SHEOL AND HADES TRANSLATED PIT AND GRAVE
By O. Khodjo
Welcome to mis-translations and mis-interpretations
[Hebrew: sheol translated—"pit" and "grave"]
The teaching, that when wicked people die they go to a place of eternal torture in fire is a pagan/heathen belief and doctrine. This teaching far antedates the Christian era, and the Old Testament knows nothing of a place of eternal torture in fire upon death. And so it is impossible to believe that the ancient pagans borrowed the concept of an "eternal hell of punishment by fire" from the Christian Bible? Is that where the pagans and heathens learned of this supposed fate of the wicked? Or rather, did some Christian translators borrow this damnable doctrine from the pagans, and attempt to make it sound Biblical?
It is astonishing how much of Christian theology is pagan in origin. Job was inspired by God's Spirit to write, "Shall MORTAL man be more just than God?" Job 4:17. It is dead people who are raised in the resurrection, not cadavers which once belonged to living people I Cor. 15:51-54. Did the Old Testament patriarchs believe in the "immortality of the soul?" No. Did Paul believe in the "immortality of the soul?" No.
Did the pagan Egyptians believe in the "immortality of the soul?" NO! Have you ever heard of the pyramids? The pyramids were the supposed launching pads for the Pharaohs' IMMORTAL souls to be transported into the heavens! First Century Christians never believed their souls went into the starry firmament of heaven at death—it was the PAGANS AND HEATHENS that believed in such mythological nonsense. God brought Israel out of Egypt, but it doesn't look like the paganism of Egypt ever came out of Israel.
ARE THE DEAD, DEAD?
Just one Scripture from God Himself, and we will move on. When people die, are they dead?
"Now after the DEATH of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass, that the Lord spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD…" Joshua 1:1-2
When Moses died, God Himself said that Moses was dead. God didn't say that Moses' "body" died, but that Moses was still alive with the Lord, at His side. NO. The Lord said, "Moses My servant is DEAD." Physically alive people can be spiritually dead, but physically dead people cannot be spiritually alive!
When I tell people that when we die, we're DEAD, they call me a heretic (someone who holds unorthodox religious belief). When I talk to theologians about the "resurrection of the DEAD," they don't know what I'm talking about. The "Resurrection of the DEAD" has absolutely no place in Christian theology. The entire 15th chapter of I Corinthians deals with the resurrection of the dead!
Paul tells us that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then our faith is vain and we don't have a Saviour. Yet the Church teaches by her heathen doctrines that the resurrection of the dead is less than USELESS when it comes to living forever in a place they call heaven. They tell us that all believers go to heaven (ALIVE) at DEATH, and this "resurrection of the DEAD" stuff that Paul talked about is totally unnecessary for eternal life in heaven. Well, what can I say—they lie.
And there are hundreds and hundreds of Scriptures which speak of "judgment," yet the Church teaches that people by the BILLIONS are sent to an eternal hell of fire and are not even judged before they go there. Another Scriptural doctrine (judgment) bites the dust of Christian heresy.
Who ever heard of sentencing something to life in prison without even being judged guilty of anything? But, according to Christendom, it happens thousands of times a day all over the world, and the sentence isn't for a short number of years, but for all eternity.
Whenever we refuse to BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES we become hopelessly lost in a maze of theological confusion that has no end.
Is there a Scripture that states that man is "immortal" or has an "immortal soul" as the Egyptians taught and believed. No. Does Christendom believe that man has an "immortal soul?" Yes, absolutely.
Is there a Scripture that states when a man dies, he is DEAD? Yes. Does Christendom believe that when a man dies, he is DEAD? No, of course not,
Is there a Scripture that states when a man dies, he is still alive? No. Do Christians believe when we die we are still alive, even though it a different geographical location (heaven or hell)? Yes, of course.
Are the fundamental doctrines of Christendom based on the Scriptures? I'll not ask any more foolish questions—read the rest of the letters!
HELL IS A WORD AND A DOCTRINE
Protestant theologians cringe at the accusation that their beloved "inerrant" King James Bible owes much to Jerome's Catholic Vulgate and to the Latin language as well.
Much of the King James is "Latin" and not "English." It is from the Latin that our Bibles contain such words as substance, redemption, justification, sanctification, perdition, perish, punish, torment, damnation, dispensation, predestination, revelation, priest, minister, congregation, propitiation, disciple, parable, eternal etc. Although not found in Scripture, the word TRINITY is also Latin.
That is not to say that these are not perfectly fine words, they are, but we must be aware that the meaning of words change, and when words change to the very opposite of what they meant hundreds or thousands of years ago, it behoves us to take note of those changes as I am doing in this letter. The Latin aeternum and eternalis (from which we get "eternal") never meant "endlessness" or "without beginning and end" in the first century AD, Neither did the common use of the word hell back in Old England, mean a place where living people are tortured in literal everlasting fire.
But make no mistake about it; the King James Bible is "Catholic" in many ways. Anyone with a copy of the 1611 King James Bible knows that it contains the fourteen books of the Apocrypha still retained by Catholic Bibles to this day. Protestants who teach the "inerrancy" and "flawlessness" of the King James have a difficult time explaining why fourteen whole books have been cut out of this "inerrant" Translation. Those of us who try to teach the proper use of just two King James errors (hell & eternal) are met with frightening opposition. Yet they drop FOURTEEN WHOLE BOOKS from their own Bible without a blush. "Nkwaseasem" nonsense!
TWO DEFINITIONS OF HELL
ONE
First the "HELL" of four centuries ago:
Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary:
"Hell, n. [ME, helle; AS, hell, hell, from helan, to cover, conceal.]"
TWO
Second the "HELL" of the 21st Century:
The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary:
"The abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation from God… a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction… torment, anguish."
If the English word "helan/helle/hell" had retained its Middle English/Anglo Saxon meaning, of to "hide," "cover," and "conceal," it might still be an acceptable (even though it not the best) translation of "sheol/hades." But as this word has long since taken on the meaning of the pagan teachings concerning the realm of the dead and the supposed evils contained therein, it is absolutely out of place as a translation of any Hebrew or Greek word found in the manuscripts.
One more definition—the word "grave:
American Heritage Collage Dictionary:
Grave
a. An excavation for the internment of a corpse,
b. A place of burial,
Remember that the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades are both translated into the two English words "hell" and "grave." Are you following this? The Hebrew word sheol is translated "hell" 31 times and is also translated "grave" 31 times—the SAME Hebrew word.
But are "hell" and "grave" the SAME word? NO. Do they both have the same meaning? NO. Then WHY are they both the translation of the ONE Hebrew word sheol?
There is something sinfully wrong here.
Sheol is translated: "grave—an excavation for the internment of a corpse, a place of burial"
AND:
Sheol is translated: "hell--the abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation from God… a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction… torment, anguish."
So how can the word "sheol" (and "Hades" in the New Testament) have for a definition and for a translation two words that have TOTALLY OPPOSITE AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT MEANINGS? Well, in honest scholarship and honest translating, THEY CAN'T AND THEY DON'T!
IS HELL FIRE A LITERAL FIRE IN A LITERAL PLACE?
"Can/Should we interpret the Bible as literal?" Can we take the following scripture literal?
"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet TO BE CAST INTO EVERLASTING FIRE. And if your eye offend thee [cause you to sin], pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes TO BE CAST INTO HELL FIRE, Matt. 18:8-9…"
And NO, we will NOT enter the Kingdom literally
"lame and maimed" with missing hands, or missing feet, or missing eyes, but rather we will have spiritually amputated the lust and sin in our HEARTS. Those who do not meet this qualification in this life, will be brought into the Great White Throne/Lake of Fire Judgment where these sins will be eradicated, but not with physical, literal, eternal torturing fire, but through the "CONSUMING FIRE" of God's Spirit and His
"FLAMING MINISTERS"
Heb. 12:29 & Psalm 104:4
Message Bible ©
Heb. 12:29: He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
Message Bible: Psalm 104:4: You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors
CAN HANDS AND FEET AND EYES LITERALLY OFFEND?
Matt. 18:7: "Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence comes"
Vs. 8—wherefore if your hand or your foot OFFEND you…"
My King James centre reference says for "offend"—"causes you to sin."
Even this phrase of Jesus is "figurative," and not literal. How, pray tell, can a member of your body such as an eye, hand, or foot, "cause" one to sin? Seriously, can your "foot" cause your heart and mind to sin? This is nonsense if we take it literally. An appendage of our body absolutely cannot cause us to offend. Jesus Christ tells us plainly where offences come from:
"...For out of THE HEART [not the eye or the hand or the foot] proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…"
(Matt. 15:18-19). Matt. 12:34
This is figurative language so simple that a ten-year-old can understand it, but theologians with six doctorates cannot (or will not).
- We cannot blame our foot for KICKING SOMEONE.
- We cannot blame our hands for STRANGLING SOMEONE.
- We cannot blame or eyes for LUSTING AFTER ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE.
- We cannot blame our tongues for DESIRING JUNK FOODS.
- We cannot blame our knees for BOWING DOWN TO IDOLS.
- We cannot blame our mouth for SPEAKING BLASPHEMY AND CURSES.
- We cannot blame our ears for listening to RAP—sorry, I hate rap.
- We cannot blame our nose for STICKING IT INTO ANOTHER'S BUSINESS.
- We cannot blame our fingers for BEING STICKY AND STEALING.
And so literally, an eye or a hand or a foot, does not and cannot "offend God" unless it is first motivated to do something evil by the heart. Therefore it is the heart that offends, but the physical appendages of our body do not have the ability to offend. Hands and feet do not have a consciousness of their own.
So what does all this prove? It proves the words of Jesus regarding the so called "hell fire" are not to be taken literally.
CAN CUTTING OFF YOUR HANDS FORGIVE OFFENSES?
Matt. 18:8
Someone tried to contradict what I teach on this verse by suggesting that if we would repent of our offenses, then we don't need to cut off our hands and feet. My point exactly. But if taken literally, repentance is not an option. Repentance is only an option if these words are NOT taken literally.
Absolutely nothing regarding this first statement of Jesus is literally even possible:
Your literal eyes, hands and feet cannot "cause offence." Christians who claim that these words are literal do not literally obey them.
THE GOSPEL THAT NO ONE UNDERSTOOD
Matt. 4:17
Did anyone know what Jesus was talking about? No. Did anyone know what "repent" really meant? No. Did anyone have even a clue as to what Jesus meant by "The Kingdom of Heaven?" No. The "Kingdom of Heaven" was the gospel that Jesus preached. But did anyone really know what it was? How many even today know what
"the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven" really is? Do you know? Could you teach a class on exactly what the Kingdom of Heaven really is? Ask your Pastors and Apostles to tell you.
One will never know what Jesus preached until they understand how Jesus preached.
When will we begin believing what Jesus taught us concerning the words He used to teach? If you will pay heed to what Jesus taught, you will learn more in five minutes than you would otherwise in 50 years.
After reading parable after parable, beginning in Matt. 13, we read this:
"And great multitudes were gathered together unto Him… and He spoke many things unto them IN PARABLES…" (Vs. 2-3)
"Another parable put He forth unto them…" (Vs. 24)
"Another parable put He forth unto them…" (Vs. 31)
"Another parable spoke He unto them…" (Vs. 33)
"ALL these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in PARABLES; and without a parable spoke He not unto them" (Matt. 13: 34)
"And with many such parables spoke He the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spoke He not unto them: and when they were alone, He expounded['explained' John 10:6] all things to His disciples" Mark 4:33-34
"These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs [Gk: 'figurative language']: but the time comes, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father" John 16:25
Remember that John 16 is recording the last words of our Lord before the crucifixion the following day. So up until that very last night with His disciples He had spoken His own public ministry in proverbs and parables—figurative language symbols and signs. And we have a further verification of these statements when Jesus said: "…the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT…"
John 6:63
BETTER TO ENTER LIFE HALT OR MAIMED
"…better for you to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting [eonian] fire"Matt. 18:8
We have seen that our Lord's instructions to cut off an offending hand or foot, or to pluck out an offending eye is not literal, but figurative, spiritual, symbolic language. It is really the offenses of the heart, which are to be cast off, not our physical limbs. Well then, can it be true that any actually will enter into life "halt or maimed" if the halting and maiming itself is not literal, Of course not. Imagine living an eternity with God maimed and crippled like some wartime amputee? What kind of a heaven would that be? It is hard to believe that Christians (and even professional theologians), pay little or no attention to the many words that contradict their heretical doctrines. But in their crazed addiction for their "literal," interpretation, they become scholastic fools.
Okay then, as the "cutting off of hands and feet" is not literal, and the
"entering into life halt and maimed" is not literal, by what law of logic or language should the
"everlasting fire"
be considered literal?
There is nothing in the context of these two verses that would suggest in any way that part of the verses are figurative, symbolic language, and part are literal. However, that does not mean that what Jesus said is not true. Of course what He said is true, but it is not literally true; it is figuratively, symbolic, and spiritually true.
WHAT IS "HELL" TRANSLATED FROM?
The word "hell" is an Old English word that was used to translate several words found in the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. What words? And why did they choose to use the Old English word "hell" as a translation? We shall see that it had absolutely nothing to do with scholarship, but everything to do with forcing pagan religion into the teachings of Jesus Christ. You don't have to take my word for it; you will be able to judge for yourself as we go through it.
Here are the words for which "hell" was inserted as a "translation" into English:
The Hebrew word sheol (31 times)
The Greek word gehenna (12 times)
The Greek word hades (10 times)
The Greek word tartarus (1 time)
That's it.
Every time the word "hell" is found in the King James Bible it is translated from one of these four words. We find the word "hell" 31 times in the KJV Old Testament and 23 times in the KJV New Testament for a total of 54 times. Later we will look at all 54 verses containing the word "hell," plus the 31 times that sheol is translated as "grave."
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS OF THIS SCRIPT
sheol, and the Greek words gehenna, hades, and tartartus, then these four words must all have the same meaning. But in reality only two of these four words have the same meaning.
The Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades are synonymous in meaning. And here is the proof from the Scriptures and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades are identical in meaning:
Acts 2:27: "Because You will not leave My soul in hell [Gk: hades], neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption"
Is quoted from
Psalm 16:10: "For You will not leave My soul in hell [Heb: sheol]; neither will You suffer your Holy One to see corruption."
And so the inspiration of the Spirit of God proves that the Greek word
hades is the right and proper translation of the Hebrew word Sheol,
Whatever "hades" means, "sheol" means the same, and whatever "sheol" means, "hades" also means the same.
We know for a fact that the Hebrew word Sheol is translated "hell" 31 times in the KJV of the Bible. But… BUT, we also know for a fact that the same Hebrew word Sheol is translated "grave" 31 times in the KJV Bible. As we go through the 31 Scriptures in which the KJV uses the word "grave," it will become abundantly clear that "grave" is the proper translation. But when we come to the 31 times that KJV uses the word "hell" to translate this same Hebrew word, it will also become abundantly clear that word, "GRAVE" should have been used in all of those 31 verses as well. Yes, the "context" will show that "grave" or its literal meaning of "the UNSEEN" can be consistently used in all 62 verses without jeopardizing or violating the context.
While it is true that a number of verses use sheol—the unseen, the grave, in a poetic or figurative sense, absolutely nowhere is sheol used to represent a place of life, consciousness, fire, or torture—nowhere, absolutely nowhere.
ALL OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES ON HELL
Therefore, it would seem logical to assume that "sheol" means "hell." That "hell" is in fact, the right and proper English translation for the Hebrew word sheol. Wrong. Not true. Not even close.
Why is that? Because although "hell" is always the translation of the word sheol, sheol is not always translated "hell." No sir. In fact, sheol is also translated 31 times as "grave." And just for good measure, the Hebrew sheol is translated 3 times into English as "pit." Is there any rhyme or reason for this nonsense? No, none.
Try to keep the following straight in your mind as we go through all of these Scriptures. Remember that every time we come across the word
sheol (no matter how it is translated in the particular verse we are examining), it is the same word and never changes from that same word, whether the translators render it "pit," "grave," or "hell."
If the word sheol can be properly and accurately translated by the English word "hell,"
then there must be present in each and every verse some form or semblance
of the definition of the word "hell." Am I overstepping the bounds of sane scholarship? Is this too logical and rational to be good theology? Have I violated any Scriptural principle? Then let's proceed.
Here is every verse of Scripture in which we find the Hebrew word sheol, translated in the KJV as either
"pit," "grave," or "hell." Judge for yourself what this word means.
SHEOL TRANSLATED "PIT"
1."If these men DIED the common DEATH of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the PIT
[Heb: sheol]; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord."Numbers 16:29-30
2."And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the GROUND clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the PIT
[Heb: sheol], and the EARTH closed upon them: and they PERISHED from among the congregation"Numbers 16:31-33
Now then, what can we learn from this word "sheol" in these verses? We learn that sheol is in "the GROUND… under them."Korah and his men all "died" an uncommon "death" in this sheol--pit. And it says that "they PERISHED." While the ground was "opened up," it was a PIT. After the ground closes up the pit, it was a GRAVE. This whole episode was a supernatural "mass burial in a mass grave," and nothing more. All these men are "dead and perished." Are we learning? What does the word "perished" signify? Are they lost for all eternity, because God caused them to "perish?" No, not at all, Even righteous people "perish."
"The righteous perish and no man lays it to heart…" Isa. 57:1
Also consider, if sheol is a hell of torture in fire, did you notice that God consigned the
"houses" of Korah and his men to this same fate. Do we reckon that the "houses" of Korah and his men will also be "tortured in the fire of hell forever?" Good, so we are making progress—two down and 61 to go.
3. "If I wait, the GRAVE [Heb: sheol] is mine HOUSE: I have made my BED in the DARKNESS. I have said to CORRUPTION, You are my father; to the worm, You are my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the PIT
[Heb: sheol], when our REST together is in the DUST" Job 17:13-16
Wow. See anything wrong with this picture of "sheol" being an "eternal hell of torture in fire?" What I see here is: "grave, house, bed, darkness, corruption, worm, pit, rest, and dust." There are all kinds of problems with these verses if we desire to pervert them into an "eternal hell of fire."
A "grave" is in the ground. A "house" is an abode, not a place designed for torture in fire. A "bed" is where one sleeps, and God likens death in the grave [sheol] to "sleep"
"…lest I sleep the sleep of death" Psalm 13:3
"Darkness" is something that is found in a grave beneath the earth, not something you would find where there is a huge fire present. "Corruption" is what happens when a corpse decays in a relatively short period of time, not something that is never accomplished in even an eternity of burning in the fabled Christian hell. "Worms" live in the ground in dead bodies, and in garbage where they continue to live and multiply as long as there is food present, but they don't do very well in literal fire. A "pit" is "a hole in the ground" according to Webster's Dictionary. We would hardly be at "rest" if we were being eternally tortured by literal fire. And "dust" is what bodies return to when they are dead. God formed man from the "dust of the ground," not from "eternal hell fire." Besides all this proof, does anyone think that God would eternally torture Job (apparently the most righteous man on the face of the earth in his day) in literal fire when he died? How pray tell! This completes the 3 times that sheol are translated "pit."
SHEOL—TRANSLATED "GRAVE"
[Heb: sheol] unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him" Gen. 37:35
Here "grave" (sheol) is used figuratively. Jacob did not literally go into the grave of his son Joseph, seeing that Joseph was not even "literally" dead at this time.
2. "And he [Jacob] said, My son [Benjamin] shall not go down with you; for his brother [Joseph] is dead [Jacob thought Joseph was dead], and he is left alone: If mischief befall him by the way in the which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave
[Heb: sheol]" Gen. 42:38
Gray hairs can only figuratively "sorrow." And "hair" does not do well in fire.
3. "And if you take this also from me, and mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" Gen. 44:29
Once again, Jacob uses the word "grave" (Sheol) figuratively, and there is no mention of fire.
4."…and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave [Heb: Sheol]" Gen. 44:31
5. "The Lord kills, and makes alive: He brings down to the grave
[Heb: Sheol], and brings up" I Sam. 2:6
And so, just as surely as God "brings down to the grave," He likewise, "brings up
[from the grave]." Therefore, the "grave" [Sheol] is not an eternal place. Plus, no mention of "fire" in this place called Sheol.
6. "Do therefore according to your wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave [Heb: Sheol] in PEACE" I Kings 2:6
Obviously, this verse tells us that the "grave (sheol)" is a place of "peace," and that is why David didn't want his enemy's death to be a peaceful one.
7. "Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do to him; but his hoar head bring you down to the grave [Heb: Sheol] with BLOOD" I Kings 2:9
King David is called a "bloody man" in the Scriptures. David liked blood and violence. His dying words are for His son Solomon to be a "hit man" for him, and to violently destroy David's long-time enemies (for which David will have to bitterly repent in the Great White Throne Judgment). David wanted Solomon to make their deaths painful and "bloody," as even David himself knew that his enemies would merely
"sleep the sleep of death" once they were killed. But again, no "fire" in this "grave"—only
"peace," even for David's worst enemies.
8. "As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away; so he that goes down to the grave [Heb: Sheol] shall come up no more" Job 7:9
Job was inspired to write that a person "vanishes away" in Sheol. No fire there.
9. "O that you would hide me in the grave [Heb: Sheol] …If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come" Job 14:13-14
Job knew that he would not stay in Sheol forever. No fire there.
10. "If I wait, the grave [Heb: Sheol] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness"Job 17:13
Same words Job used previously.
11. "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave [Heb: Sheol]" Job 21:13
Job goes on to say in verses 23-26 that those blessed and those cursed, "They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them."
12. "Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave
[Heb: Sheol] those which have sinned" Job 24:19
"ALL have sinned and so all "consume" away in the grave until they return to the dust from where they came.
13. "For in death there is NO REMEMBRANCE of Thee: in the grave
[Heb: Sheol] who shall give you thanks?" Psalm 6:5
King David knew and was inspired to write that if he were to die, he knew that there would be no remembrance of God in the grave. No fire here either.
14. "O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave
[Heb: Sheol]: You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit
[this time pit is not translated from Sheol]" Psalm 30:3
Here King David is likewise speaking figuratively, as he was not literally killed or put into a grave.
15. "Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave
[Heb: Sheol]" Psalm 31:17
Well, so much for all the supposed cries of anguish in Sheol. David knew that Sheol was a place of complete "silence."
16 & 17 "Like sheep they are laid in the grave [Heb: Sheol]; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave [Heb: Sheol] from their dwelling" Psalm 49:14
There is "death" in the grave (Sheol). There is not living torture in fire.
18. "But God will REDEEM MY SOUL from the power of the grave
[Heb: Sheol]: for he shall receive me. Selah" Psalm 49:15
Well there you have it! Souls can be
"redeemed from the power of sheol"! No eternal torture in fire where souls can and will be "REDEEMED"!
It should be self-explanatory as to why the translators didn't translate this particular "sheol" into the English word "hell." They sure didn't want anyone to know that souls will be
"redeemed from hell."
19. "For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draws nigh unto the grave
[Heb: Sheol]" Psalm 88:3
King David knew that when he died he was going to be placed in Sheol.
20. "What man is he that lives, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave [Heb: Sheol]. Selah" Psalm 89:48
And so according to this verse of Scripture, there is not a man who ever lives (that's all humanity) that shall not go to Sheol when he dies. Everyone goes to the grave; everyone goes to
Sheol. But it is silent there. No remembrance. No pain, suffering, or fire.
21. "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit" Prov. 1:12
This too is speaking of the grave in figurative language.
22. "…There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say, not, it is enough. The grave
[Heb: Sheol]; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that says not, it is enough" Prov. 30:15-16
The earth is our "grave," and it can hold billions of bodies.
23. "Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave
[Heb: Sheol], where you go" Ecclesiastes 9:10
The word "device" means "contrivance, intelligence and reason." And there are none of these in Sheol. Neither is there any work, knowledge, or wisdom there. Since there are not any of these faculties of consciousness there, how can "sheol" be translated "hell" which is supposed to be a place of eternal torture in fire? Does it sound nonsense to you now?
24. "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave
[Heb: Sheol]: the coats thereof are coats of fire, which have a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench LOVE, neither can the floods drown it…" Song of Solomon 8:6-7
I included verse 7 here so that no one would be confused and think that the "flames of fire" are in "sheol," but are rather the "coats of fire and flame" of jealousy.
25. "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave [Heb: Sheol], and the noise of your viols [harps]: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you"
Isa. 14:11
This is figurative language once more. Seeing that "pomp," a character flaw, and "harps," musical instruments do not literally go anywhere, but they do cease to exist from the perspective of the person possessing them.
26. "I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave
[Heb: Sheol]: I am deprived of the residue of my years" (Isa. 38:10)
If one were to continue living in a place called hell, he could hardly declare that his days and years would end. If hell is eternal, then he would continue to live forever.
27. "For the grave [Heb: Sheol] cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down in to the pit cannot hope for Thy truth" Isa. 38:18
Of course "sheol cannot praise Thee," seeing that there is no intelligence or reason in Sheol, as we just learned a few Scriptures above.
28. "Thus said the Lord God, In the day when he [Pharaoh] went down to the grave [Heb: Sheol] I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him" Ezek. 31:15
Ezek. 31:16-17 again contain the word "sheol" again, but there it is translated "hell" which we will cover when we cover all the verses with "hell" in them. But there is no eternal torture by fire in this verse.
29 & 30. "I will RANSOM them from the power of the grave [Heb: Sheol]; I will REDEEM them from death: O DEATH, I will be your plagues; O grave [Heb: Sheol], I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" Hosea 13:14
This verse all by itself destroys the whole eternal torture in fire theory. If Sheol is "hell," then this verse plainly tells us that
[1] God will "ransom" those who are in Sheol.
[2] God will be the plague of DEATH.
[3] God tells us that Sheol itself is to be "DESTROYED." And isn't this exactly what we are told in
Revelation 20:14 — "And DEATH and hell [Gk: hades / Heb: Sheol] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second DEATH."
31. "Our BONES are scattered at the grave's [Heb: Sheol] mouth, as when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth.Psalm 141:7
Once more King David is speaking figuratively in a poetic style. The grave does not literally have a "mouth." That concludes the 31 places Sheol is translated "grave." Not one of these 34 verses cited uses Sheol to mean a place or condition of conscious torture in literal fire for all eternity. Why then would we suppose that the next 31 verses that use this exact same word, Sheol would change the meaning to a place of conscious torture of wicked people in literal fire for all eternity? How can such a travesty (distortion) of scholarship ever be accepted by those who still possess a functioning mind?
CAN CONTRADICTING OPPOSITES DEFINE ONE WORD?
I do not even contend that this is bad scholarship. This is NO scholarship at all. This is nothing less than FRAUD—a Christian HOAX! Show me where else in historic academia we find such reckless abandonment of the facts? I am not contending for my personal preference in translating the scriptures, but to merely translate accurately and consistently what we find in ALL THE HEBREW AND GREEK MANUSCRIPTS. ONCE MORE: In the Hebrew manuscripts, we find the word Sheol 65 times; therefore, in our English translations we should find ONE WORD for all 65 times Sheol appears. But, no, we find ONE Hebrew word translated into THREE DIFFERENT ENGLISH WORDS—"pit, grave, and hell." And in the New Testament we have the opposite of this Hebrew fraud: We have the ONE English word "hell" translated from THREE DIFFERENT GREEK WORDS—"gehenna, hades, and Tartarus." Then we come to the greatest New Testament fraud of all regarding "hell." One time and one time only we find the Greek word hades, translated not "hell," but "grave." Why? Why just one time, "grave?"Why? Because the translators did not want us "dumb sheep" to ever know what hades really means.
If "grave" and "hell" had very similar meanings, then their use would not be so damning, but as they are opposites in every way there is no justifiable reason for their use. And if the Greek words "hades" and "gehenna" were very similar in meaning it might be justifiable to translate them into the same one English word, but they are not; they are totally different separate words with complete different meaning.
At least half of the translations in the Old Testament are correct, in that Sheol can be translated correctly as "grave." But in the New Testament, not even once is the English word "hell" a justifiable translation for any Greek word found in the manuscripts.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SO FAR ABOUT SHEOL / HADES?
When God kills someone, it is said that God brings them down to "Sheol." When someone goes down to "Sheol," he is not able to come back up. In Job we learned that when we die we are hid in "Sheol" until an appointed time when we will be changed from whatever our condition in "Sheol" is.Also, Job likens "Sheol" to a bed in a dark place (not unlike sleeping in our bedroom with the lights off). And Job also informs us that the blessed and cursed both go to "Sheol."
We consume away in this place called "Sheol." In "Sheol" there is no remembrance or communication with the world of the living. The hand of "Sheol" is called death, and everyone who lives will be drawn to it. Ecclesiastes 9:10 is probably the most telling Scripture of all with regards to what we do NOT find in "Sheol." No work, device [intelligence/reason], knowledge or wisdom. Not even the righteous can celebrate or praise God in "sheol." Hosea informed us that God will be death's PLAGUE. In other words, God will be a plague to "sheol" itself, not the dead people who reside in Sheol. In fact God says He will RANSOM AND REDEEM those in "Sheol." Oh yes, God will ransom and redeem them ALL who go down to Sheol, but not all at the same time. Remember there are TWO resurrections—One to life with Christ in His Kingdom, and Another to the great white throne/lake of fire/second death, Judgment.
Although everyone has a perception OF death, and many actually experience the process OF dying, absolutely no one will ever experience anything IN the death state itself. There is no experience or perception in death. And although no one desires to go to sheol [the grave]; that is no one desires to DIE, but nonetheless, it is a safe place to be while we await resurrection. Nothing can harm us there. There is no fear or darkness there, because there is NO PERCEPTION THERE. Sheol is truly like a deep, sound SLEEP, from which our Father will awaken us in the morning. Let us be comforted by that thought.
SHEOL TRANSLATED HELL
There is NO Scriptural or rational reason for translating the Hebrew word Sheol into the English word "hell" at all—NONE! And there surely is no reason to use the word hell in light of the fact that the Old English meaning of this word has been grossly perverted by the Christian church beyond recognition over the past four centuries. Let's look at our definitions once more:
The "HELL" as the English used it in everyday life in the 1600's:
The "HELL" of the 21st Century:
The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary: "The abode of condemned souls and devils...the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan…a state of separation from God…a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction …torment, anguish."
Does anyone believe that these two definitions of "hell" have anything whatsoever in common with each other? Then how is it even in the realm of possibility that the Christian definition of hell today can be a translation for a word that is also to this day, translated three times as "pit," and thirty-one times as "grave."
THE DAMNABLE HERESY OF ETERNAL HELL
Preach with SOUND DOCTRINE and Refute those who CONTRADICT IT"
(Titus 1:9, The New Revised Standard Version).
THE 31 HELLS IN THE KING JAMES OLD TESTAMENT
We will then see if there is a lick of difference between those verses where Sheol is translated grave and where it is translated hell. I hope that you will be as shocked and outraged as I was when I discovered these truths.
To save time, I will not comment on every single reference to "hell" translated from "Sheol," but I will quote them all and point out the fallacies on those that make mention to fire or anything vaguely related to the Christian hell.
In all the "Torah"—the Law, that is all the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the word "hell" appears but once in the King James Bible. Here it is:
1. "For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell
[Heb: Sheol], and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains"Deut. 32:22
Well, at last. There it is, "fire" is found with the word Sheol, so surely now we have found Scriptural proof that Sheol sometimes does mean the Christian "hell of eternal torture in fire," right? WRONG! This verse says nothing of burning dead people in Sheol with fire.
The whole chapter is a "Song of Moses" (See Vs. 1). God prophesies through Moses' Song, His anger over Israel's lack of faith and the fact that they will turn to other gods, and for this God will punish them. He will not, however, torture them in an eternal fire of a Christian hell. Here is what God will do to them:
"For the Lord shall judge His people… I KILL, and I make ALIVE: I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand" Deut. 32:36a & 39
Notice that according to God Himself, the only way that someone He "kills" can ever live again is if God also "makes alive" again. Do Christians believe that dead people must be made alive again? No, of course not, they don't believe that dead people are even dead, so why would God ever have to "make alive"
again? It is not Scientifically, Physiologically, or scripturally possible to physically DIE and yet be alive.
Let's notice one most profound point in this Song of Moses which should remove any and all doubt as to whether Israel is being "tortured in literal fire" in this "lowest sheol."
Vs. 25:"The sword without, and the terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, THE SUCKLING [an infant; a BABY] also with the man of gray hairs."
To be sure, God affirms that suckling's will be in this Sheol. Are we to believe that God will TORTURE sucklings in Sheol? Is Sheol really a hell of torture in fire as orthodoxy demands? No, this is nothing more than the "GRAVE" that we saw in the previous 31 Scriptures translated from the same Hebrew word Sheol.
2. The sorrows of hell [Heb: Sheol] compassed [surrounded] me about: the snares of death prevented [confronted] me" II Sam. 22:6
Does anyone believe that David just narrowly escaped the tortures of an eternal hell of pain in literal fire? No? I don't either. But I can clearly see how he felt death and the grave closing in on him when his enemies were out to kill him.
3. It [the wisdom and secrets of God] is as high as heaven; what can you do? Deeper than hell [Heb: Sheol]; what can you know" Job 11:8
This is poetic language and has nothing to do with a place of torture in fire.
4. Hell [Heb: Sheol] is naked before him, and destruction has no covering" Job 26:6
5. The wicked shall be turned [Heb: shub] into hell [Heb: Sheol], and all the nations that forget God" Psalm 9:17
You see, the word translated "turned" is the Hebrew word shub and it means "to RETURN," (not "turn" or "turned"), but REturn or REturned. In fact this word is translated "return" or "returned" almost 100% of the approximately 450 times it is used. Notice how other versions correct this same verse:
"The lawless shall RETURN [Heb: shub] to hades, All nations forgetful of God" (Psalm 9:17, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible).
"The nations shall be TURNED BACK unto sheol, All nations that are forgetful of God" (Psalm 9:17, The New American Bible).
"The wicked do TURN BACK to sheol, All nations forgetting God" (Psalm 9:17, Young's Literal Translation).
"The wicked shall RETURN [Heb: shub] to the unseen, all nations forgetful of God" (Psalm 9:17 Concordant Literal Old Testament).
Actually "return" is a better translation than "turn back," but at least we can see that other translators see and use the proper meaning of shub, which of course, The King James did not.
The Bible likens death to a "Return." The soul RETURNS to sheol/hades—the UNSEEN. The spirit RETURNS to God who gave it. And the body RETURNS to the dust of the ground from whence it came. And so likewise, the wicked nations will be RETURNED to Sheol—the grave, Sheol, the unseen, DEATH...
If "Sheol" is a Christian hell of torture in fire, then they would also have to conclude that these nations also CAME FROM an eternity of suffering in fire, and they are not RETURNING
to that same place. Anyone see a problem with such unscriptural nonsense?
6. "For you will not leave my soul in hell [Heb: Sheol]; neither will you suffer Your Holy One to see corruption" Psalm 16:10
Although this is a prophecy concerning the Lord, it is nonetheless, the words of David concerning himself and his own salvation from Sheol. Notice that David concedes that he (his soul, the conscious, sentient self) will die and go to Sheol. But David's prayer is that God, "will not LEAVE my soul in sheol."
Everyone's soul goes to Sheol at death—both the sinners and the saints.
7. "The sorrows of hell [Heb: Sheol] compassed me about: the snares of death prevented [confronted] me" Psalm 18:5
David is not in Sheol, but rather is sorrowful in just contemplating death.
8. "Let DEATH seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell
[Heb: Sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them" Psalm 55:15
Notice that one must be "dead" in order to go to Sheol.
9. "For great is Thy mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the lowest [depth of] hell [Heb: Sheol]" Psalm 86:13
10. "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell
[Heb: Sheol] got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow" Ps. 116:3
11. "If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell
[Heb: Sheol], behold, You are there" Psalm 139:8
12. "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell
[Heb: Sheol]" Prov. 5:5
Seems pretty clear that feet and steps are one, and they go to one place—death and hell
[Sheol] are all one
.
13. "Her house is the way to hell [Heb: Sheol], going down to the chambers of death" Prov. 7:27
Once more, her house with its chambers, go down to hell/sheol and death.
14. "But he knows not that the DEAD are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell [Heb: Sheol]" Prov. 9:18
Hell/sheol contains DEAD PEOPLE, not living souls!
15. "Hell [Heb: Sheol] and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" Prov. 15:11
16. "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart [keep away] from hell [Heb: Sheol] beneath" Prov. 15:24
17. "You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell
[Heb: Sheol]" Prov. 23:14
18. Hell [Heb: Sheol] and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied" Prov. 27:20
19. "Therefore hell [Heb: Sheol] has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, shall descend into it" Isa. 5:14
20. Hell [Heb: Sheol] from beneath is moved for you to meet you at the coming; it stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations" Isa. 14:9
21. "Yet you shall be brought down to hell [Heb: Sheol] to the sides of the pit" Isa. 14:15
22. "Because you have said, We have made a covenant with DEATH, and with hell [Heb: sheol] are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves" Isa. 28:15
23. "And your covenant with DEATH shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [Heb: Sheol] shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it" Isa. 28:18
Notice in both verses 15 and 18 of Isa. 28 that "death and hell"
keep company together. Another major proof that those in Sheol are DEAD, not tortured in fire. Sheol is associated with DEATH, not life.
24. "And you went to the king with ointment, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your messengers far off, and did debase yourself even unto hell [Heb: Sheol]" Isa. 57:9
25. "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall; when I cast him down to hell [Heb: Sheol] with them that descend into the pit and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth" Ezek. 31:16
26. "They also went down into hell [Heb: Sheol] with him unto them that be slain with the sword: and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen" Ezek. 31:17
27. "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell [Heb: Sheol] with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword" Ezek. 32:21
28. "And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [Heb: sheol] with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, through they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living" Ezek. 32:27
29. "Though they dig into hell [Heb: sheol], thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down"
Amos 9:2
30. "And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me; out of the BELLY of hell [Heb: Sheol] cried I, and You heard my voice" Jonah 2:2
Imagine that! The belly of a FISH is also the "belly of hell."
But for sure there was no literal fire inside that fish torturing Jonah.
31. "Yea also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as hell [Heb: sheol] , and is as DEATH, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all people"
Hab. 2:5
Again we see death and hell keeping company. There is NO CONSCIOUSNESS in Sheol / hades / grave / death. Jonah only figuratively (symbolically) cried out from "the belly of hell/sheol."
Jonah was not literally in Sheol, as he had not died, although he was very close to it. David in the same way, cried out in his agony as though he had already been consumed with death, although he had not.
We have now quoted every Scripture from the Hebrew Old Testament which contains the word Sheol. 3 times as "pit," 31 times "grave," and 31 times "hell." Not once did we read of "PUNISHMENT," "TORTURE IN FIRE," or a place of "EVERLASTING" anything. We have clearly seen that both the righteous and the unrighteous go to this same condition and place called Sheol. It is spoken of literally, figuratively, symbolically, and poetically.
IS SHEOL THE SAME AS THE GRAVE?
Although Sheol is translated "grave" 31 times in Scripture, the question remains, should it even be translated grave at all? We will prove that it should NOT be translated "hell," but should it ever be translated "grave," seeing that there is another Hebrew term used in Scripture that specifically means Grave.
It will all make sense when we come to realize that there are two aspects regarding the Graves that are spoken of at some length in Scripture:
- The PHYSICAL GRAVE, which includes the location and type of burial.
- The CONDITIONAL GRAVE, which tells us why someone is in the grave, what their sins were, what their present condition is, and what their losses are.
"Yet shall he be brought to the grave [Heb: qeber qibrah], and shall remain in the tomb."
This verse pretty much defines grave by stating that a person brought to the grave would remain in the tomb (the "tomb" being a "burying place"). But does not sheol/hades also mean: sepulchre, burying place, grave?
Strong's definition of qeber gibrah is quite accurate and accords perfectly with the Scriptures. His definition of Sheol, however, leaves much to be desired:
"Sheol—hades, the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates: grave, hell, and pit." "The world of the dead, a subterranean retreat, including its accessories and inmates"
Nowhere is the grave called "a world," and nowhere are there "inmates"—that is living residents in the grave. Strong's word "retreat," however, is interesting. Here's an American Heritage College Dictionary definition of, "retreat, a place affording peace, quite, privacy, or security." Sounds more like a country club in the Caribbean, than the hell of Christendom.
However, the last three words he uses to define sheol—"grave, hell, pit" could all be correct and acceptable if we use and understand "hell" to be only what it was defined as and used as in Old English—"to cover or conceal."
Since STRONG defines Sheol as hades, let's look at his definition of hades.
"#86. HADES, from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; properly unseen, i.e. 'Hades' or the place (state) of departed souls—hell, grave"
Again, "hell and grave" would be acceptable if we understand "hell" to mean "conceal or cover" rather than, "a place where sinners are tortured with Satan and devils in literal fire for eternity."
The "grave" is the common denominator in all verses regarding Sheol. But why didn't the writers use the Hebrew qeber qibrah
which most definitely means grave? Why are both terms used if what is always meant is "the grave?"
ANSWER: The Hebrew qeber qibrah
always has reference to the geographical location and vessel of internment for the body. For example, is the body buried on the top of a mountain in a cave, down in the valley in the ground, or maybe in a garden in a tomb? The first time qeber qibrah is used in the Scriptures is a perfect example:
"And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave [Heb: qeber qibrah]: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave [qeber qibrah] unto this day" Gen. 35:20
Here's another:
"My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die [am dying] in my grave [Heb: qeber qibrah—grave, sepulchre, burying place or tomb] which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, THERE shall they bury me" Gen. 50:5
Okay then, if the "qeber qibrah—grave" is the location and type of burying place, what does "sheol—grave" mean? Does Sheol then fit the description and definition of a grave? Yes, it does, but with an added dimension. The "sheol—grave" addresses not so much the location or type of burying place, but rather the CONDITIONS surrounding the person(s) entombed.
Here are just some of the things associated with Sheol as a grave:
- darkness, corruption, worms, rest in dust (Job 17:13-16)
- down to sheol is DEATH and up from sheol is to MAKE ALIVE (I Sam. 2:6)
- a CHANGE must come to live again (Job 14:14)
- no thanks in sheol (Psalm 6:5)
- it is silent in sheol (Psalm 31:17)
- the DEAD are in sheol (Proverbs 9:18)
- souls are REDEEMED from sheol (Psalm 49:15)
- there is no work, device, knowledge or wisdom in sheol (Eccl. 9:10)
- no praise in sheol (Isa. 38:18—not even from the RIGHTEOUS who are there)
- God will RANSOM souls from sheol (Hosea 13:14)
- sheol is a place of DEATH (Psalm 55:15)
- the DEAD are in sheol (Psalm 139:8)
- God is in sheol (Psalm 139:8)
- God will DESTROY sheol (Hosea 13:14)
The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary:
"hell,
the abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan… a state of separation of God… a place of evil, misery, discord or destruction… torment, anguish."
Okay then, here are ten bold key words which define "hell." If these are the proper words and phrases to describe and define "hell" in our English Bibles, then we should find these ten words scattered all through the verses of Scripture which speak of sheol/grave/hell.
Below I list all of the 65 Scriptural references to Sheol in the King James. It appears that they might have used the flip of a coin to determine whether to translate any particular verse as heads or tails. I do this to impress upon your minds the unscholarly, unscriptural, and silliness employed to come up with 31 graves and 31 hells by using the same one word, Sheol.
In one verse they would have us believe God is speaking of an "ETERNAL LIFE OF TORTURE IN FIRE," and in another verse using the very same word Sheol, they would have us believe all are "DEAD." And they did this SIXTY-FIVE TIMES!
Sheol Translated | ||
| Deut. 32:22 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Gen. 37:35 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| II Sam. 22:6 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Gen. 42:38 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Job 11:8 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Gen. 44:29 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Job 26:6 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Gen. 44:31 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 9:17 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| I Sam. 2:6 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 16:10 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| I Kings 2:6 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 18:5 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| I Kings 2:9 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 55:15 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Job 7:9 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 86:13 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Job 14:13 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 116:3 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Job 17:13 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Psalm 139:8 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Job 21:13 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 5:5 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Job 24:19 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prove. 7:27 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 6:5 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 9:18 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 30:3 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 15:11 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 31:17 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 15:24 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 49:14 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 23:14 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 49:14 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Prov. 27:20 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 49:15 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 5:14 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 88:3 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 14:9 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 89:48 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 14:15 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Prov. 1:12 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 28:15 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Prov. 30:16 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 28:18 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Ecc. 9:10 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Isa. 57:0 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Song 8:6 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Ezek. 31:16 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Isa. 14:11 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Ezek. 31:17 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Isa. 38:10 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Ezek. 32:21 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Isa. 38:18 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Ezek. 32:27 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Ezek. 31:15 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Amos 9:2 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Hosea 13:14 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Jonah 2:2 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Hosea 13:14 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Hab. 2:5 | "hell" | eternal life of torture in fire |
| Psalm 141:7 | "grave" | burying place of the dead |
| Num. 16:30 | "pit" | a huge hole in the earth |
| Num. 16:33 | "pit" | a huge hole in the earth |
| Job 17:16 | "pit" | a place of rest in the dust |
Not once in all 65 verses where we find the word Sheol do we find a word associated with Christianity's hell. What do we find in these verses then? Well, for one thing, in these 65 verses we find the words "death," "dead," or some form of dying
(as in 'slain with the sword'). BOGUSITY!!!
THEY LOOK LIKE SHENANIGANS (Questionable Act, Trick, Prank) TO ME
Let's consider some very interesting translations:In Psalm 88:6 "You have laid me in the LOWEST PIT [Heb: bor—a hole, a pit], in darkness, in the deeps."
And in Psalm 139:15 "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the LOWEST PARTS of the earth."
But in Deut. 32:22 we read: "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the LOWEST HELL [Heb: Sheol].
Why "hell?"
Why not "pit?"
We already have Scriptural proof that there are such things as the "lowest pit" and "lowest parts"
with absolutely no connection or reference to any kind of hellish torture chamber, so why not use "pit" in Deut. 32:22? Actually "grave" would be better, but since they like to translate Sheol as "pit," why not make it pit in Deut. 32:22? You tell me. JUST TO MAKE A DOCTRINE STAND. WOULD YOU SAY THEY ARE STEALING THE WORD OF GOD?
In Job 17:13 we read: "If I wait, the grave [Heb: Sheol] is mine house, I have made MY BED in the darkness"
Here we have God telling us that Job will make his "bed"
in the darkness of the sheol-grave.
But in Psalm 139:8 we read: "If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make MY BED in HELL [Heb: sheol] behold, You are there."
What sense is it for Job to say, "If" he makes his "BED in the sheol-GRAVE," whereas King David considers, "If" he make his "BED in the sheol-HELL?" Consider also that when people have been buried in graves from time immemorial, they are laid down as in a bed (witness the mummies of Egypt), but in what possible, conceivable way can a person in a "Christian hell" who is supposedly being tortured in literal fire, be considered to be "in BED?" Do Christians never, ever, EVER think about what they are reading? Apparently not too often, Clearly, Psalm 138:8 should be translated "If I make my bed in the GRAVE…" Furthermore we have Scriptural proof that David was buried in a grave:
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both DEAD and BURIED, and his SEPULCHRE is with us unto this day" Acts 2:29
And NO, David never went to heaven either:
"For David is not ['is not'—In both Greek and English, that means "IS NOT'] ascended into the heavens…" (Vs. 34)
In Psalm 31:17 we read: "Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon Thee; let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave
[Heb: Sheol]."
But in Psalm 55:15 we read: "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell [Heb: Sheol]: for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them."
Was this another toss of the coin—heads it's "grave" or tails it's hell? In one verse the King James sends the wicked to the grave, and in another the King James sends the wicked to hell. THIS IS GAMBLING TRANSLATION, INSIDE CASINO. "NKWASEASEM", NONSENSE!
THE POSITIVE SIDE OF SHEOL /GRAVE /HELL
"I WILL RANSOM THEM from the power of sheol [grave]…"
Notice the context of this verse in this chapter as it is speaking of SINFUL Israel. Israel has sinned greatly, they have died, but notice God's ultimate mercy upon them:
"O Israel, you have destroyed yourself, BUT in Me is your help" (Vs. 9).
"SURELY [Gk: ge—"a primary particle of emphasis, yet, at least, besides, doubtless, SURELY"], He Who spares not His own Son, but gives Him up for us ALL, how shall He not, together with Him, also be graciously granting us ALL?" Rom. 8:32, Concordant Literal New Testament
Unrepentant sinning Israel, Sodom, Jerusalem, all the Hitlers of the world and every person who has never even heard the name of Jesus Christ will be raised from the dead and JUDGED in the Great White Throne / Lake of Fire / Second Death Judgment, and then all humanity will be saved and God will be "ALL in All"
(I Cor. 15:28). There will never be death again, as it will be completely abolished (I Cor. 15:26) by being destroyed along with hades/sheol in the Lake of God's Spiritual Consuming Fire Rev. 20:14
THE ONLY OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCE TO FIRE AND JUDGEMENT
but the time setting for this fire is not the Old Testament, but rather the New Testament.
Israel and especially the priests mocking ask: "WHERE is the God of judgment?" (Last phrase in Mal. 2:17).
To which God answers:
"Behold, I will send My Messenger before Me: and the Lord, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple [His people in whom He dwells,
I Cor. 3; 16], even the Messenger of the covenant [the NEW covenant], whom you delight in: behold, He shall come, says the Lord of hosts.
But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like A REFINER'S FIRE, and like FULLERS' SOAP: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi…" Mal. 3:1-3a
Just who are the "sons of Levi" under the New Covenant? Why they are the "chosen elect FEW."
Peter describes them:
"But you [those chosen for salvation in this church era] are a chosen generation, a royal PRIESTHOOD, and holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were NOT a people, but are NOW THE PEOPLE OF GOD…"
I Peter 2:9-10
Ironically, it is the "people who were NOT a people" that make up the New Covenant "royal priesthood" (II Pet. 2:9).
It is the "uncircumcision who are now God's circumcision people" (Phil. 3:3)
It is the GENTILES who are God's New Covenant "JEW which is one inwardly" (Rom. 2:28)
It is the GENTILES who are the New Covenant SPIRITUAL "Israel OF GOD" (Gal. 6:16)
Notice that Peter calls us "a ROYAL priesthood." The word "royal" is translated from the Greek, basileios, and it means "kingly." Peter is speaking of " a KINGLY priesthood" or "KING/PRIESTS." Yes, that is exactly what God calls us:
"And has made us unto our God KINGS AND PRIESTS, and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10 & Rev. 2:26-27).
Continuing in Mal. 3:3 "…and purge them as gold and silver…"
Now where do we read of this in the New Testament/New Covenant? Paul makes clear to us that only the "gold, silver, and precious stones" of God's word in us will survive the "refiner's fire":
"Now if any man build upon the Foundation [Jesus Christ] gold, silver, precious stones [these are refined and purified and made much more valuable by the fire], [or] wood, hay, stubble [these are totally consumed and burned up by the fire]: Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by FIRE; [The 'Refiner's fire.' 'For our God is a CONSUMING [spiritual] FIRE,' Heb. 12:29]; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abides which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire" I Cor. 3:12-15
Concluding Mal. 3, 3:
"That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness"
It is this "offering in RIGHTEOUSNESS" that the "kings of the earth
[we, the chosen elect few, ARE the 'kings of the earth Rev. 5:10] do bring their glory and honour ['an offering in righteousness'] into it [New Jerusalem out of Heaven]" Rev. 21:24
A FEW HINTS OF AN AFTERLIFE
Recorded in job:
"If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands" Job 14:14
Job was given to understand that there is coming life after the grave. Not IN the grave but after a period of "waiting and after a "change" takes place.
Recorded in psalms:
"Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [Heb: Sheol] (Psalm 49:14-15).
David realizes as does the writer of Ecclesiastes that a person dies just like an animal and both are consumed away in the grave. But, David was also given to understand that God will "redeem" his soul (the real, sentient David, preserved by God until resurrection back to life into a new body). This will take place in either of two resurrections of the dead.
Recorded in the prophets
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting [Heb: 'eonian'] life, and some to shame and everlasting [Heb: 'eonian'] contempt" Daniel 12:2
Daniel does not tell us when these two resurrections of awakening out of sleep will occur, only that they will. We know from New Testament revelation that the First happens prior to Christ's reign and the Latter happens after His 1000 year reign. But the hope of an afterlife was made known to at least a few of the Old Testament writers. Interestingly, Moses never once makes mention of any such thing as a punishment upon the wicked after death, or a blessing upon the righteous after death. We have record of but a handful of men who even knew of an afterlife, but not one of them suggests and endless punishment for the wicked. From where then did this teaching originate?
GOD WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND
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