What is hell?

Question

The KJV (and others) translate Gehenna, Sheoul and Hades nearly always as Hell. As far as I understand Jesus spoke about Gehenna mostly (being the burning rubbish dump outside Jerusalem) where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hades and Sheoul are the grave (not Gehenna). What do people think Hell is? Is it eternal?

Answer 1

I KNOW THIS LENGTHY BUT VERY IN-DEPTH:

hell is the total absence of the favor of God.

The words associated with Hell

Gehenna
In the OT, the word for hell is 'ge-hinnom' meaning "Valley of Hinnom." It was a place to the southwest of Jerusalem. This place was once "called 'Topheth' and derived from an Aramaic word meaning 'fireplace.' It was here that some pagan kings practiced human sacrifice by fire (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 32:25)(1). This is probably why in the NT the word came to be associated with destruction by fire. The word 'gehenna' is found in the NT 12 times and every instance is spoken of by Jesus. In the NT, "gehenna" is used of a condition and never of a place.

Hades
This word only occurs in the NT, ten times, and corresponds to the OT word "sheol." Jesus uses the word four times: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23. The other six occur in Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14.
It was probably the "subterranean abode of all the dead until the judgment. It was divided into two departments, paradise or Abraham's bosom for the good, and Gehenna or hell for the bad."(2) In particular, in the account of Lazarus and the Rich man of (Luke 16:19-31), it is the place of the conscious dead who are wicked.

Sheol
"The Hebrew word Sheol is probably derived from a root "to make hollow," and was seen as the common receptacle of the dead and in the great many places the word appears in the OT, it is referring to the grave.(3) It is a place and is mentioned in Gen. 37:35; Num. 16:30,33; Psalm 16:10, etc. Sheol has many meanings in scripture: the grave, the underworld, the state of the dead. It was supposed to be below the surface of the earth (Ezek. 31:15,17; Psalm 86:13).

Is Hell Eternal Conscious Torment?

There are some Christian groups and many cults that deny the idea that hell, in the general sense, means eternal, conscious punishment. Some maintain that God's eternal punishment is annihilation, or non-existence. Others say it is temporal and that eventually all will be saved out of hell. Perhaps the most common objection is that a loving God would never punish people in eternal torment. We agree that God is love (1 John 4:8), but He is also just (Neh. 9:32-33; 2 Thess. 1:6), and eternal (Psalm 90:2; 1 Tim. 1:17 ). God punishes the evil doer (Isaiah 11:13) and this punishment will be eternal. But the question remains. Is this eternal punishment conscious or not?
There are verses that can be interpreted to support the idea that the dead are not conscious after death: (Ecc. 9:5 - the dead know nothing(4) and Psalm 146:4 - their thoughts perish, are good examples.) Other verses compare the dead to sleep: Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 15:1-6; 1 Thess. 4:13, etc. But these latter verses are merely comparing the similarity between the appearance of the dead and the appearance of someone sleeping.

The Dead are Conscious After Death

The wicked descend alive into Sheol
Num. 16:30, "But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord . . . 33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly."

Cast to outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth
Matt. 8:12, "but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Those cast into the fire suffer consciously
Matt. 13:41-42, "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” See also Matt. 13:50.

Cast into a tormenting fire
Rev. 14:9-11, "And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, 10he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11"And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."” See also, Rev. 21:8.

Hell is a place of eternal fire and punishment

Unquenchable Fire
Matt. 3:12 "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Fiery Hell
Matt. 5:22, "whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." See also, Matt. 5:29,30.

Fiery Hell
Matt. 18:8-9, "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. 9"And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell."

Eternal Fire
Matt. 25:41, "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

Eternal Punishment
Matt. 25:46, "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
The word 'eternal' in both places is "aionios" which means 1)without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be; 2)without beginning; 3)without end, never to cease, everlasting. The word 'punishment' is the word kolasis and it means "to punish, with the implication of resulting severe suffering - 'to punish, punishment.'"(5)

Eternal Fire
Jude 7, "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire."

Lake of Fire
Rev. 20:15, "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Luke 16:19-31, Lazarus and the Rich Man

In Luke 16:19-31 is the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Basically, Lazarus is a poor man who suffers during life. The rich man is, of course, rich. They both die. The rich man goes to Hades. Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom, another term for paradise. In Hades, the rich man lifts up his eyes and sees Lazarus far off. He cries out to Abraham and asks for mercy because he is in agony in flame. Abraham says no. Then the rich man asks if someone from the dead were to rise and go tell his brothers not to come to this terrible place. Abraham teaches him that that will not be done either.
Some say that this is a parable. However, if it is, it is unique because no other parable actually names a person. It isn't a story. It is history. It really happened. But many who believe in no consciousness after death will say it is still a parable. The question then is, if it is? What is it teaching? If hell fire is false and if self-awareness after death is also false, then Jesus is using false doctrines to teach a truth. Parables illustrate truth. If it is a parable what does the consciousness after death symbolize? Also, what does the agony in flame symbolize? Are they not real? Of course they are.


Conclusion

Hell is a real place. It is not mere unconsciousness. It is not temporal. It is eternal torment. Perhaps that is why Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven and spent so much time warning people not to go there. After all, if people just stopped existing, why warn them? If it was temporal, they'd get out in a while. But if it were eternal and conscious, then the warning is strong.


Jesus said, "And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30"And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell," (Matt. 5:29-30).

Answer 2

gehenna is the place every one wants to be in that is a muslim if you want to go ther you have to read quran and pray and worship god only but hell on the other hand is bad you have to eat dirty food and drink your sweat and eat of a horny tree so hell is bad gehenna is the best and in gehenna you will meat god.

Answer 3

Hell you dotn want to know, its too much of a pain

Hell is created by Sin
its like Sin punishign the Sin, YOu can murder a killer if you onyl Sin
YOu can try nto sinning to punish him, but that impossible
So SIn must punish the SINNER

People dont fear God, What a big regret

Answer 4

Somewhere down below us with worms, fire, brimstone, and a double arrow tailed, and horned devil holding pitchfork making your life miserable.......When you die you will feel his wrath. If you are a good person you might get the chance to bypass him and go up to the sky and be in Heaven instead. Forget about Hell and think good thoughts.

Answer 5

Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is a place or a state of pain and suffering. The English word 'hell' comes from the Teutonic 'Hel', which originally meant "to cover." "Hel" later referred to the goddess of the Norse underworld, Hel. Compare Anglo-Saxon helan, Greek kalyptein and Latin celare="to hide, to cover" (all from PIE *kel-).

According to many religions, the afterlife affords evildoers to suffer eternally. In monotheistic religions, Hell is often populated by demons who torment the damned. The fallen angel Lucifer in Christian theology, otherwise known as Satan, is commonly portrayed in popular culture as the ruler of Hell. Others portray Hell as the final resting place of the Devil, prepared as his punishment by God Himself. Hell is also defined as an utter absence of God or redemptive force. Purgatory, as believed by Catholicism, is another place of torment for sinners who have ultimately achieved salvation but have not paid penance for the sins they have committed in their previous lives. Hell on the contrary is commonly believed to be for eternity with no chance of redemption or salvation for those who suffer there. Christian faith teaches it is a domain of boundless dimension, scope, and torment. Many monotheistic religions regard Hell as the absolute ultimate worst-case-scenario, per se. For some Gnostics including the Cathars hell was none other than this present life on earth.

In polytheistic religions, the politics of Hell can be as complicated as human politics. Many Hellenistic Neopagans believe in Tartarus, which may also be considered a version of Hell. I don't believe in hell or heaven either.

Answer 6

The root of the Hebrew word, sheol, is "question." The final hey indicates "toward." Hence -- going toward the unknown.

Learn Hebrew! You will love what you find in the Torah.

Shalom my friend

Answer 7

Hell is another plane of existence of great suffering. It does not mean that you are eternally bound to it. if you practise a good and compassionate way of life in hell, you are bound to leave it and go to another plane of existence with less suffering.

Answer 8

Heaven and Hell are Same. What is Heaven for you is Hell for another and what is hell for you might be heaven for others.
Eg. You are having sex with miss Universe In this case, you are feeling like Heaven but she might be feeling like HELL. Sorry for bad example.

Answer 9

fiction... why would a god create you just to play head games with you then damn you, does not sound like a dude i would hang out with after school.
this phyical plane we are on is extremely hellish... think paper cuts and re-runs of the Jerry Springer show...

Answer 10

my personal belief is that hell would be everlasting life on earth, something like "Groundhogs Day" but lifetimes vs. days. where as heaven would be like passing the divine test, and leaving this "earthsuit"(human body) and experiencing peace that is unexplainiably wonderful.

Answer 11

Tara gets my vote thats almost word for word what I was going to say even if you dont' get voted best answer I want to say kudos for the good answer