Journey to hell ...part 3

A Journey to hell (Part 3)

Welcome back.....today I want to look a little more in the Old Testament for the topic of hell, or hades, as some refer to it. I told you in the second lesson of this series (this is number 3) that the Hebrew word sheol is translated as 'hell.' That is true, in King James Versions, but in others, including the New International Version, the New Living Translation and the New Life Version, it is translated as 'the grave'. The Contemporary English Version calls sheol, 'the world of the dead'. The American Standard, New and original, versions, as well as the Darby Translation (no, not Everett), the Amplified Version, and others, in some Scripture, retain the original word, 'sheol', but in others, use 'the grave'. There are other versions that use varying translations as well--I will let you find those if you desire. But the point is, it is a difficult topic when we have at least four 'meanings'---even Bible scholars seem to be unsure how to describe hell. "The world of the dead", and "the grave", do not have the same connotations in our English language today, as does "hell".

If you look in the book of Job, chapter 3, verse 22, the word 'grave' is used in all three translations (NIV, KJV, and NASB); "who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?" NIV, and "' Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?" (KJV), and "Who rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave?" (NASB). In this case, the Strong's reference number for that word translated as 'grave' is 06913, meaning a tomb, sepulcher or a grave. This word is not the 'sheol' we see in other passages, which is also sometimes translated as 'hell'. It is actually another word, 'qeber'.

The word 'sheol', Strong's reference number 07585, is found in other Scriptures, such as 2nd Samuel 22:6. Here, the NIV says: "The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.", while the KJV translates as: "' The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me:" And the NASB reads: "The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me."

In the King James Version, you will find the word 'hell' used 31 times in the Old Testament; the NIV and NASB never. The term 'sheol' is found 65 times in the NASB, never in the NIV and KJV, and the word 'grave' is found 90 times in the NIV, 75 in the NASB and 142 times in the KJV.

The purpose of the portion of the study, which is really very short in words, has been long in research. And, from today's portion, I fail to draw any more conclusions on the subject of hell, as presented in the Old Testament. I am sure that will come as we continue on this quest in the next few days. But, suffice it to say for now, 'hell' can mean a lot of different things to different people. I took the liberty of placing those 31 Scriptures using the word 'hell' in the KJV, in an attachment. I also show the 65 uses of 'sheol' from the NASB and the 90 times the word 'grave' is used in the NIV. If you find the time, you might want to do a cross walk between all three for comparisons, or look up the 75 times and 142 times the word grave is used in the NASB and KJV, respectively, and compare those Scriptures as well. I think if 'we' can do these crosswalks, we might better understand the terms used. For you folks who are not challenged by Excel, you might want to use that application to put the scriptures "side-by-side" and compare that way.