Things You May Not Know About "Hell"

Things You May Not Know About “Hell”

1. “Hell” is a word in the English language with its origins back to about 825 AD, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. This was a time when a lot of loan words were coming into English from Scandinavian languages...besides Scandinavians. I’ll have more to say on that presently.

2. “Hell” is generally used today, but the 1611 King James Bible also used “Hel.” That could be a typo, and the 1611 King James has several. However, if we go back to the days of Old English (aka, Anglo-Saxon), we find in the epic “Beowulf” both “hell,” “hel” and yet another word: “helle.” Looking further afield in the OED, it’s not difficult to find that related words are found in the languages of various peoples of old Northern Europe:

Old English – hel
Old Frisian – helle, hille
Old Saxon – hellja, hella
Middle Dutch – helle
Old High German – helle
Old Norse – hel, heljar
Gothic – halja
Original Teutonic – halja

Did you notice that “hel” is found in Old Norse as well as Old English? Recall what I said about loan words. Now in “Beowulf,” an epic written in a language once spoken in the lands now know as England, as well as on the continent, the main setting is Denmark. So, let’s take a look at Norse mythology, shall we? It’s not difficult to find “Hel” there. Hel was a goddess or ogress, and she was believed to rule over her afterlife realm of “Helheim” or “House of Hel.” The Norse believed that if you did rate Valhalla, you spent eternity in Helheim. You went to Hel, in other words, and that is from a pagan source.

3. “Hell,” as we can see from the above, came from pagan Norse mythology and language. Those old European tribes of the north had little contact with early Christianity, but “Hel” became “Hell,” and “Hell” eventually replaced the following words in Greek and Hebrew:

Sheol – from the Hebrew, meaning simply “the realm of the dead” – really dead and gone.

Hades – from the Greek, possibly distantly related to the “hell” words of the list above, again more or less the realm of the dead, but to the Greeks, you’re still sort of alive.

Gehenna – from the Hebrew, a valley outside Jerusalem where trash and dead bodies were burned, and since it is a place in the real world, it is hardly “hell.”

Tartarus – from the Greek, and used only once in the Bible, a prison for spirit beings.

“Hell” is not found in Hebrew or Greek, nor is it found in Latin or Aramaic. Can we really justify replacing four perfectly good and easy-to-understand words with a single rubric? Please note that “Hades” and “Tartarus” both come from pagan Greek mythology.

4. A fiery “hell” is depicted in the works of Dante and Milton, but that is all FICTION, just like the more recent writings of Mary K. Baxter. Of the four words above, rendered so often as “hell,” only “gehenna” involves fire, but being a place in the real world, a place you can visit today, it is excluded. We do have the Latin term “Infernum,” but it refers to being underneath, as in under the grass...or buried. Our modern English term “Inferno” is misleading. “Sheol,” “Hades” and “Tartarus” are non-fiery, and so hardly qualify as “Hell.”

5. “Hell” originally meant “hidden and covered” as a noun, and “to hide or cover” as a verb – just like “Infernum.” My father told me about this years ago – if a farmer lacked a root cellar or a cellar/basement under the house, and needed a place to keep veggies or fruits over the winter, he would do the following. First, he would dig a pit or trench deeper than the local frost line. Then, he would line the bottom with straw. On top of that, he’d place a layer of, say, potatoes. More straw went on top of the potatoes, and he would finish the job by shoveling in the dirt previously dug out. Note – it is called “helling” the potatoes.

6. There is no mention of “hell” in any of the creation accounts of the Bible. God failed to mention “hell” in many places where He could have...if such a place existed. For instance, He failed to tell Adam and Eve about any risk of ending in “hell” – the risk was just simple death. The Law that God gave through Moses never mentions afterlife punishments or a place for it. An honest rendering of the four Hebrew and Greek words above leaves the doctrine of “hell” begging weakly for support, for without those word substitutions, “hell” is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. In fact, there are dozens of Bible versions WITHOUT “hell,” but some are unaware and insist that “hell” is in there. No, it isn’t...except by trickery.

7. I have read the Bible from one end to the other, and in several versions, but I have never found any connection in that Book between Satan and “Hell.” In the Revelation, he is tossed into the Lake of Fire, which btw, is never ID’d as “hell.” This is done as punishment, so Satan is hardly the Prince of “Hell,” - he is not even the Prince of Heck.

8. “Hell,” like Babylon, is confusion. “Hell” is hot, but it’s also cold as…”Hell.” “Hell” is bright with fire, but it is dark. “Hell” is separation from God, but Mary K. Baxter depicts Jesus touring “Hell,” chiding the damned. To go to “Hell,” you must be dead, but to be in Eternal Conscious Torment, you must be alive, but you’re dead, and on and on…to the point of absurdity. Literary descriptions of “Hell,” especially as seen in the works of Dante, Milton and Baxter, are clearly fictional and un-Biblical.

IOW "Hell" is a man-made concept, just like God. Man made God in his own image.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

S & F

Summed up nicely.

8. “Hell,” like Babylon, is confusion. “Hell” is hot, but it’s also cold as…”Hell.” “Hell” is bright with fire, but it is dark. “Hell” is separation from God, but Mary K. Baxter depicts Jesus touring “Hell,” chiding the damned. To go to “Hell,” you must be dead, but to be in Eternal Conscious Torment, you must be alive, but you’re dead, and on and on…to the point of absurdity. Literary descriptions of “Hell,” especially as seen in the works of Dante, Milton and Baxter, are clearly fictional and un-Bi

Basically, Hell is here on earth.

Pretty ironic. We are in hell, and the religions make us believe there is a worse place to go than here. Talk about a mind fu##.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Way back when I did quite a lot of digging into the meanings of different scriptures using a number of different Bible and Concordances, I seem to recall - this is just from memory, so cannot provide links - that the words that were translated to Hell originally just meant 'the grave'.

Incidentally, my favorite Bible at the time was the Geneva Bible, for one reason... there was a passage in it that I have not been able to find again in the last few years when I was trying to find it (so if anyone knows, please chime in).

I don't even remember which of the KJV passages it was referring to, but...

It had to do with how you would recognize Gods people in the end times, and it was the words used in this particular Bible that resonated so much with me.

I'm just paraphrasing ,but in essence it said:

" And how shall you recognize my people? They are a peculiar people, set at liberty.

The emphasized words are the ones I remember so well, and I think I have that part verbatim.

Anyway, if anyone recognizes this scripture, please reply (or PM me if you prefer)...

a reply to: Lazarus Short

What does it mean for all those near death experiences where the person took a trip to hell?

With how I have dealt with the concepts of hell, it is a similar place to heaven as all we are left with is the consequences of out actions while here on Earth, good and bad.

As for what exactly goes on in the afterlife, if it exists is a universe of possibilities. Maybe? IDK?

Sometimes I think heaven and hell go like this:

Your last moments alive, you will have them someday. It might be slow or quick, you might have time to think. Most people have time to think when they're dying, especially if its not sudden, like an accident or warfare. Most people don't die in accidents and warfare.

So, when you get to that stage, I'm sure there's a lot of thinking going on about your life you lived, what you did and didn't do, and your beliefs.

If you're confident in your beliefs, did an overall good or decent job when it comes to being good or evil overall, but most importantly what you believe will happen when you die, you'll be at peace or already in hell considering you may go there.

If you believe you're going to heaven, death should be a relative breeze, the whole process. But if you're unsure, dont believe in God, or think you really messed it up and might be going to hell, it's the most terrifying and mentally brutal process imaginable.

That.. sounds like hell to me. As to whether you go to either, no one knows and everyone has an opinion. That opinion will determine how they feel when they die, too. Just talking about it gives me the creeps, knowing that I'll have to go through that.

originally posted by: 19Bones79
a reply to: Lazarus Short

What does it mean for all those near death experiences where the person took a trip to hell?

It means you saw what you expected to see. You expect to see Mom & Dad, you see them. Expect to see Jesus, you'll see him. You expect to see your favorite dog, he'll be waiting for you. This is not rocket science.

True, the Bible never gives us a photograph of “hell” so to speak, but Jesus uses some pretty dark language when describing it. Outer darkness, weeping and nashing of teeth, torment etc. Call it whatever you want, I don’t want to be there.

He uses Gehenna as a word picture to describe what it will be like. Not Where it’s located.

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: 19Bones79
a reply to: Lazarus Short

What does it mean for all those near death experiences where the person took a trip to hell?

It means you saw what you expected to see. You expect to see Mom & Dad, you see them. Expect to see Jesus, you'll see him. You expect to see your favorite dog, he'll be waiting for you. This is not rocket science.

I don't know about you, but I have some really vivid dreams. I can lay down for an hour and go on a journey. If it's bad, I'm relieved when I wake myself up and laugh it off.

I'd like to think the brain is capable of some serious visions when it's in a near death state, way bigger than normal dreams. And yeah, you're exactly right, whats upstairs will determine the world and the scene that your experience is.

The bad part of what I just said is, when you know this, it takes away from the concept of an actual afterlife, which screws you when it's time to die because you aren't ignorant to it, you won't believe that you aren't about to cease to exist for eternity. Ignorance truly is bliss in this instance.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

There is no mention of “hell” in any of the creation accounts of the Bible.

Of course not. There wasn't a reason or need for it until the fall of man.

Question for you: You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 23:33 source

He'll is the absence of God; God is love. Draw your own conclusions.

originally posted by: schuyler
IOW "Hell" is a man-made concept, just like God. Man made God in his own image.

I mean, our society did the same thing with aliens. 90% of ETs strongly resemble humanoid physiology. I would say it's a coincidence but then Prometheus came out and said "no, the DNA scans confirm we have godly genetics". Not subtle.

a reply to: tanstaafl
The 1599 Geneva Bible comes up with similar wording in a search on biblegateway, but not an exact match.

1 Peter 2:9

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation, a people set at liberty, that ye should show forth the virtues of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

Other verses have the word "peculiar", such as the familiar Leviticus and Titus references.

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: tanstaafl
The 1599 Geneva Bible comes up with similar wording in a search on biblegateway, but not an exact match.

1 Peter 2:9

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation, a people set at liberty, that ye should show forth the virtues of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

Other verses have the word "peculiar", such as the familiar Leviticus and Titus references.

Interesting, thanks! I thought I'd exhaustively searched for an online searchable version of the Geneva Bible, but guess I didn't use the magic words...

I also guess my memory isn't as good as I thought it was, I could have sworn the word 'peculiar' was in the same verse...

But that looks like it is probably it.

This was way back in 1995-97 or so, and we had to buy all of the books - the Geneva Bible was huge, as were the Concordances we were using.

“Hell,” like Babylon, is confusion. “Hell” is hot, but it’s also cold as…”Hell.” “Hell” is bright with fire, but it is dark. “Hell” is separation from God, but Mary K. Baxter depicts Jesus touring “Hell,” chiding the damned. To go to “Hell,” you must be dead, but to be in Eternal Conscious Torment, you must be alive, but you’re dead, and on and on…to the point of absurdity. Literary descriptions of “Hell,” especially as seen in the works of Dante, Milton and Baxter, are clearly fictional and un-Biblical.

Never heard of Mary K. Baxter but agree with her. Being dead is in the sense of not being alive in ones true nature. Thus when we die we experience two deaths. When our material nature dies our spiritual nature temporarily awakens. Allowing us to witness the first death of our mind and body. Because we still harbor desires for the material world we will again be thrown back into the lake of fire to experience a second death. That death being of our spiritual nature which is again engulfed in our new body and mind. So the trick is to die (to abandon control of ones self from our mind that be serpent aka satan) before our material body and mind dies, to escape from the wheel of life.

Hell = The lake of fire = the tree of knowledge of good and evil = Our Universe

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: Lazarus Short

There is no mention of “hell” in any of the creation accounts of the Bible.

Of course not. There wasn't a reason or need for it until the fall of man.

Question for you: You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 23:33 source

The Bible commentary I wrote, tightly focused on the subject of "hell," has this to say about Matthew 23:33:

“Hell” shows up again, in Chapter 23. First in verse 15, footnoted as “gehenna,” as we have seen, a place in the real world. Second, it’s in verse 33, not footnoted, but other sources indicate that it too, should be rendered as “gehenna.” Jesus is hurling insults, truth to be sure, but offensive to those He directed it to. He is saying that some deserve, not a decent burial, but to be burned in the city dump with other criminals. No, Hell does not need to be inserted here, but was anyway by translators who could have translated more honestly. In this regard, I must quote Jesus in 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.”

I have covered EVERY mention of "hell" in the Bible in the same manner. Not to brag, but I can copy and paste almost endlessly as I refute "hell" the word and "hell" the concept. It is a big, scary thing that dissipates like a mist when examined closely.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Gehenna, wasn't considered hell, it was used as a metaphor because there was always a fire burning and that the bodies of animals and executed prisoners were brunt.

the valley of hinnom, in greek gehenna, in hebrew ge-hinnom, it was also called tophet / topheth in Isaiah day, was seen by the isralites/jews as a place of spiritual death. mostly due to the fact that some ancient isralites/jews who turned from God sacrificed their childern to molech with fire.

that's why he said in Mark9 :48 where their worm (worm is another metaphor for their torment) does not die, and the fire is not extinguished.

the rest i cant argue with, and as far as i can remember no where other than in a metaphoric way is "hell given a name By God or Jesus.

ETA: also i should have noted that fire was one of God's ways of punishing the wicked.

originally posted by: glend


Hell = The lake of fire = the tree of knowledge of good and evil = Our Universe

I really can't grasp the reasoning there. For instance, the LoF is never ID'd as "hell" in the Bible. Neither is that certain Tree or the Universe. Everything (Universe) can't be "hell."

"Hell" is pagan-inspired trickery to keep pews and offering plates full. God has a better Plan than that.

Hell is the place everyone who pushes dangerous gene therapies will go.