Origins of the word Hell

“Hell” Appendix 131Show more

"Hell" is the English rendering of two different Greek words in the New Testament.
The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon hel, Genitive Case helle = a hidden place, from the Anglo-Saxon helan = to hide.
It is in the New Testament used as the translation of two Greek words:—
I. Gehenna. Greek geenna. This is the transliteration of the Hebrew Gai' Hinnom, that is to say, the Valley of Hinnom or "the Valley" of [the sons of] Hinnom, where were the fires through which children were passed in the worship of Moloch.
In the Old Testament Tophet was the Hebrew word used, because it was a place in this valley.
In our Lord's day the idolatry had ceased, but the fires were still continually burning there for the destruction of the refuse of Jerusalem. Hence, geenna was used for the fires of destruction associated with the judgment of God. Sometimes, "geenna of fire". See 2Kings 23:10. Isaiah 30:33. Jeremiah 7:31, 32; 19:11-14.
Geenna occurs 12 times, and is always rendered "hell", namely, Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33. Mark 9:43, 45, 47. Luke 12:5. James 3:6.
II. Hades. Greek hades, from a (privative) and idein, to see (Appendix 133. I. i); used by the Greeks for the unseen world.
The meaning which the Greeks put upon it does not concern us; nor have we anything to do with the imaginations of the heathen, or the traditions of Jews or Romanists, or the teachings of demons or evil spirits, or of any who still cling to them.
The Holy Spirit has used it as one of the "words pertaining to the earth", and in so doing has "purified" it, "as silver tried in a furnace" (see notes on Psalm 12:6). From this we learn that His own words "are pure", but words belonging to this earth have to be "purified".
The Old Testament is the fountain-head of the Hebrew language. It has no literature behind it. But the case is entirely different with the Greek language. The Hebrew Sheol is a word Divine in its origin and usage. The Greek Hades is human in its origin and comes down to us laden with centuries of development, in which it has acquired new senses, meanings, and usages.
Seeing that the Holy Spirit has used it in Acts 2:27, 31 as His own equivalent of Sheol in Psalm 16:10, He has settled, once for all, the sense in which we are to understand it. The meaning He has given to Sheol in Psalm 16:10 is the one meaning we are to give it wherever it occurs in the New Testament, whether we transliterate it or translate it. We have no liberty to do otherwise, and must discard everything outside the Word of God

Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
The word occurs eleven times (Matthew 11:23; 16:18. Luke 10:15; 16:23. Acts 2:27, 31. 1Corinthians 15:55. Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14); and is rendered "hell" in every passage except one, where it is rendered "grave" (1Corinthians 15:55, margin "hell").
In the Revised Version the word is always transliterated "Hades", except in 1Corinthians 15:55 (where "death" is substituted because of the reading, in all the texts, of thanate for hade), and in the American Revised Version also.
As Hades is the Divine Scriptural equivalent of Sheol, further light may be gained from Appendix 35, and a reference to the 65 passages there given. It may be well to note that while "Hades" is rendered "hell" in the New Testament (except once, where the rendering "the grave" could not be avoided), Sheol, its Hebrew equivalent, occurs 65 times, and is rendered "the grave" 31 times (or 54%); "hell" 31 times (4 times with margin "the grave", reducing it to 41.5%); and "pit" only 3 times (or 4.5%).
"The grave", therefore, is obviously the best rendering, meaning the state of death (German sterbend, for which we have no English equivalent); not the act of dying, as an examination of all the occurrences of both words will show.
1. The rendering "pit" so evidently means "the grave" that it may at once be substituted for it (Numbers 16:30, 33. Job 17:16).
2. The rendering "the grave" (not "a grave", which is Hebrew keber, or bor) exactly expresses the meaning of both Sheol and Hades. For, as to direction, it is always down: as to place, it is in the earth: as to relation, it is always in contrast with the state of the living (Deuteronomy 32:22-25 and 1Samuel 2:6-8); as to association, it is connected with mourning (Genesis 37:34, 35), sorrow (Genesis 42:38. 2Samuel 22:6. Psalm 18:5; 116:3), fright and terror (Numbers 16:27, 34), mourning (Isaiah 38:3, 10, 17, 18), silence (Psalm 6:5; 31:17. Ecclesiastes 9:10), no knowledge (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10), punishment (Numbers 16:29, 34. 1Kings 2:6, 9. Job 24:19. Psalm 9:17 (Revised Version = re-turned)), corruption (Psalm 16:10. Acts 2:27, 31); as to duration, resurrection is the only exit from it (Psalm 16:11. Acts 2:27, 31; 13:33-37. 1Corinthians 15:55. Revelation 1:18; 20:5, 13, 14).
III. Tartaroo (occurs only in 2Peter 2:4) = to thrust down to Tartarus, Tartarus being a Greek word, not used elsewhere, or at all in the Septuagint. Homer describes it as subterranean (compare Deuteronomy 32:22, which may refer to this). The Homeric Tartarus is the prison of the Titans, or giants (compare Hebrew Rephaim, Appendix 25), who rebelled against Zeus.

Sheol Appendix 35
The first occurrence of this word is in Genesis 37:35, where it is rendered "grave". It occurs sixty-five times in the Hebrew of the Old Testament; and only by studying each passage by itself can the student hope to gather the Biblical usage of the word. All heathen or traditional usages are not only worthless, but mischievous. The following are all the passages where the word "Sheol" occurs, with the rendering in each passage indicated thus: 1 = grave, 2 = pit, 3 = hell.
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For more information on this subject in the New Testament, see Appendix 131; "The Synonymous Words for Hell". A study of the Greek words Gehenna, Hades and Tartaroo and the English meaning.
1. Gen. 37:35.
1. Gen. 42:38.
1. Gen. 44:29, 31.
2. Num. 16:30, 33.
3. Deut. 32:22.
1. 1Samuel 2:6.
3. 2Samuel 22:6.
1. 1Kings 2:6, 9.
1. Job 7:9. 3. Job 11:8.
1. Job 14:13.
1. Job 17:13.
2. Job 17:16.
1. Job 21:13.
1. Job 24:19.
3. Job 26:6.
1. Ps. 6:5.
3. Ps. 9:17. 3. Ps. 16:10.
3. Ps. 18:5.
1. Ps. 30:3.
1. Ps. 31:17.
1. Ps. 49:14, 14, 15.
3. Ps. 55:15
(marg. grave).
3. Ps. 86:13
(marg. grave).
1. Ps. 88:3.
1. Ps. 89:48.
3. Ps. 116:3.
3. Ps. 139:8.
1. Ps. 141:7.
1. Prov. 1:12.
3. Prov. 5:5.
3. Prov. 7:27.
3. Prov. 9:18.
3. Prov. 15:11, 24. 3. Prov. 23:14.
3. Prov. 27:20.
1. Prov. 30:16.
1. Ecc. 9:10.
1. Song 8:6.
3. Isa. 5:14.
3. Isa. 14:9
(marg. grave).
1. Isa. 14:11.
3. Isa. 14:15.
3. Isa. 28:15, 18.
1. Isa. 38:10. 1. Isa. 38:18.
3. Isa. 57:9.
1. Ezek. 31:15.
3. Ezek. 31:16, 17.
3. Ezek. 32:21, 27.
1. Hos. 13:14, 14.
3. Amos 9:2.
3. Jonah 2:2
(marg. grave).
3. Hab. 2:5.
As meaning "THE grave," it is to be distinguished from keber, A grave, or, burying-place (from kabar, to bury, first occurrence Genesis 23:4): and bor, a pit, generally hewn in the rock, hence used of a cistern (Genesis 37:20) or a dungeon, etc., when dry. (See note on the word "well" ¹ in Genesis 21:19.)
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¹ Hebrew beer, a well (dug): not 'ayin, a spring or fountain; or bor, a cistern (hewn). Note brought forward from Genesis 21:19.

The dead Appendix 139
The word nekros (Noun and Adjective) has different meanings, according as it is used in different connections:—
1. With the Article (hoi nekroi) it denotes dead bodies, or corpses or carcasses in the grave, apart from the personality they once had. This is the Old Testament idiom also. See Septuagint, Genesis 23:3, 4, 6, 8. Deuteronomy 18:11; 28:26. Jeremiah 7:33; 9:22; 19:7. Ezekiel 37:9. See notes on Matthew 22:31. 1Corinthians 15:35.
2. Without the Article (nekroi) it denotes the persons who were once alive, but who are now alive no longer: that is to say, dead persons as distinct from dead bodies. Compare Deuteronomy 14:1. Judges 4:22. Lamentations 3:6. And see notes on Matthew 22:32. Acts 26:23. 1Corinthians 15:12, 12, 13, 15, 16. Hebrews 13:20, etc.
3. With a Preposition, but without the Article, which may be latent in the Preposition (ek nekron), it denotes out from among dead people. See notes on Mark 9:9, 10. Luke 16:30, 31. John 20:9. Acts 10:41. Romans 6:13; 10:7, 9; 11:15. 1Corinthians 15:12-, 20. Hebrews 11:19.
4. With a Preposition, and with the Article; for example 'ek ton nekron, it denotes emphatically out from among the dead bodies, or corpses. Compare Ephesians 5:14. Colossians 1:18; 2:12.
5. The bearing of this on 1Peter 4:6 will be better seen if we note that we have nekroi (See No. 2, above), meaning people who were then dead, but who had had the Gospel preached (Appendix 121. 4) to them while they were alive; and this is confirmed by the Greek Particle, men (=although) in the next clause, which is ignored both by the Authorized Version and Revised Version. The verse reads thus: "For to this end to those who are (now) dead was the Gospel preached, that though they might be judged in the flesh, according to [the will of] men,¹ yet they might live [again, in resurrection], according to [the will of] God, as regards [the] spirit"; that is to say, in spiritual bodies, spoken of in 1Corinthians 15:44, 45.
To this end—to give those to whom the apostle wrote this hope—the Gospel was preached to them, as described in 1Peter 1:12, 25. The hope of glory was thus set over against their sufferings (1Peter 1:11; 4:13).
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¹ That this is the meaning may be seen from the use of kata (Ap. 104. x. 2). Rom. 8:27; 15:5. 1Cor. 12:8; 15:32; 2Cor. 11:17. Gal. 1:4, 11. Eph. 1:5, 9, 11, 19; 2:2. Col. 2:8. 1Pet. 4:14, 19. 1John 5:14.

Dead G# 3498 nekros: dead Original Word: νεκρός, ά, όν Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: nekros
Phonetic Spelling: (nek-ros') Definition: dead Usage: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. dead.
From an apparently primary nekus (a corpse); dead (literally or figuratively; also as noun) -- dead.

G # 3739 hos, hé, ho: usually rel. who, which, that, also demonstrative this, thatOriginal Word: ὅς, ἥ, ὅ
Part of Speech: Relative Pronoun
Transliteration: hos, hé, ho
Phonetic Spelling: (hos)
Definition: usually rel. who, which, that, also demonstrative this, that
Usage: who, which, what, that.
G # 3588 ho, hé, to: theOriginal Word: ὁ, ἡ, τό
Part of Speech: Definite Article
Transliteration: ho, hé, to
Phonetic Spelling: (ho)
Definition: the
Usage: the, the definite article.
G# 1537 ek or ex: from, from out of Original Word: ἐκ, ἐξ
Part of Speech: Preposition
Transliteration: ek or ex
Phonetic Spelling: (ek)
Definition: from, from out of
Usage: from out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards.
G # 1822 exartizó: to complete, to equip fully Original Word: ἐξαρτίζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: exartizó
Phonetic Spelling: (ex-ar-tid'-zo)
Definition: to complete, to equip fully
Usage: (a) I fit up, completely furnish, equip, furnish, supply, (b) I accomplish, finish.

Judgment seat of Christ
Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Paradise
Luke 23:43And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise
2 Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

“Paradise” G # 2859 kolpos: the bosom Original Word: κόλπος, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: kolpos Phonetic Spelling: (kol'-pos)
Definition: the bosom Usage: (a) sing. and plur: bosom; (sinus) the overhanging fold of the garment used as a pocket, (b) a bay, gulf. bosom, breast, bay Apparently a primary word; the bosom; by analogy, a bay -- bosom, creek.
Paradise G # 1492 eidó: be aware, behold, consider, perceiveOriginal Word: οἶδα Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: eidó Phonetic Spelling: (i'-do)
Definition: be aware, behold, consider, perceive
Usage: I know, remember, appreciate. be aware, behold, consider, perceiveA primary verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent optanomai and horao; properly, to see (literally or figuratively); by implication, (in the perfect tense only) to know -- be aware, behold, X can (+ not tell), consider, (have) know(-ledge), look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wish, wot. Compare optanomai. see GREEK optanomai see GREEK horao see GREEK optanomai