What Does the Bible Say about Hell?

In this blog entry, I am using the word Hell as it is commonly used today: the destination of the souls of those who lived ungodly lives; a place of eternal torment. (For other considerations refer to last week’s entry: What is Hell?)

Some translations of the Bible occasionally use the word Hell in place of Sheol or Hades. Unfortunately that does not preserve the distinction that exists in the original languages. To be accurate Sheol is not Hell, nor is Hades. So, this article will address the Greek term gehenna which is most consistently rendered Hell in the NT.

Gehenna was actually the name of a valley off the southern end of Jerusalem. The name is first seen in the Hebrew text as ge-hinnom, translated: valley of Hinnom (ge = valley; Hinnom = the man who possessed the valley). Joshua 15:8 referred to the valley as a land border in Israel.

Later King Ahaz and King Manasseh of Judah gave the valley of Hinnom a bad name. They engaged in the unthinkable practice of sacrificing children in fire to foreign gods. There was a specific location in the valley of Hinnom in which a high place was built for those sacrifices. It was called Topheth.

Of particular interest is God’s use of Topheth in His divine judgment against the nation of Assyria. The prophet Isaiah warned Assyria of God’s judgment saying that “Topheth has long been ready.” He then described the death of the king being burned on “a pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.” (Isaiah 30:33)

Later, at the time of Jesus, the valley of Hinnom, gehenna, had become the city dump. The carcasses of animals used in sacrifices were dumped there as well as unclaimed dead bodies. Naturally, worms fed on the decomposing flesh. So to manage the stench and consume the bodies fires were kept burning in gehenna.

Jesus used gehenna on five occasions referring to judgment. When we hear references like “9-11” or “Pearl Harbor,” we understand the place-time historical significance; no explanation necessary. In a similar way the Jews of Jesus’ day understood His reference to gehenna; both its use in their day and its historical significance; no explanation necessary.

Jesus referred to gehenna saying, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48). That was descriptive of gehenna at that time but was undoubtedly connected to Isaiah’s prophecy against Assyria. It was clear that Jesus was referring to gehenna figuratively as God’s ultimate and final judgment, which will be like His judgment against Assyria. Though figurative, God’s gehenna is not mythical. The colorful language was used to illustrate the horror of God’s gehenna which has the following characteristics:

• A place of torment and destruction;
• A place with an undying worm and unquenchable fire;
• The eternal destination of evil.

Jesus warned his disciples not to fear those who could only kill the body, but to fear the one who has the authority to cast into hell (gehenna) (Luke 12:5). It is clear from the context that Jesus was referring to God. So, Satan has no authority to cast anyone into hell and he does not rule there. (You can just laugh at anyone that barks at you to “go to gehenna.” It’s a curse that won’t work.)

So, Jesus referred to gehenna as God’s ultimate and final judgment against the ungodly. It is a place of eternal torment. The English word Hell is now used where the term gehenna appears in the Greek text of the New Testament.

Mark Stinnett

June 26, 2022