Meaning of "Hell"

Gehenna

This article is about the Biblical term that has been interpreted as analogous to the concept of "Hades", "Hell" or "Purgatory". For other uses, see Gehenna (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Gahanna, Ohio.

Gehenna (/ɡɪˈhɛnə/; גיא בן הינום‬ Ancient Greek: γέεννα) from the Hebrew Gehinnom(Rabbinical: גהנום‬/גהנם‬) is a small valley in Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was initially where some of the kings of Judahsacrificed their children by fire.[1] Thereafter it was deemed to be cursed (Jer. 7:31, 19:2-6).[2]

Gehennaגיא בן הינום‬
Valley of the Son of Hinnom

Valley of Hinnom, c. 1900

Gehenna

Location in Jerusalem,
south of Mount Zion

GeographyCoordinates31°46′6.262″N35°13′49.58″EWatercoursesGey Ben Hinnom Stream

In Rabbinic literature and Christian and Islamic scripture, Gehenna is a destination of the wicked.[3] This is different from the more neutral Sheol/Hades, the abode of the dead, although the King James Version of the Bible usually translates both with the Anglo-Saxon word Hell.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the term appears 13 times in 11 different verses as Valley of Hinnom, Valley of the son of Hinnom or Valley of the children of Hinnom.

The Valley of Hinnom is the modern name for the valley surrounding Jerusalem's Old City, including Mount Zion, from the west and south. It meets and merges with the Kidron Valley, the other principal valley around the Old City, near the southeastern corner of the city.

EtymologyEdit

English "Gehenna" represents the GreekGe'enna (γέεννα) found in the New Testament, a phonetic transcription ofAramaic Gēhannā (ܓܗܢܐ),[citation needed]equivalent to the Hebrew Ge Hinnom, literally "Valley of Hinnom".

This was known in the Old Testament as Gei Ben-Hinnom,[4] literally the "Valley of the son of Hinnom",[5] and in the Talmud as גהנם‬Gehinnam or גהנום‬ Gehinnom.

Citation: In the New American Standard Bible, Joshua 15:8 (see below) notes, "Then the border went up the valley of Ben-Hinnom (גֵּיא בֶן־הִנֹּם‬, Gei ben Hinnom) to the slope of theJebusite on the south (that is, Jerusalem); and the border went up to the top of the mountain which is before the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim toward the north." Joshua is describing the boundaries of the tribe of Judah.

Keil and Delitzsch note in their Commentary on the Old Testament,[6] "It (the boundary of the tribe of Judah) then went up into the more elevated valley of Ben-Hinnom, on the south side of the Jebusite town, i.e., Jerusalem (see at Jos 10:1), and still farther up to the top of the mountain which rises on the west of the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and at the farthest extremity of the plain of Rephaim towards the north. The valley of Ben-Hinnom, or Ben-Hinnom (the son or sons of Hinnom), on the south side of Mount Zion, a place which was notorious from the time of Ahaz as the seat of the worship of Moloch (2 Kg 23:10; 2 Ch 28:3; 2 Ch 33:6; Jer 7:31, etc.), is supposed there, but of whom nothing further is known (see Robinson, Pal. i. pp. 402ff.)." This reference in the Book of Joshua is the first mention in the Old Testament of this "Valley of the Sons of Hinnom".

This valley, as Keil and Delitzsch note, is "on the south side of the Jebusite town, i.e., Jerusalem." This valley is mentioned five times in the Book of Jeremiah (7:31,32 19:2,6 32:35) as the place in which the people would "burn their sons and daughters in the fire" as part of the worship of Moloch as noted by Keil and Delitzsch.[6]

In the Qur'an, Jahannam (جهنم) is a place of torment for sinners and non-believers, or the Islamic equivalent of Hell.[7]

Geography

The concept of GehinnomEdit

Hebrew BibleEdit

The oldest historical reference to the valley is found in Joshua 15:8, 18:16 which describe tribal boundaries. The next chronological reference to the valley is at the time of KingAhaz of Judah who sacrificed his sons there according to 2 Chron. 28:3. Since Hezekiah, his legitimate son by the daughter of the High Priest, succeeded him as king, this, if literal, is assumed to mean children by unrecorded pagan wives or concubines. The same is recorded of Ahaz' grandson Manasseh in33:6. There remains debate about whether the phrase "cause his children to pass through the fire" meant a religious ceremony or literallychild sacrifice.

Valley of Hinnom, 2007.

The Book of Isaiah does not mention Gehenna by name, but the "burning place" 30:33 in which the Assyrian army is to be destroyed, may be read "Topheth", and the final verse of Isaiah which concerns of those that have rebelled against God, Isaiah 66:24.

In the reign of Josiah a call came from Jeremiah to destroy the shrines in Topheth and to end the practice Jeremiah 7:31-32,32:35. It is recorded that Josiah destroyed the shrine of Molech on Topheth to prevent anyone sacrificing children there in 2 Kings 23:10. Despite Josiah's ending of the practice, Jeremiah also included a prophecy that Jerusalem itself would be made like Gehenna and Topheth (19:2-6, 19:11-14).

A final purely geographical reference is found in Neh. 11:30 to the exiles returning from Babylon camping from Beersheba to Hinnom.

TargumsEdit

The ancient Aramaic paraphrase-translations of the Hebrew Bible known as Targumssupply the term "Gehinnom" frequently to verses touching upon resurrection, judgment, and the fate of the wicked. This may also include addition of the phrase "second death", as in the final chapter of the Book of Isaiah, where the Hebrew version does not mention either Gehinnom or the Second Death, whereas the Targums add both. In this the Targums are parallel to the Gospel of Markaddition of "Gehenna" to the quotation of the Isaiah verses describing the corpses "where their worm does not die".[22]

Rabbinical JudaismEdit

The picture of Gehenna as the place of punishment or destruction of the wicked occurs frequently in the Mishnah in Kiddushin4.14, Avot 1.5; 5.19, 20, Tosefta t. Bereshith 6.15, and Babylonian Talmud b.Rosh Hashanah 16b:7a; b. Bereshith 28b. Gehenna is considered a Purgatory-like place where the wicked go to suffer until they have atoned for their sins. It is stated that the maximum amount of time a sinner can spend in Gehenna is one year. There are also four people who do not get a share in Olam Ha-Ba.[23] Those people are Doeg the Edomite,Ahitophel, Balaam, and Gehazi.

Due to Jewish religious tradition regarding the bloodiness of its history[clarification needed], Gehenna became a metonym for "Hell" or any similar place of punishment in the afterlife.

The traditional explanation that a burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem gave rise to the idea of a fiery Gehenna of judgment is attributed to RabbiDavid Kimhi's commentary on Psalm 27:13 (ca. 1200 AD). He maintained that in this loathsome valley fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadavers thrown into it. However, Hermann Strack and Paul Billerbeck state that there is neither archaeological nor literary evidence in support of this claim, in either the earlierintertestamental or the later rabbinic sources.[24] Also, Lloyd R. Bailey's "Gehenna: The Topography of Hell"[25] from 1986 holds a similar view.

There is evidence however that the southwest shoulder of this valley (Ketef Hinnom) was a burial location with numerous burial chambers that were reused by generations of families from as early as the seventh until the fifth century BC. The use of this area for tombs continued into the first centuries BC and AD. By 70 AD, the area was not only a burial site but also a place for cremation of the dead with the arrival of the Tenth Roman Legion, who were the only group known to practice cremation in this region.[26]

In time it became deemed to be accursed and an image of the place of destruction in Jewish folklore.[27][28]

Eventually the Hebrew term Gehinnom[29]became a figurative name for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism. According to most Jewish sources, the period of purification or punishment is limited to only 12 months and every Sabbathday is excluded from punishment.[30] After this the soul will ascend to Olam Ha-Ba (the world to come), be destroyed, or continue to exist in a state of consciousness of remorse.[31]