Matthew 10:27-28

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, 1  proclaim from the housetops. 2  10:28 Do 3  not be afraid of those who kill the body 4  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 5 

1 tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom.

2 tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

3 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

4 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

5 sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.