Hades

The Term

Hades is a Greek word, thus appearing only in the New Testament, and then only ten times is it used.  It is translated in the NIV as “the grave,” “the depths,”  “death” or left in the original Greek as “Hades.”  Also it is translated “Hell,” in Luke 16 (below), but in our modern understanding of that term, “Hell” is not the best translation (more on that later).  Being a modern translation, this is an egregious miscalculation of the NIV.   It is translated as “Hell” in all ten usages of the KJV, a much older translation. Continue Reading

Sheol

The Term

Sheol is a Hebrew term, found, of course, in the Old Testament.  The term sheol literally means “the grave” or “the world of the dead.”  It is frequently translated into English as “the grave” and at times, “Hell,” though “Hell” is not the best translation for modern English thought.

Sheol occurs over 60 times in the Old Testament. Continue Reading

Introduction

Many are the terms used in scripture to reference the other-worldly realms.  These abodes include the habitations of the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, and angels, both righteous and unrighteous.  Some of these realms are temporary.  Some permanent.  And, in many cases an English rendering of scripture alone does not do justice to the interpretational necessities of the biblical student.  At times it is unclear, for example, in the Old Testament whether one’s afterlife abode is “Hell,” as the King James Version may translate, or “the grave,” as the NIV may translate for the very same verse.  The term “Hell” certainly brings a vivid picture of eternal destruction to the mind of the biblical student, while the terms “the grave” do not indicate such a specific judgment to have yet been rendered. Continue Reading