In Ephesians 5:8-11, believers are told they are children of light and should have nothing to do with the fruit of darkness. The doctrine of people being tormented in “hell” is a fruit of darkness. Would eternal torture in hell agree with a nature of goodness, righteousness, and truth?
Let’s look at the words translated as “hell” in the Bible;
- The KJV mistranslates four words as “hell”;
- Sheol, the grave, covered, unseen, used 65 times in the OT – 31 times as “the grave,” 31 times as “hell,” and three times as “pit.”
- Hades, the grave, covered, unseen; used eleven times in the NT; translated hell, the grave, and hades.
- Gehenna, the valley of the Sons of Hinnom, is used twelve times in the NT, translated as hell.
- Tartarus, a deeper part of Hades in Greek mythology, was used once as hell in NT (2 Peter 2:4).
Let’s look at where the concept of Hell originated:
Did it come from the OT?
There’s nothing in the OT about the concept of “Eternal Torment.” God didn’t tell Adam and Eve they would be tormented for eternity in fire. He didn’t tell Cain he’d be tortured forever. He didn’t tell Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, or any of the prophets about everlasting suffering for unrighteousness. The concept we know as “hell” is nowhere in the Old Testament.
Did it come during the time between the OT and NT, the Intertestamental period (500 BC to Christ)
The Greek historian and philosopher Strabo (65-25 BC) said in his attempt to deter people from doing wrong, Plato (430-350 BC) invented and wrote about frightful stories of future judgments of “hell.” Strabo also said, “It’s impossible to govern the crowds, and all the rabble, by philosophical reasoning, and lead them to piety, holiness, and virtue, but this must be done by superstition, or the fear of punishment by the gods.”
In Greek Mythology, Hades was the god of the underworld (hades). Hades was a place where no one could escape. It had two compartments; 1) Paradise and 2) Tartarus (gloomy).
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT, they used “hades” for “Sheol.”
From centuries of interacting with the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans, the Jews adopted a mixture of philosophies and superstitions to add to their laws, traditions, and rituals.
What about the NT? Did Hell come from there? Hell isn’t in the NT. It’s misinterpreted in the KJV. Jesus nor the Apostles taught about “hell,” as we’ve come to conceive of it.
If the concept of “eternal torment” wasn’t in the Old or New Testaments, what did they believe about the judgment of God?
By vanishing from the earth, mankind is judged for rebellion (sin) against God (Job 7:6-10 and James 4:13-14).
By vanishing from the earth, nations are judged for rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:13-15, Ezekiel. 26:19-21, Luke. 10:15, Luke. 11:29-32, and Mattew 11:23, 12:41).
Sheol and Hades represented judgment in both the Old and New Testaments, and the judgment was to vanish away and not be seen again.
The judgment also involved Fire in the OT and NT: This concept of Judgment is seen in the prophets;
In Matthew 3:7-12 we read that John the Baptist preached repentance for the kingdom of God was at hand. He said wrath was coming upon the nation. He said the axe was laid on the root of the tree. He said that every tree that didn’t bear fruit would be thrown into the “fire.” He said the one who would follow him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and “fire.” And he said that the one who follows him would “burn up” (katakaio – to consume) the chaff with “unquenchable” (unstoppable) “fire.” John was fulfilling what was said in Malachi 4:1.
This isn’t speaking of fire of eternal torment. The fire of judgment is coming to the nation of Israel. It’s a National Judgment. We see this National Judgment prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7:32. The valley of the Sons of Hinnom became known as “Tophet” (place of burning), where they burned children as a sacrifice to Molech. After the Babylonian captivity, Jews settled in Tophet. Jeremiah called it the “Valley of Slaughter” and said destruction would happen there because the nation was idolatrous. To the Jews, this valley became known as “the place of burning,” a “valley of slaughter,” and a “place of fiery judgment.”
The Jews hated this valley so much that it became a trash heap for burning everything from bodies of dead animals, to executed criminals, to trash. Gehenna was the Greek word for the Hebrew name Hinnom.
Jeremiah predicted the valley would be overflowing with Israelite bodies when God judged the nation for their sins (Jeremiah 7:31-33 & Jeremiah 19:2-13). This is the image we must remember when interpreting “Gehenna” in the New Testament.
During the Intertestamental period, Rabbis represented Gehenna as a “purgatory,” not “hell.” It was a place of “torture” but not eternal. Eleven months was the timeframe to purify the soul. The Jews would mourn for eleven months and recite prayers for the dead in Gehenna. This was a superstition.
What did Jesus say on the subject of Gehenna; Matthew (7), Mark (3), Luke (1), James (1)
The interpretation of Matthew 5:21-22; Gehenna isn’t mentioned in the Septuagint translation of the OT. No matter what we think about “hell,” we must remember Jesus and his listeners didn’t think of “hell” the same way. To them, “Gehenna” was a valley southwest of Jerusalem. The OT image to them was a “place of burning.” It was a valley where rebellious Jews were slaughtered before and would be again if they didn’t repent, according to Malachi and John the Baptist. They knew what Gehenna represented.
At the time of Jesus, the Sanhedrin had a prohibition against saying someone was “worthless” (Raca). But Jesus said if you call someone a “fool,” you will be in danger of “Gehenna fire.” The accusation that someone was a “fool” really meant they were a “heretic.” This charge of religious apostasy in a community could cause serious damage to a person. Words can harm and divide people.
James said the same thing in (James 3:6). The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by “hell” (Gehenna). Words can cause a fire like Gehenna in a family, a community, or a country.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, James was killed in 62 AD. So his letter was written around 60 AD. This is the only time Gehenna occurs outside the Gospels. James is writing to Jewish believers, not Gentiles. His audience would know Gehenna as the fiery trash heap. James and Jesus aren’t saying a person will be tormented in fire eternally for calling someone a “fool.” They’re warning about the abuse of the tongue. Our words can burn down lives and nations. We can see the truth and righteousness in this meaning versus “going to hell” for calling someone a fool.
The interpretation of Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:4-5and Matthew 18:9; Again, if Jesus was speaking of a place of eternal torment or fire for an individual, then the wording is all wrong. To “kill” here is the Greek word meaning “to put to death.” Don’t be afraid of those who can “put to death” the body but can’t “put to death” the soul. Rather, be afraid of the “one” who can destroy (a Greek word meaning to make perish or disappear) both body and soul like Gehenna.
Clearly, Jesus isn’t speaking of the “immortal” soul, which returns to God, who gave it when the body dies. That soul isn’t “destroyed.” The “soul” Jesus is speaking about is what drives or animates us individually or as a group. It’s what we would call our shared desire or drive. There’s a corporate soul, the soul of humanity, the soul of any group that’s united in a belief. What’s called today a “core value.” This is the soul that can be destroyed with the body of people who have it. Assyria destroyed body and soul. Babylon was destroyed by body and soul because they vanished.
Jesus is speaking here of a national judgment against that generation of Israel. His audience knew from their OT background that God could and did many times destroy the body and souls of many nations. Is God the only one that can destroy the body and soul of a people this way? No, If someone is capable, they can attempt the same thing. Assyria and Babylon would take people from their land and move them to another land of other people they defeated and do the same thing to them. This was to destroy their national soul by removing them from their connection to the land. Hitler tried.
Jesus is saying that the Jews shouldn’t fear the Romans, who can just kill their bodies. They should fear the “One” who can make the entire nation disappear in the judgment like Gehenna that’s coming upon them. And this is what happened in 70 AD when Rome leveled Jerusalem and the temple and filled Gehenna (the valley of slaughter) with the bodies of the rebellious Jews.
The interpretation of Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 18:9, and Mark 9:43-47; How would this statement fit if Jesus was speaking of a “hell” where punishment is administered? Jesus isn’t saying a person should gouge out their eye or cut off a body part because it caused them to sin. If so, would churches be filled with cripples? Also, it can’t mean tossing sinning body parts into “hell”; otherwise, when you go to heaven, parts of you will be in hell. That doesn’t make any sense.
These words make sense only as a national judgment on that generation of Israel. Cut off those members blocking the kingdom of the Messiah and prevent the national judgment of unquenchable (unstoppable) fire. Think of the nation as a body, similar to Paul’s analogy of the church being a body. To avoid judgment, they needed to cut off the members leading them to their destruction.
Clearly, Jesus isn’t speaking of individuals being tormented in “hell” (Matthew 23:15). How do you explain the statement these converts are “twice” as much a child of hell? Twice as much punishment? Twice as much torment?
The “child of hell” phrase is in reference to Gehenna, where the practice of sacrificing children to idols was well known. This was a useless practice because idols were useless. In the same way, those children’s lives were wasted; these converts’ lives are wasted. A “double” child of Gehenna means they’re preventing these converts from entering the kingdom of God, and then by their traditions and rituals, they make them twice the children of apostasy and rebellion to God’s kingdom as they are.
Jesus calls the Scribes and Pharisees serpents (Matthew 23:33) because of how they abuse the people for their own greed. He questions how they can avoid the coming judgment on the nation. No doubt, Jesus is using “Gehenna” here as the pronouncement of National Judgement against this generation in “Valley of Fire” that can’t be stopped for their rebellion against God and their apostasy. There’s no doubt because of the verses that follow in (Matthew 23:34-39).
As he said, fear the “One” that can destroy the body and soul with the National Judgment represented by Gehenna. What was mistranslated as “hell” was the fiery destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
What does happen to the wicked and unbelieving? They will perish forever in the lake of Fire but not be tormented forever (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, and 1 Corinthians 1:18).
How will the wicked and unbelieving perish?
They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-5).
Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
As I said previously, witnesses will be brought forth; the Queen of the South, the Ninevites, etc.
This “fiery lake of burning sulfur” is an “everlasting” fire. Why is it everlasting if those who go into it are destroyed? Because “everlasting” here means permanent. What goes in that lake of fire is gone forever (Revelation 3:5).
Summary of Hell in the Bible
- Gehenna represented the unstoppable fire of National Judgment coming to the generation of Jews at the time of Jesus.
2. Gehenna is used by Jesus the same way Jeremiah used it when Babylon destroyed the first temple.
3. Gehenna represented the Apostasy of Israel toward God and his kingdom.
4. There is no teaching in the Bible that Satan rules Gehenna.
5. Neither Jesus, the Apostles, nor the prophets teach endless punishment in the Scriptures.
Goodness, Righteousness, and Truth;
You decide; Would “hell” or “Extinction” meet the result of light; being Goodness, Righteousness, and Truth?
