Is The Word Hell In The Bible?
In 2015, a friend asked me to study the word hell in the Bible.
After this study, I discovered the word hell is not in the Bible.
The words translated as hell are: Sheol/Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus
Sheol/Hades
- Sheol/Hades is where souls went after death during the old covenant age, the realm of dead souls.
- Sheol/Hades was emptied of souls for the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20.
- This occurred after the judgment on Jerusalem in AD 70.
Gehenna
- Gehenna was a real valley outside of Jerusalem in the first century.
- Gehenna was the valley where trash, dead bodies, and other refuse was burned.
- Jesus used Gehenna metaphorically for destruction of the people, land, and cities of Israel, including the temple, in the final old covenant judgment of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Tartarus
- Tartarus is a place of punishment for fallen angels according to 2 Peter 2:4.
The literal translations of the Bible accurately translate Sheol/Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus as they are in the original languages.
Inserting the word hell for Tartarus, Gehenna, and Sheol/Hades is not a translation but a word replacement.
It would be like translating Bethlehem as hell.
That would not be a translation but a word replacement.
People will say that Jesus talked more about hell than he did heaven.
That is not a true statement.
It's a traditional statement but not a true statement.
When Jesus used Gehenna (see the literal Bible translations), he was speaking to the leaders and people of Israel (under the law) who rejected him as the Christ and would persecute and kill those from Israel who did believe.
Those in first-century Israel violated the old covenant law and would experience the final old covenant judgment of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-32.
Jesus used Gehenna metaphorically when talking with the people of Israel describing the judgment that would come upon them.
This judgment came from AD66-70 by the Roman armies.
Jesus describes this judgment in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21).
The Book of Revelation is the fulfillment of the AD66-70 judgment.
Revelation is the Gehenna Jesus warned first century Israel about.
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