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Uncovering Hell “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Gal 3:7) What is your concept of hell? Since so much of our Christian theology involves the idea of avoiding hell, we should at least have a Biblically defensible concept of what hell is all about. CS Lewis wrote in a book entitled “The problem of Pain,” that the doctrine of hell is, “One of the chief grounds of which Christianity is attacked as barbarous and the goodness of God impugned.”
We will begin by researching word derivations. The English word hell originates from the Latin word celare meaning to cover or to hide. The English word “conceal” which comes from celare shows this association. However, its Teutonic root word, kel comes from kelmos, which means a large headpiece (used to cover the head.) Our English word helmet is the diminutive form of the Teutonic word kelmos. A spin-off early English verb hele means to cover or to hide. Out of these word origins results our English word, “hell” which is the ultimate “hiding place.” Since Hell means a covering, our goal in this Bible Study is to uncover Biblical truths relating to hell! What really does the Bible say about hell? Where is it? Who is in hell now? What is hell really like? These are not unreachable truths. If hell really is a Biblical concept we should at least be able to answer these four simple questions using the Bible text as our authority. In order for us to properly understand the Bible teachings concerning hell, we must first unravel hell from other related difficult concepts that are closely associated. The concepts regarding the immortality of the soul, heaven, and hell are all directly interrelated. Most pagan religions teach that when people die, their immortal soul will go immediately into heaven or into hell; the ultimate verdict is primarily based directly upon their earthly conduct. Most Christians hold to this concept; however, the Bible does not take long to prove this immortal soul concept wrong. Notice what the Bible says of Jesus, “who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality” (1 Tim 6:15-16). This passage clearly teaches that no human outside of Jesus Christ has immortality! Let us investigate this notion for Biblical insight. It is indeed true that Christians do have eternal life! Jesus said, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). It is also true what Paul said that, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). However, these conditions are not applicable to the unregenerate (unbelievers)! Notice what John said, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God (unbelievers) hath not life” (1 John 5:12). How much more plain can the scripture get concerning immortal life and the nonbeliever? People who are not born-again die after they live a normal human life. We Christians simply have not realized the amazing truth of the precious gift that we received during the born-again process! When a Christian is born-again he/she receives at that moment a most important gift from God. Notice what Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Through the born-again process, the believer receives the gift of eternal life! On the other hand, the unbeliever never does receive this gift of God! Notice what the scripture teaches about the unbeliever, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14-15). The unbelievers are subject to bondage and they live in “fear of death!” The question is, “Isn’t ‘life’ an eternal existence that both the believer and the unbeliever already possess?” What is so different about the life of the believer as opposed to the life of the unbeliever? Instead of relying on our human instincts for an answer, let’s learn from the Apostle John just what Biblical “life” is all about. We can clearly observe that he uses two different Greek words for “life” in John 12:25, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” Now let’s break down the verse; “He that loveth his life shall lose it; (“life” is the Greek word “psuche” pronounced (psoo-khay'); which merely means breath, even animals possess this “breath” form of vitality and life.) and he that hateth his life (again the Greek word “psuche”) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). Eternal life is known as (‘zoe’ pronouonced (dzo-ay') this form of life is best revealed through a question that was asked of Jesus, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life (‘zoe’)?” (Matt 19:16). Here the man asked Jesus how he might obtain something that he knew that he did not already possess! Isn’t it interesting that Jesus did not correct the man and say, “Oh, my son, you’ve already got eternal life! The question is where will you spend that life?) As we have observed, there are at least two different words for “life” in the Greek language! First, there is the natural (“psuche”) kind of life, which all living creatures possess. An angel first used this Greek word as he spoke of Christ, when he told Joseph that he should return to Israel with Mary and Jesus, “they are dead which sought the young child's life (“psuche”)” (Matt 2:20). Secondly, there is the (“zoe”) form of life which all believers in Jesus possess, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life (“zoe”) in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life (“zoe”)” (John 6:53-54). Obviously non-Christians do not partake in faith of the communion of Jesus; therefore they have no (“zoe”) life in them. As Jesus said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life (“zoe”).” In order to understand hell, we must understand that: There is a clear distinction between those who have a covenant with their God and those who do not! These two diverse groups are going in absolute different directions! Since the non-Christian does not have a covenant with God, and is in bondage to the “fear of death” he certainly does not rely on Almighty God for his very sustenance, support, and care. These people are heading toward death! On the other hand, when a Christian is born-again, he receives eternal life from Jesus, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life! (John 5:24) Did you get the importance of that passage? The believer is “passed from death unto life.” This means that the unbelieving living (psuche kind of life) person is already considered by God to be dead! That is why Jesus told Peter, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (Matt 8:22). By contrast, the Christian receives life eternal, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life (zoe)” (John 6:47). In fact, Christians were ordained unto eternal life, “and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). The point is Christians have eternal life and unbelievers do not! Part of the Christian faith is the hope that when they die Jesus will receive them into eternal life, “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7). Even thought Christians already possess eternal life (zoe life) we hope in Jesus’ promise, “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life” (1 John 2:25). Not only did Jesus promise eternal life, so did the Father, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). The difference between the believer and the unbeliever should begin to be quite distinct! Notice what Paul wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others (nonbelievers) which have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). The unbelievers simply have no hope of eternal (zoe) life. Where does that leave them? The Bible only says that they will perish, “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish” (2 Cor 2:15). The term perish in that passage means that they are headed toward death! The question is, “Do the unbelievers have eternal life or not? In every scripture that we have observed, the Scriptures seem to concur that the unbelievers perish! Notice what Jesus said concerning this subject to unbelievers, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life!” (John 5:39) The nonbelievers are going to perish, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18). We have said before, to perish means to die! Nonbelievers simply have no hope of eternal life; so where do they go in their hopelessness? They turn to philosophy for help! Most people do not realize that western religious leaders from the time of the Romans until the European middle ages borrowed the doctrine of eternal life from pagan philosophers! Certain renowned teachers and writers have influenced Christian thought, so much so that their writings and teachings have come to be commonplace in our modern culture. Perhaps the most influential individual who advanced the concept of eternal life is Dante Alighieri (1265 to 1321). He authored a very popular book entitled, “the Divine Comedy” through which he introduced his three parts of the afterlife: “Hell,” “Purgatory” and “Paradise.” I quote now from an obscure out-of-print book entitled, “Dante and His Influence.” The book states that Dante, “Of all poets of modern times, was, perhaps, the greatest educator. He possibly had a greater influence on the course of civilization than any other one man since his day. [He] wrote, in incomprehensible verse, an imaginative and lurid account of a dismal journey through a lurid hell - a long poem containing certain phrases which have caught the attention of the world, such as, ‘All hope abandon, Ye, who enter here.’” Dante’s inferno was based on the pagan philosophers Virgil and Plato whom he believed to be, “divinely inspired.” Dante taught that human beings have eternal life and will spend that eternity in either “Hell,” “Purgatory,” or “Paradise.” Doesn’t this sound familiar? Greek philosophy is pervasive in our modern western culture; according to Greek Mythology, the mother of Achilles supposedly dipped her infant into the River Styx; the dipping made Achilles invulnerable, except for his heel, which did not get wet (because of his mother’s grasp) while he was being dipped. This one weak spot in Achilles led to his ultimate downfall. Therefore the “Achilles’ heel” is today understood as the source of a major weakness in a person. Even today, the tendon on the back of the foot is referred to as the Achilles tendon. This ought to illustrate how Greek pagan mythology has completely permeated our modern western thought. The same is true especially regarding the understanding of life after death in hell. We will need to get past these concepts from Greek Philosophy in order to completely understand the Bible concept of hell! Since there is such a disconnect between the Scriptures and our common beliefs, could it be that Christian thought about hell has been unduly influenced by Greek philosophy?
For a short period, we will switch into a modified outline presentation until we have defined all four of the Bible words that were translated into the English word hell: I. (Tartaroo) Greek mythology identified an underground setting for the incarceration of the Titans in a place called Tartarus. Amazingly, the New Testament concurs, at least in this single aspect, with the Greek mythological record. Notice what Peter said, “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, (tartaroo) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). This is the one and only usage of the Greek word tartaroo in the New Testament. Tartarus in the Greek mythological model was supposed to be a place far below the level of Hades and was a place of torment for rebellious god-like beings. Since our Christian knowledge is supposed to come from the Scripture instead of mythology, it is clear from Peter’s passage that in the historical past, angels have sinned and subsequently been placed into hell, specifically into a place known as, tartaroo. Since the Scriptural record never uses tartaroo as a place of incarceration for human beings, we should not confuse tartaroo with any other description of hell that surfaces in the Scripture. We can conclude therefore, that tartaroo is a uniquely established setting meant only for angels who have sinned. II. (She'owl) is Hebrew for the place that dead human beings occupy (as a subterranean retreat.) The only Hebrew word for hell is (She'owl), which appears exactly 31 times in the Old Testament. (She'owl) was understood by the Hebrews merely as the grave. There was no concept of eternal life among the Hebrews. The Hebrews merely had a hope in some form of a future resurrection from the grave (and even this belief was not universally accepted among the Jews). Let’s look at six passages from the thirty-one Old Testament passages relating to hell, that when taken together provide a fairly concise description of what she'owl was in Hebrew thought:
To the Hebrews, hell was merely the abode of the dead (the grave). These dead humans dwelt in sheol without any form of human consciousness. There is a close relationship between the concept of “hell” Sheol, among the Hebrews and the 17th century English (the period when the KJV of the English Bible was written). The Old English word for “hell” actually meant the grave. During that same period, the English declared that they would put their potatoes in “hell” (as a place of preservation and storage) during the winter. So the second concept after tartaroo that we should conceive in our minds for hell; and the only Hebrew concept for hell is merely the grave. III. (Haides) was to the Greeks, pretty much the same as sheol was to the Hebrews. The Septuagint was the earliest translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek language. That translation was completed almost 300 years before Christ; Jesus Himself quoted from the Septuagint several different times during His ministry. The Septuagint consistently renders the Hebrew word sheol as the Greek word hades. Therefore, Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew sheol. We are certain that (haides) merely means the grave, because one New Testament passage from the King James Version of the Bible actually translated (haides) into the English word “grave!” Notice Paul’s specific statement, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave (haides), where is thy victory?” (1 Cor 15:55) The point is that this gives us Biblical proof that the Greek word (haides) like the Hebrew word sheol is simply intended to convey the concept of the grave! This means that we can look to those passages where haides appears and deduce from the context that the writers merely intended to convey the concept of the grave. Far too often, the generic word hell has conveyed some entirely different and more sinister mental image. Instead of thinking of these passages as describing an ever-burning hell, we now should properly deem these passages as relating only to the grave! Let’s take a look at every occurrence (eleven) where the word (haides) is used in the New Testament to see where this concept may apply:
The valley of Hinnom is a deep narrow gorge in the vicinity of Jerusalem (on the south side) and it is associated with a horrible past, “And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech” (2 Kings 23:10). Two of the kings of Judah, Ahaz and Manasseh, reintroduced these detestable practices through the religion of Baalism, “Ahaz . . . made also molten images for Baalim. 3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel” (2 Chron 28:1-3). Some time later, King Josiah ended these detestable pagan practices. Because of its unsavory past, Gehenna became a site of horror to the Jews! It became a receptacle for dead bodies of beasts and even criminals. Refuse and everything that was unclean and detestable to the Jews was consumed in this valley where fires were continually burning. The fires were said to have been kept burning in order to consume the unclean and corrupt material. Gehenna was what we would recognize today as a dumpsite! Since this place was so “corrupt” to the Jews, it came to designate the place of future punishment. First, we need to realize that Gehenna was a place of destruction; it was not a place of living or eternal torture! Where did the concept of eternal torture originate? In accordance with modern opinion, hell is usually thought of as the abode of the dead. Nevertheless, most (even Christians) believe that the incorrigible dead are currently suffering some kind of living torment in hell. However, this notion is a real oxymoron; how can the dead experience physical pain and emotions associated only with the living? In reality, this is absurd. Nevertheless, we humans so easily accept the idea and somehow redefine the word “dead” as if it really meant some form of a living state! The Bible does not describe eternal punishing; instead, it describes eternal punishment. There is a difference. Jesus definitely spoke of being cast into “hell (gehenna) fire,” “but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell (gehenna) fire” (Matt 5:22). We need to understand that in these instances Jesus was using this expression as an illustration of the future “lake of fire.” Notice how the Bible reveals that there will be a place of final punishment, “death and hell (haides – which means the grave) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev 20:14). But, isn’t the soul immortal? No one of greater authority than Jesus explains that the soul can be destroyed. He said, “fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna)” (Matt 10:28). Jesus said in this passage in plain irrefutable language that the soul will be destroyed in gehenna! Therefore the soul cannot be immortal! But doesn’t the Bible describe hell as characteristic of an eternal fire? Notice Jude 7; this is perhaps the best example that gives us the Bible answer to this question, “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” (Jude 7; here we find “eternal fire.” The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of eternal fire; nevertheless, they are not still burning. They were burned up and are forever (eternally) destroyed! The point is that eternal fire produces an eternal effect! But, doesn’t the Bible describe an unquenchable hell fire? Notice what Isaiah wrote in this regard, “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (Isa 66:24). Doesn’t this passage describe burning forever and never burning up? No! That passage is no different from Sodom and Gomorrah! Like the “eternal fire” of Sodom and Gomorrah, an unquenchable fire does not burn forever! In fact, you can create your own unquenchable fire! Put a single piece of wadded-up 8 ½ X 11 standard sheet of paper in a Dutch oven or other large cooking pan. Light the wad of paper on fire. Now, do not put the lid on that fire! Do not use water, baking soda, or a fire extinguisher to extinguish the flame; by the way, that is what “quench” means. Not too long after lighting the paper on fire, the paper will merely become ash. The Bible describes this exact unquenchable fire experience regarding the city of Jerusalem because they refused to keep the Sabbath, “then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (Jer 17:27). That fire was not quenched and Jerusalem was destroyed; however, like Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem it is not still burning today! Therefore, the definition of a Biblical “unquenchable fire” is one that devours (destroys) and is only extinguished when all of the fuel has been completely consumed! At death, does the Bible describe that people go into a Dante-like style of hell where they are tortured by flames of fire for an indeterminate period? No, the Bible describes that they go into the grave; however, that is not their ultimate end, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves (Notice where these people are located according to the Scriptures!) shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (krisis)” (John 5:28-29). Here we run into another unfortunate translation. This passage as found in the King James Version is regretfully rendered as, “unto the resurrection of damnation;” however, the word “damnation” comes from the Greek word (krisis). In the Authorized Standard Version, the Greek word “krisis,” is more properly rendered as the word, “judgment” rather than “damnation!” The whole point is that people will come out of their graves into the judgment; notice that Elijah’s prophecy of Jesus says that, “he shall shew judgment (krisis) to the Gentiles” (Matt 12:18); this would include all of the gentiles who have died. If you would like to know more about this judgment, we suggest the Rivkah Ministries Bible Study entitled, “Search for Truth – Part One.” You may obtain a copy of that study and/or the sound file from the website address as follows: http://www.Rivkah.org. Notice what happens to hell (haides – which means the grave) after the dead have been vacated during that resurrection? Revelation 20:13-15 teaches, “And 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. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (This passage only identifies that the grave and death are thrust into the lake of fire after the resurrection of the dead; it does not provide an exact time frame between those two events.) 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:13-15). This is the lake of fire of which Jesus regularly made reference by using the word gehenna. Gehenna therefore, is a place of destruction and not of eternal life! Indeed, it is referred to as the “second death!” Gehenna is a place of eternal punishment, not eternal punishing! We need to understand that Jesus talked to Jews who completely understood the concept of Gehenna or to them, the valley of Hinnom. They understood that it meant a destruction by fire and portended a complete destruction. All of these concepts agree with the Bible which says, “The wages of sin is death (cessation of life)” (Rom 6:23)! Instead of an ever-burning hell after death for the sinner, Jesus referred to a time of judgment when the Son of Man shall, “say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). We have already noted that everlasting fire produces an everlasting effect! This parable of the sheep and the goats makes no special reference to the exact time element of this particular judgment. We are only informed that this period begins at the return of the Lord, “when he cometh shall find so doing” (Matt 24:46); and, this period cannot conclude, “until the thousand years were finished” (Rev 20:5). Instead of providing a time frame, the parable of separation of sheep and goats conveys a spiritual lesson for Jesus’ disciples! Now that we have a better understanding of hell as defined by the Bible, what do “them that perish” (the unbelievers) have to look forward to? It appears that since they clearly do not have eternal life, they will obviously die. Presumably, a short time after death they will go into the grave, which is really “haides” and “sheol.” The grave is one of the words translated into the English word hell. However, we have also learned that, “the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (judgment)” (John 5:28-29). When these people who have been in haides (hell) hear His voice they will literally come to life! It is only sometime after this second life that they can experience what Revelation describes as, “the second death” (Rev 20:14). If you would like to know more about this second life, we suggest the Rivkah Ministries Bible Study entitled, “Search for Truth – Part One.” You may obtain a copy of that study and/or the sound file from the website address as follows: http://www.Rivkah.org. Let’s review the four basic questions of which we said the Bible would provide answers: What really does the Bible say about hell? Well, we now know that there are three different categories of hell: (1) an incarceration of angels in a place labeled in the Greek as tartaroo where fallen angels have been placed in chains; (2) the grave which is know in the Bible as haides in the Greek, and sheol in the Hebrew. This form of hell (the grave) is where the dead that have never known Jesus are stored; however, they will not remain in this location forever. They will be resurrected during the judgment of the last day; (3) Gehenna which is the lake of fire where the grave an death are destroyed! Our second question is, “Where is hell?” The grave is pretty easy to understand so we will move on to the next name of hell, tartaroo. We are going to learn that tartaroo is synonymous with another Biblical location known as the bottomless pit. What is the story of this bottomless pit? We must begin with an earthly perspective, in the same way that all directions from the north pole are south, so too, the only place that does not have a bottom is the core of the earth! Who abides there? We can only understand the bottomless pit in the light of what the New Testament teaches. We have previously looked at Jude 7, now lets fill in the details, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). We may recall from reading the 20th chapter of Revelation concerning the incarceration of satan, “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit” (Rev 20:1-3). The point is that according to Jude, sinning, “angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation” at some time in the past were chained in darkness and “reserved unto the judgment of the great day.” But when exactly were these angels put into this prison of darkness in the first place? Peter repeats Jude’s argument about this prison and in so doing he sheds a little more light on the subject, “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, (tartaroo, as we have observed, this is the only place in the NT where this word appears!) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). Therefore, tartaroo and the bottomless pit are synonymous terms. We are aware that the location of graves is immediately under the surface of the earth, and we can surmise where the bottomless pit is probably located; however, where will the lake of fire be manifest? We cannot be sure, however, notice what the book of Revelation says, “when the thousand years are expired, (we have the right timeframe) Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 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” (Rev 20:7-10). It appears that the location will be somewhere not too far from Jerusalem; perhaps it may be in the valley of Megiddo fifty miles north of Jerusalem? You may have noticed one other important facet from that last passage. Notice, the devil (satan an eternal being) is going to be tormented “for ever and ever;” this is the first eternal torture that really can clearly be observed in the Bible! This eternal torture is not against human beings; instead it is focused upon satan, the original author of rebellion against God. Our next question is, “Who is in hell now?” There are literally billions of people in the grave otherwise know as haides. Further, there are an indeterminate number of angels in tartaroo. And right now, there is nobody in genenna, which we have learned is the lake of fire, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire! This event (characteristic of eternal destruction) will not occur until at least 1000 years after Jesus has returned to the earth! Our final question was, “What is hell really like? We Christians will never know what the grave (haides) and tartaroo (incarceration of angels) are like. The Bible itself describes what gehenna will be like, “who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thess 1:9). Anybody that originated as a human being and ends up in Gehenna will discover what “from the presence of the Lord” is really like. I don’t plan to find out! We Christians know that the power of the devil has always been his ability to deceive. Why should we be surprised that he has hoodwinked humanity concerning his own place of torment and, “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41)?
Written by M.
Larry Perrino Copyright 2005 by Rivkah Ministries |
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Among
Christians,
Let’s
get into our Bible Study so we can sort out what the Scripture says
concerning the nature of hell. We will start with the fundamental
understanding that there are four different and completely distinct
words that are used in the Bible and which are translated into the
English word “Hell.” Two of those words (the Hebrew –
Sheol and the Greek – Hades) are quite similar in
their meanings. However, the other two Greek words that were
translated into the English word hell, (Gehenna and Tartaroo)
are quite different one from another and also quite different from
Sheol and Hades.
Therefore,
we can identify at least three different concepts (mental images
if you will) that should come into the mind of the
English-speaking student who is reading the Bible and comes across
the word hell. It is amazing that the intent of the original
Scriptures was to convey three very different concepts ((1) the
grave; (2) a fiery valley; and (3) the abode of fallen
angels) through these four words. Nevertheless, the English
translators introduced great confusion when they decided to employ
the same word “hell” to all of these three different
source concepts! Needless to say, this has caused a great deal of
misunderstanding especially among English-speaking peoples. It
therefore should not surprise us that what the Bible is attempting to
describe by those three different words, and the mental images about
hell that forms in our mind are very different concepts!
IV.
(Gehenna) is perhaps the most ominous of the Greek words that
are translated into the English word hell. Gehenna is not
some sort of a “worse-than-haides” location.
Indeed, Gehenna is an entirely different concept from what we
have observed concerning (haides)! Gehenna comes from
the Greek word geena meaning valley; and Hinnom; which
is a proper name. In reality, ge-henna (or Ge-Hinnom), is a valley
on the outskirts of Jerusalem that was used for the destruction of
rubbish.