Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Alexander Oldernes <alexander AT oldernes.no>]

The Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word hades is $)WL (SHeOL).
Sheol is continually associated with death and not life. (1Sa 2:6; 2Sa 22:6; 
Ps 18:4, 5; 49:7-10, 14, 15; 88:2-6; 89:48; Isa 28:15-18; also compare Ps 
116:3, 7-10 with 2Co 4:13, 14.)

Job 10:21 speaks of death as "the land of darkness" and Psalm 115:17 as a 
place of "silence". Ecclesiastes 9:4-6,10 shows that the dead has no 
conscious.

Regarding Sheol, the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1971, Vol. 11, p. 276) noted: 
"Sheol was located somewhere 'under' the earth. . . . The state of the dead 
was one of neither pain nor pleasure. Neither reward for the righteous nor 
punishment for the wicked was associated with Sheol. The good and the bad 
alike, tyrants and saints, kings and orphans, Israelites and gentiles-all 
slept together without awareness of one another."

Since $)WL refers to a common grave for mankind, the word "hell" is not a 
good translation, since "hell" suggests a contrast with "heaven" as a 
dwelling-place of the righteous after death.

When Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he called it "the belly of Sheol" 
(NJB), since he was as good as dead.

I haven't found any info about a geographical place named Hades or Sheol, if 
that is what you are asking about.


Alexander Oldernes


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <STORMVOLCANO AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:17 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] hell


> is hades a real place according to the hebrew text?
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