What is the difference between Hades, Gehenna, and Hell?

Answer 1

Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades (Greek) are the temporary place of torment for the souls of the wicked dead. Prior to Christ's resurrection, saints were kept and comforted in the now vacant half of Hades, known as Abraham's Bosom.

Gehenna (Greek, but from a Hebrew name) is the Lake of Fire for the permanent place of torment of the souls of the wicked dead in their resurrected bodies.

Hell is a rather general and inadequate term that is often used to refer to either Gehenna or the torment side of Hades, both by those who know the basic difference between these two specific places and by those who do not.

Answer 2

The Old Testament teaches life after death, and that all people went to a place of conscious existence called Sheol. The wicked were there (Psalm 9:17; 31:17; 49:14; Isaiah 5:14), and so were the righteous (Genesis 37:35; Job 14:13; Psalm 6:5; 16:10; 88:3; Isaiah 38:10).



The New Testament equivalent of Sheol is Hades. Prior to Christ’s resurrection, Luke 16:19-31 shows Hades to be divided into two realms: a place of comfort where Lazarus was, and a place of torment where the rich man was. The word hell in verse 23 is not “Gehenna” (place of eternal torment) but “Hades” (place of the dead). Lazarus’s place of comfort is elsewhere called Paradise (Luke 23:43). Between these two districts of Hades is “a great gulf fixed” (Luke 16:26).



Jesus is described as having descended into Hades after His death (Acts 2:27, 31; cf. Ephesians 4:9). At the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it seems that the believers in Hades (i.e., the occupants of Paradise) were moved to another location. Now, Paradise is above rather than below (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).



Today, when a believer dies, he is “present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). When an unbeliever dies, he follows the Old Testament unbelievers to Hades. At the final judgment, Hades will be emptied before the Great White Throne, where its occupants will be judged prior to entering the lake of fire (Hell) (Revelation 20:13-15).

Recommended Resource: What the Bible Says about Heaven & Eternity by Ice & Demy.

Answer 3

HEDES, GEHENNA, HELL and also SHEOL the differences-

All these words can be simply translated as, 'grave, pit, death, or hell.' However, their meaning is more involved than just a simple translation. We need to consider the meaning of these words to the authors of the original Bible manuscripts to be able to understand the concept they are trying to convey. Because of cultural and language differences reliance on simple word translation is very misleading; and many are using this to mislead others. Clearer meaning to the use of these words are-.

Sheol
- - The concept 'sheol' conveys is the 'the underworld'. The abode of the dead. A place:
of no return;
where there is no praise of God;
where the wicked were sent for punishment.
A place of exile from God.
The righteous are not abandoned to it.
The place of torment, commonly called hell, where devils and damned spirits are; hither the souls of the wicked go immediately upon their departure from their bodies.

Hades (Hell)
- - The word 'hades' (hell) is derived from name 'Pluto' (Hades), who the ancient Romans & Greeks believed was the god of the underworld, the nether world, the realm of the dead. Therefore it conveys a 'dwelling place.'

Gehenna
- - 'Gehenna' is derived from the Hebrew, 'Ge-Hinnom', the valley of Hinnom. A valley of Jerusalem that was used to dump dead animals and waste in. The heaps of refuse were then burned. It was figuratively used to designate 'a place of eternal dwelling and eternal punishment'.

We can see that the words 'gehenna, sheol, hades (hell)' meant more to the authors of the original biblical manuscripts than simply a hole in the ground called a grave. These words signified to all the writers of the manuscripts, 'a dwelling place of eternal punishment'. This was, and is, the concept they meant their readers to envision.-

Answer 4

JESUS WA S RESURRECTED OUT OF HELL

Acts 2:27-31; Sepulchre, cave, tomb, pit, grave, burial place hell [ is sheol in O.T. hades in N.T. Rev.20:1-6,12,13; 1Cor.15:22-28,51-53; Acts 24:15; All will be resurrected. Heb.9:27;
Gehenna, Tophet or the Valley of the son of Hinnom is death and burial by fire, or burial by fire. 2Chr,28:1-4; Jer.7:30,31; 19:2-5; King Josiah turned it into the city dump of Jerusalem Mark 9:42-48;
Tartarus prison hell is for angels that sin, angels do not die, Jude 6; 1Pet.3:18-20; 2Pet.2:4; How bad can it be if Jesus can go and visit them, they have been there from the flood Gen.6:2,4; having giants by females is there sin, the giants can not reproduce. They were destroyed in the flood.

Answer 5

Hades = Sheol = the grave

(mentioned in the OT about 35 times, all of them refer to the place where you bury people--hades is Greek, sheol is Hebrew)

Gehenna = a valley in Jerusalem
(The valley was purchased by the Sons of Hinnom and donated to the temple for the discarding of garbage from the temple. It eventually became synomous as a place for religious refuse and took on mythical meaning.)

Hell is entirely new testament, and it likely wasn't even named specifically until long after Jesus was dead. Technically, the place where people burn "alive" forever is not a Biblical concept.

Edit...................
Here's an accurate count for you:

sheol appears in the OT 31 times
hades appears in the NT10 times
gehenna appears in the NT 11 times
....(translated specifically as "the valley of Hinnom")
tarterous appears in the NT 1 time

Sheol is the only Hebrew word, the rest are Greek.

Answer 6

Hades refers to the common grave of mankind

Symbolic of Complete Destruction. It is evident that Jesus used Gehenna as representative of utter destruction resulting from adverse judgment by God, hence with no resurrection to life as a soul being possible.

HELL

A word used in the King James Version (as well as in the Catholic Douay Version and most older translations) to translate the Hebrew she’ohl′ and the Greek hai′des. In the King James Version the word “hell” is rendered from she’ohl′ 31 times and from hai′des 10 times. This version is not consistent, however, since she’ohl′ is also translated 31 times “grave” and 3 times “pit.” In the Douay Version she’ohl′ is rendered “hell” 64 times, “pit” once, and “death” once.

Answer 7

Hades is the greek land of the Dead. Here,everything is melancholy and grim, but not tortourous. most souls rember nothing of their past life, as they can forget it all when they arrive and are served by Persephone. Essentially, it's like the Jewish Sheol.

Gehenna was a Jewish trash heap that later came under the rule of Moloch. It was vital for the Churches early portrayal of fire and brime stone.

Hell is a combination of Gehenna and Hades, you always burn, and are gloomy Some people accept Dante's Divine Comedy as the accurate portrayal [for some reason], where the symbollism of the furthest pit being cold and dark means that one is truly away from god.

Other types of Hell are hellmouths [Beasts that devour you, and then you suffer], such as what Osiris would let eat you if he judged against your soul.

Answer 8

Isn't there another one, Sheol? I think Gehenna was a trash pit outside of Jerusalem. Sheol and Hades both mean "the grave". I am not aware of an ancient Jewish "Hell" concept...

Answer 9

Hades and Hell are the same thing.

Gehanna is the place where the unrighteous go after death; it is located inside Hades, as was "Abraham's Bosom," (the place where the righteous went before Jesus' death). The "Great Gulf" is also in Hades, and is the place where Satan will be bound for 1,000 years after Jesus returns.

See Luke 16:19-30.

Answer 10

My understanding is that Hades is not supposed to be a place of punishment. It's merely the underworld. That's about all I know.