Hades, Sheol

Luke 16:23

²³And in hell (hades) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom

Hell is the Greek word hades {hah’-dace} (G0086).  Hades is the equivalent to the Hebrew word sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585), the place of the dead.  One can know this from Peter’s discourse in Acts 2, Acts 2:27.

 ²⁷Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (hades), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

The word hell is the Greek word hades {hah’-dace} (G0086).  Acts 2:27 is a quote from Psalm 16:10.

¹⁰For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (sheol); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Hell is the Hebrew word sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585).  The Greek writers used hades {hah’-dace} (G0086), because it corresponded to sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585).  They did not use another word that might correspond to something else.  Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, people who died would go to sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585).  What is important to understand is the condition of these people in sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585) or hades {hah’-dace} (G0086).  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the condition of the people is discussed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 & 10.

⁵For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

¹⁰Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, people who died would go to sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585) or hades {hah’-dace} (G0086), where there is no knowledge.  A study of the Hebrew Scriptures reveals that the body goes to the grave and the soul always goes to sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585).  Not so for the New Testament believer, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.

⁶Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: ⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) ⁸We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

When a believer dies they go to be with the Lord in heaven.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, Psalms 146:3-4

³Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.  ⁴His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Psalm 6:5

⁵For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psalm 115:17

¹⁷The dead praise not Yehovah, neither any that go down into silence.

The Hebrew scriptures teaches that the dead are in an unconscious state.  Jonah and the big fish illustrate this concept, Jonah 1:14-17.

¹⁴Wherefore they cried unto Yehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Yehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Yehovah, hast done as it pleased thee. ¹⁵So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.  ¹⁶Then the men feared Yehovah exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto Yehovah, and made vows.  ¹⁷Now Yehovah had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

So out went Jonah into the Big Fish.  Note how Jonah describe his experience, Jonah 2:1-2.

¹Then Jonah prayed unto Yehovah his God out of the fish’s belly, ²And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto Yehovah, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell (sheol) cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

Jonah likened the belly of the fish to hell.  Hell is the Hebrew word sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585).  When is the last time anyone described the inside of a fish as a hot fire?  Jonah used this term, because the understanding was that hell, sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585) or hades {hah’-dace} (G0086)was a place of dark and unconscious state.  This is the literal condition that exists in hades {hah’-dace} (G0086).

So the question becomes, if sh^eol {sheh-ole’} (H7585) or hades {hah’-dace} (G0086)is the place of unconsciousness, then what sense can the Rich Man be conscious in this place called hades {hah’-dace} (G0086)?  Maybe it is not literal.

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