| Origins of the Word 'Hell'
HELL. A word used in the King James Version (as
well as in the Catholic Douay Version and most older translations) to translate
the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades. In the King James Version the word "hell"
is rendered from sheol' 31 times and from hades 10 times. This version is not
consistent, however, since sheol' is also translated 31 times "grave and 3 times
"pit." In the Douay Version sheol' is rendered "hell" 64 times, "pit" once, and
"death" once.
In 1885, with the publication of the complete English Revised Version, the
original word sheol' was in many places transliterated into the English text of
the Hebrew Scriptures, though, in most occurrences, "grave" and "pit" were used,
and "hell" is found some 14 times. This was a point of which the American
committee disagreed with the British revisers, and so when producing the
American Standard Version (1901) they transliterate sheol' in all 65 of its
appearances. Both versions transliterated hades in the Christian Greek
Scriptures in all ten of its occurrences, though the Greek word Gehenna
(English, "Gehenna") is rendered "hell" throughout, as is true of many other
modern translations.
Concerning this use of "hell" to translate these original words from the Hebrew
and Greek, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (1981,
Vol. 2, p. 187) says: "HADES . . . It corresponds to 'Sheol' in the O.T. [Old
Testament]. In the A.V. of the O.T. [Old Testament] and N.T. [New Testament], it
has been unhappily rendered 'Hell.'"
Collier's Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 12, p. 28) says concerning "Hell": "First it
stands for the Hebrew Sheol of the Old Testament and the Greek Hades of the
Septuagint and New Testament. Since Sheol in Old Testament times referred simply
to the abode of the dead and suggested no moral distinctions, the word 'hell,'
as understood today, is not a happy translation."
It is, in fact, because of the way that the word "hell" is understood today that
it is such an unsatisfactory translation of these original Bible words.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, unabridged, under "Hell" says: "fr[om]
. . . helan to conceal." The word "hell" thus originally conveyed no thought of
heat or torment but simply of a 'covered over or concealed place.' In the old
English dialect the expression "helling potatoes" meant, not to roast them, but
simply to place the potatoes in the ground or in a cellar. The meaning given
today to the word "hell" is that portrayed in Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's
Paradise Lost, which meaning is completely foreign to the original definition of
the word. The idea of a "hell" of fiery torment, however, dates back long before
Dante or Milton. The Grolier Universal Encyclopedia (1971, Vol. 9, p. 205) under
"Hell" says: "Hindus and Buddhists regard hell as a place of spiritual cleansing
and final restoration. Islamic tradition considers it as a place of everlasting
punishment." The idea of suffering after death is found among the pagan
religious teachings of ancient peoples in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian and
Assyrian beliefs depicted the "nether world . . . as a place full of horrors, .
. . presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness." Although
ancient Egyptian religious texts do not teach that the burning of any individual
victim would go on forever, they do portray the "Other World" as featuring "pits
of fire" for "the damned."--The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris
Jastrow, Jr., 1898, p. 581 The Book of the Dead, with introduction by E. Wallis
Budge, 1960, pp. 135, 144, 149, 151, 153, 161, 200.
"Hellfire" has been a basic teaching in Christendom for many centuries. it is
understandable why The Encyclopedia Americana (1956, Vol. XIV, p. 81) said:
"Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early
translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek
Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by
the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to
appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception. Nevertheless, such
transliteration and consistent rendering does enable the Bible student to make
an accurate comparison of the texts in which these original words appear and,
with open mind, thereby to arrive at a correct understanding of their true
significance. --See GEHENNA; GRAVE; HADES SHEOL; TARTARUS.
GEHENNA- (Ge.hen'na) [Gr. form of the Heb. Geh
Hin.nom', "Valley of Hinnom"]. This name appears 12 times in the Christian Greek
Scriptures, and whereas many translators take the liberty to render it by the
word "hell, a number of modern translations transliterate the word from the
Greek gehenna. --Mt 5:22, Ro, Mo, ED, Nw, BC (Spanish), NC (Spanish), also the
footnotes of Da and RS.
The deep, narrow Valley of Hinnom, later known by this Greek name, lay to the S
and SW of ancient Jerusalem and is the modern-day Wadi er-Rababi (Ge Ben Hinnom).
(Jos 15:8; 18:16; Jer 19:2, 6; see HINNOM, VALLEY OF.) Judean Kings Ahaz and
Manasseh engaged in idolatrous worship there, which included the making of human
sacrifices by fire to Baal. (2Ch 28:1, 3; 33:1, 6; Jer 7:31, 32; 32:35) Later,
to prevent such activities there in the future, faithful King Josiah had the
place of idolatrous worship polluted particularly the section called Topheth.
--2Ki 23:10.
NO SYMBOL OF EVERLASTING TORMENT. Jesus Christ
associated fire with Gehenna (Mt 5:22; 18:9; Mr 9:47, 48), as did the disciple
James, the only Biblical writer besides Matthew, Mark, and Luke to use the word.
(Jas 3:6) Some commentators endeavor to link such fiery characteristic of
Gehenna with the burning of human sacrifices that was carried on prior to
Josiah's reign and, on this basis, hold that Gehenna was used by Jesus as a
symbol of everlasting torment. However, since Jehovah God expressed repugnance
for such practice, saying that it was "a thing that I had not commanded and that
had not come up into my heart" (Jer 7:31; 32:35), it seems most unlikely that
God's Son, in discussing divine judgment, would make such idolatrous practice
the basis for the symbolic meaning of Gehenna. It may be noted that God
prophetically decreed that the Valley of Hinnom would serve as a place for mass
disposal of dead bodies rather than for the torture of live victims. (Jer 7:32,
33; 19:2, 6, 7, 10, 11) Thus, at Jeremiah 31:40 the reference to "the low plain
of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes" is generally accepted as designating
the Valley of Hinnom, and a gate known as "the Gate of the Ash-heaps" evidently
opened out onto the eastern extremity of the valley at its juncture with the
ravine of the Kidron. (Ne 3:13, 14) It seems obvious that such "carcasses" and
"fatty ashes" are not related to the human sacrifices made there under Ahaz and
Manasseh, since any bodies so offered would doubtless be viewed by the idolaters
as "sacred" and would not be left lying in the valley.
Therefore, the Biblical evidence concerning Gehenna generally parallels the
traditional view presented by rabbinic and other sources. That view is that the
Valley of Hinnom was used as a place for the disposal of waste matter from the
city of Jerusalem. (At Mt 5:30 Ph renders gehenna as "rubbish heap.") Concerning
"Gehinnom," the Jewish commentator David Kimhi (1160-1235?), in his comment on
Psalm 27:13, gives the following historical information: "And it is a place in
the land adjoining Jerusalem, and it is a loathsome place, and they throw there
unclean things and carcasses. Also there was a continual fire there to burn the
unclean things and the bones of the carcasses. Hence, the judgment of the wicked
ones is called parabolically Gehinnom."
SYMBOLIC OF COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. It is evident
that Jesus used Gehenna as representative of utter destruction resulting from
adverse judgment by God, hence with no resurrection to life as a soul being
possible. (Mt 10:28; Lu 12:4, 5) The scribes and Pharisees as a wicked class
were denounced as `subjects for Gehenna.' (Mt 23:13-15, 33) To avoid such
destruction, Jesus' followers were to get rid of anything causing spiritual
stumbling, the `cutting off of a hand or foot' and the `tearing out of an eye'
figuratively representing their deadening of these body members with reference
to sin. --Mt 18:9; Mr 9:43-47; Col 3:5; compare Mt 5:27-30.
Jesus also apparently alluded to Isaiah 66:24 in describing Gehenna as place
"where their maggot does not die and the fire is not put out." (Mr 9:47, 48)
That the symbolic picture here is not one of torture but, rather, of complete
destruction is evident from the fact that the Isaiah text dealt, not with
persons who were alive, but with "the carcasses of the men that were
transgressing" against God. If, as the available evidence indicates, the Valley
of Hinnom was a place for the disposal of garbage and carcasses, fire, perhaps
increased in intensity by the addition of sulfur (compare Isa 30:33), would be
the only suitable means to eliminate such refuse. Where the fire did not reach,
worms, or maggots, would breed, consuming anything not destroyed by the fire. On
this basis, Jesus' words would mean that the destructive effect of God's adverse
judgment would not cease until complete destruction was attained.
FIGURATIVE USE. The disciple James' use of the word
"Gehenna" shows that an unruly tongue is itself a world of unrighteousness and
that one's whole round of living can be affected by fiery words that defile the
speaker's body. The tongue of such a one, "full of death-dealing poison" and so
giving evidence of a bad heart condition, can cause the user to be sentenced by
God to go to the symbolic Gehenna. --Jas 3:6, 8; compare Mt 12:37; Ps 5:9;
140:3; Ro 3:13.
The Biblical use of Gehenna as a symbol corresponds to that of "the lake of
fire" in the book of Revelation. --Re 20:14, 15; see LAKE OF FIRE.
GRAVE. A place of interment. Though today the term
"grave" is generally understood to apply to an excavation in the earth for use
as a place of burial, a common method of burial among the Hebrews and other
Oriental peoples was by use of a natural cave or a rock-cut tomb, or vault. The
Hebrew word qe'ver is the common word used to designate a burial place, a grave,
or a graveyard. (Ge 23:7-9; Jer 8:1; 26:23) The related word qevu.rah' similarly
may refer to an earthen grave or to a tomb excavated in rock. --Ge 35:20; 1Sa
10:2.
In Greek the common word for grave is ta'phos (Mt 28:1), and the verb form (tha'pto)
means "bury." (Mt 8:21, 22) The word mne'ma (Lu 23:53) refers to a tomb and the
word mne.mei'on (Lu 23:55) refers to a memorial tomb.
Since these Hebrew and Greek words refer to an individual burial place or grave
site, they are often used in the plural as referring to many such graves. They
are, therefore, distinct from the Hebrew she'ohl' and its Greek equivalent
hai'des, which refer to the common grave of mankind, or gravedom, and hence are
always used in the singular. For this reason many modern translations have not
followed the practice of the King James Version, in which she'ohl' and hai'des
are alternately rendered by the words "hell," "grave," and "pit, but have
instead simply transliterated them into English. --See HADES SHEOL.
Nevertheless, since one's entry into Sheol is represented as taking place
through burial in an individual grave or at a burial site, words pertainint to
such places of interment are used as parallel though not equivalent terms with
Sheol. --Job 17:1, 13-16; 21:13, 32, 33; Ps 88:3- 12. At Romans 3:13 the apostle
Paul quotes Psalm 5:9, likening the throat of wicked and deceitful men to "an
opened grave." As an opened grave is to be filled with the dead and with
corruption, their throat opens for speech that is deadly and corrupt. --Compare
Mt 15:18-20.
It was a custom to whitewash graves so that persons would not accidentally touch
them and become unclean. The tombs near Jerusalem were whitewashed one month
before Passover to prevent a person from becoming unclean at this special period
of worship by accidentally touching a grave Jesus used this custom as a basis
for an illustration of the scribes and Pharisees as appearing righteous
outwardly but inside being "full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." --Mt 23:27, 28.
Although the grave is likened to a pit from which man rightly desires to be
delivered, Job draws attention to the despair of those suffering persons who,
lacking a clear hope or understanding of their Creator's purposes, seek death
and "exult because they find a burial place." (Job 3:21, 22) Such attitude
contrasts sharply with that of men who devoted their lives to their Creator's
service and confidently embraced the promise of resurrection. --Ps 16:9-11; Ac
24:15; Php 1:21-26; 2Ti 4:6- 8; Heb 11:17-19 see BURIAL, BURIAL PLACES.
HADES (Ha'des). This is the common transliteration
into English of the corresponding Greek word hai'des. It perhaps means "the
unseen place." In all, the word "Hades" occurs ten times in the earliest
manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures. --Mt 11:23; 16:18; Lu 10:15;
16:23; Ac 2:27, 31; Re 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14.
The King James Version translates hades as "hell" in these texts, but the
Revised Standard Version renders it "Hades," with the exception of Matthew
16:18, where "powers of death" is used, though the footnote reads "gates of
Hades." "Hades" rather than "hell" is used in many modern translations.
The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (from Genesis to
Malachi) uses the word "Hades" 73 times, employing it 60 times to translate the
Hebrew word she'ohl', commonly rendered "Sheol." Luke, the divinely inspired
writer of Acts, definitely showed Hades to be the Greek equivalent of Sheol when
he translated Peter's quotation from Psalm 16:10 (Ac 2:27) Inversely, nine
modern Hebrew translations of the Christian Gree Scriptures use the word "Sheol"
to translate Hades at Revelation 20:13, 14 and the Syriac translation uses the
related word Shiul.
In all but two cases in which the word Hades is used in the Christian Greek
Scriptures it is related to death, either in the verse itself or in the
immediate context; the two other instances are discussed in the following
paragraph. Hades does not refer to a single grave (Gr., ta'phos) or to a single
tomb (Gr., mne'ma), or to a single memorial tomb (Gr. mne.mei'on), but to the
common grave of mankind, where the dead and buried ones are unseen. It thus
signifies the same as the corresponding word "Sheol," and an examination of its
use in all its ten occurrences bears ou this fact. --See GRAVE; SHEOL.
In its first occurrence, at Matthew 11:23, Jesus Christ, in chiding Capernaum
for its disbelief, uses Hades to represent the depth of debasement to which
Capernaum would come down, in contrast with the height of heaven to which she
assumed to exalt herself. A corresponding text is found at Luke 10:15. Note the
similar way in which Sheol is used at Job 11:7, 8.
JESUS AND CONGREGATION DELIVERED. Concerning the Christian
congregation, Jesus said, at Matthew 16:18, that "the gates of Hades ["powers of
death, 115] will not overpower it." Similarly, King Hezekiah, when on the verge
of death, said: "In the midst of my days I will go into the gates of Sheol. (Isa
38:10) It, therefore, becomes apparent that Jesus' promise of victory over Hades
means that its "gates" will open to release the dead by means of a resurrection,
even as was the case with Christ Jesus himself.
Since Hades refers to the common grave of mankind, a place rather than a
condition, Jesus entered within "the gates of Hades" when buried by Joseph of
Arimathea. On Pentecost of 33 C.E., Peter said of Christ: "Neither was he
forsaken in Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected,
of which fact we are all witnesses." (Ac 2:25-27, 29-32; Ps 16:10) Whereas "the
gates of Hades" (Mt 16:18) were still holding David within their domain in
Peter's day (Ac 2:29), they had swung open for Christ Jesus when his Father
resurrected him Out of Hades. Thereafter, through the power of the resurrection
given him (Joh 5:21- 30), Jesus is the Holder of "the keys of death and of
Hades." --Re 1:17, 18.
Manifestly, the Bible Hades is not the imagined place that the ancient
non-Christian Greeks described in their mythologies as a "dark, sunless region
within the earth," for there was no resurrection from such a mythological
underworld.
ILLUSTRATIVE USE. At Revelation 6:8 Hades is
figuratively pictured as closely following after the rider of the pale horse,
personalized Death, to receive the victims of the death-dealing agencies of war,
famine, plagues, and wild beasts.
The sea (which at times serves as a watery grave for some) is mentioned in
addition to Hades (the common earthen grave), for the purpose of stressing the
inclusiveness of all such dead ones when Revelation 20:13, 1t says that the sea,
death, and Hades are to give up or be emptied of the dead in them. Thereafter,
death and Hades (but not the sea) are cast into "the lake of fire," "the second
death." They thereby figuratively `die out' of existence, and this signifies the
end of Hades (Sheol), the common grave of mankind, as well as of death inherited
through Adam.
The remaining text in which Hades is used is found at Luke 16:22-26 in the
account of "the rich man" and "Lazarus." The language throughout the account is
plainly parabolic and cannot be construed literally in view of all the preceding
texts. Note, however, that "the rich man" of the parable is spoken of as being
"buried" in Hades, giving further evidence that Hades means the common grave of
mankind. --See GEHENNA; TARTARUS.
LAKE OF FIRE. This expression occurs only in the
book of Revelation and is clearly symbolic. The Bible gives its own explanation
and definition of the symbol by stating: "This means the second death, the lake
of fire. --Re 20:14; 21:8.
The symbolic quality of the lake of fire is further evident from the context of
references to it in the book of Revelation. Death is said to be hurled into this
lake of fire. (Re 19:20; 20:14) Death obviously cannot be literally burned.
Moreover, the Devil, an invisible spirit creature, is thrown into the lake.
Being spirit, he cannot be hurt by literal fire. --Re 20:10; compare Ex 3:2 and
Jg 13:20.
Since the lake of fire represents "the second death" and since Revelation 20:14
says that both "death and Hades" are to be cast into it, it is evident that the
lake cannot represent the death man has inherited from Adam (Ro 5:12), nor does
it refer to Hades (Sheol). It must, therefore, be symbolic of another kind of
death, one that is without reversal, for the record nowhere speaks of the "lake"
as giving up those in it, as do Adamic death and Hades (Sheol). (Re 20:13) Thus,
those not found written in "the book of life," unrepentant opposers of God's
sovereignty, are hurled into the lake of fire, meaning eternal destruction, or
the second death. --Re 20:15.
While the foregoing texts make evident the symbolic quality of the lake of fire,
it has been used by some persons to support belief in a literal place of fire
and torment. Revelation 20:10 has been appealed to, because it speaks of the
Devil, the wild beast, and the false prophet as being "tormented day and night
forever and ever" in the lake of fire. However, this cannot refer to actual
conscious torment. Those thrown into the lake of fire undergo "the second
death." (Re 20:14) In death there is no consciousness and, hence, no feeling of
pain or suffering. --Ec 9:5.
In the Scriptures fiery torment is associated with destruction and death For
example, in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures the word
for torment (ba'sa.nos) is several times used with reference to punishment by
death. (Eze 3:20; 32:24, 30) Similarly, concerning Babylon the Great, the book
of Revelation says, "the kings of the earth . . . will weep and beat themselves
in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, while
they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment [Gr.,
ba.sa.ni.smou']. (Re 18:9, 10) As to the meaning of the torment, an angel later
explains: "Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down,
and she will never be found again. (Re 18:21) So, fiery torment here is parallel
with destruction, and in the case of Babylon the Great, it is everlasting
destruction. --Compare Re 17:16; 18:8, 15-17, 19.
Therefore, those who are `tormented forever' (from Gr., ba.sa.ni'zo) in the lake
of fire undergo "second death" from which there is no resurrection. The related
Greek word ba.sa.ni.stes' is translated `jailer' in Matthew 18:34. (RS, NW, ED;
compare vs 30.) Thus those hurled into the lake of fire will be held under
restraint, or "jailed," in death throughout eternity. --See GEHENNA; TORMENT.
SHEOL (She'ol). The common grave of mankind,
gravedom; not an individual burial place or grave (Heb., qe'ver, Jg 16:31;
qevu.rah', Ge 35:20), nor an individual tomb (Heb., ga.dhish', Job 21:32). While
several derivations for the Hebrew word she'ohl' have been offered apparently it
is derived from the Hebrew verb sha.'al' meaning "ask, request." Regarding Sheol,
in A Compendious Hebrew Lexicon, Samuel Pike stated that it is "the common
receptacle or region of the dead; so called from the insatiability of the grave,
which is as it were always asking or craving more." (Cambridge, 1811, p. 148)
This would indicate that Sheol is the place (not a condition) that asks for or
demands all without distinction, as it receives the dead of mankind within it.
--Ge 37:35, ftn Pr 30:15, 16.
The Hebrew word she'ohl' occurs 65 times in the Masoretic text. In the King
James Version, it is translated 31 times as "hell," 31 times as "grave," and 3
times as "pit." The Catholic Douay Version rendered the word 63 times as "hell,"
once as "pit," and once as "death." In addition, at Isaiah 7:11 the Hebrew text
originally read she'ohl', and it was rendered as "Hades" in the ancient Greek
versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and as "hell" in the Douay
Version. --See NW ftn. There is no English word that conveys the precise sense
of the Hebrew word she'ohl'. Commenting on the use of the word "hell" in Bible
translation, Collier's Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 12, p. 28) says: "Since Sheol in
Old Testament times referred simply to the abode of the dead and suggested no
moral distinctions, the word `hell,' as understood today, is not a happy
translation." More recent versions transliterate the word into English as "Sheol."
--RS, AT, NW.
Regarding Sheol, the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1971, Vol. 11, p. 276) noted: "Sheol
was located somewhere `under' the earth. ... The state of the dead was one of
neither pain nor pleasure. Neither reward for the righteous nor punishment for
the wicked was associated with Sheol. The good and the bad alike, tyrants and
saints, kings and orphans, Israelites and gentiles all slept together without
awareness of one another."
While the Greek teaching of the immortality of the human soul infiltrated Jewish
religious thinking in later centuries, the Bible record shows that Sheol refers
to mankind's common grave as a place where there is no consciousness. (Ec 9:4-6,
10) Those in Sheol neither praise God nor mention him. (Ps 6:4, 5; Isa 38:17-19)
Yet it cannot be said that it simply represents `a condition of being separated
from God,' since the Scriptures render such a teaching untenable by showing that
Sheol is "in front of" him, and that God is in effect "there." (Pr 15:11; Ps
139:7, 8; Am 9:1, 2) For this reason Job, longing to be relieved of his
suffering, prayed that he might go to Sheol and later be remembered by Jehovah
and be called out from Sheol. --Job 14:12-15.
Throughout the inspired Scriptures, Sheol is continually associated with death
and not life. (1Sa 2:6; 2Sa 22:6; Ps 18:4, 5; Ps 49:7-10, 14, 15; Ps 88:2-6; Ps
89:48; Isa 28:15-18; also compare Ps 116:3, 7-10 with 2Co 4:13 14.) It is spoken
of as "the land of darkness" (Job 10:21) and a place of silence. (Ps 115:17)
Abel apparently was the first one to go to Sheol, and since then countless
millions of human dead have joined him in the dust of the ground.
On the day of Pentecost 33 C.E., the apostle Peter quoted from Psalm 16:10 and
applied it to Christ Jesus. Luke, in quoting Peter's words, use the Greek word
hai'des, thereby showing that Sheol and Hades refer to the same thing, mankind's
common grave. (Ac 2:25-27, 29-32) During the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus
Christ, Sheol, or Hades, is emptied and destroyed through a resurrection of all
of those in it. --Re 20:13, 14; see GRAVE HADES; HELL.
JONAH AND SHEOL. In the account about Jonah, it is
stated that "Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from the inward parts of the fish
and said: `Out of my distress I called out to Jehovah, and he proceeded to
answer me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help. You heard my voice.'"
(Jon 2:1, 2) Therefore, Jonah was comparing the inside of the fish to Sheol. He
was a good as dead inside the fish, but Jehovah brought up his life from the
pit, or Sheol, by preserving him alive and having him disgorged. --Jon 2:6
compare Ps 30:3.
Jesus compared Jonah's being in the belly of the fish with what would happen in
his own case, saying: "For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three
days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three
days and three nights." (Mt 12:40) Although Jesus did not here use the word "Sheol"
(Hades), the apostle Peter did use th word "Hades" when referring to Jesus'
death and resurrection. --Ac 2:27. Regarding the word "Sheol," Brynmor F. Price
and Eugene A. Nida noted: "The word occurs often in the Psalms and in the book
of Job to refer to the place to which all dead people go. It is represented as a
dark place, in which there is no activity worthy of the name. There are no moral
distinctions there, so `hell' (KJV) is not a suitable translation, since that
suggests a contrast with `heaven' as the dwelling-place of the righteous after
death. In a sense, `the grave' in a generic sense is a near equivalent, except
that Sheol is more a mass grave in which all the dead dwell together. The use of
this particular imagery may have been considered suitable here [in Jonah 2:2] in
view of Jonah's imprisonment in the interior of the fish." --A Translators
Handbook on the Book of Jonah 1978, p. 37.
The following information has been taken from the publication: "Reasoning from
the Scriptures"
Hell
Definition: The word "hell" is found in many Bible translations. In the same
verses other translations read "the grave," "the world of the dead, and so
forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language word that are
sometimes rendered "hell"; that is, they express them with the letters of our
alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew
she'ohl' and its Greek equivalent hai'des, which refer, not to an individual
burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge'enna,
which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom
and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited
by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that
this is with torment).
Does the Bible indicate whether the dead experience pain?
Eccl. 9:5, 10: "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the
dead, they are conscious of nothing at all ...All that your hand find to do, do
with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom
in Sheol,"' the place to which you are going." (If the are conscious of nothing,
they obviously feel no pain.) (*"Sheol," AS, RS, NE, JB, "the grave," KJ Kx;
"hell," Dy; "the world of the dead," TEV.) Ps. 146:4: "His spirit goes out, he
goes back to his ground; in tha day his thoughts* do perish." (*"Thoughts," KJ,
145:4 in Dy; "schemes," JB "plans," RS, TEV.)
Does the Bible indicate that the soul survives the death of the body?
Ezek. 18:4: "The soul* that is sinning--itself will die." (*"Soul," KJ Dy, RS,
NE, Kx; "the man," JB, "the person," TEV.)
"The concept of 'soul,' meaning a purely spiritual, immaterial reality, separate
from the 'body,' ... does not exist in the Bible.-La Parole de Dieu (Paris,
1960), Georges Auzou, professor of Sacred Scriptures Rouen Seminary, France, p.
128.
"Although the Hebrew word nefesh [in the Hebrew Scriptures] is frequently
translated as 'soul,' it would be inaccurate to into it a Greek meaning. Nefesh
... is never conceived of as operating separately from the body. In the New
Testament the Greek word psyche is often translated a 'soul' but again should
not be readily understood to have the meaning the word had for the Greek
philosophers. It usually means 'life,' or 'vitality,' or, at times, 'the self.'"
--The Encyclopedia Americana (1977), Vol. 25, p. 236.
What sort of people go to the Bible hell?
Does the Bible say that the wicked go to hell?
Ps. 9:17, KJ: "The wicked shall be turned into hell,* and all the nations that
forget God." (*"Hell," 9:18 in Dy; "death," TEV; "the place of death," Kx; "Sheol,"AS,
RS, NE, JB, NW.)
Does the Bible also say that upright people go to hell?
Job 14:13, Dy: "[Job prayed:] Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me
in hell,* and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt
remember me?" (God himself said that Job was "a man blameless and upright,
fearing God and turning aside from bad.--Job 1:8.) (*"The grave," KJ; "the world
of the dead," TEV; "Sheol,"AS, RS, NE, JB, NW.) Acts 2:25-27, KJ: "David
speaketh concerning him [Jesus Christ],...Because thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell,* neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." (The fact
that God did not "leave" Jesus in hell implies that Jesus was in hell, or Hades,
at least for a time, does it not?) (*"Hell," Dy; "death," NE; "the place of
death," Kx "the world of the dead," TEV; "Hades," AS, RS, JB, NW.)
Does anyone ever get out of the Bible hell?
Rev. 20:13, 14, KJ: "The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and
hell" delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire."
(So the dead will be delivered from hell. Notice also that hell is not the same
as the lake of fire but will be cast into the lake of fire.) (*"Hell," Dy, Kx;
"the world of the dead," TEV; "Hades," NE, AS RS, JB, NW.)
Why is there confusion as to what the Bible says about hell?
"Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early
translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek
Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by
the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to
appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception." Encyclopedia Americana
(1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.
Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of
being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example:
(1) The King James Version rendered she'ohl' as "hell, "the grave," and "the
pit"; hai'des is therein rendered both "hell" and "grave"; ge'enna is also
translated "hell." (2) Today's English Version transliterates hai'des as "Hades"
and also renders it as "hell" and "the world of the dead." But besides rendering
"hell" from hai'des it uses that same translation for ge'enna. (3) The Jerusalem
Bible transliterates hai'de six times, but in other passages it translates it as
"hell" and as "the underworld." It also translates ge'enna as "hell," as it does
hai'des i two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words
have been obscured.
Is there eternal punishment for the wicked?
Matt. 25:46, KJ: "These shall go away into everlasting punishment ["lopping
off," Int; Greek, ko'la.sin]: but the righteous into life eternal." (The
Emphatic Diaglott reads "cutting-off" instead of "punishment." A footnote
states: "Kolasin ... is derived from kolazoo, which signifies, l. To cut off; as
lopping off branches of trees, to prune. 2. To restrain, to repress. ... 3. To
chastise, to punish. To cut off an individual from life, or society, or even to
restrain, is esteemed a punishment;-hence has arisen this third metaphorical use
of the word. The primary signification has been adopted, because it agrees
better with the second member of the sentence, thus preserving the force and
beauty of the antithesis. The righteous go to life, the wicked to the cutting
off from life, or death. See 2 Thess. 1.9.")
2 Thess. 1:9, RS: "They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction"' and
exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might."
(*"Eternal ruin," NAB, NE: "lost eternally," JB; "condemn them to eternal
punishment," Kx "eternal punishment in destruction," Dy.) Jude 7, KJ: "Even as
Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (Notice that the cities undergo
eternal fire. What does that mean? The fires ceased burning thousands of years
ago; evidently the former cities now lie beneath the Dead Sea. But those cities
were destroyed forever, never to be rebuilt. See Jeremiah 50:40. There is no
mention of conscious suffering in an afterlife for the inhabitants of those
cities. At Luke 17:29, Jesus said that the inhabitants were "destroyed.")
What is the meaning of the 'eternal torment' referred to in Revelation?
Rev. 14:9-11; 20:10, KJ: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of
their torment [Greek, ba-sa-ni-smou'] ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name." "And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
What is the 'torment' to which these texts refer? It is noteworthy that at
Revelation 11:10 (KJ) reference is made to 'prophets that torment those dwelling
on the earth.' Such torment results from humiliating exposure by the messages
that these prophets proclaim. At Revelation 14:9-11 (KJ worshipers of the
symbolic "beast and his image" are said to be "tormented with fire and
brimstone." This cannot refer to conscious torment after death because "the dead
know not any thing." (Eccl. 9:5, KJ) Then, what causes them to experience such
torment while they are still alive? It is the proclamation by God's servants
that worshipers of the "beast and his image" will experience second death, which
is represented by "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." The smoke,
associated with their fiery destruction, ascends forever because the destruction
will be eternal and will never be forgotten. When Revelation 20:10 says that the
Devil is to experience 'torment forever and ever' in "the lake of fire and
brimstone," what does that mean? Revelation 21:8 (KJ) says clearly that "the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" means "the second death." So the
Devil's being "tormented" there forever means that there will be no relief for
him; he will be held under restraint forever, actually in eternal death. This
use of the word "torment" (from the Greek ba'sanos) reminds one of its use at
Matthew 18:34, where the same basic Greek word is applied to 'jailer.'-RS, AT,
ED, NW
What is the 'fiery Gehenna' to which Jesus referred?
Reference to Gehenna appears 12 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures Five
times it is directly associated with fire. Translators have rendered the Greek
expression ge'ennan tou pyros' as "hell fire" (KJ, Dy), "fires of hell" (NE),
"fiery pit" (AT), and "fires of Gehenna" (NAB).
Historical background; The Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) was outside the walls of
Jerusalem. For a time it was the site of idolatrous worship including child
sacrifice. In the first century Gehenna was being used as the incinerator for
the filth of Jerusalem. Bodies of dead animals were thrown into the valley to be
consumed in the fires, to which sulfur, of brimstone, was added to assist the
burning. Also bodies of executed criminals, who were considered undeserving of
burial in a memorial tomb, were thrown into Gehenna. Thus, at Matthew 5:29, 30,
Jesus spoke of the casting of one's "whole body" into Gehenna. If the body fell
into the constantly burning fire it was consumed, but if it landed on a ledge of
the deep ravine its putrefying flesh became infested with the ever-present
worms, or maggots. (Mark 9:47, 48) Living humans were not pitched into Gehenna;
so it was not a place of conscious torment.
At Matthew 10:28, Jesus warned his hearers to "be in fear of him that can
destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." What does it mean? Notice that there is
no mention here of torment in the fires of Gehenna rather, he says to 'fear him
that can destroy in Gehenna.' By referring to the "soul" separately, Jesus here
emphasizes that God can destroy all of person's life prospects; thus there is no
hope of resurrection for him. So the references to the 'fiery Gehenna' have the
same meaning as 'the lake of fire' of Revelation 21: 8, namely, destruction,
"second death." What does the Bible say the penalty for sin is?
Rom. 6:23: "The wages sin pays is death." After one's death, is he still subject
to further punishment for his sins?
Rom. 6:7: "He who has died has been acquitted from his sin." Is eternal torment
of the wicked compatible with God's personality?
Jer. 7:31: "They [apostate Judeans] have built the high places of Topheth, which
is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their
daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up
into my heart." (If it never came into God's heart surely he does not have and
use such a thing on a larger scale.) Illustration: What would you think of a
parent who held his child's hand over a fire to punish the child for
wrong-doing? "God is love." (1 John 4:8 Would he do what no right-minded human
parent would do? Certainly not! By what Jesus said about the rich man and
Lazarus, did Jesus teach torment of the wicked after death?
Is the account, at Luke 16:19-31, literal or merely an illustration of something
else? The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote, acknowledges that it is a "parable in
story form without reference to any historical personage. If taken literally, it
would mean that those enjoying divine favor could all fit at the bosom of one
man, Abraham; that the fire of Hades; that a mere drop of water would bring
relief to one there Does that sound reasonable to you? If it were literal, it
would conflict with other parts of the Bible. If the Bible were thus
contradictory, would lover of truth use it as a basis for his faith? But the
Bible does not contradict itself.
What does the parable mean? The "rich man" represented the Pharisees (See verse
14.) The beggar Lazarus represented the common Jewish people who were despised
by the Pharisees but who repented and became followers of Jesus. (See Luke
18:11; John 7:49; Matthew 21:31, 32.) Their deaths were also symbolic,
representing a change in circumstances. Thus, the formerly despised ones came
into a position of divine favor, and the formerly seemingly favored ones were
rejected by God, while being tormented by the judgment messages delivered by the
ones whom they had despised.-Acts 5:33 7:54.
What is the origin of the teaching of hellfire?
In ancient Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs the "nether world ...is pictured as a
place full of horrors, and is presided over by gods and demons of great strength
and fierceness." (The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Boston, 1898, Morris
Jastrow, Jr., p. 581) Early evidence of the fiery aspect of Christendom's hell
is found in the religion of ancient Egypt. (The Book of the Dead, New Hyde Park,
N.Y., 1960, with introduction by E A. Wallis Budge, pp. 144, 149, 151, 153, 161)
Buddhism, which dates back to the 6th century B.C.E., in time came to feature
both hot and cold hells (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1977, Vol. 14, p. 68)
Depictions of hell portrayed in Catholic churches in Italy have been traced to
Etruscan roots.-La civilta etrusca (Milan, 1979), Werner Keller, p. 389.
But the real roots of this God-dishonoring doctrine go much deeper. The fiendish
concepts associated with a hell of torment slander God and originate with the
chief slanderer of God (the Devil, which name means "Slanderer"), the one whom
Jesus Christ called "the father of the lie."-Joh 8:44.
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