Today’s most popular English Bible translations include the New International Version (NIV), followed by the New Living Translation (NLT) and the English Standard Version (ESV). The King James Version (KJV) remains widely used, though it has seen a decline in recent rankings.

All these versions translate Matthew 25:46 in a similar way:

Matthew 25: 46 (NIV) Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

An explanation of Matthew 25:45-46

We need to look at more than just verse 46 since the context of this chapter gives us much more insight as to the meaning of this verse.

Matthew 25:45- 46 (NIV) He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Eternal punishment

How can a rational mind conceive of a God, a God we are told in most of the Holy Scripture, is a God of love and compassion, be responsible for having a great part of mankind doomed to eternal punishment. Truly appalling.

The doctrine that all unbelievers are to suffer eternal punishment is, literally, the most damnable distortion of this key verse. It is not only an outrage on the unbeliever, but upon God and His holy word.Even the short verse of I Timothy 2:4 crushes this gross distortion:

(NIV) who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

An accurate translation

We need to look at literal translations to see the true meaning of this verse. The accurate translations need to be translated from the original Greek text into English without any preconceived ideas. A few literal translations include Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible, Youngs Literal Translation and Concordant Literal translation.

From the Concordant Literal Translation (CLV):

Matthew 25:46 (CLV) And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian."

The meaning of this verse is clarified when you investigate to meaning of the Greek words and the context in which Christ spoke these words. The word eternal is not in the original. The word should be eonian. The word punishment should be chastising.

 With great perversity the vast majority of Christendom persist in applying “eternal punishment” to the bulk of unbelievers to whom the Scriptures never apply.

They justify their belief on the very popular New International Version of Matthew 25:46 which reads:

Matthew 25: 46 (NIV) Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

The words “eternal” and “punishment” are not found in the original Greek text. Look at the Greek translated word for word. Here is the verse Matthew 25:46 from the web site Interlinear Scripture Analyzer 3 giving the Greek (top line) the transliteration into English (second line) and the English translation (bottom line):

“Eternal” should be translated “eonian”
“Punishment should be translated “chastening”

So from the Concordant Literal Translation (CLV) we have:

Matthew 25:46 And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian.

Meaning of “eonian”

Eonian does not mean eternal or endless. Please read the article on the plan of God to find out the truth about the word eonian (not eternal) and this web site https://www.concordant.org/expositions/the-eons/greek-words-aion-aionios/

Meaning of “punishment”

Concerning the word “punishment” which is mistranslated from the Greek “kolasin”.

Punishment is one of the main themes of theology. Earnest seekers after truth are perplexed about it, not being able to reconcile it with the ways of God in love. That there is something amiss with the thought is clearly shown by the fact that it is very seldom needed in an accurate literal version.

The fact that everlasting punishment is contrary to God's revealed character and clashes with every human instinct does not disprove it. If God's Word teaches it, it is true. But the fact that it is repugnant, not merely to the nature we have by creation, but especially to the spirit we receive as a seal of God's salvation, should lead us to investigate the grounds on which it rests. The original Scriptures are infallible, but the Bible versions we have is only a translation, into which a measure of human fallibility is mixed. Does the Original teach endless punishment? No!

Always examine the context

The crucial question is, What does God's Word teach regarding the judgment of the wicked? Note carefully the context of these two verses:

Matthew 25:45- 46 (NIV) He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

It is possible to prove anything by the Bible if we take texts out of their contexts. We are reasonably sure of the truth if we keep each passage in its proper place. The book of Matthew deals with the Kingdom and Christ as King. The twenty-fifth chapter deals with the time of its establishment. In Matthew 25:31 - 46 the time is restricted to the glorious return of Christ to usher in the Millennium. We have no right to apply it to any other time. That is one of the worst errors that can be committed against God's revelation. It reduces it to inextricable confusion.

Preceding our Lord's return in glory to the earth to establish the Kingdom, the Jews will be persecuted as never before. When Christ comes, He will judge the then existing nations, who survive the tribulation of that time, to determine their place in the Kingdom. He likens this to the kids and goats in Matthew 25:32-33. That will depend entirely on their treatment of His brethren (the Jews), during the time of Jacob's trouble. This judgment is not final. Eonian chastening (not “eternal Punishment”) it is here limited to the nations who will not comfort the faithful of Israel in their time of sore distress. It has no bearing on the sins of individuals.

 It is not written concerning us at all! When did we succour the Jews in their distress? When did we feed and clothe and visit them, etc. as described in Matthew 25? Never.

Only the nations are judged according to their treatment of His brethren (the Jews). Then "the final judgment" does not deal with all the sins of men, but only with the nations in their treatment of the Jews!

Christ describes Himself as representing His brethren, the nation of Israel.

 In Matthew 25, starting in verse :31 we read of Christ returning to the earth to set up His Kingdom. Reading further He (Christ) gathers the nations (not individuals).

Those who do not comfort the Jews are given agelong, or eonian chastening, not everlasting punishment. The proper Greek word for punishment is timroria. Kolasis occurs only twice in the Scriptures, and never of the final judgment. God speaks of the judgment, not the punishment of· the wicked.

The nations which are identified as sheep are destined to enter into eonian life at Christ’s return. See my article on the five eons. The nations which are identified as goats will enter into eonian chastisement at Christ’s return.

Today we can recognize the nations that that support (comfort, succour) the Jews (nation of Israel). They include the United States, and the western democracies. They can be likened to “sheep”. On the other hand, those nations that hate and crave to obliterate the Jews and the nation of Israel include the non-democratic nations especially Iran. They can be likened to “goats”.

 Nations have a destiny as well as individuals. Israel is an eonian nation (2 Sam.7:24). Other nations will endure eonian chastening, or receive eonian life, according to their treatment of our Lord's brethren (Matt.25:46). We miss much if we confound nations with individuals, and confuse the time of their judgment and reward with that of the persons who compose them. The fact that Israel as a nation is to live and rule until the consummation does not by any means imply that every individual in it possesses eonian life, and will share in the kingdom when it comes. Far from it. Only those who did in faith will receive their allotment in the kingdom at the resurrection of the just. The nation to which we belong may have a place in that kingdom, but the saints of this day will enjoy a far higher destiny.

Matthew differs from the other accounts, for in them our Lord appears in different characters. The Servant of Mark, the Man of Luke, and the divine Son of John dealt with individuals, as a rule.

 Matthew is the kingdom account. It is intensely national. In it Christ forbade His apostles even to go on a road of the nations (Matthew 10:5). At the time of the end nation shall rise against nation (Matthew 24:7), and they will be hated by all of the nations. The evangel of the kingdom shall be heralded in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations (Matthew 24:14). Therefore, there is a judgment at the inauguration of the kingdom, not of individuals, but of nations, as such, under the figure of sheep and kids. It is further illustrated by personifying the nations, comparing them to individuals. This has generally been taken literally, and so has led to much confusion. It has nothing to do with the “White Throne Judgment," in which those who do well receive immortality, and others eonian chastisement.

The fact that the passage is found at the end of Matthew 25, the national account, should have prepared us for a judgment in line with its message, in which the nations, as such, receive their wages for the eons, when the Millennial kingdom is established.

The account as a whole is a parable, in which a shepherd's dealings with his sheep and kids are compared with the King's dealings with the nations. Each sheep or kid represents one nation, the former those favorable to Israel and the latter those who did not treat them well.

The nations in the kingdom, during the millennium and in the new earth, will be allotted a place corresponding to their previous political treatment of Israel. Some will receive special blessings because they were kind to them. Others will be most severely disciplined because they had made no efforts to alleviate their lot. "These shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian." Such is the only possible import of these much-abused words, when they are kept connected with their context, and viewed within the scope of the account which contains them.

What is indicated by the eonian fire (figurative – Matthew 25:41) for the nations who do not succor the Lord's brethren in their distress may be apprehended best by considering the sufferings of the chosen nation themselves at the present time, before our very eyes, for this also is characterized as torment in a flame. It is Israel nationally and politically that is dead, not the individuals of the nation. As a nation Israel is tormented by the nations. Altogether apart from their personal worth or unworthiness, good and bad, high and low, rich and poor, the nation, as such, has been generally subject to discriminatory legislation by the governments of the earth, especially in the Middle Ages.

Antisemitism is figuratively called a "flame" in the Scriptures. Is it not most appropriate to characterize its judgment as "fire?" In this flame the chosen nation suffers as it once did in Egypt. But it is not burned up. Notwithstanding its painful lot, its numbers have increased.

Happily, one of the best advances in truth in modern times was the placing of this passage in its proper time, at the beginning of the reign of Christ, and limiting its scope to the existing nations, thus rescuing it from the "general judgment," (White Throne Judgment) with which it is so often confused.

This leads to the interesting conclusion that nations may have eonian life, or may be subjected to eonian chastening. That there will be nations in the thousand years and in the new earth is abundantly clear from the various references to them in Revelation. It is the essence of Christ's reign that He shall have authority over the nations and that He shall share this with the overcomers in Israel (Rev.2:26; 12:5). Even in the last eon, when priesthood is no more, the glory and honor of the nations will be carried into the holy city, new Jerusalem (Rev.21:26). As they will not war among themselves and will be under the iron club of the great King, there is no reason why the nations which exist when the kingdom is set up should not continue throughout its course, and thus have eonian life or chastening until the consummation.

The judgment of the nations as set forth by our Lord in Matthew has long been recognized as such, especially in contrast to the judgment of the individual at the great white throne.

 In this judgment described in Mattthew 25:46, the complete set straight of accounts between the nations and Israel, introductory to the setting up of the kingdom, all seems to fit satisfactory. This is just what we should expect at the end of Matthew's account. It agrees with all the facts, for the Lord's brethren have been scattered among all nations and had been politically in distress most of the time, even when they managed to gain a good livelihood or amass wealth. And when the Son of Mankind sits on the throne of His glory, with nations before Him, what else can it be but the long delayed adjudication between Israel and the nations? Each must be assigned its place according to some standard, and the one given here is in full accord with the righteousness on which the kingdom is founded.

The two main takeaways of Matthew 25:46

One – the original meaning of the Greek words needs to be accepted. Eternal is not a biblical term. The word should be eonian. The word punishment is not correct. It should be chastisement.

Two – the context of the verse needs to be taken into account. Matthew 25:31-46 gives us the context describing Christ returning to the earth to set up His Kingdom where He judges the nations (not individuals), both good (sheep) and bad (goats). The literal translation of verse 46 is :

Matthew 25:46 (CLV)  And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian.

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