Bible Dictionaries
Paradise

Holman Bible Dictionary

(par' uh disse) Old Persian term which means literally “enclosure” or “wooded park,” used in the Old Testament to speak of King Artaxerxes' forest (Nehemiah 2:8 ), and twice of orchards (Ecclesiastes 2:5; Song of Song of Solomon 4:13 ). All three New Testament occurrences (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7 ) refer to the abode of the righteous dead (heaven). The Greek Old Testament (Septuagint used “paradise” to translate the Hebrew words for the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 . Over the years, the terms because synonymous, and eventually paradise came to refer to heaven. Jewish theology then developed an opposite place for wicked persons, gehenna , a burning furnace. See Genesis 2-3; Genesis 2-3 .