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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"And should deliver them," he says, "who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Why (he means) do ye shudder? Why do you fear him that hath been brought to nought? He is no longer terrible, but has been trodden under foot, hath been utterly despised; he is vile and of no account. (2 Tim. i. 10.) But what is "through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage"? …
Theophylact of Ohrid
That is, to deliver those who were slaves of death, feared it, and were subject to it, that is, were held in bondage to it, since it had not yet been destroyed. Or, that the ancient people lived in constant fear, always expecting that they would die, and in such fear they could feel no pleasure. This is what the apostle hints at when he says, "through all their life." So they were subject to bondage, that is, they always trembled before death, like slaves of a cruel master, enjoying nothing joyful. …
Oecumenius
"all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." — [PHOTIUS] Before, he says, death was abolished, throughout their lives, humans were exposed and subjected to the fear of slavery: for they feared death which had not yet been abolished: and nothing of worldly pleasures could delight the courageous, and this was due to the fear of death, in the manner of a cruel and savage master always pressing and terrifying those who were on the earth. …
Western Saints
Thomas Aquinas
144. – Then (v. 15) another advantage on our part is mentioned. In regard to this it should be noted that a man is a servant of sin to the extent that he is induced to sin. But the most effective inducements to sin are the love of transitory goods and the fear of present punishments: 'Things set on fire, as to the first and dug down as to the second, shall perish at the rebuke of your countenance' (Ps. 79:17). But these two amount to the same thing, because the more a person loves something, the more he fears its evil contrary. …
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