I always thought that dead means separated from God.
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Gen 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
So, to be dead means to be separted from God. But also the Bible speaks of two different types of bodies.
1 Cor 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
I could be wrong on this, but I believe the unsaved will be raised in a corruptable body as we have now. They will be subject to pain and even disease.
Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
I think worm here could mean bacteria and disease.
Not only will a person be tormented in fire, but I believe a person's body will continue to deteriorate as it does as we age. The body will corrupt more and more, yet not die.
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