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The Hisorical Meaning of the Word ‘Hell’

by Dr. Eitan Bar
3 minutes read

The English word “hell” originates from the Old English “Hel” or “Helle,” which was derived from the Proto-Germanic term “haljō.” This term generally referred to an underworld or a hidden place. “Haljō” is also related to the Old Norse word “Hel,” which referred both to the underworld—a realm of the dead—and the goddess who ruled over it in Norse mythology. In Norse belief, this underworld was where souls who did not die in battle would go. As Christianity spread through Europe, the term was adopted and adapted within Christian theology to describe a place of punishment for the wicked, shifting its meaning from a general concept of the afterlife to the more specific notion of a place of torment.

Proto-Germanic: “haljō” first referred to a concealed or hidden place and was used to describe the underworld.

– – Old Norse: “Hel” was both the name of the underworld and the deity presiding over it.

– – – Old English: “hel” or “helle” referred to a place of punishment after death.

– – – – Modern English: “hell” refers to a place of punishment after death, often torturous and eternal.

Four Words Translated “Hell”

English translations frequently employ the term “Hell” as a replacement for four distinct Hebrew/Greek words: “Géenna,” “Sheol,” “Tartarus,” and “Hades.” These words are not interchangeable synonyms, and each carries its unique connotations and meanings. Let’s see some examples:

Sheol:

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

(Psalm 16:10, KJV)

Hades:

And death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

(Revelation 20:14, KJV)

Géenna:

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell [Géenna].

(Matthew 5:29, KJV)

Tartarus:

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartarus], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.

(2 Peter 2:4, KJV)

Clearly, the English translations of these four different concepts do not do justice to their original meanings. In fact, none of these terms suggest a place where people are allegedly being tortured by fire forever.

Sheol, Hades, Géenna, Tartarus

Sheol is a Hebrew word used in the Old Testament to describe the realm of the dead, often translated as “the grave” or “the pit.” It is portrayed as a shadowy place where the dead are asleep, regardless of their belief or moral choices during life. Sheol is not associated with punishment or reward but is simply the state of being dead and hidden from the living. In English translations of the Bible, the term is frequently rendered as “Hell.”

Hades is the Greek word equivalent of Sheol, representing the underworld or the realm of the dead. In Greek mythology, Hades is both the name of the god ruling this domain and the place itself. In the New Testament, Hades similarly denotes the unseen place where souls go after death, awaiting resurrection. Like Sheol, Hades is not inherently a place of torment or bliss but a temporary holding place for the dead. In English translations of the Bible, the term is frequently rendered as “Hell.”

Géenna (or Gehenna) originates from the Hebrew word “Gehinnom,” meaning the Valley of Hinnom, which is located outside Jerusalem. Historically, it was associated with the worship of Moloch, where children were sacrificed by fire and possibly with the city’s garbage dump. In the New Testament, Jesus uses Gehenna as a symbol of great shame, guilt, humiliation, embarrassment, divine punishment (on earth), and dishonor. For instance, it can symbolize the destruction of a city or an individual being ostracized and becoming an outcast. In some later rabbinic literature, “Gehinnom” became associated with an afterlife disciplinary process, a destination for the wicked where they get to atone for their sins. In English translations of the Bible, the term is frequently rendered as “Hell.”

Tartarus, in Greek mythology, is a deep abyss used to imprison the Titans far beneath Hades. It signifies the lowest part of the underworld, a jail-like place. In the New Testament, particularly in 2 Peter 2:4, Tartarus is used metaphorically to describe the gloomy, dark place where rebellious angels are held, awaiting judgment. Tartarus appears in the Septuagint translation of Job (40:20 and 41:24) and in Hellenistic Jewish literature, such as the Greek text of the ancient Book of Enoch. In Enoch, God places the archangel Uriel “in charge of the world and of Tartarus” (20:2). Tartarus is understood as the prison for 200 fallen Watchers (angels). In English translations of the Bible, the term is frequently rendered as “Hell.”

As evident, none of these terms imply a place of eternal torture and abuse, such as Hellfire. Consequently, “hell” appears to be a term causing much confusion and mistranslation.

In the Concordant Expositions, biblical scholar James Coram explains:

The Old English “hell,” denoted that which is covered (hidden or unseen). Consequently, it once served as a suitable translation of the Greek hades, which means “imperceptible” or “unseen.” In modern English, however, due to the corrupting influence of human tradition, “hell” has come to mean “the abode of the dead; the place of punishment after death [in which the dead are alive].” Consequently, since in modern English the notion represented by the term “hell” constitutes, to say the least, interpretation, not translation, it is unconscionable for modern translators to render either the Hebrew sheol or the Greek hades by this expression. Yet it is worse still, whether in old English or modern English, to render the Greek tartarosas and especially the Greek geenna, also as “hell.” Such “translations” are not translations at all; they are but the product of circular reasoning and hoary tradition. Whatever one’s understanding may be concerning the matters to which these words make reference, as a translation of the Original, the rendering “hell,” in all cases, is wholly unjustifiable. Yet it is this very rendering, the single term, “hell,” for all these distinct words in the Original, which has spawned all the familiar talk concerning “hell” which prevails among “Bible-believing Christians” today.

James Coram


This article was a copy-paste from my new book on hell: HELL: A Jewish Perspective on a Christian Doctrine

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Dr. Eitan Bar
Author, Theologian, Activist