Researching Hell, Hades, Sheol, Tartarus, Lake of Fire, and Book of Life

• Hades – (G86  ᾅδης) Temporary abode of the dead in the New Testament: Occurs 11 times
  • Thayer: The god of the lower regions, the realm of the dead. NASEC: The abode of departed spirits. Strong’s: the place of departed souls
  • Translated as: Hades in the Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and NASB BUT mis-translated hell in the KJV. No wonder people are confused
• Sheol – (H7585 שׁאול) Temporary abode of the dead in the Old Testament: Occurs 65 times
  • Septuagint (The Greek OT) translates the Hebrew Sheol with the Greek word Hades showing that they believed hades and sheol were identical places.
  •  Translated as: Sheol in YLT and NASB, but not in the KJV ​
• Tartarus – (G5020)  Τάρταρος Temporary abode of rebellious angels: Occurs one time
  • Kittle: The deepest dungeon of Hades, known as the Abyss
  • Thayer: The name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark
  • Translated as: Tartarus in the YLT and Modern KJV and hell in KJV & NASB​
• Gehenna  – (G1067 γέεννα) The city dump; Occurs 12 times
  • Thayer: Originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned
  • Translated as: Gehenna in YLT and Hell in the NASB & KJV ​
• Lake of fire – Future destination: occurs five times
  • Hades and death are cast into the lake of fire, and this is called the second death.
  • The devil, false prophet, and beast are tormented forever, and wicked are destroyed.
• How often do these key words occur in the Young's Literal Translation Bible: 
  • The word "Hell" occurs zero times
  • The word "Forever" occurs zero times
  • The word "Everlasting" occurs one time, which is in Jude 1:6 (a verse referring to the penalty suffered by the angels that rebelled). 
  • The word "eternal" occurs two times, both times, both referring to God's attributes (Deut. 33:27; Rom. 1:20).
  • It becomes clear that the Hebrew mindset hardly ever thought in terms of things continuing on forever. The effect of God's blessings and curses (Deut. 28) was focused on direct impact on your life on earth. Thus an accurate, literal translation of the Greek and Hebrew text would be strained to find support for the belief of eternal torture for disobedient human beings.
• The American Bible Society estimates there are about 900 English translations and paraphrases of the Bible. This leaves a lot of room for humility and flexibility in our theology.
  • Let's not forget that  It is interesting that the  Apostles' creed does not promote any specific viewpoint on hell.

Every NT verse with (G86) hades – (11 verses) – YLT below

Mat_11:23  “'And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto Hades shalt be brought down, because if in Sodom had been done the mighty works that were done in thee, it had remained unto this day;’”

Mat_16:18  “'And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it;’”

Luk_10:15  “'And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto Hades thou shalt be brought down.’”

Luk_16:23  “and in the Hades having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he doth see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

"Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us'”  (Lk. 16:22-26 NASB).

Act_2:27  “’because Thou wilt not leave my soul to Hades, nor wilt Thou give Thy Kind One to see corruption;’”

Act_2:31  “having foreseen, he did speak concerning the rising again of the Christ, that his soul was not left to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”

1Co_15:55  “’where, O Death, thy sting? where, O Hades, thy victory?'”

Rev_1:18  “’and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the Hades and of the Death.’”

Rev_6:8  “and I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him—his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill (over the fourth part of the land) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land.”

Rev_20:13  “and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the Death and the Hades did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works

Rev_20:14  “and the Death and the Hades were cast to the lake of the fire—this is the second death;”

Notes on hades from the above verses

1. A temporary place of the dead until the final judgment.
2. The rich man who did not care for the poor ended up in Hades being tormented.
3. The poor man who suffered in this life ended up in Abraham's bosom being comforted.
4. Jesus’ soul was not left in hades, and He did not suffer decay.
5. Jesus won over hades, taking the keys of death and hades.
6. Ultimately, death and hades are done away with by being cast into the lake of fire.

Sheol – The Hebrew (OT) word for hades

Click here for all uses of the word sheol.

Every NT verse with (G5020) Tartarus – (one verse) – Modern KJV below

1. 2Pe 2:4  “For if God did not spare sinning angels, but thrust them down into tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness, being reserved to judgment.” 
   1. Definition of Tartarus
      1. Kittle: the deepest dungeon of Hades, known as the Abyss
      2. Thayer: the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark

Notes on tartarus from the above verse

1. Only disobedient angels (messengers) are temporarily being held here. Not humans.
2. The disobedient angels are currently in chains, being held captive for future punishment, which is the eternal fire. There is no mention that they are tortured forever in the lake of fire. Perhaps they are consumed by the fire. I suppose it depends on whether angels are immortal or not. My guess is faithful angels are immortal just as faithful people were originally immortal; and now through receiving the gospel, they are immortal again (2 Tim. 1:10). It was through the fall that the sin nature and death entered the world. Therefore it seems that if holy angels aren’t disobedient, then they would stay immortal. Presumably, the rebellious angels would be like sin-nature people and be mortal and would perish/burn up. The angel Gabriel ministered to Daniel in the Old Testament, and then was still delivering messages to Zacharias in the New Testament (Lk. 1:19). So even if they aren’t immortal, they surely live a very long time.
3. The everlasting fire was not designed for humans, but for the devil and his angels. Yes, it is true that those not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). Since these non-believers have not been given the gift of eternal life/immortality, they would be extinguished in this lake of fire. This is their second death (Rev. 21:8).

Every NT verse with (G1067) hell/gehenna (12 verses) – NASB Translation below

1. Mat_5:22  "’But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.’”
2. Mat_5:29  “’If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
3. Mat_5:30  "’If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.’”
4. Mat_10:28  "’Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy (G622 – apollumi – destroy utterly) both soul and body in hell.’”
5. Mat_18:9  "’If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.’”
6. Mat_23:15  "’Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.’”
7. Mat_23:33  "’You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?’”
8. Mar_9:43  "’If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,’”
9. Mar_9:45  "’If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,’”
10. Mar_9:47  "’If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,’”
11. Luk_12:5  "’But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!’”
12. Jas_3:6  “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”

Notes on hell from the above verses

1. “’Fear the one who has authority to cast you into a fiery hell and is able to destroy both soul and body.’” The Greek word “destroy” in Matt. 10:28 is G622 – apollumi.  
   1. Thayer definition of apollumi: to destroy, to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to, ruin, render useless, to kill, to declare that one must be put to death, to perish.
   2. Jn. 3:16 “perish” is also apollumi – so Jesus is saying: our choices are to either be abolished (annihilated) or to receive eternal life (immortality).
   3. The Bible breaks man into two parts, body and soul (Ps. 31:9). Soul shows up over 250 times in the Bible and stands for “living being, life, self.” If God destroys both soul and body, you are annihilated.  

Every verse in the Bible with the phrase “lake of fire” (five verses) NASB below

1. Rev_19:20  “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”
2. Rev_20:10  “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (YLT – “to the ages of the ages” or aion and aion = multiple ages = eternity)
3. Rev_20:14  “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
4. Rev_20:15  “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
5. Rev_21:8  "’But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’"

Notes on the lake of fire from the above verses

1. The devil, beast, and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire and tormented forever and ever. This means aion and aion which is two back to back ages, which assumedly means eternity.
2. Those not in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, but it does not say they are tormented forever and ever. In Matthew 25:46 it does say they will go away into eternal (aion) punishment (NASB). However, an aion can be any length of time depending on the subject it is modifying.  Aion is used for the three days Jonah was in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 1:17; 2:6 Septuagint). Aion is how long mountains last (Gen. 49:26), or the length of a person’s life (Philemon 1:15), etc. Therefore, YLT correctly translates Matthew 25:46 saying they go away to “age-during punishment” (YLT). So the punishment will last for a period of time. With this in mind, let’s move to the point below.
3. Immortality was lost when Adam and Eve sinned and were cut off from the Tree of Life and an angel with a sword made sure they could not access immortality (Gen. 3:24). Immortality is restored to those who receive the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). Therefore, since the bodies of the wicked are mortal, fire would destroy them quickly, so their age-during punishment would likely be less than the three days Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish, rather than trillions of years as some have surmised. Mortal flesh does not handle fire well.
4. Dig deeper: 38 New Testament Verses on Fire

Every verse in the Bible with the phrase “book of life” (eight verses)

1. Psa_69:28  “May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.”
2. Php_4:3  “Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.”
3. Rev_3:5  “'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.’”
4. Rev_13:8  “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
5. Rev_17:8  "’The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.’”
6. Rev_20:12  “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”
7. Rev_20:15  “And if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
8. Rev_21:27  “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”

Summary on the book of life from the above verses

1. Some names are written in it from the foundation of the world and some are not. Some would view this as God’s predestination and others as God’s foreknowledge.
2. Be an overcomer so your name is not erased – i.e., do not continue practicing sinful behavior.
3. If your name is not in the book of life, you are thrown into the lake of fire.
4. The Jewish Encyclopedia has an extensive article on the book of life.

Summary reflections concerning hades, sheol, hell, lake of fire, and book of life based on the verses found in this article

1. Hades/sheol is a temporary place where the righteous experience comfort and rest, and the wicked experience torment, fire, agony, and thirst while waiting the final judgment day. The deepest part of this is tartarus where the rebellions angels are chained, waiting for judgment day. Hades and death are cast into the lake of fire, being done away with because their jobs are complete.
2. Gehenna was their village dump where junk was incinerated. What Jesus is saying to the people is don’t be evil; because if you do, you will be going to a place like our village dump which burns up all the worthless stuff that is thrown into it and consumed.
3. The lake of fire – is a future place and those whose names are not found in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. The Bible likens their future fiery destruction to that of the flood: The world flooded by water, perished. The present heavens and the earth are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men (2 Pet. 3:6-7). Does this imagery strike you as extended torture or quick destruction? It would appear that mortal men will be destroyed, and the devil, false prophet, and beast will be tormented forever. Lots of imagery surround the false prophet and beast, so it is open to interpretation as to exactly what/who they might be.
4. Hell has been disappearing for some time. The KJV uses the word hell 54 times, the NKJV only 32 times, the NASB 13 times, and YLT zero times. I think it is crystal clear why everyone is confused. The Greek and Hebrew words gehenna, hades, sheol, and tartarus, have been translated arbitrarily as have been the words eternal and everlasting. Eternal, and everlasting show up 138 times in the KJV and only three times in YLT. YLT properly translates “aion” as age, ages, or age-during. Heaven help us. There is probably no way to clear up all the confusion concerning end times until Bible translations get cleared up.

The Etymology for hell

• Dictionary.com - Old English hell; related to helan to cover, Old Norse hel, Gothic halja hell, Old High German hella
• Merrian Webster Dictionary - Middle English helle, going back to Old English hell, helle, going back to Germanic *haljō (whence also Old Saxon hellia "abode of the dead," Old High German hella, hellia, Old Norse hel "abode of the dead, the death goddess," Gothic halja, translating Greek Háidēs), perhaps from an o-grade nominal derivative of the Germanic verbal base *hel- "cover, hide" NOTE: The connection with *hel- "conceal" is traditional in the etymological literature, though given that the literal meaning of *haljō, the mythological abode of the dead, is unknown, it must be regarded as speculative.

Research articles by Mark Virkler

1. Three Views of Hell - An introduction to what these three views are
2. Age, Eternity & Immortality Explored In-Depth – Demonstrates from Scripture that the word translated eternity can be as short as three days, and that immortality is extended ONLY to those accepting the gospel. The wicked are NOT immortal, so they perish.
3. Research Hell, Hades, Lake of Fire, and Book of Life – Read every verse in the New Testament which contains these words so you know exactly what they say.
4. Explore every verse from Young’s Literal Translation containing the Greek words aion/aionios – YLT never uses the word eternal, but instead “age-during”. 
5. Explore what Jesus said about the end of the unrighteous – Get it direct from the Master.
6. Sheol – The Old Testament Word for Hades
7. 38 New Testament Verses on Fire