SERIOUS QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS! Need more info about Sheoul!?

Question

Does anyone know where Believers went when they died before Jesus died on the cross since there was no Heaven or Hell? I heard people say they were in Sheoul. That just doesn't seem right to me. I can't seem to find anything about it in the Bible. Please give me scripture along with your answer.

Answer 1

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 isn't “gehenna” [place of eternal torment] but “hades” [place of the dead]. lazarus’s place of comfort is elsewhere called paradise [see luke 23:43]. between these two districts of hades is “a great gulf fixed”

Answer 2

Sheol ( Strong's H7585 ) The 65 occurances of this word are distributed throughout every period of biblical Hebrew.
First, the word means the state of death: " For death there is no rememberance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks? " ( Ps. 6 : 5 cf. 18 : 5 ) It is the final resting place of all men: " They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. ( Job 21 : 13 ) . Hannah confessed that it was the omnipotent God who brings men to sheol ( death ) or kills them ( 1 Samuel 2 : 6 ) . " Sheol " is parrallel to Hebrew words for " pit " or " hell " ( Job 26 : 6 ) , " corruption " or " decay " ( Ps. 16 : 10 ) , and " destruction " ( Prov. 15 : 11 ) .
Second, " Sheol " is used of a place of conscious existence after death. In the first biblical appearance of the word Jacob said that he would " go down into the grave unto my son mourning " ( Gen. 37 : 35 ) . All men go to " Sheol " - a place and state of consciousness after death ( Ps. 16 : 10 ) . The wicked recieve punishment there ( Num. 16 : 30 ; Deut. 32 : 22; Ps. 9 : 17 ) . They are put to shame and silence in " Sheol " ( Ps. 31 : 17 ) . Jesus alluded to Isaiah's use of Sheol ( Isaiah 14 : 13 - 15 ) in pronouncing judgement in Capernaum
( Matt. 11 : 23 ) , translating " Sheol " as " Hades " or " Hell " , meaning the place of conscious existence and judgement. It is an undesirable place for the wicked ( Job 24 : 19 ) and a refuge for the righteous ( Job 14 : 13 ) . Thus " Sheol " is also a place of reward for the righteous ( Hosea 13 : 14; cf. 1 Cor. 15 : 55 ) . Jesus teaching in Luke 16 : 19 - 31 seems to reflect accurately the Old Testament concept of Sheol; it is a place of conscious existence after death, one side of which is occupied by the suffering, unrighteous dead separated by a great chasm from the other side peopled by the righteous dead enjoying their reward. Vine's Expository Dictionary pg. 227

Answer 3

Sheol is Hebrew for the grave. It is the word that is later translated (poorly, mind you) to "hell". If you are wanting more answers on Sheol itself, I suggest you speak with a Jew.

Answer 4

Yes they were held in "Abraham's bosom". We know that because the parable Jesus told of the rich man who died, and the poor man who died, had the poor man being comforted in Abraham's bosom while the rich man was in torment.

Answer 5

--THERE AR OVER 120 that the Hebrew word Sheol(which means common grave for mankind--total death) appears in the old testament, here are a few:

(Job 14:10-14) 10 But an able-bodied man dies and lies vanquished; And an earthling man expires, and where is he? 11 Waters do disappear from a sea, And a river itself drains off and dries up. 12 Man also has to lie down and does not get up. Until heaven is no more they will not wake up, Nor will they be aroused from their sleep. 13 O that in She′ol you would conceal me, That you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, That you would set a time limit for me and remember me! 14 If an able-bodied man dies can he live again? All the days of my compulsory service I shall wait, Until my relief comes.

(Job 17:13-16) 13 If I keep waiting, She′ol is my house; In the darkness I shall have to spread out my lounge. 14 To the pit I shall have to call out, ‘You are my father!’ To the maggot, ‘My mother and my sister!’ 15 So where, then, is my hope? And my hope—who is it that beholds it? 16 To the bars of She′ol they will go down, When we, all together, must descend to the very dust.”

*** it-2 pp. 922-923 Sheol ***

The common grave of mankind, gravedom; not an individual burial place or grave (Heb., qe′ver, Jg 16:31; qevu·rah′, Ge 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.—Ge 37:35, ftn; Pr 30:15, 16.

The Hebrew word she’ohl′ occurs 65 times in the Masoretic text. In the King James Version, it is translated 31 times as “hell,” 31 times as “grave,” and 3 times as “pit.” The Catholic Douay Version rendered the word 63 times as “hell,” once as “pit,” and once as “death.” In addition, at Isaiah 7:11 the Hebrew text originally read she’ohl′, and it was rendered as “Hades” in the ancient Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and as “hell” in the Douay Version.—See NW ftn.

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.”—RS, AT, NW.

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. (Ec 9:4-6, 10) Those in Sheol neither praise God nor mention him. (Ps 6:4, 5; Isa 38:17-19) Yet it cannot be said that it simply represents ‘a condition of being separated from God,’ since the Scriptures render such a teaching untenable by showing that Sheol is “in front of” him, and that God is in effect “there.” (Pr 15:11; Ps 139:7, 8; Am 9:1, 2) 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. (1Sa 2:6; 2Sa 22:6; Ps 18:4, 5; 49:7-10, 14, 15; 88:2-6; 89:48; Isa 28:15-18; also compare Ps 116:3, 7-10 with 2Co 4:13, 14.) It is spoken of as “the land of darkness” (Job 10:21) and a place of silence. (Ps 115:17) Abel apparently was the first one to go to Sheol, and since then countless millions of human dead have joined him in the dust of the ground.

On the day of Pentecost 33 C.E., the apostle Peter quoted from Psalm 16:10 and applied it to Christ Jesus. Luke, in quoting Peter’s words, used the Greek word hai′des, thereby showing that Sheol and Hades refer to the same thing, mankind’s common grave. (Ac 2:25-27, 29-32) During the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, Sheol, or Hades, is emptied and destroyed, through a resurrection of all of those in it.—Re 20:13, 14; see GRAVE; HADES; HELL.

--THE GREEK WORD FOR SHEOL AND EQUIVALENT IS HADES it appears 46 times in the New Testament and here is a commentary:

*** it-1 pp. 1015-1016 Hades ***
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This is the common transliteration into English of the corresponding Greek word hai′des. It perhaps means “the unseen place.” In all, the word “Hades” occurs ten times in the earliest manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures.—Mt 11:23; 16:18; Lu 10:15; 16:23; Ac 2:27, 31; Re 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14.
--The King James Version translates hai′des as “hell” in these texts, but the Revised Standard Version renders it “Hades,” with the exception of Matthew 16:18, where “powers of death” is used, though the footnote reads “gates of Hades.” “Hades” rather than “hell” is used in many modern translations.
--The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (from Genesis to Malachi) uses the word “Hades” 73 times, employing it 60 times to translate the Hebrew word she’ohl′, commonly rendered “Sheol.” Luke, the divinely inspired writer of Acts, definitely showed Hades to be the Greek equivalent of Sheol when he translated Peter’s quotation from Psalm 16:10. (Ac 2:27) Inversely, nine modern Hebrew translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures use the word “Sheol” to translate Hades at Revelation 20:13, 14; and the Syriac translation uses the related word Shiul.
--In all but two cases in which the word Hades is used in the Christian Greek Scriptures it is related to death, either in the verse itself or in the immediate context; the two other instances are discussed in the following paragraph. Hades does not refer to a single grave (Gr., ta′phos), or to a single tomb (Gr., mne′ma), or to a single memorial tomb (Gr., mne·mei′on), but to the common grave of mankind, where the dead and buried ones are unseen. It thus signifies the same as the corresponding word “Sheol,” and an examination of its use in all its ten occurrences bears out this fact.—See GRAVE; SHEOL.
--In its first occurrence, at Matthew 11:23, Jesus Christ, in chiding Capernaum for its disbelief, uses Hades to represent the depth of debasement to which Capernaum would come down, in contrast with the height of heaven to which she assumed to exalt herself. A corresponding text is found at Luke 10:15. Note the similar way in which Sheol is used at Job 11:7, 8.
--Jesus and Congregation Delivered. Concerning the Christian congregation, Jesus said, at Matthew 16:18, that “the gates of Hades [“powers of death,” RS] will not overpower it.” Similarly, King Hezekiah, when on the verge of death, said: “In the midst of my days I will go into the gates of Sheol.” (Isa 38:10) It, therefore, becomes apparent that Jesus’ promise of victory over Hades means that its “gates” will open to release the dead by means of a resurrection, even as was the case with Christ Jesus himself.
--Since Hades refers to the common grave of mankind, a place rather than a condition, Jesus entered within “the gates of Hades” when buried by Joseph of Arimathea. On Pentecost of 33 C.E., Peter said of Christ: “Neither was he forsaken in Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses.” (Ac 2:25-27, 29-32; Ps 16:10) Whereas “the gates of Hades” (Mt 16:18) were still holding David within their domain in Peter’s day (Ac 2:29), they had swung open for Christ Jesus when his Father resurrected him out of Hades. Thereafter, through the power of the resurrection given him (Joh 5:21-30), Jesus is the Holder of “the keys of death and of Hades.”—Re 1:17, 18.
--Manifestly, the Bible Hades is not the imagined place that the ancient non-Christian Greeks described in their mythologies as a “dark, sunless region within the earth,” for there was no resurrection from such mythological underworld."