Sheol, Hades, Hell...the place ALL people go when they die!

We know it’s hard to imagine that after we die, we are ALL going to “HELL.” Today, hell is constantly described in movies, songs, and religious teachings as a place where evil dead people are forever alive and forever burning. The biblical reality is no - we are not going to their mythical hell! But neither are we going up in the sky to look down on our family and friends who we left behind. Both concepts are influenced heavily by extra-biblical sources.

Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) said in John 3:13,

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Our purpose here is to dispel myths (fables) and obtain a true perspective of how our Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, deals with His creation, mankind, after they die. His description of Himself does not fit with man’s idea of who He is and how He deals with His people. In Exodus 34:6-7:

• "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."

In God’s own words, we see a balance of mercy and judgment.

We are not saying that in the final judgement of mankind (Rev 20:4-6; 11-15), the wicked, death, and the grave will not be consumed by God’s fire. However, when we look at each verse in the Apostolic Writings that refers to our topic in context and the translation of Greek words; we find that the modern concept of hell does not exist. Throughout God’s Word, the Divine fire comes forth from God Himself, from His throne.

• Daniel 7:9, I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him.

• Lev 10:2, So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

“What does God’s Word REALLY say about HELL in the Hebrew Bible (Tanach) and in the Apostolic Writings (New Covenant)?”

His Word should be the basis for our theology and doctrine, not mythology or man’s imagination. Besides, God’s way is a lot more palatable than the ways of the pagans, as we will see below.

The modern (and ancient Greek) concept of people being “tortured in an underground fiery hell” has no equivalent in the Hebrew Bible or what Christians call the “Old Covenant.” Guess what? It doesn’t exist in the Apostolic Writings either!

The first five books of our bible (Torah) contains 613 laws in statutes, ordinances, warnings, blessings and curses. These books teach that the consequences for the wicked is their destruction or being cut off by their death. They are not tormented as in modern Christianity’s concept of “hell.”

In the words of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), John 3:15-16,

• “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

He draws a contrast here between those who are within His Abrahamic Covenant and will receive eternal life, i.e., live forever, and those who WILL NOT receive eternal life. Those who do not, will perish. This means they will be destroyed, annihilated, or become cosmic dust. They will not receive “eternal life” in a lake of fire. The lake of fire’s eternal occupants will be death, the grave, and the devil, who will dwell in God’s fire forever. There are no living people!

• This lake of fire is only described in the Book of Revelation. We see it representing the stream of fire coming from God's Throne, as mentioned above in Lev. 10:2 and Daniel 7:9, and is used for judgement.

• Rev 20:14-15 “And death and hades [grave] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.“

Paul echoes this reality in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is DEATH; but the gift of G-d is ETERNAL LIFE.”

What did God tell Adam and Eve? In Gen 2:17 He said, “…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely DIE." Their penalty was death and they are resting in Sheol with other family members.

ORIGIN OF THE HEBREW WORD “SHEOL”

Our Bible tells us that Abraham and the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs went to “Sheol” (Hebrew: grave) when they died. Gen 25:8 describes Abraham as being “gathered to his people.” Where did his people go?

• Joshua 24:2, “… was your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.”

God’s word clearly states that idolaters or worshipers of other gods do not qualified for eternal life. Father Abraham went to Sheol, the grave, where ALL people go when they die. He is still awaiting the resurrection of the dead.

Sheol appears 65 times in Older Covenant (KJV) Hebrew text and is translated:

• “Grave“- 31 times;

• “Hell“ - 31 times; and

• “Pit“ - 3 times.

It is the only Hebrew word in the Older Covenant that is translated “Hell.”

In Simcha Paull Raphael’s book, Jewish Views of the Afterlife, in the foreword by Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi, he states:

• “The early part parts of the Bible know not of an afterlife above or in heaven… region known as Sheol…In that region all souls, righteous and wicked abide (including the patriarch Jacob…Samuel…)…Scripturally, the dead sleep in the dust and await the time they will be raised from their graves.”

This view is consistent with what our Bible teaches, IF, we look at the origin of each word used to describe what occurs to us when we die, in context. This is called “etymology,” the study of word origins. We have discovered that down through time, man has changed the literal meaning of the words Hades and Hell.

Sheol (Hebrew), Hades (Greek), and Hell (English) all mean the same thing; a hole in the ground where people are placed and covered with dirt (except when using a tomb), where they remain until the resurrection of the dead. This will bear out as we continue to look at the original meaning of these words.

The Christian Wycliffe Bible Dictionary also states on page 1573, “Sheol is much used in poetry and often parallels ‘death’ or the ‘grave.’

Christian scholar, Dr. Strong, in his Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, states that “Hades, from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; properly unseen, i.e. ‘Hades’ or the place (state) of departed souls—hell, grave."

HADES IS SYNONYMOUS WITH SHEOL AND HELL

The Book of Acts provides us with evidence in Acts, 2:27:

• "Because You will not leave My soul in hell [hades], neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption."

This a quote from Psalm 16:10:

• "For You will not leave My soul in hell [sheol]; neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption."

The word “Hades” appears 11 times in the Greek text in the Apostolic Writings.

• It is rendered "grave" 1 time, and "hell" 10 times in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.

• “Hades” is rendered “hades” ALL 11 times in more modern translation, New King James Version (NKJV), of the bible.

• “Hades is translated “hades” 5 times, “grave” 2 times, “death” 1 time, “hell” 1 time, and “depths” 2 times in the New International Version (NIV). Their translators provide a note that states these are the same Greek word, “Hades.”

Professor Stephen L. Harris, Understanding the Bible, states:

• “The concept of eternal punishment does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, which uses the term Sheol to designate a bleak subterranean region where the dead, good and bad alike...When Hellenistic Jewish scribes rendered the Bible into Greek, they used the word Hades to translate Sheol, bringing a whole new mythological association to the idea of posthumous existence. In ancient Greek myth, Hades, named after the gloomy deity who ruled over it, was originally similar to the Hebrew Sheol, a dark underground realm in which all the dead, regardless of individual merit, were indiscriminately housed.”

Paul warns us about the use of mythology in 2 Timothy 4:3-4,

• “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (myths).”

SEPTUAGINT (LXX) TRANSLATION

The Hebrew bible (Law, Prophets, Psalms) was translated into the Greek Language (Koine Greek) by a group of Jewish scholars in the 3rd century B.C.E. in Alexandria, Egypt. Their purpose was to provide a copy of the Hebrew Bible to Hellenized Jews spread throughout the Greek empire who no longer spoke or read Hebrew. This text was called the “Septuagint or LXX.”

Hellenization is defined as “devotion to, or imitation of ancient Greek thought, customs, or styles.

The LXX is quoted more than the Masoretic texts in the Apostolic Writings. Therefore, the Greek corresponding words must carry over the literal meaning of the corresponding Hebrew words.

Authors of the LXX used the word “Hades” to translate the Hebrew word “Sheol.” Therefore, this word literally means “death or grave.”

Sheol and Hades were used when describing Jacob and Job and where they expected to go after they died.

• Gen 42:38 [Jacob speaking], "Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [sheol].”

• Job 17:13-16 [Job speaking], "If I wait, the grave [sheol] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, You are my father; to the worm, You are my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit [sheol], when our rest together is in the dust."

Sheol and Hades are simply the place everyone goes when they die. They are placed six feet under ground or in a hillside tomb, nothing more and nothing less.

• The prophet Daniel states, “And many…that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan. 12:2)

• Solomon said, "For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; ... as the one dies, so dies the other; yea, they have all one spirit; and man has no preeminence above the beasts [in death]: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust again." (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21)

• Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes 9:10, And "...there is no works, nor device [intelligence/reason], nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in sheol where you go."

MYTHOLOGY MIXES WITH MODERN THEOLOGY

Hades, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is:

• “the grim god of the lower world dwelling in the abode of the dead conceived as either a dark and gloomy subterranean realm or a remote island beyond the western sea."

The Greek god Hades, god of the underworld, is pictured as a red-figure, enthroned on an Apulian vase made in the 4th century B.C.E. He has bird-headed staff in his hand.

Wordsworth Dictionary of Mythology, 1994 edition, writes about Hades:

• In Greek mythology, he is the son of Cronos and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. When the world was divided between the three brothers, the underworld and hell fell to Hades, while Zeus took the heavens and Poseidon, the sea. Hades ruled the dead, assisted by demons over whom he had authority.

In The History of Hell, by Alice K. Turner, 1993, 1995:

• “…Thomas Thayer supports Professor Stuart, Greppo's Essay, and Spineto, that: "The Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus. (Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Chapter 3, P. 7).”

A few hundred years before Christianity, there was a Greek Philosopher and Aristocrat named PLATO (348/347 BCE). He was the founder of the Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied. Dr. Daniel Tutt states:

• “Plato, ever the dialogue-based philosopher gave up all of the dialogues after Socrates died… As Hannah Arendt points out, “the myth of hell was created in the end of the Republic for those who could not handle philosophical truth.” Hell was created as a myth to promote a form of nonviolence as the foundation of political decision making. Plato’s invention of hell was a way for citizens to have a new system of rewards and punishments in the hereafter, thus it was a coercive device to promote a new form of democracy. It might also be this invention, not of hell exactly, but of forms of coercion that seek to control the unruly citizenry that has left many pondering on Plato’s totalitarianism.”

Plato actually got his ideas from the Egyptians. Their ideas of what occurs to the dead goes back to the 8th century B.C.E. Their place of torture was called Amenti.

This is where the Italian, Catholic, writer Dante Alighieri (1265 AD) got his ideas for his poem “The Divine Comedy. There is section called “Inferno” (hell). It carried the idea of people going to the underworld to be tortured by the gods. Dante started with the first layer called “purgatory,” which is still referred to today by the Catholic church. He invented nine more layers that had increasing levels of torture eventually arriving where “the devil” dwelt.

The Jewish people were not exempt from Plato’s influence. In his “The Sedra on Bo”, Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, wrote:

• “There was a time, under both the Greeks and the Romans, during which Hellenistic culture had an enormous appeal for many Jews. They assimilated. They were drawn to Greek art and drama. They took part in athletic competitions. For them Hellenism was cosmopolitan, Judaism merely parochial [closed-minded]. Both periods (the Greek in the second century BCE, the Roman in the first century CE) represented crises of Jewish identity, not unlike the one Diaspora Jewry is going through today.”

There is much more information on mythology and Hades that is easily looked up on the internet.

ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH WORD HELL

The word “HELL” appears 54 times in the KJV version of the Bible. It is translated from 4 Hebrew and Greek words:

• Hebrew sheol - 31 times

• Greek gehenna - 12 times

• Greek hades - 10 times

• Greek tartarus - 1 time

There are several modern translations that do not use the word “hell” to translate these words.

In the Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins, by John Ayto:

• “Etymologically, ‘hell’ is a 'hidden place.' It goes back ultimately to Indo-European 'kel' (cover, hide), which has contributed an extraordinary number of words to English, including 'apocalypse,'' cell,' 'cellar,' 'conceal,' 'helmet,' 'hull,' 'pod,' 'occult,' and possibly 'colour' and 'holster.' Its Germanic descendant was 'khel-,' 'khal-,' whose derivatives included 'khallo' and 'khaljo.' The first became modern English 'hall,' the second modern English 'hell-'-so both hall and hell were originally 'concealed or covered places,' although very different ways: the 'hall' with a roof, 'hell' with at least six feet of earth.

• In old English, “Records may be found of the helling of potatoes, which meant the putting of potatoes into pits or root cellars where they were concealed or hidden from view until they were brought out to eat. When the helling of a house was spoken of, it meant covering the roof with a suitable roofing material.”

In England, where this word was first used, it was simply understood that hell was a dark, cold, quiet place that was a hole in the ground.

Webster‘s New World Dictionary Encyclopedic, Edition 1951, agrees,

• “Hell - to cover, conceal, hide, [base of Anglo Saxon helan]”

Encyclopedia Britannica:

• “Hel or Hela, in Scandinavian mythology, goddess of the dead, a child of Loki and the giantess Angurboga, dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, Yggdrasil (q.v.), and ruled the nine worlds of Helheim. In early myth all the dead went to her: in later legend only those who died of old age or sickness; she then became synonymous with suffering and horror.”

On Line Etymological Dictionary:

• “also Hell, Old English hel, helle, "nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions, place of torment for the wicked after death,"… English word may be in part from Old Norse mythological Hel… A pagan concept and word fitted to a Christian idiom.”

It is apparent that Hell, Hades, and Sheol all have the same meaning i.e.,"the grave," without mythology attached to them.

WHAT DID MESSIAH TEACH?

The valley of Gei-Hinnon runs on the southern edge of Jerusalem. It was once an area where people placed their refuse/garbage and where dead bodies were thrown by the Romans to be either eaten by worms or burned by its perpetual fire. It was also a place where pagan deities were worshiped using human sacrifices. Yeshua mentions this place in Matt. 5:29,

• “If your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom.” (Complete Jewish Bible)

• If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (NKJV)

Yeshua was using this place as a symbol of eternal destruction, not torture. If this valley was the mythological “hell,” then it certainly is not burning today. It is actually a green space park!

The only two people in the Apostolic Writings to refer to “Gei-Hinnom,” were Yeshua and the Apostle James. It was used in a symbolic way to teach about the “second death” (Rev 20:14), for those who will not inherit eternal life.

WHAT ABOUT LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN?

This parable is only found in the Book of Luke. Parables are not to be taken literally, they are to be understood “figuratively.” Keep in mind what we learned above, the mythological “Hades” or “Hell” does not exist in the Hebrew Bible or the Apostolic Writings.

Webster Dictionary defines a parable as:

• "A short and simple tale based on familiar things meant to convey a much deeper and profound moral or spiritual truth."

Other things to keep in mind when reading this parable, the people in Yeshua’s day understood:

• Symbology,

• Idioms,

• “Street” language, and

• Temple politics.

This is critical for understanding this parable.

Another important point is that Yeshua, not Abraham, judges and gives rewards and punishments AFTER the resurrection of the dead (Matt. 10:15).

Being Rich or Poor does not determine who receives eternal life (Gen 13:2, Abraham). No one will receive salvation because they are simply beggars. Being poor or rich is not a sin!

His audience were the Pharisees (16:14); His Taught Ones (16:1); Scribes (14:3); Tax Collectors (15:1) and Sinners/Multitudes (15:1/14:25). There are several characters mentioned: Abraham, Lazarus, Rich Man, Five Brothers, Dogs, and Angels/Messengers/Servants.

The contrast between a rich man and beggar is drawn. We find that neither are guilty of something that would require capital punishment or eternal punishing in a mythological hell.

We see Lazarus “begging” for bread. The scripture states in Ps. 37:25, “…yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his decedents begging for bread.” So, clearly, Yeshua is not talking about physical food.

There are many clues about who He was addressing;

• The rich man wore purple and fine linen (symbol of Kingship/Priesthood), had five brothers (the current High Priest had five brothers), and after his death, he was tested and judged.

• The beggar has a place within “Abraham’s bosom” (The Covenant).

• We do not have the time to explain everything here but consider: the ruling class; the corrupt Priesthood; and how the common people (the neglected class); and the God-Fearers (Nations) were being treated, deprived of spiritual food (Word of God).

• He was teaching them that there would be consequences for them on the future Judgement Day, if they continue to neglect their responsibilities as leaders in Israel.

Please go back and read this parable without a mythological bias. We believe the main point of this parable is that Yeshua was warning corrupt leadership within the geopolitical and religious spheres of the day.

JUDGEMENT OF ALL MANKIND - WHEN MESSIAH’S COMES

• Hebrews 9:27, “And it is appointed for men to die once, but AFTER this the judgment.”

• Matt. 10:15, “Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

• Matt. 12:41, "Men, Ninevites, will be rising in the judging with this generation and will be condemning it...“

• Rev 11:18, “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

• Rev 20:11-14, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him who is sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven did flee away…I saw the dead, small and great, standing before G-d, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls--according to their works; and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades [grave] did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works; and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire--this is the second death.” (Young’s Literal Translation)

WHO DOES THE JUDGING?

• 2 Tim. 4:1, “ “I charge you therefore before God and the Master Yeshua Messiah, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:”

• 2 Thess. 1:6-9, “…since it is a righteous thing with G-d to REPAY with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us WHEN the Master Yeshua is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know G-d, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Master Yeshua Messiah. THESE SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from the presence of the L-rd and from His glory and from the glory of His power.”

• John 5:28-29, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: judgment].”

EVERYONE IS SLEEPING – A NATURAL OCCURRENCE

God lets us rehearse our death, burial, and resurrection every day when we go to sleep at night. We lay down, cover ourselves, and then rise up in the morning.

Based on our Messiah’s example, our bodies will return to the earth and our spirit returns to God. Then, one day God will breathe life into us again:

• Luke 23:46, "And when Yeshua had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last."

• Ecc. 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to the G-d who gave it."

Hebrew word here for spirit is ruach; not neshamah (breath) goes forth, “he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (Psalm 146:3-4)

"...you gather in their spirit [Hebrew ruach] they expire [Hebrew gava, breathe out, gasp, expire], and return to their dust." (Psalm 104:29)

• Daniel 12:2, “And many of them that sleep, in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

• Ezek 37:13-25, "And ye shall know that I am the L-rd when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves. And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live... And David my servant shall be king over them."

• 1 Thess 4:14, “For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Yeshua will G-d bring with him.”

• 1 Thess 4:16, “For the Master himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the shofar of G-d: and the dead in Messiah shall rise first:”

CONCLUSION

There are several other verses in the Apostolic Writings that other teachers use to prove their position that there is a literal hell where some of God’s creation will go and be endlessly tortured. Sadly, we cannot address every doctrine at this time due to making this too long.

Remember, the concept of “eternal punishing” in the way the pagans created is NOT how a just and righteous God hands out justice. His final judgement is eternal punishment, quick and merciful.

This was written to provoke thinking about this subject in a different way. We believe that our perspective is more in line with the whole of God’s Word, without mythology mixed in with it.

We believe the bible teaches we should love and respect (fear) God more than we fear a horned guy with a tail and a pitchfork living in a sea of fire!