But I do jest. For the saying is not even true, it is merely a cliché designed to ease and soften the loss of a loved one or to venerate the memory of someone who has died at a “young” age.
This adage dates back to the 5th Century B.C. Greek historian, Herodotus. He purportedly wrote in his Histories the phrase “whom the gods love dies young” regarding this touching story:
Two especially favored youths who, replacing two missing oxen, hitched themselves to a cart and carried their mother to a festival for the goddess Hera. At the temple, the grateful mother asked Hera to reward her sons with the greatest gift anyone might receive, whereupon her sons lay down to sleep and never woke again.1
The phrase was also used by the 4th Century B.C. dramatist, Meander, in his comedy The Double Deceiver.2
In popular music, the phrase has been used by a number of artists. Most notably is the Billy Joel tune “Only the Good Die Young”, about a young Catholic girl being seduced sexually with the proposition that by not giving up her virginity she will die young and that submitting to his seduction she would benefit by living a long life. Here is a sample section:
They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it’s better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young3
Biblical Truth
However, there is no Biblical evidence that only the good die young or the converse that the wicked live long years and wonderful lives. The human viewpoint concerning this myth is totally subjective and has no basis in absolute truth. Belief and acceptance as fact of this cliché that only the good die young is another example of man’s rejection of their Creator and His absolute truth.
So, what is the Biblical truth about living, death and dying?
First, living refers to the “routine conduct or maintenance of life.”4 Biblically, it is mankind breathing and existing in God’s universe. God breathed into the nostrils of the first man, Adam, “the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). Job affirmed this when he stated that “The breath of God is in my nostrils” (Job 27:3) and “The breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).
All that lives, mankind or animals, possess the breath of life (Genesis 6:17; 7:22). God is inclusive for He provides the breath of life to everyone, whether they believe in Him or not. For the righteous as well as the unrighteous, all share in common the benefits of God’s provision of life as explained by Our Lord:
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44–45)
Secondly, dying is the end of living for all man and animal that possesses the breath of life. For mankind death is the “separation of soul and spirit from the body”5 which constitutes the end of physical human life. God did not create mankind with the intention that they should die; it is the consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, an event known as The Fall of Man:
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)
Dr. Chafer explained that the phrase ‘surely die’ is literally from the Hebrew means ‘dying you will die’,6 denoting two deaths—dying referring to spiritual separation from God and die referring to physical death. He goes on to explain the theological implications:
In the instance of physical death all men partake of the penalty, because of the fact that in the divine reckoning all men shared as participants in Adam’s first sin by being, as they were, represented in his natural headship.7
The Apostle Paul corroborates and establishes how this affected the entire human race:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
Therefore, on the basis of the Fall of Man, Adam’s sin curse is perpetuated to all successive generations, credited to all mankind at birth. Thus, Solomon stated with certainty that there is “a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2b). The writer of Hebrews reaffirmed this conclusively:
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
The Afterlife
Scripture declares that there is an afterlife, that physical death is not merely a coffin in a cold grave marked by a stone “where all human activities cease.”8 Dr. C.I. Scofield further asserts that “physical death affects the body only, and is neither cessation of life nor of consciousness’9 (cf. Jonah 2:2; Isaiah 14:9-17; Ezekiel 32:21).
After death there will be a judgment for those who have believed in Jesus Christ and for those who have rejected Him as their savior. Believers’ works will be judged to determine if their quality is worthy of reward (1 Corinthians 2:12-15). Those who reject Jesus Christ, God’s provision for eternal life, will be judged on the “evil deeds” that they believed would make them acceptable to God. Our Lord spoke of this while He was on the earth:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:25–29; cf. Matthew 25:31–46)
All mankind "will meet Christ as Judge as Jesus Himself graphically pictures."10 Death is not the end of human existence. There is a final destination after physical death for all: believers to the reward of eternal life with their Creator; unbelievers to the eternal penalty of Hell, the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
With this in mind, consider the deceptive assumption in the Billy Joel lyrics: I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. For the exact opposite is the truth. There will be no saints crying in heaven:
And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4; cf. Revelation 7:17)
And there will be no sinners laughing in Hell:
“And will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:42)
The frivolous notion that “only the good die young” is dangerously self-deceptive. It only leads to an afterlife of endless suffering. Those who embrace this notion did not elude King Solomon’s wisdom. He recommended that they eat, drink and be cheerful and enjoy the spouse they have loved “all the days of your fleeting life” (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9). His meaning being that this will be the only enjoyment they will every experience during their entire existence.
Solomon’s ominous conclusion to the unbeliever should motivate believers to proclaim the gospel to warn and prevent the eternal ruin of those who have not believed in Jesus Christ as Savior:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol [Hell] where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
[1] https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/351.html [Retrieved May 18, 2023]
[2] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Menander [Retrieved June 8, 2023]
[3] Lyrics by Billy Joel © Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.
[4] The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th Ed., s.v. “living”, p.810.
[5] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 7.112.
[6] Chafer, 7.112.
[7] Chafer, 7.113.
[8] Scofield, C. I. (1945). The Scofield Study Bible (Habakkuk 2:5). New York: Oxford University Press, p. 956 note #3.
[9] Scofield, p. 1299 note.
[10] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, Heb 9:27.
© 2023 David M. Rossi
Enjoyed the Billy Joel reference. Good article. sr
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