Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

This statements are always interesting because they touch on Christ's unique perspective on the afterlife.

"Kill" is apokteino, which means "to kill" and "to slay" but it is a stronger form than the normal verb kteino. It is more like our "destroy."

"Body" is soma, which is the physical substance of things, the body of men and animals or of heavenly bodies or groups of people.

"Able" is dunamai , which means "to be capable" and "to be strong enough."

"Soul" is psuche, which means life, breath, and spirit.

So, an interesting reading would be "Do not fear those who can destroy the body but not your life."

"Hell" is geenna, which is Greek for Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom (the Hebrew word), south of Jeruselem where trash, including diseased animals and human corpses was burned. A constant fires was kept burning there. This area was originally where children were sacrificed to Baal, and Baal (Beelzebub, "lord of the flies") is the name that Christ says others call him as the personification of evil.

So the question in my mind is who is the "him" we are suppose to fear? Who is it that destroys both the body and soul? Is it God, the devil, or ourselves? The devil seems the least likely since this is a question of who is dunamai, "strong enough." The question is who destroyed bodies and life in Gehenna? The answer is those who sacrificed their children there, and it was something that they did for themselves. They not only murdered living bodies but they killed off their own future.