Have you ever wondered about Hell? Can you find the word "Hell" in the scriptures? What about other words for Hell? Are dead unbelievers living in Hell, now?
This research paper will answer all of those questions and more. It explains the different words, in the Bible, that are used for Hell and "Hell-like" places. Despite the overuse of the term "Hell," there are two places for fallen angels, a place for unbelievers (now) and one for all sinners (later).
There are four terms that describe the location of the afterlife for sinners. They are "Gehenna (the lake of fire), Hades (Sheol), the Abyss (literally, "the shaft of the abyss" and also called, "the bottomless pit") and Tartarus."
Gehenna (the lake of fire)
"Gehenna" is mentioned 12 times in the New Testament. Did you know that 11 out of 12 times it was mentioned by Jesus Christ? The Greek word "Gehenna" refers to the "Valley of Hinnom." This valley lies just outside Jerusalem's walls and in Bible times, it was used as a refuse dump. Trash, garbage and even unwanted and unknown bodies were thrown there. Fire constantly burned these things and the worms never went hungry. It is no surprise that Jesus compared this hideous valley to the destiny of those that reject God.
Here are some facts about the place called "Gehenna."
1) Gehenna (also called the lake of fire) is the final place of punishment for all who reject God's plan of salvation - all unsaved people, the fallen angels and Satan. - Revelation 20:10-15
2) Gehenna is the place of conscious torment for the body and soul. - Matthew 10:28
3) Gehenna is a place of eternal/never-ending torment. - Matthew 25:46, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 14:11
4) Gehenna is a place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:45), a place of never-dying worms (Mark 9:46), a lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 20:14), the gloom of darkness forever (Jude 1:13), a place of separation from God (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place of outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12).
Hades (Sheol)
While the terrible place of Gehenna is the final destiny of all who reject God, Hades is the present place of imprisonment for the disembodied spirits of lost humans. In the Old Testament and in the Hebrew language, it is called "Sheol."
The word "Hades" is found ten times in the New Testament. In Luke 16:19-31, we see a clear description of Hades. This passage reads:
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us."
Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
Hades is the "county jail" (temporary prison) and Gehenna is the "penitentiary" (eternal prison). As soon as an unbeliever dies, his or her body lies in the grave, but his/her immaterial part goes to Hades.
After the "White Throne Judgment" in Revelation 20, which follows the 1,000 year reign of Christ, these sinners will be taken from Hades, judged and sent to Gehenna (the lake of fire) for eternity. Revelation 20:13-15 describes this scene. It reads:
"The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
Tartarus
The place called "Tartarus" is only mentioned once in the New Testament. 2 Peter 2:4 and 5 reads, "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;"
In this passage, the English word "hell" is the Greek word "Tartarus" and it is a place where the fallen angels from Genesis 6 are being held. These fallen angels committed terrible sins and Jude 1:6 and 7 explains what happened. It reads:
"And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
The Abyss/The Shaft of the Abyss (Bottomless Pit)
"The Abyss," also called the bottomless pit, but literally translated "the shaft of the abyss" appears 9 times in the New Testament (Luke 8:31, Romans 10:7, Revelation 9:1, 2 and 11, 11:7, 17:8 and 20:1 and 3). This place comes from the Greek word "abussos" and it conjures a picture of a subterranean cavern connected to the Earth by a shaft or opening with a seal or lid.
In Luke 8, the legion of demons in the Gadarene demoniac begged Jesus to go into some pigs. They also asked Him not to send them into "the abyss" before the time. This is the same "abussos."
In Revelation 17:8, the Antichrist ascends from the abyss. It reads:
"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
The abyss/the shaft of the abyss is a place of temporary confinement for some of the fallen angels, demons and Satan. In Revelation 20, we read that Satan will be cast into the abyss for 1,000 years. Revelation 20:1-3 reads:
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while."
