Rethinking Hell: What the Hebrew and Greek Words Really Say

For many of us raised in Western Christianity, the word “hell” conjures images of eternal flames, demons with pitchforks, and unending conscious torment. But what if I told you that the original languages of Scripture—Hebrew and Greek—don’t support this imagery the way we’ve been taught?

Let’s take a closer look at the words translated “hell” in the NASB (New American Standard Bible), and how their actual meanings reveal a different picture.

Old Testament: The Hebrew Word Sheol

The only word ever translated “hell” in the Old Testament is Sheol.

• Sheol appears 65 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.

• The NASB often translates it as “Sheol,” “grave,” or “death,” but occasionally as “hell” depending on the context.

• But Sheol never carries the idea of eternal torment. Instead, it refers broadly to the realm of the dead, the grave, or the unseen place where all souls go—both righteous and unrighteous.

Examples:

• “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.” (1 Samuel 2:6)

• “For in death there is no mention of You; In Sheol, who will praise You?” (Psalm 6:5)

Here, Sheol is simply the place of the dead. There's no fire, no torment—just the silence of the grave. The righteous like Jacob, Job, and David all expected to go there. It was not a place of punishment.

New Testament: Three Greek Words Translated as “Hell”

In the New Testament, the NASB translates three different Greek words as “hell”: Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus. Let’s unpack each of them.

1. Hades – The Greek Equivalent of Sheol

• Appears 10 times in the NT.

• Meaning: the grave, the realm of the dead.

• It is a neutral term, not a fiery torture chamber.

• NASB sometimes leaves it as “Hades” and other times renders it “hell.”

Example:

• “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!” (Matthew 11:23)

Even Jesus uses “Hades” to refer to humiliation or death, not eternal punishment. In Luke 16, Jesus tells a parable involving Hades, but it's a teaching on wealth and justice, not a literal geography of the afterlife.

2. Gehenna – A Valley Outside Jerusalem

• Appears 12 times, almost always from Jesus’ mouth.

• Gehenna refers to the Valley of Hinnom, a real place outside Jerusalem.

• In the OT, it was a site of idolatry and child sacrifice (see Jeremiah 7:31).

• By the time of Jesus, it had become a metaphor for destruction, judgment, and fire—but not eternal torment.

Example:

• “If your eye causes you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into Gehenna.” (Mark 9:47)

Jesus uses Gehenna as a prophetic warning—often with hyperbole—to call people away from self-destruction and toward life in God’s kingdom. He’s evoking imagery of judgment, not describing an eternal torture pit. Gehenna was a metaphor for temporal, purifying judgment, not unending pain.

3. Tartarus – A Single Use in 2 Peter

• Appears once in the NT: “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into Tartarus...” (2 Peter 2:4)

• Tartarus is a Greek mythological term meaning a deep abyss or prison for rebellious beings.

• It’s never used for humans.

• It reflects a temporary holding place for disobedient spiritual beings, not a fiery afterlife for people.

 What’s Missing? Eternal Conscious Torment

Nowhere in the biblical use of Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, or Tartarus do we find a doctrine of eternal conscious torment. That concept developed later, influenced by pagan ideas, Dante’s Inferno, and medieval theology—not from Jesus or the apostles.

Jesus warns of judgment, yes—but always with a redemptive aim. The fire He speaks of purifies and corrects, not tortures forever. Paul, surprisingly, never uses the word “hell” once—not even when writing about judgment.

Rethinking the Good News

If “hell” as eternal torment isn't in the original text, then what does that say about our view of God?

God’s justice is real. So is divine discipline. But the ultimate aim of God is restoration, not revenge. The early church fathers like Gregory of Nyssa and Origen understood judgment as purifying, not punishing. They saw the end goal as reconciliation of all things in Christ (Colossians 1:20).

So perhaps it's time we stopped letting the English word “hell” shape our theology—and let the original languages tell the truth:

• Sheol is the grave.

• Hades is the realm of the dead.

• Gehenna is a metaphor for destruction.

• Tartarus is a temporary prison for fallen angels.

And none of them mean what we've come to fear.

Let’s recover the gospel of good news.

The cross of Christ reveals not a God who tortures His enemies, but a God who dies for them. He descends to our lowest hells and brings us up with Him into resurrection life.

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)

If this shook something loose in you, don’t be afraid. It’s okay to question what you were taught—especially if it leads you closer to the heart of God revealed in Jesus.

Let’s keep exploring together.

All the occurrences of the greek words.

Greek Word

Meaning

Verses

Refers To

Hades

Grave, realm of the dead

Matt 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14

Temporary realm of the dead

Gehenna

Judgment/destruction (Valley of Hinnom)

Matt 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6

Judgment imagery, not final hell

Tartarus

Abyss for angels

2 Peter 2:4

Temporary prison for angels