Discovery BoxMatthew 10:28-33 
Context10:28 Do 1 not be afraid of those who kill the body 2 but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 3 10:29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? 4 Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 5 10:30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. 10:31 So do not be afraid; 6 you are more valuable than many sparrows.
10:32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges 7 me before people, I will acknowledge 8 before my Father in heaven. 10:33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
2 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
3 sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
4 sn The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest items sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.
5 tn Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”
6 sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.
7 tn Or “confesses.”
8 tn Grk “I will acknowledge him also.”
sn This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. On Jesus and judgment, see Luke 22:69; Acts 10:42-43; 17:31.
