She′ol.
The common grave of mankind, gravedom; not an individual burial place or grave (Heb., qe′ver, Judges 16:31; qevu·rah′, Genesis 35:20), nor an individual tomb (Heb., ga·dhish′, Job 21:32).
While several derivations for the Hebrew word she’ohl′ have been offered, apparently it is derived from the Hebrew verb sha·’al′, meaning “ask; request.” Regarding Sheol, in A Compendious Hebrew Lexicon, Samuel Pike stated that it is “the common receptacle or region of the dead; so called from the insatiability of the grave, which is as it were always asking or craving more.” (Cambridge, 1811, p. 148) This would indicate that Sheol is the place (not a condition) that asks for or demands all without distinction, as it receives the dead of mankind within it.—Gen. 37:35, ftn; Proverbs 30:15, 16.
The Hebrew word she’ohl′ occurs 65 times in the Masoretic text.
There is no English word that conveys the precise sense of the Hebrew word she’ohl′. Commenting on the use of the word “hell” in Bible translation, Collier’s Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 12, p. 28) says: “Since Sheol in Old Testament times referred simply to the abode of the dead and suggested no moral distinctions, the word ‘hell,’ as understood today, is not a happy translation.” More recent versions transliterate the word into English as “Sheol.”—Revised Standard Version, American Translation, New World Translation.
Regarding Sheol, the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1971, Vol. 11, p. 276) noted: “Sheol was located somewhere ‘under’ the earth. . . . The state of the dead was one of neither pain nor pleasure. Neither reward for the righteous nor punishment for the wicked was associated with Sheol. The good and the bad alike, tyrants and saints, kings and orphans, Israelites and gentiles—all slept together without awareness of one another.”
While the Greek teaching of the immortality of the human soul infiltrated Jewish religious thinking in later centuries, the Bible record shows that Sheol refers to mankind’s common grave as a place where there is no consciousness. (Eccl. 9:4-6, 10.) Those in Sheol neither praise God nor mention him. (Psalms 6:4, 5; Isaiah 38:17-19) For this reason Job, longing to be relieved of his suffering, prayed that he might go to Sheol and later be remembered by Jehovah and be called out from Sheol.—Job 14:12-15.
Throughout the inspired Scriptures, Sheol is continually associated with death and not life. (1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Samuel 22:6; Psalms 18:4, 5; 49:7-10, 14, 15; 88:2-6; 89:48; Isaiah 28:15-18; also compare Psalms 116:3, 7-10 with 2 Cor. 4:13, 14.)
Jonah and Sheol. In the account about Jonah, it is stated that “Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God from the inward parts of the fish and said: ‘Out of my distress I called out to Jehovah, and he proceeded to answer me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help. You heard my voice.’” (Jonah 2:1, 2) Therefore, Jonah was comparing the inside of the fish to Sheol. He was as good as dead inside the fish, but Jehovah brought up his life from the pit, or Sheol, by preserving him alive and having him disgorged.—Jonah 2:6; compare Psalms 30:3.
Jesus compared Jonah’s being in the belly of the fish with what would happen in his own case, saying: “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” (Matthew 12:40) Although Jesus did not here use the word “Sheol” (Hades), the apostle Peter did use the word “Hades” when referring to Jesus’ death and resurrection.—Acts 2:27.
Regarding the word “Sheol,” Brynmor F. Price and Eugene A. Nida noted: “The word occurs often in the Psalms and in the book of Job to refer to the place to which all dead people go. It is represented as a dark place, in which there is no activity worthy of the name. There are no moral distinctions there, so ‘hell’ (King James Version.) is not a suitable translation, since that suggests a contrast with ‘heaven’ as the dwelling-place of the righteous after death. In a sense, ‘the grave’ in a generic sense is a near equivalent, except that Sheol is more a mass grave in which all the dead dwell together. . . . The use of this particular imagery may have been considered suitable here in Jonah 2:2, in view of Jonah’s imprisonment in the interior of the fish.”—A Translators Handbook on the Book of Jonah, 1978, p. 37.
2006-08-21 06:54:04
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answer #1
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answered by Jeremy Callahan 4
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Sheol mean hell but actually it mean common graves. This is place for people sleep at and that mean you are able get up again (John 5:28-29) Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment. However, if anyone go to Gehenna is not very funny because you will not get up again, ever.
2016-03-26 23:59:51
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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The word Hell, in the Old Testament, is always a translation of the Hebrew word Sheol, which occurs sixty-four times, and is rendered "hell" thirty-two times, "grave" twenty-nine times, and "pit" three times. By examination of the Hebrew Scriptures it will be found that its primary meaning is, The place or state of the dead.
2006-08-21 04:45:02
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answer #3
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answered by Micah 6
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