Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 10:26-28

"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the house-tops. And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." — Matthew 10:26-28 (ASV)

Remigius of Auxerre: To the previous consolation, He adds another no less significant, saying, “Do not fear them,” namely, the persecutors. He adds the reason why they were not to fear: For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known.

St. Jerome: How is it, then, that in the present world the sins of so many are unknown? This is said about the time to come, the time when God will judge the hidden things of men, enlighten the hidden places of darkness, and make manifest the secrets of hearts. The meaning is: Do not fear the cruelty of the persecutor or the rage of the blasphemer, for a day of judgment will come in which your virtue and their wickedness will be made known.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Therefore, neither threats, nor slander, nor the power of their enemies should move them, since the judgment day will disclose how empty and worthless all these things were.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, it might seem that what is said here should be applied generally, but it is by no means intended as a general maxim. It is spoken solely with reference to what came before, with this meaning: If you are grieved when people revile you, remember that in a short time you will be delivered from this evil. Indeed, they call you impostors, sorcerers, and seducers, but have a little patience, and everyone will call you the saviors of the world, when, in the course of events, you are found to have been their benefactors. For people will not judge by their words but by the truth of events.

Remigius of Auxerre: Some indeed think that these words convey a promise from our Lord to His disciples that through them all hidden mysteries should be revealed, which lay beneath the veil of the letter of the Law. This is why the Apostle speaks, When they have turned to Christ, then the veil shall be taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16). The meaning would be: Should you fear your persecutors, when you are considered worthy for the hidden mysteries of the Law and the Prophets to be made manifest through you?

St. John Chrysostom: Then, having delivered them from all fear and set them above all calumny, He appropriately follows this by commanding that their preaching should be free and unreserved: What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

St. Jerome: We do not read that the Lord was accustomed to speak to them by night or to deliver His doctrine in the dark. He said this because all His discourse is dark to the carnal, and His word is night to the unbelieving. What He had spoken, they were to deliver again with the confidence of faith and confession.

Remigius of Auxerre: The meaning, therefore, is: “What I say to you in darkness,” that is, among the unbelieving Jews, “speak in the light,” that is, preach it to the believing. “What you hear in the ear,” that is, what I say to you secretly, “preach on the housetops,” that is, openly before all people. It is a common phrase to “speak in one’s ear,” meaning to speak to someone privately.

Rabanus Maurus: And what He says, Preach on the housetops, is spoken according to the custom of the province of Palestine, where they used to sit on the roofs of the houses, which are not pointed but flat. Therefore, what is spoken in the hearing of all people can be said to be “preached on the housetops.”

Glossa Ordinaria: Alternatively: What I say to you while you are still held under carnal fear, speak in the confidence of truth after you are enlightened by the Holy Spirit. What you have only heard, preach by doing the same, being raised above your bodies, which are the dwellings of your souls. ¹

St. Jerome: Alternatively: What you hear in mystery, teach in plainness of speech. What I have taught you in a corner of Judea, proclaim boldly in all quarters of the world.

St. John Chrysostom: As He said, He that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater things than these shall he do (John 14:12), so here He shows that He works all things through them more than through Himself. It is as though He had said, “I have made a beginning, but what is beyond, I intend to complete through your means.” This is therefore not a command but a prediction, showing them that they will overcome all things.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Therefore, they ought to constantly instill the knowledge of God and the profound secret of evangelical doctrine, to be revealed by the light of preaching. They should have no fear of those who have power only over the body but cannot reach the soul: Fear not those that kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

St. John Chrysostom: Observe how He sets them above all others, encouraging them to disregard cares, reproaches, and perils—yes, even the most terrible of all things, death itself, in comparison of the fear of God.

But rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

St. Jerome: This word is not found in the Old Scriptures but is first used by the Savior. Let us then inquire into its origin. We read in more than one place that the idol Baal was near Jerusalem at the foot of Mount Moriah, by which the brook Siloam flows. This valley and a small, level plain were watered and woody, a delightful spot, and a grove in it was consecrated to the idol. The people of Israel had come to such great folly and madness that, forsaking the vicinity of the Temple, they offered their sacrifices there. Concealing an austere ritual under a voluptuous life, they burned their sons in honor of a demon.

This place was called Gehennom, that is, the Valley of the children of Hinnom. These events are fully described in Kings, Chronicles, and the Prophet Jeremiah (2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 7:32, 32:35). God threatens that He will fill the place with the carcasses of the dead, so that it will no longer be called Tophet and Baal, but Polyandrion, that is, the tomb of the dead. Hence, this word came to signify the torments and eternal pains with which sinners will be punished.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This cannot happen until the soul is so joined to the body that nothing can sever them. Yet it is rightly called the death of the soul, because it does not live from God. It is also called the death of the body because, although a person does not cease to feel, this feeling has neither pleasure nor health. Instead, it is a pain and a punishment, and so it is better named death than life. ²

St. John Chrysostom: Note also that He does not offer them deliverance from death but encourages them to despise it. This is a much greater thing than being rescued from death. This discourse also helps to establish the doctrine of immortality in their minds.

1. ord.
2. City of God, book xiii, ch. 2