Gehenna
(originally Ge bene Hinnom; i.e., “the valley of the sons of Hinnom”), a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem, where the idolatrous Jews offered their children in sacrifice to Molech (2 Chr 28:3; 2 Chr 33:6; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:2–6). This valley afterwards became the common receptacle for all the refuse of the city. Here the dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were cast and consumed by fire kept always burning. It thus in process of time became the image of the place of everlasting destruction. In this sense it is used by our Lord in Matt 5:22, Matt 5:29, Matt 5:30; Matt 10:28; Matt 18:9; Matt 23:15, Matt 23:33; Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5. In these passages, and also in Jas 3:6, the word is uniformly rendered “hell,” the Revised Version placing “Gehenna” in the margin. (See Hell; Hinnom.)
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
