The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-10-02
SHEOL, HADEs, GEHENNA.

ferring to the place of punishment) in
question is Sheol: but this word, I'M
fortunately, has been variously trans
lated. In thirty two places the word
has been translated "hell'; in thirty
one grave" and in three "pit." In
all such cases." says cautious and
reliable scholar, land probably every
where throughout the Old Testament,
the rendering grave" or some nearly
equivalent expression should have
been adhered to-" The Jews. in
truth, had very little idea Of a future
life; and still more vague were their
ideas concerning anything like our
modern hell. In such passages, there
fore, as Psalm xvi. 10,-"Thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell, thou wilt
not suffer Thy holy one to see cor
ruption," the meaning clearly is,
"Thou wilt not leave my soul in the
grave" or in the gloomy under world.
Ia Isaiah xxxviii. Is, the word is rem
dered grave" For the grave can
not praise Thee, death cannot cele-
brate thee" And vet it is the same
Hebrew word" Sneol," the word for
the dim, dreary, vague, underworld.
In the book of Jonah, containing
the absurd story of Jonah's sojourn
inside the whale. he is represented as
praying to God "Out of the fsh's
belly" and this is part of his prayer,
-"Out of the belly of hell cried l."
Gen tainly his was not a place of eter-
nal torrents. But the case is useful
as showing how loosely the word
"hell" was used. So much, then, for
the Old Testament.
In the New Testament we have not
one word to deal with but two. These
are Hades, and Gehenna. The word
Hades was the word chosen by the
Greek translators of the Old Tesla
ment more than 1000 years ago, as
the translation of the Hebrew word
Sheol; that word, therefore, follows
the fate of the original word; and
neither has anything to do with the
modem hell. Hades, with the ancient
Greeks land it is their word) meant
the vast underworld, the general
gatheripg-place of departed souls. 1t
really means the invisible place,-in
fact, the place of spectres. The other
word is Gehenna. Of this word, DR..
Vance Smith says: Now Gehenna,
it is we'll known, was the name of
valley on the southwest of Jerusalem.
Here, in ancient times, children had
been burnt in sacrifice to the heather
god Moloch. Hence, the place was
looked upon by the later Jews as
polluted and abominable. It's name,
associated with burning fires and
human sacrifices became the repre-
sentative of the miserable state into
which, it was believed, the ungodly
would be cast at the coming of the
Messiah" Va
This valley was made the recepta-
Gle for all kinds of offensive matter;
and huge smouldering fires were kept
burning to consume what was flung
into it; and in places which the fire
had left, the offensive worm bred
Here you have all the circumstances
which enter into Christ's reference to
the future place of misery, where the
fire is unceasing and the worm does
not die.
We push mere illustration too
far if we transfer all the local facts
of the actual Gehenna near Jerusa-
lem to the Gehenna of the unseen
world. The abominable concourse of
offensive matter illustrated something
concerning the place of misery here
after; the slow, unquenched fire also
illustrated something concerning it;
and the unceasing worm furnished
another illustration. But we have
no right to take all these symbols
literally, al d say that in the other
life there is fire and there are worms.
The phrase translated hell fire. is
really the fire of Gehenna; and that
is as much symbol as the SAYING of
Jesus, 81 am the bread of life;" Il
am the door by which the sheep
enter" Jesus says that, in the iudg-
ment, God will put the sheep on the
right hand, and the goats on the left.
What did he mean? He was speak
ing of two classes of men; and these
he calls "sheep" and goats" So
here, he speaks of Gehenna fire; but
the expression is clearly suggestive
and illustrative, and is one that be-
comes even absurd when taken liter
ally; for how, in the spirit world,
can there be worms and fire?
JOHN PAGE HoPPs.
RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.