What Is Hell?

The word “hell” has crept into Bible translations completely unjustly. In the NBG51 translation it is the rendering of Gehenna, and that concerns a geographical place name. It is the Greek name for the Valley of Hinnom. In the days of King Ahaz and Manasseh, this valley was regarded as the center of horrific practices, such as making living children pass through the fire (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6). Thus Gehenna came to stand as a model for horrific practices (compare Sodom and Gomorrah). It is also used in this figurative sense in James 3:6.

In the coming Messianic Kingdom, the corpses of executed rebels against the King will lie in this valley (see Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:48, and Matthew 5:22). In this valley a fire will burn that is not quenched, just as the consuming worm (maggot) will not cease. For the pilgrims passing by, this will be, intentionally, a ghastly sight. A demonstration of Divine judgment. In this way this valley of corpses will be holy to YHWH, as Jeremiah prophesies (31:40)!

The common idea of “hell” as a subterranean place of torment for immortal souls is utterly unscriptural. Gehenna is not a subterranean place but a place name on earth. In the coming aeon, souls are not tormented there, but corpses are burned (cremated). A totally different picture, therefore.

Is it not striking that the horrors committed by Ahaz and Manasseh, namely making their children pass through the fire in the Valley of Hinnom, are precisely the evil that religion, of all things, attributes to God?! After all, “hell” is supposed to be the place where He would make people burn never-endingly (!). This idea undeniably makes the doctrine of hell the most horrific human invention ever!

See also:
Isaiah 66:24 – hell or Valley of Hinnom?

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