Pastor, I Have a Question March-April 2018

QUESTION: I have noticed when I look up the word “hell” in the concordance of my Bible, the word is listed only in the New Testament and not the Old Testament. Why is that?
ANSWER: A quick peek at the small Concordance in the back of the Lutheran Study Bible (English Standard Version or ESV) confirmed this question.  The word “Hell” was listed five times, all in the New Testament. However, a check of Cruden’s Complete Concordance (King James Version or KJV) proved to be different. The word “Hell” was listed in both the Old and New Testaments in several places. Job 11: 8, Psalm 18: 5, and Ezekiel 31:16 are examples confirming this old pastor’s memory.
The Hebrew or Old Testament transliteration of the word is Sheol. It has many meanings, such as the grave, the abode of the dead (righteous or unrighteous), or the pit. It is the place to which all people went at death.
The Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) consistently translated Sheol as Hades. Hades was also the underground abode of the dead in Greek mythology and the word New Testament writings often used for the place of suffering for unbelievers.
Those working on the King James Version chose to translate these words as “hell.” This may have been at least partially because King James translators didn’t have the wealth of ancient manuscripts at their disposal that we have. Modern translations often simply transliterate both words.  When the context indicated, they also translated these words as “grave” or “abode of the dead.”
The Old Testament also referred to a place of punishment after death with other words and phrases. To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.  Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not take me away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give them according to the work of their hands; render to them what they deserve. Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up (Psalm 28:1-5).
Later Judaism understood the Old Testament word Gehenna as Sheol or “hell.” “And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom [Gehenna], which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.  Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter’” (Jeremiah 19:2-6).
Hell [Sheol] and Destruction [Abaddon] are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20).
God’s Word in the New Testament helps us understand the meaning of His Word in the Old Testament. God is always the same. His wrath is revealed against all the unrighteousness of man. Those who reject His love earn for themselves the eternal suffering of hell. God revealed His heart through His Son. Because of Jesus, we do not fear the fires of hell. Upon the cross, He endured hell in our place. By faith in Him, we are children of the Kingdom of heaven. We are forgiven and justified. Thanks be to God.
Rev. Charles Keeler
Resurrection Lutheran Church
Winter Haven, FL
cjohnk@aol.com