What Are Sheol and Hades?

Question

N ITS original languages, the Bible uses the Hebrew word she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des more than 70 times. Both words are related to death. Some Bible translations render them as “grave,” “hell,” or “pit.” However, in most languages there are no words that convey the precise sense of these Hebrew and Greek words. The New World Translation therefore uses the words “Sheol” and “Hades.” What do these words really mean? Let us note how they are used in different Bible passages.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 states: “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.” Does this mean that Sheol refers to a specific, or individual, grave site where we may have buried a loved one? No. When the Bible refers to a specific burial place, or grave, it uses other Hebrew and Greek words, not she’ohl′ and hai′des. (Genesis 23:7-9; Matthew 28:1) Also, the Bible does not use the word “Sheol” for a grave where several individuals are buried together, such as a family grave or a mass grave.—Genesis 49:30, 31.

To what kind of place, then, does “Sheol” refer? God’s Word indicates that “Sheol,” or “Hades,” refers to something much more than even a large mass grave. For instance, Isaiah 5:14 notes that Sheol is “spacious and has opened its mouth wide beyond bounds.” Although Sheol has already swallowed, so to speak, countless dead people, it always seems to hunger for more. (Proverbs 30:15, 16) Unlike any literal burial site, which can hold only a limited number of the dead, “Sheol and the place of destruction themselves do not get satisfied.” (Proverbs 27:20) Sheol never becomes full. It has no limits. Sheol, or Hades, is thus not a literal place in a specific location. Rather, it is the common grave of dead mankind, the figurative location where most of mankind sleep in death.

The Bible teaching of the resurrection helps us to gain further insight into the meaning of “Sheol” and “Hades.” God’s Word associates Sheol and Hades with the sort of death from which there will be a resurrection.* (Job 14:13; Acts 2:31; Revelation 20:13) God’s Word also shows that those in Sheol, or Hades, include not only those who have served Jehovah but also many who have not served him. (Genesis 37:35; Psalm 55:15) Therefore, the Bible teaches that there will be “a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”—Acts 24:15.

*  In contrast, the dead who will not be raised are described as being, not in Sheol, or Hades, but “in Gehenna.” (Matthew 5:30; 10:28; 23:33) Like Sheol and Hades, Gehenna is not a literal place.

I luv horses 49 · Accepted Answer

Sheol and Hades are another name for hell which is the common grave of mankind where we all go when we die. But, many religions teach today that this a place where sinners go to be punished and burned for all eternity. Gehenna was a place where people threw garbage and dead bodies of humans or animals to burn there. No living things were cast there. Gehenna has also been said to be another name for hell. But, that can't be so since no live bodies were cast there. It is said that sinners are cast down there to burn forever when they die, although they are still alive and being tortured. Remember; "no live bodies were thrown into Gehenna". What a hateful lie hellfire is. It dishonors our God Jehovah since he is "a God of love" (1John 4:8).

? · Answer

Both Sheol and Hades, the hebrew and greek names for what I believe to be the same location, are places where the spirits of the dead are kept until the last judgment.  

This location has pleasant and unpleasant locations in it and had an impenetrable gulf separating 
the two locations.

Luke 16:19-31

At the great white throne judgement, which occurs at the end of the millenium, all will be judged.

Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. "

The word translated as hell here is hades in the original greek.  What happens to hades after the judgment?

Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

So the final abode of the souls judged is either New Jerusalem or the lake of fire.

Your contention that Sheol, Hades and Gehenna are not literal places, I do not think is justified.  That they may not be located in our physical universe, perhaps, but they certainly seem to be real literal places.

Anonymous · Answer

Sheol is the Hebrew word for "grave" or "abode of the dead."

Hades was a Greek God, the brother of Zeus. Hades was the god of the underworld.

Since Christians were commonly buried when they died, both hades and sheol were terms used by Christians as the abode of the dead.

In Western Christianity, the state of the dead can be a bit fuzzy at times when it comes to what happens between the time of death and the final resurrection. On one hand hades and sheol are used to indicate this netherworld.

On the other hand, some folks think that "hell" is a bad word and they have substituted it with hades or sheol because "nice people don't use that word."

Then again... They could all mean exactly the same thing in different languages.

It all depends on your point of view!

EDIT: re: Annsan_I  You can not use one to one comparisons for the meanings of words in different languages.

e.g.; If you look at def. 4 of "grave" in English, you will find: 
death: O grave, where is thy victory?

? · Answer

Let me make clear something you will have misunderstood. Sheol and Hades will not be referring to person graves, but they phrases that deliver the idea of the common GRAVE of all mankind, the location to the place everybody goes after they die, whether or not they're buried in a hole within the ground, lost at sea, or consumed via a wild beast, burned up in a fire, or in every other means physically carried out away with. They're in that original grave, asleep as it were, unconscious and awaiting the resurrection. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Psalm 146:four; John 11:eleven-14; Acts 24:15) Sheol/Hades (hell, KJV) are to be destroyed in the lake of fire. Revelation 20:13, 14; evaluate 1 Corinthians 15:26) part note: we know that for Christians, the phrases Sheol and Hades carry same meanings. (examine Psalm sixteen:10 with Acts 2:27.)

who goes there? · Answer

'Death'[sheol] is a blessing[Nu23:10] to the whole house[Ez37:11-12] of Israel raised up[Ez37:10] for a purpose[Jer51:20-23], until then they 'sleep the sleep of death' as Jesus said of Lazarus; "He is sleeping".

Death and hell[hades] are two different places[Lk16:19-31] and Jesus has the keyS to both[Rev1:18]
See also Rev20:11-15 were death and hell are both thrown into the lake of fire.

Hell is for those who reject God and Christ and His salvation.

Suzy · Answer

Mankind's grave. At Ec 9:5 & 10, they tell us the condition of the dead. Dead people know nothing, feel nothing, nor understand anything. They are not burning in a place called hell. 

May I note that if you are going to ask a question, don't answer it also.

? · Answer

@ ANNSAN:

She'ol refers to the common grave of mankind; it is not "a grave" and thus would not be used either in a plural form nor in the examples you present. 

Those are individual graves, and thus qe′ver is the common word used to designate them. It refers to a burial place, a grave, or a graveyard. The word qevu·rah′ similarly may refer to an earthen grave or to a tomb excavated in rock.

? · Answer

Hell is real and the world needs Jesus.

Ex- Marine at 22 was cast into outer darkness in 1994. Arch Angel Michael got him as a 13 foot demonic reptilian being about 4000 pounds was carrying him off. 

hell- shawn weed's testimony part 4 of 5.avi 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcOmclu8Od8

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Emergency Room
A respiratory nurse who works in an emergency room told me about a patient who had gone “code red” – he flat lined. She and some other medical personnel rushed over with the defibrillator to try and bring him back to life. They applied the paddles and revived him. She said that he started screaming and shouting “the heat, the heat!” then his heart stopped again. They brought him back a second time. He shouted “The flames, the flames!” They lost him again. Four times the man flat lined and was brought back, each time shouting about the heat or the flames. After the last time, he died and they could not bring him back. She said all the doctors and nurses just stood there for a few minutes and stared at the body. They all knew that man went to hell.

- Mark Cahill – Book: One Heartbeat Away – markcahill.org
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
I tell you, the terror is unbelievable. With a spirit body, it cannot be frozen or burned. It simply exists with thousands of sensations, which this nervous system we own down here could not take. It is absolutely Hell. I was surrounded by demons. They seemed to be so excited they were doing a fancy rock and roll dance in honour of getting me there. Thousands of them shouted to me that I would never get out. They didn't realize I was only there for a short period, and told me I was there because I had believed their deceptions whilst I was on Earth. The stench was indescribable. It was the smell of dying and dead flesh. Satan, their captain, is of course the author of death. Jesus called them unclean spirits, and they certainly are that.

- Dr. Richard Eby - Book: Caught Up into Paradise
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Tug of War for My Soul
"When Satan said I belonged to him, he was accusing me. He reiterated and confirmed all things I had just been shown and convicted of; he stood there making a legal argument against me. Satan pulled me back with him, and I was drawn back, I felt the torment and started screaming again."

-Craig Gottschalk -Aviation Mechanic - From the book True Stories of Those Who Have Made the Journey
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A Doctor's Testimony
"Each time he regained heartbeat and respiration, the patient screamed, "I am in hell!" He was terrified and pleaded with me to help him. I was scared to death...Then I noticed a genuinely alarmed look on his face. He had a terrified look worse than the expression seen in death! This patient had a grotesque grimace expressing sheer horror! His pupils were dilated, and he was perspiring and trembling - he looked as if his hair was "on end."

- Dr. Maurice Rawlings Specialist on Internal Medicine
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Study On NDE Experiences
“A heart specialist from Chattanooga, Tennessee, has just finished a study of more than 100 patients brought back to life after being clinically dead. The Good News, he said, is that some of them had a blissful encounter with a being of light. The bad news, however, is that over half of the patients had a perfectly appalling time, walking through dimly-lit caverns and seeing fiendish figures brandishing pitchforks beside a smoking, sulphurous lake surrounded by moaning bodies. The doctor now firmly believes hell exists. Reluctantly, he said, I have come to the conclusion it may not be safe to die.’ 

- May | June 1979 issue of Parapsychology Review

Surgical Nurse
"You're the gutsy one who talks about negative near-death experiences. Keep doing it. Don't stop." I was so startled by her comment, I momentarily slowed my pace and yelled back, "Who are you? What do you mean by that?" Her answer surprised me. "I'm a surgical nurse at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. We have lots of near-death cases there, and almost all of them are the negative kind. You know what I mean people who wind up in hell!"

- P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D - (92 Journal of Near-Death Studies Vol.10, No.3)

http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/986424/HELP_I_AM_IN_HELL_IS_HELL_REALLY_REAL

Cuchulain · Answer

One truth your point does not states is that the dead are conscious in Hades

Luke 16:23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Another point is that in Hell (that place of final judgment) there is an eternal consciousness of the condemned

Mark 9:47 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire-- where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'

Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Servant A · Answer

I agree with your assessment, but there are some crucial verses that you have overlooked. Enter into a stong man's --- house ----

Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.  Matt 12:28-29 (KJV)

----- My Father's house -----

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  John 14:2

----- My House ---- Paradise ----- TODAY you shall be with me in Paradise

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  John 14:3

-- ASCENDED OUT OF --- AND GOETH INTO PERDITION --- RIGHT & LEFT SIDE --

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition:  Rev 17:8 

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

----------------------------------- Gospel of the Apostle Bartholomew --------------------------------

8 And Jesus answered and said: Blessed art thou, Bartholomew, my beloved, because thou sawest this mystery, and now will I tell thee all things whatsoever thou askest me. 

9 For when I vanished away from the cross, then went I down into Hades that I might bring up Adam and all them that were with him, according to the supplication of Michael the archangel. 

10 Then said Bartholomew: Lord, what was the voice which was heard? 

11 Jesus saith unto him: Hades said unto Beliar: As I perceive, a God cometh hither. [Slavonic and latin 2 continue: And the angels cried unto the powers, saying: Remove your gates, ye princes, remove the everlasting doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down. 

12 Hades said: Who is the King of glory, that cometh down from heaven unto us? 

13 And when I had descended five hundred steps, Hades was troubled, saying: I hear the breathing of the Most High, and I cannot endure it. (latin 2. He cometh with great fragrance and I cannot bear it.) 

14 But the devil answered and said: Submit not thyself, O Hades, but be strong: for God himself hath not descended upon the earth. 

15 But when I had descended yet five hundred steps, the angels and the powers cried out: Take hold, remove the doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down. And Hades said: O, woe unto me, for I hear the breath of God.] 

Greek. 16-17 And Beliar said unto Hades: Look carefully who it is that , for it is Elias, or Enoch, or one of the prophets that this man seemeth to me to be. But Hades answered Death and said: Not yet are six thousand years accomplished. And whence are these, O Beliar; for the sum of the number is in mine hands. 

[Slavonic. 

16 And the devil said unto Hades: Why affrightest thou me, Hades? it is a prophet, and he hath made himself like unto God: this prophet will we take and bring him hither unto those that think to ascend into heaven. 

17 And Hades said: Which of the prophets is it? Show me: Is it Enoch the scribe of righteousness? But God hath not suffered him to come down upon the earth before the end of the six thousand years.

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What Are Sheol and Hades?

12 Answers