Sheol (pronounced "Sheh-ol"), in Hebrew שאול (She'ol), is the "grave", or "pit" or "abyss"[1][2].
In Judaism She'ol[3] is the place of spiritual purification or punishment for the wicked dead in Judaism, a site at the greatest possible distance from heaven. According to most Jewish sources, the period of purification or punishment is limited to only 12 months and every shabbath day is excluded from punishment.[4] After this the soul will ascend to Olam Ha-Ba, the world to come, or will be destroyed if it is severely wicked.[5] The place of spiritual purification or punishment for the wicked dead in Judaism is not called 'Hell' but referred to either as Gehinnom or She'ol.[6] It is a figurative name for a place where the dead were believed to be forgathered.
The word "hades" (= underworld) was substituted for "sheol" when the Hebrew scriptures - by decree - were translated into Greek (see Septuagint) in ancient Alexandria around 200 BCE (see Hellenistic Judaism).
In the Old Testament Sheol is the common destination of both the righteous and the unrighteous flesh, as recounted in Ecclesiastes and Job. The New Testament (written in Greek) also uses "Hades" to refer to the abode of the dead.[citation needed] The belief that those in Sheol awaited the resurrection either in comfort (in the bosom of Abraham) or in torment is reflected in the story of the New Testament of Lazarus and Dives.[citation needed] English translations of the Hebrew scriptures have variously rendered the word Sheol as "Hell"[7] or "the grave".[8]
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The origin of the term sheol is obscure.
One theory is that Sheol is connected to ša'al, the root of which means "to burrow" and is thus related to šu'al "fox" or "burrower".[9]
Biblical scholar William Foxwell Albright suggests that the Hebrew root for SHE'OL is SHA'AL, which means "to ask, to interrogate, to question." John Tvedtnes, also a Biblical scholar, connects this with the common theme in near-death experiences of the interrogation of the soul after crossing the Tunnel.
As regards the origin not of the term but of the concept, the Jewish Encyclopedia considers more probable the view that it originated in animistic conceits: "With the body in the grave remains connected the soul (as in dreams): the dead buried in family graves continue to have communion (comp. Jer. xxxi. 15). Sheol is practically a family grave on a large scale. Graves were protected by gates and bolts; therefore Sheol was likewise similarly guarded. The separate compartments are devised for the separate clans, sects, and families, national and blood distinctions continuing in effect after death. That Sheol is described as subterranean is but an application of the custom of hewing out of the rocks passages, leading downward, for burial purposes."[10]
In the Hebrew Bible, the word "sheol" occurs more than 60 times. It is used most frequently in the Psalms, wisdom literature and prophetic books.
Jacob, not comforted at the reported death of Joseph, exclaims: "I shall go down to my son a mourner unto Sheol" (Genesis 37:35).[11]
Other examples of its usage:
The Hebrew concept is paralleled in the Sumerian Netherworld to which Inanna descends. See Irkalla.
In the Wisdom of Sirach the view of Sheol/Hades is much the same as Ecclesiastes: "Who will sing praises to the Most High in Hades, as do those who are alive and give thanks? From the dead, as from one who does not exist, thanksgiving has ceased; he who is alive and well sings the Lord's praises. (Sirach 7:27-28)
There is still debate surrounding the views of the Qumran community on Hades, and whether their texts reflect any consistent view.[12]
Visits to Hades are a common feature of several Pseudepigrapha. For example:
Josephus largely follows models of the Hebrew Bible. The "Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades" found in the edition of the Complete Works by William Whiston is actually a 3rdC commentary on Luke 16 by Hippolytus.[14]
The New Testament follows the Septuagint in translating sheol as hades (compare Acts 2:27, 31 and Psalm 16:10). The New Testament thus seems to draw a distinction between Sheol and "Gehinnom" or Gehenna (Jahannam in Islam). The former is regarded as a place where the dead go temporarily to await the Resurrection of the dead, while the latter is the place of eternal punishment for the damned (i.e. perdition). Accordingly, in the book of Saint John's Revelation, hades is associated with death (Revelation 1:18, 6:8), and in the final judgment the wicked dead are brought out of hades and cast into the lake of fire, which represents the fire of Gehenna; hades itself is also finally thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
In Luke 16:19-31 (the story of Lazarus and Dives), Jesus portrays hades as a place of torment, at least for the wicked. Jesus also announces to St. Peter that "the gates of hades" will not overpower the church (Matthew 16:18), and uses hades to pronounce judgment upon the city of Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), see Rejection of Jesus#Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.
According to I Peter, between his death and resurrection Jesus descended into Sheol to preach to unredeemed dead of the days of Noah. This is called the Harrowing of Hell.[15]
The English word "hell" comes from Germanic mythology, and is now used in the Judeo-Christian sense to translate the Greek word Gehenna — a term which originally referred to a valley outside Jerusalem used for burning refuse, but came to designate the place of punishment for sinners. Although older translations (such as the King James Version) also translated Hades as "hell", modern English translations tend to preserve the distinction between the two concepts by transliterating the word hades and reserving "hell fire" for gehenna fire.
In the Esperanto translation of the New Testament, wherever the word "Hades" might appear, it is merely transliterated; but in places where the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament it uses Sheol, rendered into Esperanto spelling, corresponding with Zamenhof's translation in the original. (Cf. Acts 2:31, Psalm 16:10.)
According to Professors Stephen L. Harris and James Tabor, sheol is a place of "nothingness" that has its roots in the Hebrew Bible.
Harris shares similar remarks in his Understanding the Bible: "The concept of eternal punishment does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, which uses the term Sheol to designate a bleak subterranean region where the dead, good and bad alike, subsist only as impotent shadows. When Hellenistic Jewish scribes rendered the Bible into Greek, they used the word Hades to translate Sheol, bringing a whole new mythological association to the idea of posthumous existence. In ancient Greek myth, Hades, named after the gloomy deity who ruled over it, was originally similar to the Hebrew Sheol, a dark underground realm in which all the dead, regardless of individual merit, were indiscriminately housed."[17] While some believers in the Bible think that it contains one doctrine of Hell (regardless of what they think about the nature of Hell), Harris and historical-critical Bible scholars typically view the doctrine as changing throughout the Bible.
The dead in Sheol were called rephaim and conceptualised as empty shades, or ghosts, who could (according to Isa 29:4) only communicate in hushed squeaks. The only way to contact them was through necromancy, as seen in 1 Sam 28:8-19, where the Witch of Endor summons the ghost of the deceased prophet Samuel at the behest of King Saul.[18]
However, a Spiritual Deliverance from Sheol was contemplated in the Old Testament, and carried forward in the New Testament by Jewish Scholars, although of a divided opinion. Psalm 16:10 says, "For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit." In the New Testament, this is reflected in the speech of the Apostle Peter to the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when he says, "Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.' " The Apostle Paul quotes the same scripture in Acts 13:35, when speaking to the Jews in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch in modern day Turkey, Paul quoted Psalm 16:10, saying, "you will not allow your Holy One to see decay", as to illustrate how God would raise the Messiah after death, or the resurrection. Later, Paul caused a great rift in the Jewish leaders when he was having to defend his proclamation of the resurrection, by stating, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead. When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowlege them all. (See Acts 23: 6-8). Thus, Jewish scholars were divided on the resurrection from Sheol.
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Hebrew שאול (sheol), meaning "abode of the dead".
sheol
(Heb., "the all-demanding world" = Gr. Hades, "the unknown region"), the invisible world of departed souls. (See Hell.)
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