Christians: Do you know the Hebrew & Greek words that are translated as "Hell"?

Question

It will be great if you can give me the etymologies of those words!

If you have noticed the Strong's Index, will you please include those also.

Answer 1

The word "hell" shows up 54 times in the Bible.



- 41 of these times it comes from either the Hebrew "Sheol" (31 times in the Old Testament) or the Greek "Hades" (10 times in the New Testament), both which translate to "the grave"



- 12 times from the Greek "Gehenna", which was the place outside of the walls of Jerusalem where they burned garbage.



- 1 time from the Greek "Tartarus" which means "a place of darkness"



There's mention in the Bible of a "Lake of Fire", but this isn't hell.

Answer 2

The word incorrect is inaccurate. The Greek word parthenos means virgin, but the Hebrew word almah means a woman of marriageable age, maid or sexually ripe. However, the word was also synonymous with virgin as some lexicons maintain even today, although there is admittedly a better word in Hebrew for virgin. It was assumed that an unmarried young woman was a virgin because the culture was to stone to death an unmarried woman who was not a virgin. The New Testament writer isn't being dishonest, he was working form the Septuagint (LXX) due to the Hellenisation of the Jewish people very few people actually spoke and read Hebrew, they tended to speak their own regional dialects (Jesus for instance spoke Aramaic) and Greek. Most of the synagogues and early Jews read the Torah in Greek. This was translated from the Hebrew Texts by 72 Hebrew scholars (six from each of the 12 tribes) who having brought their translation of Torah together showed remarkable agreement, or so the legend goes. The other legend was it was translated by 70 scholars, hence the name septuagint and the initials LXX which is Roman numerals for 70. Did you know the Hebrew language you are reading has evolved over time like all other languages, Just because you speak modern Hebrew doesn't mean you speak the same language as the Tanach was written in. Take for instance the modern English word "Charity" it means something very different from what it did when the King James Bible was written. It is precisely because people had forgotten how to read Hebrew that the Massorites invented a system of dots to put around the Hebrew consonants to teach people how to pronounce the words. This was around the 5th to the 10th century CE, Isaiah was thought to have been written somewhere around the 7th Century BCE? That's something like one and a half millennia ago. I have just demonstrated how much the English language has moved on since the 1611 KJV which is 400 years ago. So who are you (or I) to say that the word almah wasn't more accurately translated parthenos around the time Ptolemy ordered the translation of the LXX? Bear in mind the LXX is supposed to have been translated by 70 (or 72) Hebrew scholars. Is that explained to your satisfaction?

Answer 3

Geezah gave you all the info you need. I'll just add that etymology is a two edged sword. Language changes over time, and so knowing the etymology of a word does not guarantee it is being used in its original sense. There are lots of English words that have undergone this kind of shift. A contact included this quote in one of his messages: 200 years ago is General Wellesley happily reported to London that "my army is disposable." Obviously Wellesley didn't mean what we would today by the term disposable.



Usage determines meaning. At the end of the day, it's all about context-- immediate textual, historical, cultural, and theological. If you want to do serious study on the idea of hell, you're going to have to dig a lot deeper than just the definitions of words.

Answer 4

Hades is Greek for the underworld for the God Hades

Sheol is Hebrew for the pit or

Daa't In Kabbalah Which means the Void Hebrew Mystics (Magick)

there is no hell

The world Hell comes from The Goddess Hel from Nordic (Viking Religion)

Hell became the Word because we Speak some old German and old Nordic

Which became Old English

Hell means in this religion where the dead goes if you ain't no Worrier or Brave you go to Hell

You people have it all wrong I mean Christians

Blessed Be!

Answer 5

And you'll want to study: lake of fire (limne pur (Greek) , tartaroo (Greek) , abussos (Greek) , chasma (Greek) , Abraam kolpos (Greek) as well I think. ;)





'sheol' in the Hebrew is interpolated 'hell' or translated 'grave' or 'pit' in the Old Testament. Psalm 6:5, 9:17, 30:3; Numbers 16:30,33 *



'hades' in the Greek is translated 'grave' or interpolated 'hell' in the New Testament. 1Corinthians 15:55, Matthew11:21, 16:18 *



'gehenna' in the Greek is interpolated 'hell' in the New Testament. Matthew 5:22, 23:15; Luke 12:5 All Scripture quoted is from the N.K.J.V.

Answer 6

Ha'des (Greek) and She'ol (Hebrew). Both mean simply a pit or grave. That's all hell is. Anything else has no scriptural foundation whatsoever.



Rikvy: Gehenna IS hebrew, but it's not a translation of hell. Gegenna was an actual place. It was basically a garbage dump outside the city of Jerusalem.

Answer 7

Gehenna is the Hebrew. It's translated into the word "hell" in the Christian old testament.



Hell in Christianity is completely different than in Judaism. There is no such thing as some eternal burning hell, in Judaism. There is a place called Gehenna that we may go to in order to "burn off" any blemishes we have caused to our souls. This is not a permanent place, but is temporary lasting no more than 12 months.



While we are there, the pain we feel from the "burning off" is not a punishment, but comes from seeing and feeling every single bit of pain and suffering we ever caused anyone. It is like seeing a movie review of your life, only you FEEL everything you caused anyone.



The pain this causes us as we see the harm we did, and we see the many choices we could have made - and what errors led us to choose as we did instead, this pain is horrendous. We make complete, total tshuva (repentance, turning from ever doing those things again) and we leave there having gained a great deal in wisdom, understanding, and compassion.



At that point we may reincarnate in order to help others, or to meet any other situations that caused other types of blemishes we may have brought about in past lives that we need to work out in the new life. Some blemishes are best cleansed in Gehenna, some are best cleansed by reincarnating, it depends on the blemish and the level of understanding of the person themselves.



There is no such thing, there has never existed in Judaism, a God who would throw his creation into a burning hell of torture for all eternity. This is not the God of Israel.



This is traditional, Orthodox Judaism. Reincarnation has ALWAYS been a foundational belief. If you are interested in learning more, please Google "Judaism Reincarnation". There are many books written on the topic as well, such as Shaar haGilgulim, etc.





P.S. There is a limit to this however. If a person after 3 lifetimes is continuing to blemish and cause great harm to itself and others rather than repair, God will destroy that soul out of mercy rather than allow it to continue.



And P.S. There is no such thing as Original Sin, in Judaism. This was invented by Augustine of the Catholic Church, he was later made a Saint.



You can see how very, very different Judaism and Christianity are, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is literally nothing in their doctrines or foundational beliefs that is the same at all. Total opposites.

Answer 8

The

Greek word Hades refers to the mythological underworld that the God Hades ruled. According to Greek Mythology, human souls went to this place, once their physical life expired. It was here that their souls belonged to Hades, and in this realm of existence, humans suffered. Later on, the Greeks came up with the idea that humans were judged, and were either rewarded or punished based on their judgment.



Sheol, which translated in English means "hell," was a word the Hebrews described as a pit or the grave. However in Judaism, the meaning digs a bit deeper than that.



Edit:

I suggest reading about Hercules, and the obstacles he went through in Hades. You can then understand how the Greeks saw Hades in the old days. Like I said however, they eventually perceived Hades(underworld) differently.



It is also important to note that the Romans, though they believed in many of the same Gods, their beliefs about these Gods were different. According to the Romans, several deities ruled Hades.

Answer 9

The hell that was spoken of by christ have none of those meanings.Strong ,

nor the common person understood what christ or the Apostles meant

by the word hell.

Only through Divine knowledge can it be interpretated.

But all you have is big words and personal opinions.

If it was that easy to be understood it wouldn't have to

be translated.

Answer 10

The word HELL was used for the Hebrew word SHEOL and the Greek words HADES, GEENNA and TARTAROO in the KJV

Answer 11

Sheol I believe is Greek for Hell. I'm not 100% sure though.

Answer 12

Haiti is called hell in the bible. To be separated from God is hell.

Answer 13

Q&A Queen got it right.

Answer 14

Geezah's got it.

Answer 15

I know this much....gehenna is the fire satan will have...



and God said we will sleep in our graves....see language or interlinear Bible