Did Jesus Ever Visit Hell?

Jesus in Hell?! Preposterous!

Yet, that is exactly what is said in Acts 2:27...in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.*

Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell….

Now, before going any further, the Greek text has the word for Hades (hadays). So, did the translators of the KJV err? 

Perhaps not.

Two English words developed from a German ancestor that meant, a covered place:

• Hall: a covered (with a roof) place; and
• Hell: a covered (with earth) place.

Considering that people are buried in the ground after death, a covered with earth place (hell) describes the place of the dead. That is true in many cultures including that of the ancient Hebrews and Greeks. So, both the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades referred to the place of the dead, or the underworld. Clearly, the original meaning of the English word hell fit both Sheol and Hades. So, at one time the word hell would have been a natural choice for translators.

Did the KJV translators think that hell meant place of the dead or underworld? It is impossible to read minds, but they did use the English word hell to translate the Hebrew word Sheol in 31 of its 65 occurrences. In the New Testament the English word hell was used to translate the Greek word Hades in all occurrences but one. So, it would appear that the KJV translators were using the original meaning of the English word hell.

Modern translations, however, now use the word hell fairly consistently for the eternal destruction of the ungodly after the final judgment. For that reason, the text of Acts 2:27 in modern translations reads as follows:

You will not abandon my soul to Hades….

With a better understanding why the KJV has the word hell in Acts 2:27, let’s reword the question for today using modern translations:

Did Jesus ever visit Hades?

To answer, first remember that Hades is not for the righteous, but the unrighteous dead. Their final destination will be the lake of fire.

Next, consider the text of Acts 2:27. Peter was preaching and quoted an Old Testament prophecy in reference to Jesus. The quotation was a plea that the soul of Jesus would not be abandoned in Hades. That suggests that Jesus was in Hades at some point.

Shortly after that prophetic statement Peter proclaimed that God had raised Jesus from the dead (v. 32). So, the resurrection of Jesus shows that He was not abandoned in Hades. Yet, it also suggests that Jesus was in Hades for the time between His death and His resurrection. Does that make sense?

The prophet Isaiah looked forward to the coming Messiah saying that He would bear the sins of many. Validating its fulfillment Peter wrote:

He [Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…. 

—1 Peter 2:24

Since Jesus “bore our sins,” He went to Hades after His death. However, the sins He bore were not His own. So, He did not deserve death and He did not deserve Hades. It is for that reason that God did not abandon Him in Hades. So, “Yes,” Jesus did go to Hades temporarily, so that we would not have to suffer eternal death.

That is why, on the day Jesus was crucified, people heard that heart-wrenching cry...

My God! My God! Why have you forsaken Me?

He was forsaken by God...but not abandoned!

Mark Stinnett

September 25, 2022


*The Douay-Rheims Bible (1609), an official English translation of the Roman Catholic Church, also used the word hell in Acts 2:27.