrown away as bad fish, thrown down like a house without foundation, to wither like a branch that has been cut off, to consume away into smoke as the fat of rams, to perish like brutes in their own corruption, to become as ashes, to be devoured, to be as nothing, to be as though they had not been, and a host of like expressions. While these fearful figures express pain and suffering, and the utmost anguish, they express more than this. They express death and utter destruction as the end and the ultimate consummation of all these inflictions of the divine wrath.