Reference: Hell
American
The Hebrews SHEOL, and the Greek HADES, usually translated hell, often signify the place of departed spirits, Ps 16:10; Isa 14:9; Eze 31:16. Here was the rich man, after being buried, Lu 16:23. The above and many other passages in the Old Testament show the futility of that opinion which attributes to the Hebrews an ignorance of a future state.
The term hell is most commonly applied to the place of punishment in the unseen world, and is usually represented in the Greek New Testament by the word Gehenna, valley of Hinnom. See HINNOM. In 2Pe 2:4, the rebellious angels are said, in the original Greek, to have been cast down into "Tartarus," this being the Grecian name of the lowest abyss of Hades. Other expressions are also used, indicating the dreadfulness of the anguish there to be endured. It is called "outer darkness," "flame," "furnace of fire," "unquenchable fire," "fire and brimstone," etc., Mt 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:20,41; Mr 9:43-48; Jg 1:13; Re 20:14. The misery of hell will consist in the privation of the vision and love of God, exclusion from every source of happiness, perpetual sin, remorse of conscience in view of the past, malevolent passions, the sense of the just anger of God, and all other sufferings of body and soul which in the nature of things are the natural results of sin, or which the law of God requires as penal inflictions. The degrees of anguish will be proportioned to the degrees of guilt, Mt 10:15; 23:14; Lu 12:47-48. And these punishments will be eternal, like the happiness of heaven. The wrath of God will never cease to abide upon the lost soul, and it will always be "the wrath to come."
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And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.
For you will not leave my soul in sheol; neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
Sheol from beneath is excited for you to meet you at your coming: it stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
I made the nations to shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to sheol 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 lower parts of the earth.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. read more. And if your foot offends you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter lame into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
And that servant, who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
And in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
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;
And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Easton
derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered:
(1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This word sheol is derived from a root-word meaning "to ask," "demand;" hence insatiableness (Pr 30:15-16). It is rendered "grave" thirty-one times (Ge 37:35; 42:38; 44:29,31; 1Sa 2:6, etc.). The Revisers have retained this rendering in the historical books with the original word in the margin, while in the poetical books they have reversed this rule.
In thirty-one cases in the Authorized Version this word is rendered "hell," the place of disembodied spirits. The inhabitants of sheol are "the congregation of the dead" (Pr 21:16). It is (a) the abode of the wicked (Nu 16:33; Job 24:19; Ps 9:17; 31:17, etc.); (b) of the good (Ps 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; 86:13, etc.).
Sheol is described as deep (Job 11:8), dark (Job 10:21-22), with bars (Job 17:16). The dead "go down" to it (Nu 16:30,33; Eze 31:15-16,17).
(2.) The Greek word hades of the New Testament has the same scope of signification as sheol of the Old Testament. It is a prison (1Pe 3:19), with gates and bars and locks (Mt 16:18; Re 1:18), and it is downward (Mt 11:23; Lu 10:15).
The righteous and the wicked are separated. The blessed dead are in that part of hades called paradise (Lu 23:43). They are also said to be in Abraham's bosom (Lu 16:22).
(3.) Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New Testament, designates the place of the lost (Mt 23:33). The fearful nature of their condition there is described in various figurative expressions (Mt 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30; Lu 16:24, etc.). (See Hinnom.)
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And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
And if you take this also from me, and mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
It shall come to pass, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and your servants shall bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs unto them, and they go down alive into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
They, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
They, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Before I go where I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
They shall go down to the gates of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave those who have sinned.
The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that forget God.
For you will not leave my soul in sheol; neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
O LORD, you have brought up my soul from the grave: you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
For great is your mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the depths of sheol.
The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
The leach has two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that says not, It is enough.
Thus says the Lord GOD; In the day when it went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for it, and I restrained its floods, and the great waters were held back: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. I made the nations to shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to sheol 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 lower parts of the earth. read more. They also went down into sheol with it with them that are slain with the sword; and they that were its arm, that dwelt under its shadow in the midst of the nations.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And you, Capernaum, which is exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hades: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of hell?
And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hades.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, Today shall you be with me in paradise.
By whom also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.
Fausets
Representing two distinct words: Gehenna and Hades (Greek), Sheol (Hebrew). Gehenna) is strictly "the valley of Hinnom" (Jos 15:8; Ne 11:30); "the valley of the children of Hinnom" (2Ki 23:10); "the valley of the son of Hinnom" (2Ch 28:3); "the valley of dead bodies," or Tophet, where malefactors' dead bodies were cast, S. of the city (Jer 31:40). A deep narrow glen S. of Jerusalem, where, after Ahaz introduced the worship of the fire gods, the sun, Baal, Moloch, the Jews under Manasseh made their children to pass through the fire (2Ch 33:6), and offered them as burntofferings (Jer 7:31; 19:2-6). So the godly Josiah defiled the valley, making it a receptacle of carcass and criminals' corpses, in which worms were continually gendering.
A perpetual fire was kept to consume this putrefying matter; hence it became the image of that awful place where all that are unfit for the holy city are cast out a prey to the ever gnawing "worm" of conscience from within and the "unquenchable fire" of torments from without. Mr 9:42-50, "their worm dieth not." implies that not only the worm but they also on whom it preys die not; the language is figurative, but it represents corresponding realities never yet experienced, and therefore capable of being conveyed to us only by figures. The phrase "forever and ever " (eis tous aionas aioonoon) occurs 20 times in New Testament: 16 times of God, once of the saints' future blessedness, the three remaining of the punishment of the wicked and of the evil one: is it likely it is used 17 times of absolute eternity, yet three times of limited eternity?
The term for "everlasting" (aidiois) in Jg 1:6, "the angels who kept not their first estate He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day," is from a word meaning absolutely "always" (aei). Gehenna is used by our Lord Jesus (Mt 5:29-30; 10:28; 23:15,33; Lu 12:5); with the addition "of fire," Mt 5:22; 18:9; Mr 9:47; and by James (Jas 3:6). Our present meaning of "hell" then applies to Gehenna, but not to the other word Hades or Sheol. "Hell" formerly did apply when the KJV of the Bible was written; it then meant "hole," "hollow," or unseen place.
Sheol comes from a root "to make hollow," the common receptacle of the dead below the earth (Nu 16:30; De 32:22), deep (Job 11:8), insatiable (Isa 5:14; Song 8:6). "Hell," Hades, often means the "grave" (Job 14:13). In the Old Testament time, when as yet Christ had not "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2Ti 1:10), death and the intermediate state represented by Hades suggested thoughts of gloom (as to Hezekiah, Isa 38:9-20), lit up however with gleams of sure hope from God's promises of the resurrection (Ps 16:10-11; 17:15; Isa 26:19; Ho 13:14; Da 12:2). Hints too occur of the spirit's being with God in peace in the intermediate state (Ec 3:21; 12:7; Ps 23:6; 139:8; Isa 57:2).
The passages which represent Hades and the grave as a place where God can no longer be praised mean simply that the physical powers are all suspended, so that God's peruses can be no longer set forth on earth among the living. The anomalous state in which man is unclothed of the body is repulsive to the mind, and had not yet the clear gospel light to make it attractive as Paul viewed it (Php 1:21-23; 2Co 5:6-8). To the bad Hades was depicted as a place of punishment, where God's wrath reached to the depths (De 32:22; Am 9:2; Ps 9:17; 49:14; Isaiah 14). Thus, the unseen state even in Old Testament was regarded as having a distinction between the godly and the ungodly; Pr 14:32, "the wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death"; so Psalm 1.
This is further confirmed by the separation of the rich man and Lazarus, the former in "hell" (Hades), the latter in "Abraham's bosom" (Lu 16:23), and in the penitent thief's soul going to be with Jesus in "paradise," the word implying the recovery in heavenly bliss of the paradise lost by Adam (Lu 23:43). "Tartarus," the pagan Greek term for the place of enchainment of the Titans, rebels against God, occurs in 2Pe 2:4 of the lost angels; the "deep," or "abyss," or "bottomless pit," (abussos) Lu 8:31; Re 9:11. The firm faith and hope of an abiding heavenly city is unequivocally attributed to the patriarchs (Heb 11:16-35);. so all the believing Israelites (Ac 26:7; 23:6-9). Hades, "hell," is used for destruction (Mt 11:23; 16:18). Jesus has its keys, and will at last consign it to the lake of fire which is the second death; implying that Christ and His people shall never again be disembodied spirits.
Re 1:18; 20:13-14; I can release at will from the unseen world of spirits, the anomalous state wherein the soul is severed from the body. The "spirits in prison" (1Pe 3:19) mean the ungodly antediluvians shut up in this earth, one vast prison, and under sentence of death and awaiting execution (Isa 24:22); not the prison of Hades. (See SPIRITS IN PRISON.) It is solemnly significant of the certainty of hell that He who is Love itself has most plainly and fully warned men of it, that they may flee from it. Tophet, the scene of human immolations by fire to Moloch amidst sounds of drums (tof) to drown the cries of the victims, symbolized the funeral pyre of Sennacherib's Assyrian army, and finally the lake of fire that shall burn for ever the lost (Isa 30:33). (See TOPHET.)
In an Assyrian tablet of the goddess Ishtar, daughter of Sin, the moon goddess, Hades is described as having seven gates," the house of the departed, the house from within which is no exit, the road the course of which never returns, the place within which they long for light, where dust is their nourishment and their food mud, light is never seen, in darkness they dwell, spirits like birds fill its vaults, over the door and its bolts is scattered dust!" What a contrast to the gospel (2Ti 1:10).
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But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs unto them, and they go down alive into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with its increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with its increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south slope of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:
But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
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.
Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he practiced soothsaying, and used sorcery, and used witchcraft, and dealt with mediums, and with wizards: he did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and its fields, at Azekah, and in its villages. And they dwelt from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom.
It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
O that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that forget God.
For you will not leave my soul in sheol; neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there.
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous has hope in his death.
Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is as strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.
Therefore sheol has enlarged itself, and opened its mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that exults, shall descend into it.
And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be punished.
Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
For Tophet was ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.
The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the rest of my years. read more. I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. My age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the loom: from day even to night will you make an end of me. I considered till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night will you make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: my eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. What shall I say? he has both spoken unto me, and he himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so will you restore me, and make me to live. Behold, for my peace I had great bitterness: but you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for you have cast all my sins behind your back. For the grave cannot praise you, death can not celebrate you: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth. The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known your truth. The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you, And say, Hear you the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring such evil upon this place, that whosoever hears of it, his ears shall tingle. read more. Because they have forsaken me, and have profaned this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction: pity shall be hid from my eyes.
Though they dig into sheol, there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, there will I bring them down:
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, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
And if your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to offend, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.
And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
And you, Capernaum, which is exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hades: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you travel on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of hell?
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: read more. Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot offends you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter lame into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. read more. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.
But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
And in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, Today shall you be with me in paradise.
But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. read more. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' party arose, and contended, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I know not. read more. For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. read more. Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall your descendants be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from which also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; Esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he looked for the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as on dry land: which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were encircled seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in war, turned to flight the armies of foreigners. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
By whom also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
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;
I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.
And they had a king over them, who is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he has the name Apollyon.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Hastings
Morish
In the A.V. this is the translation of
1. sheol, which is often translated, 'grave,' and three times it is 'pit.' It refers to an invisible place or state, which may have several applications, according to the connection of each passage. Korah and his company and their houses went down into 'sheol.' Nu 16:33. Jonah said, "Out of the belly of 'sheol' cried I" Jon 2:2. "The wicked shall be turned into sheol." Ps 9:17. "Let them go down quick into 'sheol,' for wickedness is in their dwellings." Ps 55:15; Pr 7:27. But for the redemption which faith looked for 'sheol' must have had to O.T. saints the character of eternal punishment, and so finally 'hades' will be cast into the lake of fire. The word also refers to the place of departed spirits. The Lord said, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in 'sheol.'" Ps 16:10. This signification corresponds with
2. ????, hades, which occurs where this last passage is quoted in Ac 2:27,31; and has the same meaning in other passages: Mt 11:23; 16:18; Lu 16:23; Re 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14.
3. ??????, Gehenna, the Greek equivalent for two Hebrew words, signifying 'valley of Hinnom.' It was the place near Jerusalem where the Jews made their children pass through fire to heathen gods, and which was afterwards defiled. 2Ki 23:10. A continual fire made it a fit emblem of the place of eternal punishment. Mt 5:22,29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mr 9:43,45,47; Lu 12:5; Jas 3:6. The above-named place of defilement and fire is also called in the O.T. TOPHET or TOPHETH. 2Ki 23:10; Isa 30:33; Jer 19:13.
4. ????????, 'to cast into Tartarus,' a term used by heathen writers for the 'deepest abyss of the infernal regions,' a place of extreme darkness. 2Pe 2:4: cf. 2Pe 2:17 and Jude 1:13.
Whatever figurative meaning there may be in the use of any of the above words, it is plain and certain from scripture that there is a place of everlasting punishment. It is awfully described as the LAKE OF FIRE, 'the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.' Re 19:20; 20:10,15; 21:8. It was prepared for the devil and his angels, but into it the wicked also will be cast. Mt 13:40,42; 25:41; 2Pe 2:4; Jude 1:6, etc. See ETERNAL.
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They, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
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.
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.
The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that forget God.
For you will not leave my soul in sheol; neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
Let death seize upon them, and let them go down alive into the grave: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Her house is the way to sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
For Tophet was ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.
And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled like the place of Topheth, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
And said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of sheol cried I, and you heard my voice.
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, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
And if your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to offend, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.
And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
And you, Capernaum, which is exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hades: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you travel on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of hell?
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
And if your foot offends you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter lame into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
And in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Because you will not leave my soul in hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hades, neither his flesh did see corruption.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
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;
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.
And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on it was Death, and Hades 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 living creatures of the earth.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that worked miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
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 forever and ever.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. read more. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Smith
Hell.
In the Old Testament this is the word generally and unfortunately used by our translators to render the Hebrew Sheol. It really means the place of the dead, the unseen world, without deciding whether it be the place of misery or of happiness. It is clear that in many passages of the Old Testament Sheol can only mean "the grave," and is rendered in the Authorized Version; see, for example,
Ge 37:35; 42:38; 1Sa 2:6; Job 14:13
In other passages, however, it seems to Involve a notion of punishment, and is therefore rendered in the Authorized Version by the word "hell." But in many cases this translation misleads the reader. In the New Testament "hell" is the translation of two words, Hades and Gehenna. The word Hades, like Sheol sometimes means merely "the grave,"
or in general "the unseen world." It is in this sense that the creeds say of our Lord, "He went down into hell," meaning the state of the dead in general, without any restriction of happiness or misery. Elsewhere in the New Testament Hades is used of a place of torment,
etc.; consequently it has been the prevalent, almost the universal, notion that Hades is an intermediate state between death and resurrection, divided into two parts one the abode of the blest and the other of the lost. It is used eleven times in the New Testament, and only once translated "grave."
The word most frequently used (occurring twelve times) in the New Testament for the place of future punishment is Gehenna or Gehenna of fire. This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their destruction. [See HINNOM]
See Hinnom
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And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
O that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
And you, Capernaum, which is exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hades: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
And in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hades, neither his flesh did see corruption.
O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Watsons
HELL. This is a Saxon word, which is derived from a verb which signifies to hide or conceal. A late eminent Biblical critic, Dr. Campbell, has investigated this subject with his usual accuracy; and the following is the substance of his remarks. In the Hebrew Scriptures the word sheol frequently occurs, and uniformly, he thinks, denotes the state of the dead in general, without regard to the virtuous or vicious characters of the persons, their happiness or misery. In translating that word, the LXX have almost invariably used the Greek term ?????, hades, which means the receptacle of the dead, and ought rarely to have been translated hell, in the sense in which we now use it, namely, as the place of torment. To denote this latter object, the New Testament writers always make use of the Greek word ??????, which is compounded of two Hebrew words, Ge Hinnom, that is, "The Valley of Hinnom," a place near Jerusalem, in which children were cruelly sacrificed by fire to Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites, 2Ch 33:6. This place was also called Tophet, 2Ki 23:10, alluding, as is supposed, to the noise of drums, (toph signifying a drum,) there raised to drown the cries of helpless infants. As in process of time this place came to be considered as an emblem of hell, or the place of torment reserved for the punishment of the wicked in a future state, the name Tophet came gradually to be used in this sense, and at length to be confined to it. In this sense, also, the word gehenna, a synonymous term, is always to be understood in the New Testament, where it occurs about a dozen times. The confusion that has arisen on this subject has been occasioned not only by our English translators having rendered the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word gehenna frequently by the term hell; but the Greek word hades, which occurs eleven times in the New Testament, is, in every instance, except one, translated by the same English word, which it ought never to have been. In the following passages of the Old Testament it seems, however, that a future world of wo is expressed by sheol: "They," the wicked, "spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to sheol," Job 21:13. "The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that forget God," Ps 9:17-18. "Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on sheol," Pr 5:5. "But he knoweth not that the ghosts are there, and that her guests are in the depths of sheol," Pr 9:18. "Thou shalt beat him with a rod, and shalt deliver his soul from sheol," Pr 23:14. Thus, as Stuart observes, in his "Essay on Future Punishment," while the Old Testament employs sheol, in most cases to designate the grave, the region of the dead, the place of departed spirits, it employs it also, in some cases, to designate along with this idea the adjunct one of the place of misery, place of punishment, region of wo. In this respect it accords fully with the New Testament use of hades. For though hades signifies the grave, and often the invisible region of separate spirits, without reference to their condition, yet, in Lu 16:23, "In hades ?? ?? ????, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments," it is clearly used for a place and condition of misery. The word hell is also used by our translators for gehenna, which means the world of future punishment, "How shall ye escape the damnation of hell, ??????? ??? ????????"
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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.
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he practiced soothsaying, and used sorcery, and used witchcraft, and dealt with mediums, and with wizards: he did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
The wicked shall be turned into sheol, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on sheol.
But he knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from sheol.
And in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.