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How 1st-Century Jews Understood Jesus’ Teachings on “Hellfire”

by Dr. Eitan Bar
6 minutes read

When you hear phrases like “financial meltdown,” do you picture Wall Street skyscrapers literally dissolving into puddles? Or consider a “political battlefield” — does it bring to mind politicians wearing armor and dueling with swords? How about the “corporate jungle”? Perhaps you visualize business managers hunting junior employees as if they were wild prey. And the term “media circus” — does it conjure images of journalists dressed as bees and swans, performing outlandishly for attention? Clearly, these scenarios are not meant to be taken literally. Contemporary audiences understand these expressions as figures of speech that employ symbolism and analogy to communicate complex ideas vividly. This was even more true in the context of societies that were mostly illiterate and heavily dependent on illustrations, metaphors, stories, and parables for comprehension.

Imagine you are a basketball player, and your coach sends a message to the team’s group chat saying, “We grilled the Yankees so strong last week I can still smell the smoke and hear the sound of their cry echoing!” Your brain, knowing the context, understands these are metaphorical and symbolic expressions. But imagine someone in the year 4025 reading your coach’s text and interpreting it literally. This is the same fallacy modern readers of the Bible often commit when confusing its different genres.

Cultural and Theological Context

Any student of Judaism knows that Jewish teachers always used literary techniques like figurative language, metaphors, symbolism, and analogies in their teachings. Jesus and Paul—Jewish rabbis themselves—also utilized these and other literary methods, often overlooked by Western non-Jewish readers. Consider these examples:

Jesus:

  1. I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)—Jesus did not suggest that He was a piece of pastry. Instead, this was a known symbol of spiritual sustenance.
  2. You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14)—Jesus did not imply that His followers are candles or light bulbs. Rather, a Jew would understand this as a metaphor for how they can provide guidance, truth, and influence in the world.

Paul:

  1. You are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9)—This symbolizes the growth and community among believers, not a literal claim of them being soil or structures.
  2. Put on the full armor of God.” (Ephesians 6:11)—This analogy represents spiritual readiness, suggesting the use of faith-based virtues as armor rather than physical gear made of iron or metal.

These verses clearly demonstrate the use of literary devices to convey deeper meanings and teachings. When ignored, not only can much of the richness and layered significance embedded in these scriptural texts be lost, but it may also lead to superficial, misinformed, or even harmful interpretations that fail to grasp the full spiritual and ethical insights intended by the authors.

This, I believe, is partly due to the intentional historical separation of Jewish elements from Christianity. For example, Emperor Constantine (4th century) actively uprooted Christianity from its Jewish roots in his efforts to establish a distinct, “Jewish-free” identity. Such efforts included the removal of Jewish priests from the church, the promotion of new doctrines and practices, and the insertion of pagan ones, which diminished any Jewish influences and excluded Jewish believers from Christianity early on. “Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd…” declared Constantine.

The First Council of Nicaea, held in 325 AD in Turkey, is perhaps the most renowned in Christian history. This was a pivotal event in early Christianity. However, bishops with Jewish backgrounds were not allowed to join the council. This had notable, long-lasting repercussions for Christian-Jewish relations.

The Council changed the celebration of the Resurrection from the Jewish Feast of First Fruits to Easter in an attempt to disassociate it from Jewish feasts, stating, “For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals, we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth, let us have nothing in common with this odious people.” It was also decided to replace Passover with Easter and the Saturday Sabbath with a Sunday Sabbath.

The persecution of the Quartodecimans marked the beginning of a dark era. The term “Quartodeciman” is Latin for “fourteeners,” referring to Jews who celebrated Passover on the 14th of Nisan. As time went on, performing circumcision was outlawed, with violations punishable by death. Eventually, Jews were prohibited from holding public office or serving as officers in the military. Later, restrictions were put on where the Jewish people could live, with whom they could do business, and where they could travel. It comes as no surprise that Christianity has completely distanced itself—theologically as well—from its Jewish context. This has profoundly influenced Christian theology and the lack of understanding of Jesus and Paul as Jewish teachers, as well as the entire Bible, which was largely authored by Jewish individuals. This historical disconnection solidified and had long-lasting effects on the interpretation of biblical texts. In this part of the book, I hope to undo some of it.

Biblical Context

When you hear the word “hell,” what imagery springs to mind? Suppose you are a member of Catholic or Protestant Christianity. In that case, you likely envision an immensely dark realm (Matthew 22:13) dominated by a vast lake of searing fire (Matthew 8:12), where souls are being tortured eternally while their teeth gnash and they cry endless tears 24/7. At a glance, there’s a seeming contradiction in such descriptions: how can a place be shrouded in darkness and ablaze with fire simultaneously, given that fire naturally emits light? But you see, Jesus’s Jewish audience wouldn’t take these words in their literal sense but understand them as proverbial figures of speech, symbolism, metaphors, analogies, etc.

Indeed, these descriptions were not intended to be taken literally. Jesus Himself acknowledged, “I have been speaking figuratively” (John 16:25), and that He “speaks to the people in parables” (Matthew 13:10). This language highlights the use of metaphors to impart deeper spiritual truths, which is ironically juxtaposed against how some modern Christians interpret certain directives.

Consider Jesus’ statement in John 6:54: “Only he who drinks my blood has eternal life.” Interpreted literally, this statement would suggest that only those who physically consumed Jesus’ blood could attain eternal life. Such a literal interpretation not only restricts eternal life to a very few who had that access but also conflicts with Jewish Law, which Jesus said he came to fulfill, not to abolish (Matthew 5:17). Jewish Law explicitly prohibits the consumption of blood, commanding that Israelies “must not eat the blood of any creature.” (Leviticus 17:14). This apparent contradiction highlights the importance of recognizing Jesus’ uses of metaphors and symbolism, emphasizing the spiritual act of accepting his sacrifice rather than a literal consumption of blood.

Likewise, hardly anyone takes Jesus’s warnings to “gouge out your eye and throw it away” (Matthew 18:9) or “cut off your right hand and throw it away” (Matthew 5:30) literally. This is particularly ironic given Jesus was also referencing “hell” (Gehenna) in these same verses, highlighting a selective literalism that points to the importance of careful interpretation when studying biblical scripture.

However, by the time of the first English translations of the New Testament, the hellfire tradition had been so well ingrained in some Church traditions that where the translators saw “Gehenna,” they automatically translated “hell.” This led to many of today’s misconceptions about hell.

Biblical Genres

The Bible—a narrative—employs a wide range of literary devices, including metaphors, parables, and allegories, to communicate its messages. These literary devices are seldom meant to be taken literally—contrasting with a textbook or manual—but rather to illustrate deeper spiritual truths and creatively express them. When Jesus speaks of hell in parables, for instance, he is using already familiar concepts and vivid imagery to convey profound moral and life lessons.

The Augustinian-Calvinist view of hellfire relies heavily on interpreting metaphors, symbolism, hyperbole, parables, allegories, and other similar literary styles not according to their intended genres but rather literally. This approach can lead to a misunderstanding of the original context and meaning of the Biblical texts.

Therefore, in this part of the book, we will delve into what the Bible actually articulates about hell. Given my goal to keep this book concise and your preference for a more manageable read, I have selectively focused on a number of Biblical references related to hell, though not exhaustively. Specifically, I’ve chosen to highlight those passages most frequently cited by advocates of the Augustinian-Calvinist view of eternal conscious torment (ECT) in Hellfire.

The concept of “Sufficient Sampling” or “Representative Refutation” means that if you have effectively refuted a representative sample (such as 20 verses about hell), you do not need to refute every single verse because the sample is considered sufficient to demonstrate the overall point.

By examining these passages, we aim to uncover the intended message and genre-specific nuances that are often overlooked when interpreted literally. We will consider the historical and cultural contexts, the literary styles employed by the Biblical authors, and some of the fallacies committed in modern interpretations. By examining key passages and understanding their context and literary styles, we can gain a clearer and more nuanced understanding of what the Bible does and doesn’t say about hell, encouraging a more thoughtful and informed reading of the Bible.


This article was a free excerpt from my new book on hell: HELL: A Jewish Perspective on a Christian Doctrine




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Dr. Eitan Bar
Author, Theologian, Activist