And shall cast them into a furnace of fire
Not a material, but a metaphorical one; denoting the wrath of
God, which shall fall upon wicked men, and abide upon them to all
eternity: which is sometimes called hell fire, sometimes a lake
which burns with fire and brimstone; and here a furnace of fire,
expressing the vehemency and intenseness of divine wrath, which
will be intolerable; in allusion either to Nebuchadnezzar's fiery
furnace, or as some think, to the custom of burning persons alive
in some countries; or rather, to the burning of chaff and
stubble, and the stalks of any unprofitable things that grew in
the field F6, for the heating of furnaces, and is
the very language of the Jews, who used to compare hell to a
furnace; so ( Genesis
15:17 ) is paraphrased by them F7.
``And behold the sun set, and there was darkness; and lo! Abraham saw until the seats were set, and the thrones cast down; and lo! "hell", which is prepared for the wicked in the world to come, (arwntk) , "as a furnace", which sparks and flames of fire surrounded; (hwgbd) , "in the midst of which", the wicked fell, because they rebelled against the law, in their lifetime.''Which is expressed in much the same language, and conveys the same ideas as here; and no wonder is it that it follows,
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;
declaring the remorse of conscience, the tortures of mind, the
sense of inexpressible pain, and punishment, the wicked shall
feel; also their furious rage and black despair.