GREEK: 86 Adhv hades
NAVE: Hades Hell
EBD: Hades Hell
SMITH: HADES HELL
ISBE: HADES HELL
BAKER: Hades Hell
BRIDGEWAY: HADES HELL
Hades
In Bible versions:
Hades: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEVhell: NET
Greek
Strongs #86: Adhv hades
1) name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions2) Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead
3) later use of this word: the grave, death, hell
In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal regions,
a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the earth, the common
receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the abode of
the wicked, Lu 16:23; Re 20:13,14; a very uncomfortable place. TDNT.
86 haides hah'-dace
from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; properly, unseen, i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls: KJV -- grave, hell.see GREEK for 1
see GREEK for 1492
Hades [nave]
HADES1. The unseen world, translated hell in A.V., Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14.
See: Hell; Sheol.
Realm, or State, of the Dead
usually expressed in Hebrew by Sheol and in Greek by Hades: 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 26:5; Psa. 6:5; Psa. 17:15; Psa. 30:9; Psa. 49:15; Psa. 86:13; Psa. 88:10-12; Psa. 115:17; Psa. 116:3; Prov. 15:24; Prov. 21:16; Prov. 27:20; Eccl. 9:4-6; Isa. 5:14; Jonah 2:2; Luke 23:42, 43; John 8:22; 2 Cor. 12:4 See: Hell; Immortality; Paradise; Righteous, Future State of; Spirit; Wicked, Punishment of.
Hell [nave]
HELLThe word used in the King James Version of the O.T. to translate the Hebrew word sheol, signifying the unseen state, in Deut. 32:22; 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 11:8; 26:6; Psa. 9:17; 16:10; 18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3; 139:8; Prov. 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:11, 24; 23:14; 27:20; Isa. 5:14; 14:9, 15; 28:15, 18; 57:9; Ezek. 31:16, 17; 32:21, 27; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2; Hab. 2:5.
See: Hades; Sheol.
Translation of the Greek word hades in N.T. of King James Version, the unseen world, Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14; of the Greek word gehea, signifying the place of torment, Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; Jas. 3:6; of the Greek verb tartaro¢, signifying the infernal region, 2 Pet. 2:4.
Sheol is also translated "grave'' in King James Version in Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam. 2:6; 1 Kin. 2:6, 9; Job 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; 21:13; 24:19; Psa. 6:5; 30:3; 31:17; 49:14, 15; 88:3; 89:48; 141:7; Prov. 1:12; 30:16; Eccl. 9:10; Song 8:6; Isa. 14:11; 38:10, 18; Ezek. 31:15; Hos. 13:14; pit, Num. 16:30, 33; Job 17:16.
The English revisers insert the Hebrew word sheol in places where hell, grave, and pit were used in the A.V. as translations of the word sheol, except in Deut. 32:22; Psa. 55:15; 86:13; and in the prophetical books. The American revisers invariably use Sheol in the American text, where it occurs in the original.
The Future Abode of the Wicked
Psa. 9:17; Prov. 5:5; Prov. 9:13-17; Prov. 15:24; Prov. 23:13, 14; Isa. 30:33; Isa. 33:14; Matt. 3:12; Matt. 5:29 v. 30.; Matt. 7:13 v. 14.; Matt. 8:11, 12; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 13:30, 38-42, 49, 50; Matt. 16:18; Matt. 18:8, 9, 34, 35; Matt. 22:13; Matt. 25:28-30, 41, 46; Mark 9:43, 44 vs. 45-48.; Matt. 5:29. Luke 3:17 Matt. 3:12. Luke 16:23, 24, 26 vs. 25,28;; Acts 1:25. 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6, 23; Rev. 9:1, 2 Rev. 11:7. Rev. 14:10, 11; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10, 15; Rev. 21:8 Rev. 2:11. See: Wicked, Punishment of.
Hades [ebd]
that which is out of sight, a Greek word used to denote the state or place of the dead. All the dead alike go into this place. To be buried, to go down to the grave, to descend into hades, are equivalent expressions. In the LXX. this word is the usual rendering of the Hebrew sheol, the common receptacle of the departed (Gen. 42:38; Ps. 139:8; Hos. 13:14; Isa. 14:9). This term is of comparatively rare occurrence in the Greek New Testament. Our Lord speaks of Capernaum as being "brought down to hell" (hades), i.e., simply to the lowest debasement, (Matt. 11:23). It is contemplated as a kind of kingdom which could never overturn the foundation of Christ's kingdom (16:18), i.e., Christ's church can never die.
In Luke 16:23 it is most distinctly associated with the doom and misery of the lost.
In Acts 2:27-31 Peter quotes the LXX. version of Ps. 16:8-11, plainly for the purpose of proving our Lord's resurrection from the dead. David was left in the place of the dead, and his body saw corruption. Not so with Christ. According to ancient prophecy (Ps. 30:3) he was recalled to life.
Hell [ebd]
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 (Prov. 30:15, 16). It is rendered "grave" thirty-one times (Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam. 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" (Prov. 21:16). It is (a) the abode of the wicked (Num. 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 (10:21, 22), with bars (17:16). The dead "go down" to it (Num. 16:30, 33; Ezek. 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 (1 Pet. 3:19), with gates and bars and locks (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 1:18), and it is downward (Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15).
The righteous and the wicked are separated. The blessed dead are in that part of hades called paradise (Luke 23:43). They are also said to be in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22).
(3.) Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New Testament, designates the place of the lost (Matt. 23:33). The fearful nature of their condition there is described in various figurative expressions (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 16:24, etc.). (See HINNOM.)
HADES [smith]
in Revised Version. [SeeHELL [smith]
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, (Genesis 37:35; 42:38; 1Â Samuel 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," (Acts 2:31; 1Â Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 20:13) 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, (Matthew 11:23; Luke 16:23; 2Â Peter 2:4) 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." (1Â Corinthians 15:55) 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. [SeeHADES [isbe]
HADES - ha'-dez (Haides, haides, "not to be seen"): Hades, Greek originally Haidou, in genitive, "the house of Hades," then, as nominative, designation of the abode of the dead itself. The word occurs in the New Testament in Mt 11:23 (parallel Lk 10:15); Mt 16:18; Lk 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Rev 1:18; 6:8; 20:13 f. It is also found in Textus Receptus of the New Testament 1 Cor 15:55, but here the correct reading (Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, the Revised Version (British and American)) is probably Thanate, "O Death," instead of Haide, "O Hades." the King James Version renders "Hades" by "hell" in all instances except 1 Cor 15:55, where it puts "grave" (margin "hell") in dependence on Hos 13:14. the Revised Version (British and American) everywhere has "Hades."1. In Old Testament: Sheol:
In the Septuagint Hades is the standing equivalent for Sheol, but also translates other terms associated with death and the state after it. The Greek conception of Hades was that of a locality receiving into itself all the dead, but divided into two regions, one a place of torment, the other of blessedness. This conception should not be rashly transferred to the New Testament, for the latter stands not under the influence of Greek pagan belief, but gives a teaching and reflects a belief which model their idea of Hades upon the Old Testament through the Septuagint. The Old Testament Sheol, while formally resembling the Greek Hades in that it is the common receptacle of all the dead, differs from it, on the one hand, by the absence of a clearly defined division into two parts, and, on the other hand, by the emphasis placed on its association with death and the grave as abnormal facts following in the wake of sin. The Old Testament thus concentrates the partial light it throws on the state after death on the negative, undesirable side of the prospect apart from redemption. When in the progress of Old Testament revelation the state after death begins to assume more definite features, and becomes more sharply differentiated in dependence on the religious and moral issue of the present life this is not accomplished in the canonical writings (otherwise in the apocalyptic literature) by dividing Sheol into two compartments, but by holding forth to the righteous the promise of deliverance from Sheol, so that the latter becomes more definitely outlined as a place of evil and punishment.
2. In the New Testament: Hades:
The New Testament passages mark a distinct stage in this process, and there is, accordingly, a true basis in Scripture for the identification in a certain aspect of Sheol--Hades--with hell as reflected in the King James Version. The theory according to which Hades is still in the New Testament the undifferentiated provisional abode of all the dead until the day of judgment, with the possibility of ultimate salvation even for those of its inmates who have not been saved in this life, is neither in harmony with the above development nor borne out by the facts of New Testament usage. That dead believers abide in a local Hades cannot be proven from 1 Thess 4:16; 1 Cor 15:23, for these passages refer to the grave and the body, not to a gathering-place of the dead. On the other hand Lk 23:43; 2 Cor 5:6-8; Phil 1:23; Rev 6:9; 7:9 ff; 15:2 ff teach that the abode of believers immediately after death is with Christ and God.
3. Acts 2:27,31:
It is, of course, a different matter, when Hades, as not infrequently already the Old Testament Sheol, designates not the place of the dead but the state of death or disembodied existence. In this sense even the soul of Jesus was in Hades according' to Peter's statement (Acts 2:27,31--on the basis of Ps 16:10). Here the abstract sense is determined by the parallel expression, "to see corruption" None the less from a comparatively early date this passage has been quoted in support of the doctrine of a local descent of Christ into Hades.
The same abstract meaning is indicated for Rev 20:13. Death and Hades are here represented as delivering up the dead on the eve of the final judgment. If this is more than a poetic duplication of terms, Hades will stand for the personified state of death, Death for the personified cause of this state. The personification appears plainly from 20:14: "Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire." In the number of these "dead" delivered up by Hades, believers are included, because, even on the chiliastic interpretation of 20:4-6, not all the saints share in the first resurrection, but only those "beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God," i.e. the martyrs. A similar personifying combination of Death and Hades occurs in Rev 6:8 ("a pale horse: and he that sat upon him his name was Death; and Hades followed with him"). In Rev 1:18, on the other hand, Death and Hades are represented as prisons from which Christ, in virtue of His own resurrection, has the power to deliver, a representation which again implies that in some, not necessarily local, sense believers also are kept in Hades.
5. Lk 16:23:
In distinction from these passages when the abstract meaning prevails and the local conception is in abeyance, the remaining references are more or less locally conceived. Of these Lk 16:23 is the only one which might seem to teach that recipients of salvation enter after death into Hades as a place of abode. It has been held that Hades is here the comprehensive designation of the locality where the dead reside, and is divided into two regions, "the bosom of Abraham" and the place of torment, a representation for which Jewish parallels can be quoted, aside from its resemblance to the Greek bisection of Hades. Against this view, however, it may be urged, that if "the bosom of Abraham" were conceived as one of the two divisions of Hades, the other division would have been named with equal concreteness in connection with Dives. In point of fact, the distinction is not between "the bosom of Abraham" and another place, as both included in Hades, but between "the bosom of Abraham" and Hades as antithetical and exclusive. The very form of the description of the experience of Dives: "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments," leads us to associate Hades as such with pain and punishment. The passage, therefore, does not prove that the saved are after death in Hades. In further estimating its bearing upon the problem of the local conditions of the disembodied life after death, the parabolic character of the representation must be taken into account. The parable is certainly not intended to give us topographical information about the realm of the dead, although it presupposes that there is a distinct place of abode for the righteous and wicked respectively.
6. Mt 11:23:
The two other passages where Hades occurs in the teaching of our Lord (Mt 11:23 parallel Lk 10:15; and Mt 16:18) make a metaphorical use of the conception, which, however, is based on the local sense. In the former utterance it is predicted of Capernaum that it shall in punishment for its unbelief "go down unto Hades." As in the Old Testament Sheol is a figure for the greatest depths known (Dt 32:22; Isa 7:11; 57:9; Job 11:8; 26:6), this seems to be a figure for the extreme of humiliation to which that city was to be reduced in the course of history. It is true, 11:24, with its mention of the day of judgment, might seem to favor an eschatological reference to the ultimate doom of the unbelieving inhabitants, but the usual restriction of Hades to the punishment of the intermediate state (see below) is against this.
7. Mt 16:18:
In the other passage, Mt 16:18, Jesus declares that the gates of Hades shall not katischuein the church He intends to build. The verb katischuein may be rendered, "to overpower" or "to surpass." If the former be adopted, the figure implied is that of Hades as a stronghold of the power of evil or death from which warriors stream forth to assail the church as the realm of life. On the other rendering there is no reference to any conflict between Hades and the church, the point of comparison being merely the strength of the church, the gates of Hades, i.e. the realm of death, serving in common parlance as a figure of the greatest conceivable strength, because they never allow to escape what has once entered through them.
The above survey of the passages tends to show that Hades, where it is locally conceived, is not a provisional receptacle for all the dead, but plainly associated with the punishment of the wicked. Where it comes under consideration for the righteous there is nothing to indicate a local sense. On 1 Pet 3:19; 4:6 (where, however, the word "Hades" does not occur), see articles ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT; SPIRITS IN PRISON.
8. Not a Final State:
The element of truth in theory of the provisional character of Hades lies in this, that the New Testament never employs it in connection with the final state of punishment, as subsequent to the last judgment. For this GEHENNA (which see) and other terms are used. Dives is represented as being in Hades immediately after his death and while his brethren are still in this present life. Whether the implied differentiation between stages of punishment, depending obviously on the difference between the disembodied and reembodied state of the lost, also carries with itself a distinction between two places of punishment, in other words whether Hades and Gehenna are locally distinct, the evidence is scarcely sufficient to determine. The New Testament places the emphasis on the eschatological developments at the end, and leaves many things connected with the intermediate state in darkness.
Geerhardus Vos
HELL [isbe]
HELL - hel (see SHEOL; HADES; GEHENNA):1. The Word in the King James Version:
The English word, from a Teutonic root meaning "to hide" or "cover," had originally the significance of the world of the dead generally, and in this sense is used by Chaucer, Spenser, etc., and in the Creed ("He descended into hell"); compare the English Revised Version Preface. Now the word has come to mean almost exclusively the place of punishment of the lost or finally impenitent; the place of torment of the wicked. In the King James Version of the Scriptures, it is the rendering adopted in many places in the Old Testament for the Hebrew word she'ol (in 31 out of 65 occurrences of that word it is so translated), and in all places, save one (1 Cor 15:55) in the New Testament, for the Greek word Hades (this word occurs 11 times; in 10 of these it is translated "hell"; 1 Cor 15:55 reads "grave," with "hell" in the margin). In these cases the word has its older general meaning, though in Lk 16:23 (parable of Rich Man and Lazarus) it is specially connected with a place of "torment," in contrast with the "Abraham's bosom" to which Lazarus is taken (16:22).
2. The Word in the Revised Version:
In the above cases the Revised Version (British and American) has introduced changes, replacing "hell" by "Sheol" in the passages in the Old Testament (the English Revised Version retains "hell" in Isa 14:9,15; the American Standard Revised Version makes no exception), and by "Hades" in the passages in the New Testament (see under these words).
3. Gehenna:
Besides the above uses, and more in accordance with the modern meaning, the word "hell" is used in the New Testament in the King James Version as the equivalent of Gehenna (12 t; Mt 5:22,29; 10:28, etc.). the Revised Version (British and American) in these cases puts "Gehenna" in the margin. Originally the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, Gehenna became among the Jews the synonym for the place of torment in the future life (the "Gehenna of fire," Mt 5:22, etc.; see GEHENNA).
4. Tartarus:
In yet one other passage in the New Testament (2 Pet 2:4), "to cast down to hell" is used (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) to represent the Greek tartaroo, ("to send into Tartarus"). Here it stands for the place of punishment of the fallen angels: "spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits (or chains) of darkness" (compare Jude 1:6; but also Mt 25:41). Similar ideas are found in certain of the Jewish apocalyptic books (Book of Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Apocrypha Baruch, with apparent reference to Gen 6:1-4; compare ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT).
On theological aspect, see PUNISHMENT, EVERLASTING. For literature, see references in above-named arts., and compare article "Hell" by Dr. D. S. Salmond in HDB.
James Orr
Hades [baker]
[N] [E] [J] [S]Greek term widely used to denote the deity of the underworld and the abode of the dead. The New Testament use of Hades (hades [a&/dh"]) builds on its Hebrew parallel, Sheol (se'ol), which was the preferred translation in the Septuagint.
The Old Testament. Sheol refers primarily to death and the abode of the dead, both godly and ungodly (Gen 37:25; Psalm 16:10; 88:10-12; Isa 14:9). These conscious souls face a lethargic existence, apparently without reward or retribution (Job 10:21; Eccl 9:10; Isa 14:10). Since death is not a natural occurrence but invaded creation through the fall and Satan's destructive work (Gen. 2-3), the Old Testament personifies Sheol as the power of Satan and his demonic hosts (Job 18:14; Psalm 18:4-5; Isa 28:15; Jer 9:21). While an antagonist, Sheol ultimately exists at Yahweh's service (1 Sam 2:6; Psalm 55:23; 139:8). The Old Testament confidently awaits God's victory over Sheol (Psalm 98; Isa 25:8; Hosea 13:14). But the precise expectation of a bodily resurrection for the wicked and the related conception of Sheol as an intermediate state is late (Dan 12:2).
The New Testament. This indeterminate picture of Sheol and its Greek translation, Hades, allowed varying interpretations by intertestamental Jews. In the New Testament Christ's revelation and salvific work decisively shape this term. For Christ has established authority over all powers (Eph 1:20-23), even the one who "holds the power of death" (Heb 2:14; 2 Tim 1:10). He is the "Lord of both the dead and the living" (Rom 14:9).
Hades is the state in which all the dead exist. In the New Testament a descent to Hades may simply refer to someone's death and disembodied existence. In this sense even Jesus enters Hades. Following David's prophecy in Psalm 16:10, Peter interprets the resurrection as God delivering Jesus from Hades (Acts 2:27,31). Similarly, Jesus prophesies that the Son of Man will be delivered from the heart of the earth, just as God delivered Jonah from Hades (Matt 12:40). In both instances, Hades refers to a disembodied existence.
The New Testament does not explore Jesus' precise residence or activity while in Hades, unlike the later church traditions of the "harrowing of hell" or a "Hades Gospel." It is widely accepted that the proclamation in 1 Peter 3:19 occurs after rather than before his resurrection (v. 18, "made alive by the Spirit"), and that the dead in 1 Peter 4:6 are deceased believers who heard the gospel while alive. However, Jesus' descent to Hades is theologically important. This is the path of the Old Testament righteous (Isa 53). Furthermore, this descent confirms that God assumed human nature and even our sinful destiny, death (2 Col 5:14, 21; Heb 2:14). Finally, Jesus' deliverance from Hades establishes the new life for humanity (1 Cor 15).
Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus portrays additional features of this state (Luke 16:19-31). An unbridgeable chasm separates the wicked and the righteous dead. Death has fixed the human's destiny without further opportunity for repentance. The rich man recalls his fate and that of his family, and cries out in distress for Abraham to send them a sign and relieve his punishment, but to no avail. Usually the details of parables should not be pressed to teach doctrine. In this case Jesus' vivid description of the basic conditions of the godly and ungodly dead is indispensable to the parable's point. Other Scriptures also portray the requests of the dead and the fixity of their future (2 Col 5:10; Heb 9:27; Rev 6:9-10).
Hades is the place where the wicked dead reside and are punished. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man experiences torment in Hades. This is the intermediate state, for the bodily resurrection and the final judgment are still future. Jesus' point is that Hades foreshadows the rich man's final judgment. Similarly, Lazarus rests at Abraham's side, connoting the joyous abode of the righteous dead (Luke 16:23).
This differentiation between the wicked and the righteous dead continues throughout the New Testament. The righteous dead are "at home with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:8), "in paradise" (Luke 23:43), or in the presence of God (Rev 6:9; 7:9; 14:3). The unrighteous are held in punishment and wicked angels are imprisoned in Tartarus, a Greek term designating the lowest part of Hades (1 Peter 3:19; 2 Peter 2:4, 9; Jude 6 ). Jesus' woe to unrepentant Capernaum that it will be brought down to Hades is not simply a prophecy of its earthly demise, but its judgment (Luke 10:15).
For some commentations these references to Hades and the dead are problematic and contradict the Old Testament. G. Vos resolves these problems by distinguishing between Hades as a disembodied state for all the dead and the specific abode of the ungodly. As he astutely notes, only the ungodly reside in a punitive place called Hades. The godly dead are with Jesus in a disembodied state also called Hades. The New Testament does significantly modify the Old Testament concept of Hades as a shadowy abode of all the dead. This further development, however, concurs with Jesus' lordship over the living and the dead.
Hades' power is conquered. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament personifies Hades and associated terms, such as death, abyss, and Abaddon, as the demonic forces behind sin and ruin (Acts 2:24; Rom 5:14, 17; 1 Cor 15:25-26; Rev 6:8; 9:1-11; 20:14). When Jesus promises that the "gates of Hades" will never overcome the church (Matt 16:18), this phrase parallels Old Testament expressions tied to evil's power and persecution (Psalm 9:13; 107:17-20). Jesus' reference to the future in Matthew 16:18 concurs with Revelation's vision of Satan's final attack on God's people (19:19; 20:7-9). Jesus has promised that he will conquer Hades so that it will not defeat the church. Indeed, his resurrection establishes that this evil empire is already broken. Christ now holds the keys, the authority over death and Hades (Rev 1:18)!
The end of Hades. Jesus is the conqueror of all powers, the exalted One, and as such he has graced his church (Eph 4:7-10). With Hades vanquished (Rev 1:18) believers know that nothing, not even death, cannot separate them from Christ (Rom 8:39). They still await the next act in the history of salvation, when Jesus consummates his kingdom. Then Hades will release its dead for the final resurrection and judgment (Rev 20:13). Thereafter Hades, Satan, and the reprobate will be thrown into Gehenna, the place of God's final retributive punishment. (Hades has only a limited existence; Gehenna or hell is the final place of judgment for the wicked. Many English versions foster confusion by translating both terms as "hell.")
In summary, the New Testament affirms that Christ has conquered Hades. While dead believers exist in this state, they are also "with the Lord." Hades also denotes the vanquished stronghold of Satan's forces whose end is certain and the intermediate place of punishment for the wicked dead until the final judgment.
Timothy R. Phillips
See also Abraham's Bosom; Death; Grave; Hell; Sheol
Bibliography. J. W. Cooper, Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting; W. J. Dalton, Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits: A Study of I Peter 3:18-4:6; M. J. Harris, Themelios11 (1986): 47-52; R. L. Harris, TWOT, 2:892-93; A. A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future; J. Jeremias, TDNT, 1:146-49, 657-58; 6:924-28; T. J. Lewis, ABD, 2:101-5; G. Vos, ISBE, 2:1314-15.
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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
[J] indicates this entry was also found in Jack Van Impe's Prophecy Dictionary
[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
Hell [baker]
[N] [T] [E] [J] [S]Place of God's final retributive punishment. Scripture progressively develops this destiny of the wicked: the Old Testament outlines the framework, while the New Testament elaborates on it. Jesus, however, is most responsible for defining hell.
The Old Testament. In the Old Testament Sheol denotes the abode of the dead; conscious souls face a shadowy existence in this "land of oblivion" (Job 10:21; Psalm 88:12; Eccl 9:10; Isa 14:10). Since death is not a natural occurrence but issues from the fall, the Old Testament confidently awaits God's demonstration of his lordship over Sheol by raising the righteous to life (Gen. 2-3; Psalm 16:10; 49:15; Isa 25:8; Hosea 13:14). While God's kingship also has implications for the wicked, here the Old Testament is more reserved. The Old Testament infrequently suggests a bodily resurrection for the wicked (Dan 12:2), a final judgment and retribution for evil deeds (Psalm 21:10; 140:10; Mal 4:1-2). Nevertheless, the contemptible and horrible destiny of the wicked, irretrievably isolated from the righteous, is clear (Psalm 9:17; 34:15-16).
The Intertestamental Period. The intertestamental literature constructed divergent scenarios for the wicked dead, including annihilation (4 Ezra 7:61; 2 Apoc Bar 82:3ff.; 1 Enoch 48:9; 99:12; 1QS iv. 11-14 ) and endless torment (Jub 36:11; 1 Enoch 27:1-3; 103:8; T Gad 7:5). Sheol frequently became an interim location for the dead, distinguished from the place of final punishment (1 Enoch 18:9-16; 51:1). This final punishment was usually located in a valley south of Jerusalem, known in Hebrew as Gen Hinnom or the Valley of Hinnom (2 Apoc Bar 59:10; 4 Ezra 7:36), and in Greek as gehenna [gevenna] (2 Esdr 2:29). This valley had a long history as a place of infamy. Notorious for the child sacrifices offered to Molech during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chron 28:3; 33:6; Jer 7:31-34; 19:6), this valley was further desecrated when Josiah used it as Jerusalem's refuse dump (2 Kings 23:10) and it was prophesied as the place of God's future fiery judgment (Isa 30:33; 66:24; Jer 7:31-32). While some intertestamental writings equate hell with the "lake of fire" in this "accursed valley" of Hinnom (1 Enoch 90:26, 27; 54:1, 2), others use it to denote a place in the underworld (Sib Or 4:1184-86).
In addition, the respective scenarios for the wicked, whether annihilation or eternal torment, shaped images of God's judgment. For instance, at times fire consumes the wicked (1 Enoch 99:12); in other texts fire and worms torment their victim to a useless existence (Judith 16:17).
The New Testament. In the New Testament hell is where the reprobate exist after the resurrection from Hades and the final judgment. In this lake of fire God punishes the wicked, along with Satan and his henchmen (Matt 25:41), bringing an end to evil's free ways.
Gehenna [gevenna] is the standard term for hell in the New Testament. Related phrases include "punishment of eternal fire" (Jude 7), "lake of fire" (Rev 19:29; 20:14-15), and "judgment." English versions occasionally translate hades [a&/dh"] (esp. Luke 16:23) and tartaroo [tartarovw] (2 Pe 2:4) as hell. However, these terms appear to denote the intermediate state, not the final destiny of the wicked.
Jesus says more about hell than any other biblical figure. His warnings of the eschatological judgment are liberally colored with the imagery of hell (Matt 5:22; 7:19; 8:12; par. Luke 13:28-30; Matt 10:15, 28; 11:22, 24; 18:8-9; par. Mark 9:43-49; Luke 17:26-29; John 15:6). He portrays this future judgment through pictures of Sodom's destruction (Luke 17:29-30): fire, burning sulfur, and a fiery furnace (Gen 19:24-25). These images of God's judgment were well established in the Old Testament and intertestamental literature. Important portrayals of hell are also present in Jesus' parables, including the tares (Matt 13:40-42), the net (Matt 13:50); the great supper (Matt 22:13), the good servant and the wicked servant (Matt 24:51; par. Luke 12:46-47), the talents (Matt 25:30), and the last judgment (Matt 25:46). Here "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt 13:50; 24:51; 25:30) and "darkness" (Matt 22:13; 25:30) are key descriptive phrases.
The New Testament conception of hell does not exceed Jesus' description. The following headings outline its essential features.
1. Sinners will occupy hell. While God created us for a loving relation with himself, at the fall humankind rebelled. God's judgment falls on all sinners, unless they have faith in Jesus. After the provisional state of Hades and the final judgment, God's wrath culminates in hell. According to the New Testament, the objects of God's wrath range from the pious hypocrites (Matt 23:33) and those failing to help the poor (Matt 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31) to the vile and murderers (Rev 21:8).
Some argue that only an explicit repudiation of Jesus attracts God's eternal wrath, referencing lu 12:8-9. However, Jesus says "the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). In other words, he came offering grace to a world that was "condemned already" (John 3:17-18).
Since hell is not a natural fixture of creation but results from the fall and is destiny of the wicked, the New Testament occasionally personifies hell as the demonic forces behind sin. The sinful tongue is itself aroused and "set on fire by hell" (James 3:6). Similarly, Jesus labels the Pharisees "sons of hell, " identifying the root of their hypocrisy (Matt 23:15).
2. Hell exists for the requital and retribution of evil deeds. Hell is the place of God's final judgment. Here God, our King and Supreme Judge, finally rectifies wrongs through his retributive wrath. Here the damned will be paid back for the harm they have done (Matt 16:27; Luke 12:47-48; 2 Peter 2:13; Jude 15 Rev 14:9-11). Wrath is not the natural consequence of evil choices in a moral universe or the sinner's misconstrual of God's love. Rather, as Paul's use of orge shows, wrath is an emotion or feeling in the Godhead, and thus God's personal action (Rom 1:18-32). By extrinsically imposing penal conditions on the sinner, God rectifies wrongs and reestablishes his righteous rule (Matt 25:31-46; Rom 12:19; 1 Cor 15:24-25; 2 Col 5:10).
3. Hell is a final place of bondage and isolation from the righteous. After the resurrection and the final judgment, the wicked and even Hades are thrown into hell. The New Testament describes hell as a place: a furnace (Matt 13:42,50), a lake of fire (Rev 19:20; 20:14-15; 21:8), and a prison (Rev 20:7). The wicked are imprisoned here so they cannot harm God's people (Matt 5:25-26; 13:42, 50; 18:34; Jude 6 Rev 20:14-15).
While the parable of Lazarus and the rich man occurs in Hades, the intermediate state, and not Gehenna, it does foreshadow the latter. Jesus says an unbridgeable spatial chasm separates these two so no one can "cross over from there" (Luke 16:26). John's vision in Revelation 21 of the new city on a high mountain confirms this separation between the blessed and the damned after the day of judgment. Consequently, Scripture provides no warrant for those speculative images of the righteous rejoicing in the torture of the damned. The prophecy in Isaiah 66:24, which has been so used, does not refer to this eschatological event, for the resurrection of the body has not occurred.
4. Sinners suffer penalties in hell. Jesus repeatedly accentuates hell's dreadfulness and horror: "if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out… It is better … to enter life with one eye than to … be thrown into the fire of hell" (Matt 18:9). While Scripture remains reticent on the specific torments for the impenitent, certain dimensions are clear.
At the final judgment, God will declare, "I don't know you… Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire" (Matt 25:12,41). The wicked in hell are excluded from God's loving presence and the "life" for which humans were originally created (John 5:29). The damned are "thrown outside, into the darkness" (Matt 8:12; 22:13). Consequently this "second death" (Rev 21:8) is a useless and ruined existence (Matt 25:30; Luke 9:25; John 3:16-18; 2 Thess 1:9; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 12; Rev 21:8). Sin has thoroughly effaced every virtue. The reprobate have become obstinate in their rebellion against God, like "unreasoning animals" (Jude 10,13; 2 Peter 2:12-22). Consequently, the doors of hell can be locked from the inside, as C. S. Lewis observes.
In hell, the damned receive their due for "things done while in the body" (2 Col 5:10; 2 Peter 2:13; Jude 15 Rev 14:9-11). The "undying worm" has often been interpreted as the soul's internal torment, coveting and grieving what has been lost (Mark 9:48). This regret is compounded since the reprobate are not penitent but locked into their rebellion. But the grave's worms and darkness are also common images of a contemptible fate. Scripture suggests that there are degrees of punishment in hell. The one "who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows." More severe is the punishment due to the disobedient who were "entrusted with much" (Mark 12:40; Luke 12:48).
Annihiliationsim and the Extent of Hell. The extent of hell has occasioned much debate in recent scholarship. There are three major points of contention.
Some annihilationists have argued that the biblical imagery of a consuming fire, destruction, and perishing implies the cessation of life (Stott). However, Jesus' pictures of hell are not literal descriptions but metaphors. They are mutually exclusive, if taken literally, for the fires of hell conflict with its "utter darkness." In the intertestamental literature the metaphorical image of a fire could suggest annihilation or everlasting punishment, showing the inconclusiveness of this argument.
Some annihilationists have argued that when the Greek adjective for eternal, aionios [aijwvnio"], is used with nouns of action, it refers to an occurrence with eternal results, not an eternal process (Fudge). "Eternal punishment, " it is argued, denotes a punishment that occurs once with eternal results. However, counterfactuals dispute this argument. The eternal sin (Mark 3:29), for example, is not just one sin, but an action that irretrievably debilitates so one only sins. Similarly, everlasting salvation (aionios [aijwvnio"] soteria [swthriva]) does not refer solely to Christ's work long ago, and thus preclude his sustaining and preserving presence. For Scripture describes believers, even in the age to come, as existing "in Christ" (Rom 8:1; Eph 1:13; Col 2:6-7; 2 Tim 2:10). So aionios soteria [aijwvnio"swthriva] refers to Christ's eternal (aionios [aijwvnio"]) salvation of the blessed, an action that is everlasting as well as final.
In Matthew 25:46 Jesus differentiates the two futures of eternal life and eternal punishment, using the same adjective for each, aionios [aijwvnio"]. In Jesus' mind, it appears, the extent of each future is identical. If the existence of the righteous is endless, so also is the existence of the wicked. Other statements suggest the same conclusion. Jesus teaches that "whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36). As long as God's wrath abides on them, the damned must exist. Jesus' picture of hell as a place where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48) indicates that this manifestation of God's wrath is unending. Other passages in the New Testament reiterate Jesus' dreadful warning, by describing hell as "everlasting torment." Even annihilationists admit the difficulty of such texts for their position.
Objections to Hell. Hell is a dreadful reality. Just as Christ wept over Jerusalem, believers are similarly troubled and anguished by this destiny of the lost. Some have raised serious challenges to the reality of hell.
One perennial difficulty concerns the relationship between God's love and holiness: How could a loving God reject forever the creature he loves? This question assumes that the creature is the highest intrinsic good, even for God. But the highest good for the God of Scripture is not humanity. Humanity was created for God, and cannot be defined in terms of itself; we exist to glorify God (Psalm 73:24-26; Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 10:31; Col 1:16). That is why Jesus insists it is idolatrous to enlist God as humanity's servant (Luke 17:7-10). Certainly God loves the creature; creation itself reflects God's free love. But since God's love is complete in himself, even before creation, the creature cannot be presumed as his one and only end. Nor can the character of God's love be decided a priori, but only by revelation. Consequently, Jesus' warning of the wrath to come (Matt 25:31,41,46) must be accepted as an inherent possibility of God's love.
Some acknowledge retribution, but question why the wicked are eternally kept in existence to suffer. At issue is the punishment due sin. Since pride conceals the sinner's true debt to God the Judge, again this question should be answered by examining Christ's priestly work of propitiation. At the cross God in Christ became our substitute to bear the punishment for our sins, so as "to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:26; cf. 2 Col 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). The God-man propitiated our sin. This fact, that God the Judge, the "Lord of glory" himself (1 Cor 2:8), accepted the punishment due us, suggests that the penalty for sin against the Infinite is infinite.
Questions will remain. But believers personally know God's love in Jesus Christ. And their response to a lost world will parallel that of their Lord, who humbled himself to our condition, suffered, and died for the wicked.
Timothy R. Phillips
See also Death, Mortality; Eternal Punishment; Grave; Hades; Judgment; Judgment, Day of; Sheol
Bibliography. D. L. Edwards and J. Stott, Evangelical Essentials; E. Fudge, The Fire that Consumes; A. A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future; C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain; S. McKnight, Through No Fault of Their Own: The Fate of Those Who Have Never Heard, pp. 147-57; T. R. Phillips, Through No Fault of Their Own: The Fate of Those Who Have Never Heard, pp. 47-59; W. G. T. Shedd, The Doctrine of Endless Punishment; D. F. Watson, ABD, 2:926-28.
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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[T] indicates this entry was also found in Torrey's Topical Textbook
[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
[J] indicates this entry was also found in Jack Van Impe's Prophecy Dictionary
[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
HADES [bridgeway]
The Greek word hades was used in Bible times as the equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol, the name used in the Old Testament for the world of the dead. This world of the dead was the shadowy destiny that awaited all people, whether good or bad (Acts 2:27; cf. Ps 16:10; for details see SHEOL).With Christ’s conquest of death, there was no need to fear the world of the dead any longer. Hades was a fearful place only to those who would not trust in Christ. Hades spoke therefore of more than death in general; it spoke of the separation from God that followed death in the afterlife (Matt 11:23; 16:18; Rev 20:13-14).
In general, however, the word that the New Testament usually used for the place of eternal punishment was not hades but gehenna. This was a place of fiery torment (Matt 18:9; see HELL).
HELL [bridgeway]
It is unfortunate that many of the older versions of the English Bible use the one word ‘hell’ to translate several words in the original languages. In the minds of most English-speaking people, hell is a place of terrible torment where the wicked dead are sent for final punishment. Although this idea of hell may be true for the word gehenna, it is not true for other biblical words translated ‘hell’. The Hebrew sheol and its Greek equivalent hades mean simply the place of the dead or the state of the dead.Gehenna was the name Jesus used for the place of final punishment of the wicked. The word appears in the New Testament as a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew ‘Valley of Hinnom’.
The Valley of Hinnom was a place just outside the wall of Jerusalem where, in times of apostacy, the people of Israel burnt their children in sacrifice to the god Molech (Jer 7:31). In the place where the people committed this wickedness, God punished them with terrible slaughter (Jer 7:32-34). Broken pottery was dumped in this valley, and the place became a public garbage dump where fires burnt continually (Jer 19:1-13). Because of this association with judgment and burning, ‘gehenna’ became a fitting word to indicate the place or state of eternal punishment (Matt 10:28; 18:9; 23:33; Mark 9:43-48; cf. James 3:6).
According to the New Testament, the punishment of hell (gehenna) is one of eternal torment. It is likened to eternal burning (Matt 13:42; 18:8-9; Rev 20:10), eternal darkness (Matt 8:12; 22:13; 2 Peter 2:4,17), eternal destruction (Matt 7:13; Phil 1:28; 2 Peter 3:7,10) and eternal separation from God and his blessings (2 Thess 1:9).
Another symbolic picture of eternal punishment is that of a lake of fire prepared for the enemies of God (Rev 19:20; 20:10; cf. Matt 25:41). Into this lake God throws his great enemy, Death (Rev 20:14; cf. 1 Cor 15:26), along with all whose names are not written in the book of life (Rev 20:15). Just as heaven is something far better than the material symbols used to picture it, so hell is something far worse than the material symbols used to picture it. (See also JUDGMENT; PUNISHMENT.)
