This is a Saxon word, which is derived from a verb which signifies
_to hide_ or _conceal_. A late eminent Biblical critic, Dr. Campbell,
has investigated this subject with his usual accuracy; and the following
is the substance of his remarks. In the Hebrew Scriptures the word
_sheol_ frequently occurs, and uniformly, he thinks, denotes the state
of the dead in general, without regard to the virtuous or vicious
characters of the persons, their happiness or misery. In translating
that word, the LXX have almost invariably used the Greek term ἅιδης,
_hades_, which means the receptacle of the dead, and ought rarely to
have been translated _hell_, in the sense in which we now use it,
namely, as the place of torment. To denote this latter object, the New
Testament writers always make use of the Greek word γέεννα, which is
compounded of two Hebrew words, _Ge Hinnom_, that is, “The Valley of
Hinnom,” a place near Jerusalem, in which children were cruelly
sacrificed by fire to Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites, 2 Chron.
xxxiii, 6. This place was also called _Tophet_, 2 Kings xxiii, 10,
alluding, as is supposed, to the noise of drums, (_toph_ signifying a
drum,) there raised to drown the cries of helpless infants. As in
process of time this place came to be considered an emblem of hell, or
the place of torment reserved for the punishment of the wicked in a
future state, the name _Tophet_ came gradually to be used in this sense,
and at length to be confined to it. In this sense, also, the word
_gehenna_, a synonymous term, is always to be understood in the New
Testament, where it occurs about a dozen times. The confusion that has
arisen on this subject has been occasioned not only by our English
translators having rendered the Hebrew word _sheol_ and the Greek word
_gehenna_ frequently by the term _hell_; but the Greek word _hades_,
which occurs eleven times in the New Testament, is, in every instance,
except one, translated by the same English word, which it ought never to
have been. In the following passages of the Old Testament it seems,
however, that a future world of wo is expressed by _sheol_: “They,” the
wicked, “spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to
_sheol_,” Job xxi, 13. “The wicked shall be turned into _sheol_, and all
the nations that forget God,” Psalm ix, 17, 18. “Her feet go down to
death, her steps take hold on _sheol_,” Prov. v, 5. “But he knoweth not
that the ghosts are there, and that her guests are in the depths of
sheol,” Prov. ix, 18. “Thou shalt beat him with a rod, and shalt deliver
his soul from _sheol_,” Prov. xxiii, 14. Thus, as Stuart observes, in
his “Essay on Future Punishment,” while the Old Testament employs
_sheol_, in most cases to designate the grave, the region of the dead,
the place of departed spirits, it employs it also, in some cases, to
designate along with this idea the adjunct one of the place of misery,
place of punishment, region of wo]. In this respect it accords fully
with the New Testament use of _hades_. For though _hades_ signifies the
grave, and often the invisible region of separate spirits, without
reference to their condition, yet, in Luke xvi, 23, “In hades ἐν τῷ ᾅδη,
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,” it is clearly used for a
place and condition of misery. The word _hell_ is also used by our
translators for _gehenna_, which means the world of future punishment,
“How shall ye escape the damnation of hell, κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης?“
_to hide_ or _conceal_. A late eminent Biblical critic, Dr. Campbell,
has investigated this subject with his usual accuracy; and the following
is the substance of his remarks. In the Hebrew Scriptures the word
_sheol_ frequently occurs, and uniformly, he thinks, denotes the state
of the dead in general, without regard to the virtuous or vicious
characters of the persons, their happiness or misery. In translating
that word, the LXX have almost invariably used the Greek term ἅιδης,
_hades_, which means the receptacle of the dead, and ought rarely to
have been translated _hell_, in the sense in which we now use it,
namely, as the place of torment. To denote this latter object, the New
Testament writers always make use of the Greek word γέεννα, which is
compounded of two Hebrew words, _Ge Hinnom_, that is, “The Valley of
Hinnom,” a place near Jerusalem, in which children were cruelly
sacrificed by fire to Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites, 2 Chron.
xxxiii, 6. This place was also called _Tophet_, 2 Kings xxiii, 10,
alluding, as is supposed, to the noise of drums, (_toph_ signifying a
drum,) there raised to drown the cries of helpless infants. As in
process of time this place came to be considered an emblem of hell, or
the place of torment reserved for the punishment of the wicked in a
future state, the name _Tophet_ came gradually to be used in this sense,
and at length to be confined to it. In this sense, also, the word
_gehenna_, a synonymous term, is always to be understood in the New
Testament, where it occurs about a dozen times. The confusion that has
arisen on this subject has been occasioned not only by our English
translators having rendered the Hebrew word _sheol_ and the Greek word
_gehenna_ frequently by the term _hell_; but the Greek word _hades_,
which occurs eleven times in the New Testament, is, in every instance,
except one, translated by the same English word, which it ought never to
have been. In the following passages of the Old Testament it seems,
however, that a future world of wo is expressed by _sheol_: “They,” the
wicked, “spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to
_sheol_,” Job xxi, 13. “The wicked shall be turned into _sheol_, and all
the nations that forget God,” Psalm ix, 17, 18. “Her feet go down to
death, her steps take hold on _sheol_,” Prov. v, 5. “But he knoweth not
that the ghosts are there, and that her guests are in the depths of
sheol,” Prov. ix, 18. “Thou shalt beat him with a rod, and shalt deliver
his soul from _sheol_,” Prov. xxiii, 14. Thus, as Stuart observes, in
his “Essay on Future Punishment,” while the Old Testament employs
_sheol_, in most cases to designate the grave, the region of the dead,
the place of departed spirits, it employs it also, in some cases, to
designate along with this idea the adjunct one of the place of misery,
place of punishment, region of wo]. In this respect it accords fully
with the New Testament use of _hades_. For though _hades_ signifies the
grave, and often the invisible region of separate spirits, without
reference to their condition, yet, in Luke xvi, 23, “In hades ἐν τῷ ᾅδη,
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,” it is clearly used for a
place and condition of misery. The word _hell_ is also used by our
translators for _gehenna_, which means the world of future punishment,
“How shall ye escape the damnation of hell, κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης?“