Blogger of Jared

The word hell in the bible:

The original Hebrew and Greek words for which the King James Bible translators interpreted as the English word “hell” appear a total of 90 times throughout the Bible — 65 in the Old Testament and 25 in the New Testament. In some places it is translated “grave,” but here we are concerned only with the instances where the word is translated as “hell” or “pit.” We shall see how the word employed by the original writers differs with context, that they do not all refer to the same place.

OLD TESTAMENT

she’owl or she’ol, sheh-ole’; the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates:–grave, hell, pit. {Occurs 31 times}

Deut 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
2 Sam 22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalms 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. (the Hebrew here for “prevented” is “met”)
Psalms 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Psalms 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Psalms 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Psalms 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Prov 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Prov 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
Prov 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Prov 15:11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
Prov 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Prov 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Prov 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isaiah 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isaiah 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Isaiah 57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.
Ezek 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
Ezek 31:17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
Ezek 32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Ezek 32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
Amos 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Jonah 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. (Jonah is obviously speaking metaphorically — the belly of a sea creature cannot possibly be a place for the punishment of the wicked)
Habak 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:

In every occurrence the word refers to the abode of the dead. Nothing is implied by way of eternal torment or punishment. The spirits of all men, whether righteous or wicked, went to Sheol. This includes all references in the Old Testament.

It is interesting to note that one part of the definition mentions “inmates,” implying a kind of incarceration. Since Christ’s atonement would overcome death through the resurrection, this “hell” would have an end as mentioned in Psalms 16:10, and the “inmates” would be freed from their “cells.”

NEW TESTAMENT

hades, hah’-dace; prop. unseen, i.e. “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls:–grave, hell. {Occurs 11 times}

This Greek word is analogous to the Hebrew Sheol. It rarely implies punishment, nor that it will last forever. It is simply where the spirits of the dead go to await the resurrection.

Matt 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Luke 10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

When those of Capernaum died they would surely go to “hell,” or that place in the spirit world that contains the wicked. Hades can most certainly be considered hell, as seen in the following instance:

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

This is the only occurrence of Hades used in conjunction with torment. The rich man was tormented because he realized what he had done to Lazarus and was wrong and his conscience pained. This, however, does not necessarily reflect on his location.

Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The gates of hell would not prevail against the rock of revelation. Even those in that part of the spirit world known as “hell” would have the Gospel revealed to them, and ordinances would be revealed to prophets on earth to be performed on their behalf.

Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Neither Death nor Hell would arise victorious over the souls of men. Christ gained the keys of hell and death through his atonement and resurrection. The part of the spirit world called “hell” would eventually give up its captives or “inmates” — those accepting the gospel unto life, and those rejecting it unto damnation. Death lost its power when Christ broke the chains thereof by virtue of his resurrection, whereby all men would be resurrected.

Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The “hell” referred to by Hades is a temporary place. It will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.

If hell is only one place and always an everlasting condition of eternal punishment, why are there many different words used to describe the exact same place? Why are they used in different contexts? Because they are referring to different places.

geenna, gheh’-en-nah; of Heb. or; valley of (the son) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerus., used (fig.) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment:–hell. {occurs 12 times} Gehenna represents the classic view of hell, i.e. “fire and damnation.”

Matt 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Matt 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matt 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matt 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
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:
Mark 9:45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Mark 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

These are teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord’s point is this: it would be better to lose a member of your body to prevent yourself from going to hell, the place of eternal punishment.

Matt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Don’t fear them that might kill you (mortally) because your body will be resurrected anyhow. Fear, instead, they who can destroy your soul, i.e. influence you to pass up your chance to accept the gospel (in the spirit world for those who didn’t accept it here).

Matt 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Matt 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

The scribes & Pharisees had perverted the Law in great measure and now wouldn’t listen to the Savior. How, then, could they “escape the damnation of hell” which awaited them?

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

The tongue is a strong thing — because of it you can deny yourself blessings, even that of eternal life.

It is important to take special note of the meaning of the Greek word for the preceding passages. The definition speaks of “everlasting punishment.” Where does the notion come from that hell is a place where people burn forever? The valley of Hinnom is a deep, narrow ravine south of Jerusalem (see Joshua 15:8). The Hebrew phrase “valley of Hinnom,” or ge-hinnom, is transliterated into Greek as gehenna. Corrupt parents sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to the pagan god Molech in that valley (see 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3). It was also used as a garbage dump. Refuse, waste materials, and dead animals were burned by constant fires, pouring out smoke day and night. It was therefore used metaphorically as a graphic symbol of eternal punishment in hell.

tartaroo, tar-tar-o’-o; from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:–cast down to hell. {occurs 2 times (both in this verse)}

2 Pet 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment (used twice to form the conjunction “cast down to hell”)

Those spirits which rebelled in the beginning were “cast down to hell” — actually to the earth, until after the judgment. What is implied by Peter is that there is no hope for them. They will be confined to an eternal torment. See D&C 19 & 76.

With that analysis done, in my next post we’ll discuss the “who cares” part of the word hell in the bible, so don’t spoil it by commenting on it just yet.. let’s stick to the technical side.

(many thanks to Alan Morgan for providing me with much of the material I needed to do this post series.)