By Geroge “Chip” Hammond
Hell is an import concept in the Bible, but the mention of Hell in the sense we commonly think of it is extremely rare. The doctrine of Hell progressively developed throughout the time of the setting of the biblical canon (the Bible). Jesus does not “teach” on Hell, but simply mentions it as a concept his hearers are familiar with. There is almost no mention of Hell in the letters of the New Testament.
There are three words in the New Testament, mostly the Gospels, that are translated “Hell.”
Hades translates the Hebrew word she’ol, which refers simply to the realm of the dead without any distinction, and without thought of rewards or punishment, other than that death is the wages of sin and the outcome of mankind’s disobedience and alienation from God. When the Apostles’ Creed (originally written in Greek) says of Jesus “He descended into hell,” the word that it uses is Hades, and its reference is to the Greek translation of Psalm 16:10 (“You will not abandon my soul to she’ol [Hades; translated “hell” by the KJV] or allow your holy one to see decay”). This Psalm is specifically applied to Jesus in Acts 13:35. When the Creed says that Jesus “descended into hell” it is quoting Scripture. The Creed does not teach or affirm that Jesus went to the place of punishment after death, but that he descended to the realm of the dead (see Revelation 1:18). In pagan Greek thought Hades is a dark and dismal place, the realm of departed spirits which are rendered powerless and purposeless simply by the fact that they are disembodies spirits. The single place in the Bible where the word is connected specifically to the idea of torment is in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:23).
Tartarus is a word referred to only once, in 2 Peter 2:4. In pagan Greek thought Tartarus was below Hades as the place of retribution for the wicked dead who are punished for their evil deeds. Peter does not use the noun Tartarus here, but rather a verbal form that we could translate “they were tartarized,” or as our translations render it, “If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [“tartarized” them] . . .”
Gehenna takes its name from the Hinnom Valley south of Jerusalem. In the first century the Hinnom Valley was used as a garbage dump and fires burned perpetually there. The unclaimed bodies of the homeless and executed criminals were taken to the garbage dump by the Romans and unceremoniously thrown on the fires and burned. By the first century Gehenna was used to describe a place where bad people came to a bad end. This is the word that Jesus most often uses for Hell, and in his teaching, it is clear that Gehenna is a judicial sentence and is characterized by suffering.
While Hades (and Tartarus; the word is used only once) refers to a “disembodied place” in pagan thought, Jesus always has a view to the resurrection of both the just and the unjust (John 5:28-29) and in his teaching it is clear that Gehenna is ultimately a physical place and state where bodies as well as souls go (see eg. Matthew 5:29, 10:28). It is ultimately associated with the “Lake of Fire” into which the Devil and his angels, Hades itself, and the resurrected persons of those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be cast (Revelation 19:20; 20:10-15).
Because of sin’s entrance into the world, our default condition is now to desire to be “free” of God, and in that state, we could never live in Heaven (where God’s presence is unmistakable and pervasive) or on a redeemed earth (where God’s presence will be unmistakable and pervasive). Hell, which was not a part of the original creation, but which was prepared for the devil and his angels after their rebellion (Matthew 25:41) is the only place left for those who want to be “free” of God.
Part of being made in the image of God is that while human beings are not eternal, they are forever. And forever is a long time to live in the state of being separated and alienated from God who is himself the source of all good, joy, blessing, and pleasure. It is for this reason that two-thousand years ago God himself came into the world. The Son of God became a human being – Jesus of Nazareth – to suffer the penalty of our sins and to reconcile us to God and to each other. Because of our fallen inclination to alienation from God, Hell is our default condition now, but none of you have to go there. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).
