I decided to dig into hell today. Not literally - in the form of study of its origins and Biblical usage.
In the Old Testament, "hell" is translated from one word, Sheol. In the New Testament, "hell" is translated from three words Hades, Gehenna, and tartar.
In the Old Testament, 'hell' is always translated from the Hebrew word Sheol. Sheol is used 65 times in the Old Testament and means "the world of the dead," grave, or pit in Hebrew. However, in the Bible, it is translated as "grave" 31 times, "pit" 3 times, and "hell" the remaining 31 times. It is the place where both the wicked and the good went at death and is a place of stillness and darkness. It does imply a separation from God. However, notably absent is any concept of a lake of fire and eternal judgement/ damnation.
Hades is used 11 times in the New Testament as a direct translation to Greek from Hebrew Sheol and therefor takes in all the meaning of Sheol. Hades is considered the place of the dead. It has no relation to an afterlife reward or punishment in any instance except in the story in Luke (who was not one who heard Jesus teach directly) of the rich man 'in anguish in flame'. Interestingly,
In the Old Testament, "hell" is translated from one word, Sheol. In the New Testament, "hell" is translated from three words Hades, Gehenna, and tartar.
In the Old Testament, 'hell' is always translated from the Hebrew word Sheol. Sheol is used 65 times in the Old Testament and means "the world of the dead," grave, or pit in Hebrew. However, in the Bible, it is translated as "grave" 31 times, "pit" 3 times, and "hell" the remaining 31 times. It is the place where both the wicked and the good went at death and is a place of stillness and darkness. It does imply a separation from God. However, notably absent is any concept of a lake of fire and eternal judgement/ damnation.
Hades is used 11 times in the New Testament as a direct translation to Greek from Hebrew Sheol and therefor takes in all the meaning of Sheol. Hades is considered the place of the dead. It has no relation to an afterlife reward or punishment in any instance except in the story in Luke (who was not one who heard Jesus teach directly) of the rich man 'in anguish in flame'. Interestingly,
Hades has a separate identity in Greek mythology as ruler and place of the underworld.
Gahenna is from the Hebrew "Valley of Hinnom." This was an actual location identified in the Old Testament as a place of using fire as either child sacrifice or possibly initiation rites outside the city of Jerusalem (2 Chron 28:3). In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus refers to Gehenna 11 times to describe something opposite of life in God's Kingdom. Gehenna may have been a dumping/ burning area for bodies not entombed which would have been a thing of disgrace in that culture, destruction of those bodies, and being cut off from the Temple in Jerusalem (which was considered the location of God). It is translated as "hell" 12 times in the New Testament.
Tartarus/ tartaroo is used 1 time in the New Testament, in the form 'throw to tartarus' in 2 Peter 2:4 describing casting into the pit of Tartarus, again a Greek mythological reference to the place where souls were tortured in a dungeon after death in a manner fitting their crimes. Peter, however, is using it to describe the way God cast down sinning angels to await judgment...not humans.
So where did the lake of fire/ eternal persistent judgement come into things? "Hell" is from the Old English hel, helle which came into existence around 725 AD (yes, you read that correctly) to refer to a nether world of the dead and contributed a pagan concept to Christian theology and vocabulary. Dante's Divine Comedy in the 14th century and the portion Inferno may have contributed to the imagery of the lake and torture in hell with great literary detail.
The King James translation references "hell" 54 times. The King James was finished in 1611 on the order of the Church of England. (William Shakespeare died in 1616 just to give some perspective.) It was the third completed translation into English. James gave the translators instructions that the translation must conform to the structure and beliefs of the Church of England at the time. Instructions were intended to limit Puritan influence on the translation. And certain Greek and Hebrew words were instructed to be translated in a manner that reflected the traditional usage in the Church of England.
Perhaps that helps explain why hell is referenced three times more in the King James than the New International Version which references "hell" 13 times. Numerous published parallel/ interlinear versions with the actual languages the Bible is sourced from reference hell 0 times.
Interesting.
Gahenna is from the Hebrew "Valley of Hinnom." This was an actual location identified in the Old Testament as a place of using fire as either child sacrifice or possibly initiation rites outside the city of Jerusalem (2 Chron 28:3). In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus refers to Gehenna 11 times to describe something opposite of life in God's Kingdom. Gehenna may have been a dumping/ burning area for bodies not entombed which would have been a thing of disgrace in that culture, destruction of those bodies, and being cut off from the Temple in Jerusalem (which was considered the location of God). It is translated as "hell" 12 times in the New Testament.
Tartarus/ tartaroo is used 1 time in the New Testament, in the form 'throw to tartarus' in 2 Peter 2:4 describing casting into the pit of Tartarus, again a Greek mythological reference to the place where souls were tortured in a dungeon after death in a manner fitting their crimes. Peter, however, is using it to describe the way God cast down sinning angels to await judgment...not humans.
So where did the lake of fire/ eternal persistent judgement come into things? "Hell" is from the Old English hel, helle which came into existence around 725 AD (yes, you read that correctly) to refer to a nether world of the dead and contributed a pagan concept to Christian theology and vocabulary. Dante's Divine Comedy in the 14th century and the portion Inferno may have contributed to the imagery of the lake and torture in hell with great literary detail.
The King James translation references "hell" 54 times. The King James was finished in 1611 on the order of the Church of England. (William Shakespeare died in 1616 just to give some perspective.) It was the third completed translation into English. James gave the translators instructions that the translation must conform to the structure and beliefs of the Church of England at the time. Instructions were intended to limit Puritan influence on the translation. And certain Greek and Hebrew words were instructed to be translated in a manner that reflected the traditional usage in the Church of England.
Perhaps that helps explain why hell is referenced three times more in the King James than the New International Version which references "hell" 13 times. Numerous published parallel/ interlinear versions with the actual languages the Bible is sourced from reference hell 0 times.
Interesting.