Hell
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, Prov 30:16). It is rendered “grave” thirty-one times (Gen 37:35; Gen 42:38; Gen 44:29, Gen 44:31; 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; Ps 31:17, etc.); (b) of the good (Ps 16:10; Ps 30:3; Ps 49:15; Ps 86:13, etc.).
Sheol is described as deep (Job 11:8), dark (Job 10:21, Job 10:22), with bars (Job 17:16). The dead “go down” to it (Num 16:30, Num 16:33; Ezek 31:15, Ezek 31:16, Ezek 31:17).
(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; Matt 13:42; Matt 22:13; Matt 25:30; Luke 16:24, etc.). (See Hinnom.)
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
