Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Sheol, Hades

The state which we call death, i.e. the condition consequent up on the act of dying, is to be viewed in three aspects: - First, there is the tomb, or sepulchre, the local habitation of the physical frame, which is called Kever (קבר , Ass. qabru), Genesis 50:5; secondly, there is the corruption whereby the body itself is dissolved, which is represented by the word Shachath (שׁחת ), discussed above; and thirdly, there is Sheol (שׁאול ), which represents the locality or condition of the departed. The A. V. translates Sheol by the words Hell, the grave, the pit; the LXX usually renders it ̔́Αδης; the R. V. has unfortunately put Sheol in the O.T., and Hades in the N.T. The original meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words is uncertain, but the following passages illustrate its usage: - Genesis 37:35, 'I shall go down to the grave unto my son mourning' (compare 42:38, 44:29, 31). 1 Samuel 2:6, 'The Lord killeth and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.' Job 7:9, ' as the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no (more). He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.' Job 14:13, 'O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me.' Psalms 30:3, 'Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.' Psalms 49:14-15, 'Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.' Isaiah 38:10, 'I shall go to the gases of the grave' Hosea 13:14, 'I will ransom them from the power (or hand) of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.' Numbers 16:30; Numbers 16:33, 'They go down quick (i.e. alive) into the pit.'

The word Hell stands for Sheol in the following amongst other passages: -

Deuteronomy 32:22, 'A fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell.' 2 Samuel 22:6, Psalms 18:5; Psalms 116:3, 'The sorrows of hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me.' Job 11:8, 'It is hig has heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?' Job 26:6, 'Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.' Psalms 9:17, 'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.' Psalms 16:10, 'Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.' Psalms 139:8, 'If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.' Proverbs 5:5, 'Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.' Proverbs 15:11, 'Hell and destruction are before the Lord; how much more then the hearts of the children of men?' Proverbs 23:14, 'Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.' Proverbs 27:20, 'Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.' Isaiah 14:15, 'Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.' Ezekiel 31:16-17 (see also verse 15, above), 'I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword.' Amos 9:2, 'Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine h and take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.' Jonah 2:2, 'Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.'

These are the most notable passages in which the word Sheol occurs. There is no re as on to doubt that what the grave or pit is to the body, that Sheol is to the soul. It is the nether-world, and perhaps this would be the best rendering for the word. Not in one single passage is it used in the sense of the place of punishment after the resurrection, concerning which little, if anything, is definitely revealed in the O.T. It is contrasted, as regards its locality, with heaven, the one being regarded as down, the other up. It is spoken of as an abode for those who have departed from the way of life and have chosen the path of evil. Concerning those who live to the Lord, if they enter it, they are to be delivered from its h and by the power of God; death shall not have dominion over them. It is dark and silent, a place where none can praise God. Its very name possibly signifies a place about which men inquire - an impenetrable hiding-place. It involves deprivation of the only kind of existence about which we have any definite knowledge, but some passages where it occurs imply a certain companionship. Though man knows so little about it, Sheol is naked and open before God He can find men there; He can hide them there; He can redeem them thence.

It is surprising to notice how few references there are to this region or condition in the N.T., it being only mentioned twelve times altogether in Matthew 11:23, and Luke 10:15, it is used figuratively of the casting down of Capernaum from her exaltation; and in the same way it is said of the Church of Christ, that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

In Luke 16:23 the rich man entered Hades, not Gehenna.

In Acts 2:27 St. Peter quotes the sixteenth Psalm, with regard to the interpretation of which there is some difference of opinion. The ordinary rendering is, 'Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell,' but there are critics who consider that the passage, both in the O.T. and N.T., ought to be rendered, 'Thou shalt not consign my soul to Hades;' whilst others are of opinion that it should be translated, 'Thou shalt not leave my dead body in the grave.' That the word nephesh, soul, may sometimes be translated 'dead body' is true (see chap. iv.); and that the word hades is often translated grave we have also seen to be true. So far as the usage of the words, therefore, is concerned, there is no objection to this last rendering; but the belief of the early Churc has to the meaning of the text was in accordance with the more generally received translation. [See Pears on on the Creed.]

In 1 Corinthians 15:55, the A. V. has adopted the rendering grave for Hades. But, according to many early authorities, the right reading is death, not Hades in Revelation 1:18 (and, according to some mss., in 3:7) the Lord is described as possessing the keys of Hades and death, i.e. it is He that can open the do or of the nether world and call forth the dead into being in Revelation 6:8 Death and Hades are described as the agents of slaughter.; and in chap.20:13, 14, they are said to yield up the dead that had been swallowed up by them, and then to be cast into the lake of fire.