The belief that hell is an ever-burning place where untold numbers of humans suffer eternal conscious torment is a myth foisted upon people for 2,000 years to “keep them in line” religiously. The very word “hell” itself is a long-standing word in the lexicon of the English-speaking world—a word that is part of the fabric of life for millions of people—a word that’s not going to go away by any teaching such as this. Perhaps this teaching will enlighten a few, however, and that is enough.
This teaching carefully examines the word “hell” to see what the Bible says about the word and the myth in spite of all that religion has taught for centuries.
How often do millions of people in the English-speaking world use the word “hell” regularly in everyday conversation without even consciously thinking about it: “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” what the hell just happened?” “She really gave him hell!” “What the hell was that all about?” “What the hell were you thinking?” “Go to hell!” Hundreds of such expressions are used daily!
Are the people using such expressions swearing or cursing? Who knows. I certainly don’t know…and I don’t judge or condemn anyone for using such expressions. However, I do get a little tired of hearing the word “hell” used in that manner by people all around me: friends, business people, clerks, people in restaurants, young people, workers, even children…it’s so common.
What does the English word “hell” mean? What’s its definition? Let’s answer those questions before we research how English Bible translations use the word.
The Bible was originally written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Our English word “hell” is translated from 4 words in those languages: Sheol in Hebrew and Aramaic in which the Old Testament was written, and Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus (or Tartaroo) in Greek, one of the languages in which the New Testament was written, the other being Aramaic. The English word “hell” was translated only from those 4 words in the original 3 languages in which the Bible was written.
Abaddon is a Hebrew word not translated into English and is used only once in the Book of Revelation, chapter 9, verse 11: it means angel of the bottomless pit. Often, Abaddon is mistakenly taught by some as being the same as hell; it’s not the same!
As far as the origin of “hell” in the English language, the word comes from the Old English word hel, that came from an old German word holle, and from an old Norse word hel. Each of those came from the old Indo-European word kel. I’ve oversimplified this just a little, but that’s the etymology of our English word “hell.”
In every case of the word in Old English, old German, old Norse, and Indo-European the word simply means “the place where the dead go and are hidden or covered over—the grave or tomb where people are buried after they die.” In each of those languages, the word “hell” never means a place of ever-burning fire into which some people are consigned to suffer eternal conscious torment after they have died!
What are the definitions of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words in which the Bible was originally written—words which have been translated into the English word “hell”? The word sheol is the Hebrew and Aramaic word meaning “the place in the earth where the dead are buried or entombed–the grave.”
The Greek word “gehenna” comes from the Hebrew word hinnom, meaning “The Valley of Hinnom,” a large valley west and southwest of the city of Jerusalem where garbage and refuse were thrown and burned for centuries in biblical times. Jesus Himself referred to that valley as a place “where worms never die and the fires never burn out.” He was obviously using a figure of speech because today the Valley of Hinnom is actually a nice parklike area with some private homes in it. The “worms” have died and the fires have “burned out.” In addition to refuse being disposed of for centuries in the Valley of Hinnom, often dead bodies would also be thrown there to be burned up.
Also, during various times in biblical history some of the Hebrew kings offered human babies as sacrifices to the false god, Moloch (or Molech), by throwing them into the fires in the Valley of Hinnom.
The Greek word Hades comes from ancient Greek mythology meaning “home of the dead beneath the earth.” The word also was used for one of the multitudes of Greek gods named Hades, The god of the dead.
Tartarus (or tartaroo) comes from the ancient Greek myth about the place beneath Hades where the god, Zeus, hurled the Titans who rebelled against him.
There you have it, the actual definitions of the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and English words that through the centuries have been misunderstood and mistranslated to be a place in the afterlife where after they die God sends certain people to punish them in eternal flames that never diminish or die out: eternal conscious torment in the fires of hell.
At this point we need to briefly consider what constitutes death; there is some controversy over this. For example, the medical community generally believes that death occurs when the brain ceases to function. Among Bible believers, some feel that death occurs when the heart stops and blood ceases to flow in the body because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Deuteronomy 17: 11).
My own view is that death occurs when the human spirit exits the body and returns to God while the body (including the brain, the “seat” of the soul or mind) is buried awaiting resurrection when it will be reunited with the spirit; my view is based on John 19: 30 and related references. The spirit leaves the body and then the body is buried in the earth, cremated, buried at sea, or otherwise disposed of.
Note: I want my readers to know that I have deliberately not included any teaching about cremation or being buried at sea. Both concepts are not mentioned much in the Bible and are not germane to our main teaching about the English word, hell.
Now, with that background information about the word hell, let’s go right to the Bible and begin to examine the places where that word occurs. In most modern translations of the Bible, the word hell occurs 54 times: 31 in the Old Testament and 23 times in the New Testament. I state again: nowhere in those 54 instances of the word hell do any of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words mean that after they die some people will suffer eternal conscious torment in an ever-burning hell!
Note…again: This teaching is not about the lake of fire mentioned in the closing chapters of the Book of Revelation. That’s another subject altogether—although many people who believe that the Bible teaches about an ever-burning hell derive that teaching from the lake of fire in the Book of Revelation. The mythical hell and the lake of fire are not one and the same…although there are many who question whether the Lake of Fire is literal, spiritual, or a figure of speech!
At this point, I invite you to stop and read our companion teachings on this website titled The Lake of Fire and Fire!
The first occurrence of the English word hell in the Bible is found in Deuteronomy 32: 22 where the Bible declares that God has been wounded and hurt by his wayward people, the Israelites, causing Him to be angry and starting a wildfire burning deep into sheol (the grave), then shooting up and devouring the earth and its crops, even setting the mountains on fire. Was this a literal or symbolic event?
The next mention of the English word hell is found in 2 Samuel 22: 6. It is one of David’s songs in which he is praising God for delivering him from one of King Saul’s attempts to kill him; David sang that when the waves of death were crashing over him, floods of ungodliness were causing him to be fearful, and the sorrows of sheol (the grave) surrounded him; he was calling on God Who heard him and saved him. The phrase “sorrows of sheol” is doubtless a figure of speech because a non-living entity cannot feel or express emotions such as sorrow.
In Job 11: 7 and 8, Zophar, one of Job’s friends, is questioning Job if he thinks he understands and is able to explain the mysteries of the infinite God. Zophar asks Job if he knows God is unlimited and unbounded, higher than heaven and deeper than sheol (the grave), never able to be fully understood by finite humans.
Later, Job declares in 26: 6 that no one who has died is unnoticed by God or hidden from him, even those buried at sea and those buried in the earth–in sheol.
In Psalm 9: 17, David wrote that in the end all the wicked will fall into death’s domain sheol (the grave), including people in all the nations that forget God and neglect his ways.
Psalm 16: 10, written by David, is called one of the “Messianic Psalms”: a prophetic Psalm about Jesus. David proclaims that upon death, God will not abandon our souls in sheol (the grave), neither will He allow the body of the Holy One (Jesus) to experience corruption.
Psalm 18 was written by David on the day he was saved from some of his enemies, including King Saul. In verses 4, 5, and 6, David wrote that death and ungodliness surrounded him and the possibility of sheol (the grave) confronted him, but he cried out to God and God saved him.
Psalm 55 is a contemplation by David of some of the troubles he was facing. In verse 15 he says of his enemies, let them die and be buried in sheol (the grave), for there is evil among them.
Psalm 86 is a prayer of David for God’s mercy. In verse 13, he cried out, exclaiming that God’s mercy was great toward him and that God had delivered him from the depths of sheol, the grave.
Psalm 116 is about thanksgiving to God for deliverance from death. Verse 3 states that the pains of death surrounded the writer and the horrors of sheol (the grave) were grasping for him, but he called upon God Who delivered him. The phrase “horrors of sheol” is a figure of speech because a non-living entities cannot feel or express emotions such as horror.
Psalm 139 is another beautiful Psalm of David, proclaiming God’s perfect, unlimited, boundless knowledge of humanity and his awesome presence throughout all creation. Verses 7 – 9 have been memorized by countless numbers of people through the ages of time. David proclaimed that there was nowhere in all creation where a person could hide from God’s Spirit. Even if a person were to sleep in death in sheol, (the grave) God would be there.
David faced death many times, and often thought of dying and his burial in sheol (the grave). Death and burial have long been considered arch enemies of humankind. But now we leave David’s Psalms and turn to some of the thoughts of his son, Solomon.
In Proverbs 5: 5, we read a plea by Solomon to pay attention to wisdom, and wisely avoid adultery He wrote that yielding to the lures of the adulterous woman would ultimately lead to death a ng to a harlot could lead to death and sheol. Again, in Proverbs 9: 27, Solomon issues the same proclamation about yielding to a “foolish woman”; he wrote that her “guests” end up in the depths of sheol.
Verse 24 of Proverbs 15 proclaims that the paths of people who exercise wisdom always lead them progressively upward; on the contrary the paths of the unwise lead downward to sheol (the grave).
In Proverbs 23: 14, Solomon proclaims warning and advice specifically about raising children. He warned that not disciplining and correcting children will lead them to sheol (the grave).
In Proverbs 27: 20, Solomon wrote about the heart of humans never being fully satisfied, always wanting more; such greed and lust to acquire can lead to destruction (Hebrew abbadon) and sheol (the grave). Please note that throughout the Bible when it mentions God’s destruction, it always means that He DEconstructs in order to REconstruct.
We now turn to the ancient prophet, Isaiah. He often proclaimed or wrote prophetic warnings to God’s people, the Israelites, who upon disobeying God were ultimately taken captive by other nations. In Isaiah 5: 14, he wrote that the grave, sheol, has opened its mouth to receive God’s stubborn people, especially the leaders of Jerusalem.
In chapter 14, verses 9 and 11, Isaiah wrote about the future fall of the King of Babylon—how the grave, sheol, would be excited at his coming. Writing about the fall of Adam in verse 15 of that same chapter, Isaiah wrote how by his disobedience and pride Adam was brought down to the lowest recesses of the pit of sheol (the grave). The phrase “lowest recesses of the pit of sheol” is a figure of speech because the Bible does not teach that there are levels in sheol.
In Chapter 28 of Isaiah’s prophecies, he addressed the tribe of Ephraim and the city of Jerusalem, proclaiming their coming fall and capture by Assyria. In verses 15 and 18 Isaiah stated that Ephraim and Jerusalem had made a covenant with death and sheol that the nation of Assyria would not claim them; instead, Assyria passed through the land and took them captive.
Isaiah chapter 57 is about the futile idolatry of the Israelites—how their idolatry caused them to die and descend to sheol (verse 19).
The 31st chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy is a prophecy against the nation of Egypt. In verses 15, 16, and 17, Ezekiel prophesies that Egypt will be cast into sheol as an enemy of Israel. That prediction is echoed in 32: 21 and 27.
The Book of Amos is a prophecy about the upcoming destruction of Israel for her sins against God and her idolatry. In verse 2, God declares that even though they might attempt to escape Him by digging into sheol, God will find them.
The biblical story of Jonah is familiar to many. Jonah attempted to flee from what God wanted Him to do; God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah; while inside the fish—in sheol (verse 2: 2)—Jonah cried out to God and God caused the great fish to vomit Jonah out onto dry land. Jonah then went on to obey what God wanted him to do.
Habakkuk was a prophet of God who asked God many questions. When questioning God about living by faith, God replied in a strange manner by telling Habakkuk that persons who abused alcohol “enlarged their desires,” such unholy desires ending in sheol (verse 2: 5).
Remember! We are simply going through the entire Bible, examining every instance where the English word hell is used—and pointing out which Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek word was translated into the word hell in the Bible’s original manuscripts. Note that so far in this quest through the Old Testament we have not found any flames of hell in which people suffer eternal conscious torment.
Those, then, are all the uses of the word hell (sheol) in the Old Testament. We now turn to the New Testament beginning with the very first book, the gospel of Matthew. In chapter 5, verse 22, Jesus says that excess anger, judging others, teaching and calling people fools could place a person in danger of the fires of Gehenna (Jerusalem’s “landfill” in the Valley of Hinnom). Jesus gives similar warnings in verses 29 and 30.
In Matthew 10: 28, Jesus warns his hearers to fear God Who can reduce to ruins both body and soul in Gehenna. In Matthew 11: 23, Jesus warns the city of Capernaum that it could be brought down to Hades for its wickedness.
Matthew 16: 18 is a well-known statement by Jesus about the founding of his Church in which He states that the gates of Hades will not be able to hold out against the offensive onslaught of the Church.
In considering the next reference, Matthew 18: 9, we must digress just a little and examine verse 8 in which Jesus spoke of “everlasting fire.” The word “everlasting” is a mistranslation and should be “age-lasting” of “lasting for the age.” It is a word about time, the Greek word, aionois, from which we derive the English word age or eon. It is about the duration of time which will end, not something that is endless. Now we can examine verse 9 in which Jesus said it is better to pluck out one’s eye, than having two eyes, be cast into the fires of Hades.
With that in mind, I refer the reader to another teaching on this website titled Beyond the Far shores of Time.
In Matthew 23: 14 and 33, Jesus was “chewing out” the religious leaders of his day known as the Scribes and Pharisees; he told them that when they won others to their false religious practices, they made that person twice as much a child of Gehenna as themselves. Mark 9:43, 45, and 47 is Mark’s version of that same episode—in which Jesus uses the word, Gehenna, in those 3 instances too.
Luke 10: 15 is the same incident as Matthew 10: 28 about the sin of Capernaum; Jesus uses the same word, Hades.
Luke 12: 5 is the same incident as Matthew 23: 14 and in Mark 9; Jesus uses the word, Gehenna.
The 16th chapter of Luke contains the well-known incident about Jesus and the rich man and Lazarus. In Luke 16: 23 Jesus spoke of the rich man being tormented in Hades. The word, torment, is a Greek word meaning “sorrow” or “heaviness of heart” rather than actual “pain.”
We now come to the next instance of the English word hell in the New Testament–in Acts 2: 27. Peter is quoting one of David’s Psalms, Psalm 16. In verse 27 of this second chapter of Acts, Peter quotes David as saying God would not leave his soul in Hades. Peter was substituting the equivalent Greek word, Hades, for David’s use of the Hebrew word, sheol.
Continuing with his famous sermon, in verse 31 of the second chapter of Acts, Peter refers to David’s prophetic words stating that Jesus’ soul would not remain in Hades, again substituting the equivalent Greek word for David’s use of the Hebrew word, sheol.
As we approach the end of the New Testament, in the Book of James, the author—speaking of the human tongue—said the tongue is set on fire by Gehenna (verse 3: 6).
2 Peter 2: 4 has long been a troublesome reference for Bible scholars for many years–one that I won’t even attempt to make clear. The reference is about angels who sinned and were cast into Tartarus, there to be reserved for judgment. Keep in mind, that the word “judgment” used in the Bible about God’s judgment is always redemptive and restorative, not merely punitive. I invite you to study 3 other teachings on this website titled Hope in Judgment, Hope in Justice, and Judgment and Justice.
The English word hell is used 4 times in the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. Revelation 1: 18 is about the unveiled Jesus stating that He holds the keys of Death and of Hades. In 6: 8, when a fourth seal is opened revealing a pale horse, “Death” rode the horse, and was followed by Hades. In 20:14 and 15, Death and Hades are judged and then they are cast into the Lake of Fire.
There you have them: every instance in the entire Bible where the English word, hell, is found with the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words from which the word was translated. You must now draw your own conclusion about hell. Is it a place of never-ending fire where those people who are cast there suffer eternal conscious torment…or is it simply the grave (or tomb) where those who die are buried in the earth (or cremated, buried at sea, or otherwise disposed of)?
You decide!
Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
Posted June 2023
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