All the experiences of punishment in the Old Testament, as they relate to people living on earth, are ultimately temporary since people die. But, in light of our discussion on annihilationism, how is punishment used in the Bible?  Does the person experience the punishment or, as the conditionalists say, is eternal punishment actually eternal nonexistence?  I wanted to examine the concept and see what I can learn. I wondered if punishment  is experienced or, are there verses that suggest punishment is something not experienced as annihilationists affirm when they say that eternal punishment means eternal nonexistence?

I analyzed every English word for punish, punishment, punishing, etc., in the entire Bible using the NASB.  See the article  Usage of the English word ‘punish’ in the Bible for the analysis.  The summation of the analysis is that punishment is used in four main categories.

1. Punishment is death or physical destruction
2. The duration and nature of the punishment is not specified
3. Punishment is experienced for a period of time
4. Punishment is instruction

The first mention of punishment in the Bible is found in Genesis with a total of 128 usages found in the English NASB.  Let’s take a look at just some of the verses.  In so doing, notice that punishment is experienced by people.

• Genesis 4:13 when Cain said to God, “my punishment is too great to bear.”  God had just cursed him to be a “vagrant and a wanderer on the earth,” (v. 12).
• Lev. 19:20, when a man “lies carnally with a woman who was a slave acquired for another man… there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death.”
• 2 Chron. 6:23, says, “punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head.”
• Psalm 149:7, “and punishment on the peoples.”
• Proverbs 21:11, “when the scoffer is punished, the naïve becomes wise.”
• Isaiah 13:11, “thus I will punish the world for its evil.”
• Isaiah 30:32, “and every blow of the rod of punishment.”
• Lamentations 4:22 “the punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer.  But He will punish your iniquity, or daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!”
• Hosea 8:13,  “And punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt.”
• Zechariah 14:18-19, “If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”
• Luke 23:16, “Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”
• Acts 26:11, “And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.”
• 2 Cor. 6:9, “as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death.”

There are many usages of the word punishment in the Bible where its contextual meaning is not revealed. For example, the Bible speaks of “the day of punishment,” in Isaiah 10:3.  In Jeremiah 50:27 it speaks of “the time of their punishment.”  Ezekiel 21:25 speaks of the wicked one, “whose day has come in the time of the punishment of the end.” In 2 Pet. 2:9, the unrighteous are kept under punishment for the day of judgment.

Nevertheless, this is the statistical summary of what I found by studying the concept of punishment.

1. Duration and nature not specified, approximately 55 verses, or 44%
   1. For example, Judges 20:10, “And we will take 10 men out of 100 throughout the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the disgraceful acts that they have committed in Israel.”
2. Experienced for a period of time, approximately 37 verses, or 30%
3. For example, Lev. 5:17, “Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.”
4. Death or physical destruction, approximately 27 verses, or 21%
   1. For example, Job 19:29, “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment.”
5. Figurative usage, approximately 6 verses, or 5%
   1. For example, Lev. 18:25, ‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.

What is significant is that the majority of the verses, 44%, do not describe or specify what that punishment is whether it be nonexistence, or something experienced for a time, etc. 30% of the verses reveal that punishment is experienced by people. In 21% of the verses, the punishment is death or physical destruction. But since we are discussing what the afterlife punishment is, those verses do not shed light on the nature of that afterlife punishment. Finally, in 5% of the verses punishment is used figuratively.

As I stated in the original article above, Usage of the English word ‘punish’ in the Bible, you may disagree on some of the categories in which I placed some verses.  That is fine.  This is not an exact science.  But, the point here is that punishment is either experienced or we don’t know the exact nature of that punishment.

Conclusion

The percentages of usage of the concept of punishment do not make a biblical doctrine true or false. At best, it just shows a ratio of how an idea is used in Scripture. But, if my analysis had demonstrated that all instances of punishment were never experienced by people, then that would lend support for annihilationism. After all, in annihilationism, the final punishment is to not exist. This final punishment cannot be experienced since nonexistence isn’t anything. But we see that in Scripture, punishment is most definitely experienced by people. I could find no instance where punishment was not experienced. But, does this disprove conditionalism? No, it only shows at the annihilationist concept that final punishment is final nothingness isn’t supported by the pattern of how the concept of punishment is revealed in Scripture.