The Biblical Hell
BY HAL FLEMINGS
SEPTEMBER 1989
What is hell? For many Muslims, Hindus, professed Christians and others, hell is
a burning, fiery place into which the wicked are eventually placed. In this
paper, we will concern ourselves with hell as it is defined by and described in
the Bible.
Although a few Protestant denominations hold that hell is either the grave or
does not exist as a place, the official view of the majority of Protestant
denominations and certainly of the Catholic churches is that hell is a place, a
burning one, specifically designed to torture the ungodly.
What cannot be denied is that often the Bible associates fire with the fate of
the wicked. Let us look at a number of scriptures doing that:
Isaiah 66:24:
"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have
transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire
be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." (King James
Version)
Matthew 13:40-42:
"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in
the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth." (King James Version)
Revelation 20:15:
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire." (King James Version)
Matthew 3:11,12:
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is
mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you
with the holy spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he
will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary but the
chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." (Revised Standard Version)
Do not the foregoing scriptures and others like them provide irrefutable
evidence that the wicked will burn somewhere - and that that somewhere is the
Biblical hell?
Before we go in depth discussing and defining the Bible hell, let us focus on a
number of other Bible verses referring to the burning of the wicked and their
dwelling places. Discussing the fate of ancient Edom, Isaiah 34:8-12 says, "For
Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And
the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into
brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be
quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation
to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven
shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the
plummet of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but
none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come
up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall
be a habitation of jackals, a court of ostriches." (American Standard Version).
If we take all the foregoing comments to be literal, we would expect to find, if
we traveled to the area of ancient Edom, "streams ...turned into pitch", "dust
...into brimstone", the "land ...burning pitch", and "smoke ...(going) up
forever". It turns out that we do not see this literally happening. Not only
that, if it was a literal burning, then how could we expect it to be "a
habitation of jackals, a court of ostriches"? And how could vegetation grow in a
literal burning? How could "thorns", "nettles" and "thistles" survive a literal
fire? It becomes clear that the "brimstone", "burning pitch" and "smoke" that
would last "forever" are symbolic and not literal; they represent or symbolize
utter destruction. Jude 7 introduces us to another example of this. We read,
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving
themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for
an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Archaeologists know the
region where these ancient cities existed. Nowhere have they seen the "eternal
fire". It is obvious that the "eternal fire" these cities suffer is everlasting
destruction; the fire symbolizes their complete finish. There is no literal fire
to be seen.
Most people can see that in both Jude and Isaiah the "fire", "smoke" and
"burning pitch" are not literal but symbolic. What is not commonly known is that
the Bible relates that such a fate awaits all the willfully wicked, one not
employing literal "fire", "smoke" and "burning pitch" but symbolic. Making that
point is Revelation 21:8, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death". The book of Revelation frequently gives a literal
interpretation to a symbol; "the morning star" (a symbol) is identified as Jesus
Christ at Revelation 22:16, the "seven candlesticks" (a symbol) are identified
as the seven congregations at Revelation 1:20, "the incense" (a symbol) is
identified as the prayers of the holy ones at Revelation 5:8. We are told that
the "lake of fire" (a symbol) is the second death. We have been thus informed
not to make the "lake of fire" anymore literal than making the "morning star" at
Revelation 22:16 a literal morning star.
Another evidence that a symbolic fire awaits the wicked is found at Matthew
25:41 where Jesus is found judging the lost in these words, "Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". The fact that this "everlasting
fire" is also "prepared for the devil and his angels" is significant. Elsewhere
in the Bible we are informed that the devil will be destroyed, forced into
non-existence. On this the latter part of Hebrews 2:14 tells us that,
"...Through death (Jesus) might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil". This means then that "everlasting fire" prepared for the devil
means that he will be ‘destroyed’ forever. That makes sense since it does not
appear from scripture that literal fire could do anything to harm spirit
creatures like the devil and his associate spirit rebels. Since the earthly
wicked are thrown into the same "fire", we seemed to be forced to the conclusion
that the "fire" confronting them is symbolic, not literal.
At Matthew 25:46, Jesus summarizes the matter in these words, "And these (the
wicked) shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal". (King James Version) Now, "punishment" does not always mean conscious,
painful suffering. It also includes literal death. Making this point is Jeremiah
11:22 which states, "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, I will
punish them: the young men shall die by famine." (King James Version) The
"punishment" (literally ‘cutting off’) that the wicked received is evidently
everlasting death (the "second death") since the righteous receive the opposite
consequence which is "life eternal". And since the "life eternal" is not only
spiritual but literal, the everlasting death is not only spiritual but literal.
All this agrees with the popular John 3:16 where Jesus tells us, "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (King James Version) Only the
believers get everlasting life. If the wicked are actually living forever in a
literal burning hell, then they would have "everlasting life" without accepting
Jesus as their Savior and King and that would be a contradiction of what John
3:16 is telling us. (Compare John 3:36).
Let us now turn to what the Bible says about "hell" in the so-called "New
Testament" or Christian Greek Scriptures, primarily two Greek words have been
translated into English as "hell" or "hellfire" and they are "Hades"
(αδης) and "Gehenna" (γεεννα).
This has led to some confusion since it is generally acknowledged that "Hades"
is one thing and "Gehenna" is something else entirely. "Hades"
(αδης) and its
counterpart in the Hebrew Bible, "Sheol" (שאול), are associated with the resting place
of those literally dead. Psalm 6:5 relates, "For in death there is no
remembrance of thee: in the grave ("Sheol") who shall give thee thanks". (King
James Version). And at Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do
it with thy might: for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in the grave ("Sheol"), whither thou goest." (King James Version) Again, looking
at Isaiah 14:9, "Hell (Sheol) from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy
coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee...". In ancient times when soldiers
died, they were sometimes placed in their graves with swords under their heads;
see how this practice is mentioned and how hell ("Sheol") is connected to the
grave at Ezekiel 32:27, "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen
of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell ("Sheol") with their weapons
of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities
shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land
of the living." (King James Version) Looking to the Christian Greek Scriptures,
we find, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
("Hades") delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every
man according to their works." (Revelation 20:13, King James Version). At
Revelation 6:8 in the Apostle John’s vision of the horses of the Apocalypse,
John reports, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on
him was Death, and Hell ("Hades") followed with him. And power was given unto
them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger and
with death; and with the beasts of the earth". (King James Version) It will be
observed that "Death and Hell (Hades)" are involved in killing individuals,
taking their lives. That being the case, Hell ("Hades") is again associated with
literal death, not a conscious tortured existence after death. Clearly, the
foregoing scriptures from both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek
Scriptures show that "hell" ("Sheol", "Hades") means the place of those
literally dead.
There is one particular place though in the Bible where the Greek word "Hades"
(Hell) is associated with fire and gives, at least, a hint of support that
"Hades" (Hell) may also be a place of fire. That place is the 16th chapter of
Luke, verses 19-31. The Revised Standard Version renders the Greek text as
follows:
"(Jesus said) there was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and
who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus
full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table;
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried
by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in
Hades ("Hell", King James Version), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and
saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, Father Abraham,
have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and
cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son,
remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in
like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order
that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross
from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my
father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they
also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and
the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if some
one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do
not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one
should rise from the dead.’"
Now, since we have already read elsewhere that Hades ("hell") is the place of
those literally dead, is this a contradiction in Luke 16:19-31? We recall that
at Matthew 13:34 we read, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in
parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them." (King James Version) Is
Luke 16:19-31 an exception or is it a parable? Some clergymen say "yes" this is
literal and further argue that Bible parables do not contain personal names.
Since this account contains personal names, namely "Lazarus" and "Abraham", they
conclude this cannot be a parable. Unfortunately, for those taking that
position, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest’ that personal names cannot
be employed in Bible parables. Not only that, the parable at Ezekiel 23:1-49
does employ two personal Hebrew names, "Aholah" and "Aholibah" (King James
Version). What is clear in beginning the reading of Luke 16 is that it starts
with the "parable of the unjust steward". Jesus indicates that this parable has
to do with having the appropriate view of money. Then the text interrupts the
discussion of what Jesus is saying and injects this comment in verse 14:
"The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at
him." (Revised Standard Version)
"Now the Pharisees, who were coveteous and lovers of money, heard all these
things (taken together), and they began to sneer and ridicule and scoff at him."
(Amplified Bible)
"The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and scoffed at him." (New
English Bible)
After what, on the surface, seems to be a change of thought in verses 16-18, the
story of Lazarus and the rich man picks up. With the possible exception of
verses 16-18, everything else is related to the use and misuse of wealth - and
the Pharisees are directly tied to this subject in verse 14 (see above).
Since the Bible has told us elsewhere that Hades ("hell") is the place of those
literally dead and since Matthew 13:34 has duly informed us that Jesus usually
spoke in parables and since the whole discussion, verses 1-8, begins with a
parable, it seems clear that Luke 16:19-31 is not to be taken literal but viewed
as a parable. Obviously, individuals committed to the belief in a literal
burning hell are not going to accept this conclusion. However, in view of the
foregoing discussion, they have a lot of questions to answer.
Since verse 14 has tipped us that the religious Pharisees were covetous, money
lovers; at least part of the puzzle has been solved. The rich man in the parable
represents the Jewish religionists, the Pharisees and others, who exercised
extensive control and influence over the Jewish masses. By deduction then, the
poor Lazarus represents those masses. What is represented by the deaths of
Lazarus and the rich man? In the parable, following the deaths of both
individuals a reversal occurred in their circumstances. Lazarus was now in
"Abraham’s bosom", faring well, while the rich man was in torments in Hades
("hell"). The coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Christian
congregation in Jerusalem on Pentecost A.D. 33 brought a change that gave the
Jewish masses a refreshing, spiritual option - Christianity. No longer did they
depend on the Jewish clergy for spiritual nourishment and support (see Luke
11:52 and Acts chapters 2-5). The Jewish church was now dead in God's eyes and
was in torment and anguish over the growth of Christianity and its exposure of
Judaism. Notice how the book of Acts recounts how the "rich man" reacted to the
reversed situation:
Acts 4:1,2 (KJV):
"And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple
and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and
preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead."
Acts 5:17, 18 (KJV):
"Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the
sect of the Sadducees) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on
the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
Acts 7:54 (KJV):
"When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on
him with their teeth."
The Jewish religionists were tormented by the change. They wanted relief. They
wanted it stopped and, in fact, demanded that it be stopped. Not long after the
formal birth of the Christian church, Peter and John healed a lame man in the
city of Jerusalem. This brought a notable public reaction that incensed the
Jewish clergy. Acts 4:16-18 notes their plan of action, "saying, what shall we
do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is
manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. But that it
spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they
speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded
them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus." (KJV) (See also Acts
5:28; 13:45; 14:1, 2, 19; 17:13). It was not to be, the tormenting was to
continue.
If we took the account at Luke 16:19-31 literal, it would run counter not only
to what has already been noted but the following as well. Psalm 92:7 tells us,
"When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do
flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever." (King James Version) In
the original Hebrew of Psalm 92:7*, the word translated "destroyed" comes from
the word "שבור" which means "exterminate", "destroy". If the wicked are
"exterminated" forever, there would be nothing left to consciously torment. Yes,
the fate of the wicked is eternal death. Truly, each one of them, "...shall go
the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light". (Psalm 49:19) That
would not be the case if Hades (Sheol) was a place of blazing fire and conscious
inhabitants. Making the same point, the Apostle Paul wrote at 2 Thessalonians
1:8,9, "(Jesus) in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his
power." (King James Version). The fate of the wicked is "everlasting
destruction", not everlasting life in a burning hell. Note again the association
of "fire" with "destruction" in this text. (See Isaiah 33:10-14.)
The second Koine Greek word, in our discussion, that has been translated "hell"
or "hellfire" in some translations is "Gehenna" (γεεννα). Now, in Jesus' day, Gehenna was
essentially a city dump. A continual fire was kept there in order to consume the
waste and the dead bodies of animals and criminals. Jesus used Gehenna to
represent the fate of the wicked. At Matthew 18:9, the King James Version uses
the words "hell fire" where the original Greek uses the word "Gehenna". There we
read in the King James Version, "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and
cast it from thee; it is better for thee to enter life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Gehenna)". (See Matthew 5:22; Mark
9:47,48 and James 3:6 for other examples of where the Greek word "Gehenna" has
been mistranslated in the King James Version as "hell fire" or "fire of hell".
Such mistranslations have no doubt contributed to the view that hell is a place
of literal fire. Showing that Gehenna was a place of destruction rather than
conscious existence, Jesus said the following, "And fear not them which kill the
body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell ("Gehenna"). (Matthew 10:28) (King James
Version)
* See Lexicon In Veteris Testamenti Libros by Koehler and Baumgartner under
"שבור"
However, despite all the foregoing, some feel that Revelation 20:10 demonstrates
that the wicked will suffer a conscious, fiery fate. There we find, "And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever." (King James Version) (See also Revelation 14:10,11). Now, since the
scriptures have already stated that both the devil and wicked humans will be
"destroyed", "annihilated", "be no more", is the message of Revelation 20:10,
and Revelation 14:10, 11 telling us something different? Let’s examine the
Biblical notion of "tormenting". The basic Greek word here is
"βασανιστεος" (Basanisteos)
which is a verb meaning "to be put to the proof". The related word "βασανιστης"
(Basanistes)
is a noun translated "torturer", "tormentor" or "jailer". Notice how the related
noun form is translated at Matthew 18:34:
"And his master being provoked, delivered him to the jailors, till he should
discharge the debt." (Diaglott)
"And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay
all that was due unto him." (King James Version)
"And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay
all his debt." (The Jerusalem Bible)
"And his master turned him over to the jailers until he should pay back all he
owed." (New International Version)
Included in the definition of "βασανιστεος" was not only conscious testing and
torture but also the state of being confined, jailed, conscious or not.
Interestingly, the Bible identifies Jesus as a jailer, a tormentor, at
Revelation 1:18 where we read, "I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I
am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Jesus has
the "keys". At Revelation 20:1-3 we note, "And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him...". Here we have the devil "jailed" in the bottomless pit unable to
"get out". He is hence "tormented", confined. In case this is not clear, let us
look at the accounts at Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-17 and Luke 8:26-37. These
accounts describe Jesus expelling demons from a possessed man living among the
tombs in a part of Galilee. What the demons said to Jesus is of interest in
helping us to understand the "tormenting" awaiting both humans and angels
unfortunate enough to be at odds with Jehovah. Matthew 8:29 says, "And, behold,
they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?
Art thou come hither to torment (Greek, "βασανισαι") us before the time?" (King
James Version) Luke's account focuses in on one of the spirits possessing this
man and recounts, "...What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Most
High? I beseech thee, torment me not ... and they (the demon spirits) besought
him that he would not command them to go out into the deep (Greek, "αβυσσον",
abyss)."
(Luke 8:28,31, King James Version). Here being "tormented" is associated with
being confined to the "abyss", and clearly ties in with the action mentioned
previously at Revelation 20:1-3. Those demons did not want to be "jailed", "shut
up" and "sealed" in the bottomless pit, the "deep". At Romans 10:7, the Bible
tells us that when Jesus Christ was dead, he was in the "abyss", or "deep". We
read, "Or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again
from the dead." (King James Version) Dead individuals therefore are confined in
the "deep", the bottomless pit - and according to Luke 8:26-37, Mark 5:1-17 and
Matthew 8:28-34, that means that they are being "tormented". Obviously they are
not conscious while they are being "tormented" if they are dead.
It should be clear now how to understand the four scriptures that we cited in
beginning our discussion on hell. The Bible is plain in relating that only those
saved by God will enjoy everlasting life; the "wicked shall not be". (Psalm
37:10) Jesus is the door to everlasting life; the "lake of fire" is the door to
everlasting death. (Revelation 20:15) "Hellfire", as taught in many of the
churches of Christendom, is an insult to Jehovah. It would make Jehovah unfair,
by his own standards, and not a God of mercy and love. Hell is not a place of
eternal conscious torture.
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