judge

The word ususally translated as hell in the nt testament is the aramaic word ghenna. t is the Aramaic word for the valley just outside jerusalem.
It was apparently a place where rubbish was burnt and even where the dead were burnt or thrown into.
Regarding Jesus use of the word [b[ghenna[/b] ,
Craig A. Evans, professor of biblical studies at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada, wrties the following.


.....when Jesus alludes to Scriptures in the Gospels, he usually does so in a manner that agrees with the Aramaic Targum, not the Greek or Hebrew versions. Some examples: In Mark 9:42 50, Jesus warns of judgment by speaking of Gehenna and alluding to Isaiah 66:24, "where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." The word Gehenna does not appear in the Hebrew or Greek, but only in the Aramaic.

http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1999/apr26/9t5098.html

So when Jesus used this term it seems he referred to the Aramaic version of Isaiah.
Here is a reference from Lukes gospel in Aramaic. Luke 12.5 conatins this Aramaic word ghenna translated hell in our english bibles.

http://www.peshitta.org/pdf/Luqach12.pdf

Lule 16:23 has a different word (in Aramaic) used to describe the abode of the dead (at the time of Christ).

http://www.peshitta.org/pdf/Luqach16.pdf

Here the rich man is in sheol not ghenna, yet this is also translated as hell in our english bibles.
Confused yet?



Personally I think that ghenna referred to the destruction of Jesusalem and the jewish nation in 70 a.d.,this is what is referred to in Matthew 25 also. I do not believe that the Aramaic/jewish words which we translte as eternal meant "never ending". also think that sheol was emptied in 70 a.d. as well

Utu

As judge says gehenna is a place, a valley outside of Jerusalem. The valley of Hinnon. There are many tombs there.

The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research has an article on some excavations there. (I'm sure there are others. If anyone knows of them, I would be very interested to know.)

There are various webpages with a table that has all the mentions of Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, and Sheol so you can see what the context of the translated verse would be. Here's an example at the bottom of the page. (Edit: Here's a better example.)

JoyJuice

[QUOTE]Originally posted by blt to go
[B]Revelation indicates it is an actual Lake of Fire:

So it's kind of like the "Rivers of Fire" mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead written some 300 years earlier, but different?

LP675

Hehhehe
Speak for yourself, I’m not. I have incidentally been authorized by God to invite all of you to accept an invitation into the kingdom of God, which if you accept will mean you will be going to
HEAVEN!!!
Have a nice eternity!

spin

What the *uck are you going to do for eternity? Think about it.

And think about what the Cumaean Sybil said (after how many hundreds of years?), "I want to die." But then I guess you'll say that the great entertainer will keep you amused.



While Dr X is being ironic, which makes his comment tolerable, I fear that you are more than half serious behind the veil.


spin

Jeremy Pallant

[Moderator]

Uh, would y'all please keep to the subject, and refrain from rendering this better suited to Humor?

[/Moderator]

We now return you to your irregularly scheduled discussion.

judge

Jesus is recorded as teaching that to find our lives we must lose them, and this idea is also found in eastern religions and even modern psychology where self centredness is seen as the root of some mental illnesses (and I'm not suggesting infidels have these more or less than others).

So if life here seems a drag then the thought of eternity does not seem attractive. But perhaps there is a better way?

"Having refused to recognize the unchanging Higher Power above us we have filled that spoace with personal imperitives, and suddenly life has become a very harrowing prospect indeed".

Alexandr Solhenitsyn 1993 Speach to the international Academy of Philosophy Leichtenstein.

funinspace

The NT offers up a smattering on "hell", maybe better described as judgment after death. There's enough wiggle room in the texts to all Xians to claim anything from true death/eternal sleep to eternal torment. A true believer can turn jot into a mountain, so hell would still be out there even without Mt.

Here's a few verses to check out:
Ps 9:17; Pr 5:5; 9:13,15-18; 15:24; 23:13,14; Isa 30:33; 33:14; Mt 3:12; 5:29,30; 7:13,14; 8:11,12; 10:28; 13:30,38-42,49,50; 16:18; 18:8,9,34,35; 22:13; 25:28-30,41,46; Mr 9:43-48; Lu 3:17; 16:23-26,28; Ac 1:25; 2Th 1:9; 2Pe 2:4; Jude 1:6-23; Re 2:11; 9:1,2; 11:7; 14:10,11; 19:20; 20:10,15; 21:8

I'm sure there's plenty of long winded dissertations out there as well, and books on this hellish subject. But the check out the verses for yourself and you'll probably see the reason for a multitude of views.

DK

happytime

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still reading the information and haven't really decided. I agree it seems like it could be interpreted in different ways.

LP675

Hmmm….not too sure. Unfortunately (and I really mean that) it will probably be something a lot more fun than what some others will be doing.

Yes, your worst fears and suspicions are well founded. I was actually immensely amused by the honorable Dr’s post, and considering I actually believe it I suppose that could be considered a bit perverse couldn’t it?

Sorry Jeremy, I have been duly chastised

Kind of on topic, my personal belief is that lakes of fire and so forth are most probably metaphor. Hell is a conscious separation from God, and I think in some embodied form (that’s not to say it isn’t a place of punishment, damnation, and gnashing of teeth etc). But there may well be fire and brimstone, I agree that the bible isn’t as explicit on this point as on other topics.