Meaning of Cowards in Revelation Lake of Fire
The Greek adjective δειλοῖς (deilois), translated "cowardly" or "fearful" in Revelation 21:8, appears at the head of a catalog of those consigned to the lake of fire—"the second death" [1, 2]. This term denotes not ordinary human anxiety but a specific failure of nerve in the face of persecution or social cost. The word derives from δειλός, which classical Greek employed for cowardice in battle or moral timidity. In the New Testament, it appears sparingly: Jesus rebukes his disciples as δειλοί when they panic during the storm (Matthew 8:26), and Paul contrasts the "spirit of fear" (δειλίας) with the spirit of power God gives believers (2 Timothy 1:7). Revelation's use is harsher still, placing the cowardly first in a list that includes murderers, sorcerers, and idolaters [1, 2].
Lexical Range and Theological Weight
Adam Clarke identifies the δειλοί as "those who, for fear of losing life or their property, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and importance; or, having received it, in times of persecution fell away, not being willing to risk their lives" [4]. This interpretation roots the term in the concrete pressures of second- and third-century Christianity, when profession of faith could mean confiscation, exile, or execution. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown sharpens the definition: the cowardly are those "who do not quit themselves like men so as to 'overcome' in the good fight; who have the spirit of slavish 'fear,' not love, towards God; and who through fear of man are not bold for God, or 'draw back'" [5]. The commentary links this vice to the repeated exhortation in Revelation to "overcome" (νικάω), a verb that structures the letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2–3). To be δειλός is to fail the test of endurance, to value temporal safety above eternal allegiance.
Patristic Witness
Tertullian, writing in the late second century, cites Revelation 21:8 to argue that post-baptismal sins—including cowardice under persecution—merit the lake of fire "without any conditional condemnation" [3]. He distinguishes these sins from those pardonable by the church, reserving judgment for God alone. The passage's severity reflects the high stakes of apostasy in early Christianity: the cowardly are not merely weak but complicit in denying Christ, a category Jesus himself warned against (Matthew 10:33). Tertullian's reading assumes that the catalog in Revelation 21:8 addresses professing believers who have compromised, not pagans who never believed—a distinction that intensifies the warning.
Contextual Placement
The lake of fire, described as "burning with fire and sulfur" [1], is identified with "the second death" [2], a phrase Revelation uses to distinguish eternal judgment from physical mortality. Death and Hades themselves are cast into this lake (Revelation 20:14), signifying the abolition of death's power over the redeemed [6, 8]. The cowardly, however, share the fate of those who worshiped the beast and bore his mark—those whose names are absent from the book of life [7]. This juxtaposition underscores that cowardice is not a minor lapse but a form of unbelief, a refusal to trust God's vindication beyond the grave.
Translation Choices
Modern English versions render δειλοῖς variously: "cowardly" (ESV, NASB, LEB [2]), "fearful" (KJV), "cowards" (NIV). The shift from "fearful" to "cowardly" reflects a move toward moral culpability rather than emotional state. The term does not describe those who feel fear—a universal human experience—but those who act on fear to the point of betrayal. Clarke's gloss, "for fear of losing life or their property," captures the economic and social dimensions of apostasy in the Roman world [4]. The cowardly are those who calculated the cost and chose survival over witness, a decision Revelation frames as eternally disqualifying.
Sources
- Revelation “But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” -- Revelation 21:8”
- Revelation of John “Revelation of John 21:8 (LEB) — But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 4: Tertullian IV, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen — CHAP. XIX.--OBJECTIONS FROM THE REVELATION AND THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN REFUTED. (part 2): do); but which we reserve, for pardon, to God.(8) In short, this Apocalypse, in its later passages, has assigned "the infamous and fornicators," as well as "the cowardly, and unbelieving, and murderers, and sorcerers, and idolaters," who have been guilty of any such crime while professing the faith, to "the lake of fire,"(9) without any conditional condemnation. For it will not appear to savour of (a bearing upon) heathens, since it ha”
- Revelation (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Revelation 21:8: But the fearful - Δειλοις· Those who, for fear of losing life or their property, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and importance; or, having received it, in times of persecution fell away, not being willing to risk their lives. And unbelieving - Those who resist against full evidence. And sinners, και ἁμαρτωλοις, is added here by about thirty excellent MSS., and is found in the Syrian, Arabic, some of the Slavonic, and in Andreas and Arethas. On this evidence Griesbach has admitted it into the text. The abominable ”
- Revelation (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Revelation 21:8: the fearful--Greek, "the cowardly," who do not quit themselves like men so as to "overcome" in the good fight; who have the spirit of slavish "fear," not love, towards God; and who through fear of man are not bold for God, or "draw back." Compare Rev 21:27; Rev 22:15. unbelieving--Greek, "faithless." abominable--who have drank of the harlot's "cup of abominations." sorcerers--one of the characteristics of Antichrist's time. all liars--Greek, "all the liars": or else "all who are liars"; compare Ti1 4:1-2, where similarly lying and dealings ”
- Revelation (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Revelation 20:14: 20:14 The expression death and the grave refers to the reality of death; it is the last enemy that God will destroy (see 21:4; 1 Cor 15:26). • The lake of fire portrays the horrible end of God’s enemies who will not experience the “first resurrection” (see Rev 20:5-6; cp. Matt 25:41; Luke 16:24; Jude 1:7).”
- Revelation (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Revelation 20:15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life,.... Upon the opening of it, Rev 20:12 as all that worship the beast, and wonder after him, Rev 13:8 and all wicked men, everyone of them: was cast into the lake of fire; where are the devil, beast, and false prophet, Rev 19:20. It is a saying of R. Isaac (m), "woe to the wicked, who are not written "in the book", for they shall perish in hell for ever and ever:'' and in the Targum on Eze 13:9 it is said of the false prophets, "that , "in the writing of eternal life" (or in the book of eternal life),”
- Revelation (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Revelation 20:14: Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ' and His Church, are said to be cast into the lake of fire to express the truth that Christ and His people shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. This is the second death--"the lake of fire" is added in A, B, and ANDREAS. English Version, which omits the clause, rests on inferior manuscripts. In hell the ancient form of death, which was one of the enemies destroyed by Christ, shall not continue, but a death of a far different kind reigns there, "ev”