Notes on Hell: Gehenna

There are four basic words in the Bible that form our understanding of hell - sheol in Hebrew, hades and tartarus in Greek, and the Aramaic word gehenna. (Click here for notes on those words.) The KJV translate these words as hell. When you explore these words in their original language and cultural context, they seem to all have different nuances. What is gehenna and how is it different from the other words?

Listed below is the references where gehenna is used by Jesus according to Young’s Literal Translation.

Following each given reference will be a commentary on how gehenna is used in this context.

Matthew 5:22 

but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.

This first reference is found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In this particular pericope he is discussing the Torah teaching on murder. Not only will murder put you in danger of the judgment, so will being angry with your brother without cause. What are two examples of the judgment? the Sanedrim and the Gehenna of the Fire. So what does this tell us about gehenna? It's a place of judgment for those that murder and are angry without cause, comparable to that of the Sanhedrim (the 70 elders of Israel, the ruling council for observance of Torah). Since there is not much of a difference between the words "Empty Fellow!" and "Rebel" - they are mere examples of being angry with your brother without cause; it's hard to argue that there is much of a difference between judgment with Sanedrim and Gehenna of the Fire.


Matthew 5:29-30

`But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna. 30 `And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

This second usage of gehenna is also used by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, this time in his teaching on adultery. Looking at a woman lustfully is equated as adultery. How serious is Jesus about his disciples and Pharisees in accepting this teaching? He uses hypberbolic language to capture their imagination. Lust is about imagination, and so Jesus gives them images of gouged out eyes and hacked off hands as preventative measures for lusting and committing adultery. Jesus argues that it is better to use an eyeball or a limb then to have your whole body thrown into gehenna. Jesus isn't using literal language here - amputation doesn't stop adultery. Neither does the threat of gehenna. But Jesus promises that there will be judgment on the men who oppress women through their lusting and adultery.


Matthew 10:28

`And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.

In this third use of gehenna Jesus is instructing his disciples just prior to sending out the twelve to proclaim the gospel and heal the sick. Part of his instructions include a warning about impending persecution. He tells them to not be afraid of those who will persecute them. 

Here's how Jesus' logic goes: don't be afraid of those who persecute. IF you were going to be afraid of suffering, be afraid of God who can destroy your body and soul in gehenna. But God cares for you, so you don't have to be afraid of God destroying you in gehenna. Therefore you don't have to be afraid of those who can kill your body. What do we learn here about gehenna here? It's a place of destruction of body and soul, that God is the one that sends people there. And that Jesus' followers have nothing to fear about gehenna.


Matthew 18:9

`And if thine eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee; it is good for thee one-eyed to enter into the life, rather than having two eyes to be cast to the gehenna of the fire.

This is another reference to gehenna by Jesus, similar to his usage in the Sermon on the Mount. Interestingly, instead of adultery being the context, it's being the cause for a child or young disciple to stumble. How serious is Jesus about people not being a cause for stumbling? First he says it's better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and being cast into the depths of the sea. So the judgment of gehenna of the fire is compared with judgment of tossed into the chaotic sea. It's not a description of two different kinds of judgment, but a graphic attempt to make the same point. Do. Not. Cause. Kids. To. Stumble.


Matthew 23:15

`Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

Matthew 23:33

`Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

In this powerful sermon against the Pharisees, Jesus declares seven Woes upon these religious leaders of Israel. It seems that he is purposefully drawing upon the imagery of the Old Testament Valley of Hinnom. You can read about it some in Jeremiah 7, 19, & 32. The old name of the landmark was Valley of the Son of Hinnom, south and west of Jerusalem. And in the one example, Jesus says that the Pharisees, by making proselytes, are making foreigners a Son of Hinnom even more than themselves. And in the second example, the idea of judgment is clearly linked with the idea of gehenna, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Reading the prophet Jeremiah's words to Israel give great context about what is the nature and purpose of gehenna. That is next week's lesson!

Mark 9:43

`And if thy hand may cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is better for thee maimed to enter into the life, than having the two hands, to go away to the gehenna, to the fire -- the unquenchable --

Mark 9:45

`And if thy foot may cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into the life lame, than having the two feet to be cast to the gehenna, to the fire -- the unquenchable --

Mark 9:47-48

And if thine eye may cause thee to stumble, cast it out; it is better for thee one-eyed to enter into the reign of God, than having two eyes, to be cast to the gehenna of the fire -- where their worm is not dying, and the fire is not being quenched;

The usage of gehenna here is an expanded teaching of the same material found in Matthew 18:9 about causing children to stumble. In Mark's version of the teaching, the threat of gehenna and to the fire is repeated three times. Jesus, in this case, doesn't want anyone to doubt how serious he is about this issue of causing children to stumble.

Jesus does something interesting here - highlighting the connection between gehenna and fire - with the the fire, the idea of it being unquenchable. This is an obvious allusion to Isaiah 66:24, which is quoted in part in Mark 9:48. The description of judgment in Isaiah 66 matches the kind of judgment that Jeremiah prophesies will happen in the Valley of Hinnom, gehenna. Jesus is not attempting to give literal descriptions of what gehenna is like, but rather link the kind of judgment that will come down upon those who cause children to stumble - the judgment will be like that which God brings down upon Israel through the nation of Babylon as prophesied by Isaiah. And we know from history that Rome was used by God to judge Israel, much like Babylon had been almost six hundred years earlier.


Luke 12:5

but I will show to you, whom ye may fear; Fear him who, after the killing, is having authority to cast to the gehenna; yes, I say to you, Fear ye Him.

This singular usage by Jesus in Luke's account is similar to that of Matthew 10:28, but here used in a set of warnings and encouragement to his disciples in the midst of the crowds of thousands who gathered around Jesus.


James 3:6

and the tongue [is] a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the gehenna.

James, the brother of Jesus, is writing to Hebrew Christians about the dangers of the tongue. Like his brother, James knows how to use graphic language to capture imaginations and make his point. Everyone, especially teachers, will be judged for their use of the tongue. How many times have our words brought punishment on ourselves? The tongue can be a powerful tool for good, but it can also be a pervasive weapon of destruction - both for our own bodies and those around us. James effectively makes his point in his use of gehenna.


In all of these uses of gehenna, it is not obvious that Jesus is referring to an afterlife. The word gehenna is clearly connected the idea of judgment, but the idea of judgment is not obviously tied in these verses to an afterlife event. In context, Jesus makes a connection between actions now and the resulting consequences to come in this life. Just as the Valley of Hinnom became a real symbol of judgment in the lifetime of those who heard Jeremiah preach about it, so many of Jesus' listeners were around when Rome made the Valley of Hinnom once again a place of judgment.

An exploration next week will examine the Old Testament references to gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom. This will help us keep Jesus usage of gehenna in context. To be sure, Jesus was serious about people changing their actions, about fueling their imagination with graphic details to compel them to repent and act righteously. The threat of gehenna did not come across to those first readers like the threat of hell is used in our modern age. The threat of gehenna meant something different then. And we'd be wise to consider what the threat of gehenna meant then so that we can better understand what it is to mean today.

Notes on Hell: Hades, Tartarus & the Underworld

What does the Bible teach about hell? 

If you've got an old King James Version of the Bible, you'd find over a hundred references to hell. Except that in the original languages, there are a few different words for hell. And they don't all carry the same nuances. And so the vision of hell gets a little more complicated.

First we looked at the Hebrew word sheol that the KJV often translates as hell. Then we looked at the Greek word hades, which the KJV translates as hell, especially those uses that seemed to be similar in usage to the Hebrew word sheol. However, there are other uses of hades that don't seem to refer back to the Hebrew idea of sheol.

For example, when Jesus tells the parable about the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke records the story by having Jesus use the Greek word hades. The parable has the Rich Man and Abraham having a conversation. Granted it is a parable, but it's not one that is referring to a Jewish idea of the afterlife. So which hades is Jesus referring to? Maybe the one of popular culture, the idea of hades that floats around in the minds of people who have been influence by Greek and Roman culture for the past three hundred years?

In sheol, dead men don't talk. In a Roman vision of hades, they would. So it seems that here we have Jesus using the popular notion of hades to make a point about how the rich ought to treat the poor. Does this mean that Jesus is giving us a literal description of what hell is really like? Or is it more likely that since Jesus is telling a story, he's referring to the legends of hades? It doesn't mean he's affirming that the Roman view of the afterlife is correct, but rather that he is using those stories for great effect.

Another example: Peter in his two letters refers to Tartarus and to a prison. In Virgil's map of hades (as seen in Alice K. Turner's book: The History of Hell) there is a prison of Tartarus that is separated form the Elysian Fields by a great river of fire. Tartarus is a deep abyss, an inescapable prison where there are terrible torments and endless torture. Peter says that God sent rebellious angels to Tartarus. He also says that Jesus went and preached the gospel to these spirits. So is Peter saying that Tartarus really exists? Or he, like Jesus, is using a common notion for the after life to make bigger points about judgment and the scope of Jesus' ministry.

Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians that there will come a day when every being in the heavens, upon the earth, and under the earth will bow down before Jesus. The ancients believed in a three tiered universe - so this is Paul's way of saying that every being in existence will acknowledge Jesus as Lord. But Paul also seems to be asserting that there are beings in the Underworld that exist - which is not a Jewish idea. Paul seems to be referring to notions of classic hades rather than sheol - and this is a big deal. In sheol there is nothingness, but in hades there is a shadowy existence. Whatever beings are there, they will someday confess Christ as King.

Hades does not carry the same meanings as sheol. Often times the gospel writers used the words hades when quoting an Old Testament verse that originally used the word sheol. Did that writer mean to change the meaning? Or was it a "dynamic equivalent" situation? Hades was the closest meaning available in Greek? Simple research shows that what the ancients believed about hades is not the same as what the Jews believed about sheol.

So there seems to be a shift within the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament in ideas about what happens after you die. In sheol, everybody is in the grave or the pit, eaten by worms and no hope for the future. In hades, everybody goes down to the depths to a shadowy existence crossing the River Styx maybe into the Elysian Fields. Some part of the man or woman, the soul or spirit, continues existence in hades, not as punishment or reward, but a listless abode of the dead. And some New Testament Scriptures seem to affirm that there is some kind of place that exists, which is in conflict with what the Old Testament teaches.

Up to this point in the study, we've examined the use of sheol and hades. It's not revealed anything definitive about hell as we moderns understand it. It's not a place of torment for everybody. It's not a place of punishment, it's not the destination of sinners - it's just where everybody goes after they die, according to Greek and Roman notions about the afterlife.

In Revelation it describes death and hades being thrown into the lake of fire. Since hades has been our understanding of hell up to that point in the Bible, it makes you wonder what John means when he prophesies that event happening. How does death and hell get tossed into a lava pit? What happens to death and hades in a pool of flames? Is this a reference to sheol and classical hades? Is this a reference to general pagan notions of death and the afterlife? What is the lake of fire? It can't be our definition of hell, since hell gets thrown into it. Rather then getting a clearer picture of hell, the vision is getting murkier.

And so it is that there is more the Bible has to say about hell then just references to sheol and hades. Next week we explore the idea of gehenna as Jesus used it. This is another word that the KJV translated as hell, though it likely refers to a ghastly place called the Valley of Hinnom.

Be Diligent In These Matters

1Timothy 4-6

Paul has some strong words for his son in the faith, his young pastor friend in Ephesus. Timothy seems to have loads of potential, is favored by Paul for great ministry, and is the recepient of stern reprimands. There are three main themes in these last three chapters of this brief letter, Preaching the Truth, Handling Widows w/ Compassion, and Generosity w/ Money. Very modern issues that pastors must wrestle with today.

Timothy was exhorted to teach the Scripture truth, clearly distinguishing it from faddish beliefs that float around as novel ideas or popular slogans. It's hard to say it as it is in such a way that people will hear it, there aren't bonus points for ticking people off with truth, the point is that they get it inside of them. And it seems that Timothy was on the timid side, he let people look down on him because he was young. But Paul will have none of it...if you've been called by God, filled with his Spirit and you follow Jesus faithfullly, then be diligent, work hard, trust unwaveringly, preach boldly, pray always, serve skillfully.

The Church in Ephesus, like most churches in the early church, were located in large population centers where one was likely to find high concentrations of widows and orphans, the diseased, disabled, and dying. If enough of the Christians followed Jesus, they would eventually feel a compassionate obligation to care for these men and women in dire straits. And after awhile it would be necessary for some guidelines to be established for care that is sustainable, empowering, and practical. Paul has shrewd insights into the human nature, how people tend to treat each other, and what arrangements need to be made for successful, ongoing ministry. Pastors would do well to be people-wise like Paul; towards widows, the elderly, leaders in the church, and sinners.

Money will always be a central issues for churches; the gathered assembly of believers need it for their daily lives and for the ministry of their calling. To care for widows and orphans, they need money; to bring healing to the sick and broken, they need money, to help families out in tough times, they need money. Yet a preoccupation with money won't bode well, for then our eyes are taken off of God and the true help they need: compassion, generosity, love, truth. The members of the church deal with money issues every week, and whatever individual ideas of it they have, they bring into the ministry; thus Paul urges us to teach the truth about money, the truth about God's generosity and providence, and the truth about godliness and its benefits; to teach it by how we live as well as what we say.

God Our Saviour Desires All People To Be Saved

1Timothy 1-3

Paul is writing to Timothy, one who he considers as a son, one who has grown up under his ministry. Timothy is currently a pastor in the Turkish port city of Ephesus, a major distribution center for the area's rich agricultural and quarry industry. It was a wealthy town with powerful men directing the affairs of the region; this was Rome's economic heart - from this region they financed their Empire. And here is Timothy, in over his head, overwhelmed by the pressures, desperate for Paul to come in and take over; and he gets the first of two stirring letters.

First, Paul is charging Timothty to lead, to be the authority needed to quell quarrels, to halt hypocrisy and heresy, and to set the standard for ministry: truth in teaching, holiness in character, love in all things. Maybe Timothy was feeling that it was impossibe for his church to thrive in its location, maybe he felt like his church was unable to really live out God's will, to save people.

Paul's second point in this letter is that God desires all people to be saved; Timothy can rest assured that no matter where he was leading a church, it would be amongst people whom God desired to be saved. Timothy may have countered: but you don't know how bad these people are, how opposed or ignorant they are of God. And Paul patiently reminds Timothy: I was the chief of sinners, of all the sinners surrounding your sanctuary, they are not as bad as I was - if God can save me, he can save anyone.

Paul actually describes the kind of people who might be frightening Timothy:
the lawless and the disobedient
the ungodly and sinners
the unholy and profane
those who strike their fathers and mothers
murders
the sexually immoral and men who practice homosexuality,
slavetraders and slaveowners
liars and perjurers

And then Paul writes:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, fo whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe him for eternal life.

Know any sinners in your life? A characteristic of a sinner is a denial of the character of their actions, most sinners don't admit that their deeds are sinful. Or sinners are in denial that they are sinning, or they know they are sinning and choose to do it anyway out of rebellion or helpless addiction. What about the sins in your life, think they could keep you from Christ?

Paul goes on to write:
God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and people, the person Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all.

God is always at work in the world, working to rescue sinners from their deadly ways. All have been ransomed, set free from the ownership of the Devil, and thus are now free to be adopted by God - if they desire it. So our task is to seek God's Kingdom first, his righteousness, His Way, and as we go that route, he will bring us across people - we as his instruments of grace and faith and love - whom he is at work in, people that are ready to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For some this happens early in life, others very late; for some it is a quick conversion, for others it takes a lifetime. But if God is patient with the world, so should we; and if God is lavishing mercy on the world, so should we; and if God is speaking truth into the world, then so should we; and if God is working to love the world and rescue it, then so should we.

Sinners are not to be hated, despised, scorned, mocked, sneered, ignored, forgotten, or despaired of. Sinners are to be loved in truth and grace, in mercy and patience, with salt and light; for that is how you need others to handle you, and it is how God handles you. God saved you from his wrath, and God wants to save everyone else in your life from his wrath; so stay open to his promptings so that you can be his instrument of salvation and truth.

We too were: foolish, disobedient, decieved, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures; malicious and envious, hated and hateful...

Titus is a Cretan, and as the philospher/poet/prophet Epimenides crassly crooned: "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." Paul quotes this Cretan lyricist and follows it up with: "He has surely told the truth!" Titus must have a sordid past of sorts, yet here he is, the receipient of a personal letter from the famed Apostle Paul. He's now the head elder of a church, overseeing a whole island of believers. Titus has come a long way, baby! Titus is now trustworthy, a one-woman man, a strong and respected father, an all-around good guy.

But what prompted the transformation? How do people change? For Titus, it was like this: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things things we had done, but because of his mercy." Titus was once a foolish, disobedient, deceived, etc. kind of man; now he is a foolish, disobedient, deceived, etc. kind of man who is saved by God's kindness, love and mercy.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that God has been doing Titus-work in us. We all are like Titus the Cretan in some way...we may not have all those vices attached to our identity, but one or two can be stenchy enough. And we all can be like Titus the Cretan - the Jesus-follower, who lives with and loves his fellow Cretans who are not yet following Jesus. Because of who Titus was, he can be Jesus with the Cretans as they are now. But having spent some time with Titus and the Jesus he follows, these brutish Cretans can become devoted to good and God as a blessing to their world.

How? Well for Titus, he experienced God through the hands and heart of men and women, a community that lived out God's kindness, love and generous mercy. And now Titus is raising up a family, heading up a church community, overseeing an island of disciples who do good, who are sober, honest, diligent, hospitable, delightful, disciplined, faithful, forgiving, reconciling, redeeming, etc. At some point hated and hateful people come into regular contact with loved and loving people. How do the hated and hateful become the loved and loving? By God's work through God's workers.

Right now, who are people that irk you greatly because of their subtle (or blatant) character flaws/sins? Now - consider that God has you in their life for a redemptive reason. Now - listen regularly for how God might want to use you to do Titus-work in their life. Of course you are not sure what to do, where to start, etc. That's why you have to listen to what God wants you to do everyday. You listen to him (and do what he prompts you to do/say) and he'll do beautiful redemption work through you.

As Paul writes to Titus and friends: "Grace be with you all". You'll need it, and so do they...