Would you like to know what is hades and its biblical meaning? Could it be that it is an eternal place where the disobedient dead are burning? In this study, we will consider the word hades and whether or not it refers to hell as a place of eternal suffering and torment for non-believers.
What is hades?
One of the words that is specifically translated “hell” in the New Testament is hades. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the LXX), the Hebrew word sheol is most often translated as hades. Sheol means “grave” or “pit”, this implies that the word has similarly understood obligations (cf. 1 Cor 15:55).
But hades is more than just the grave
In the days of Jesus and the apostles, Jewish teachers were rethinking the concept of the afterlife. The idea of a future resurrection was gaining momentum, and with this idea, people began to speculate about what might happen to humans after they died, but before the .
So while most Old Testament texts referring to sheol can be understood only as a tomb in which corpses were laid, the New Testament texts on hades seem to show an evolution in thinking about what happens to humans. after his death.
Those who did not believe in a future resurrection (like the Sadducees), continued to teach that after death, all people went to the grave (sheol or hades) and that was the end.
But those who believed in the resurrection (such as the Pharisees), began to think that there was some kind of conscious existence for the dead while they awaited the future resurrection.
For example, the Apostle Peter quotes David (Psalm 16: 8-11) saying that God would not allow his body to see corruption in hades, but would raise it up (Acts 2: 26-27, 31). Peter used these texts to defend the idea of the resurrection.
Therefore, those who believed in life after death also believed that people continued to exist somewhere and somehow after death while awaiting resurrection. But they had no concept of “heaven and hell” as many do today. Instead, people in Jesus’ day believed that all the dead went to the same place, albeit with different “compartments” for the just and the wicked.
This concept is seen in the history of the rich man and lazarus in Luke 16: 19-31. But Jesus’ use of these images should not be seen as an endorsement of them. Just as someone might tell a story about meeting Peter at Pearly Gates without believing that this is really what will happen, so too, Jesus might tell a story about Abraham’s bosom in hades (Luke 16:22-23).
what is hell
Those who believed that this was a real realm in which the dead existed consciously also believe that the dead would not exist there forever. Instead, hades was a “holding tank” for people while they awaited resurrection. At some point in the future, when the resurrection occurred, it would be emptied because all the dead within it would be resurrected.
But this was not a backup of the . Although hades would be emptied by the resurrection of all people, the righteous would go to eternal life with God, while the rest would go to eternal death with the devil ( Revelation 20: 13-14).
This idea is at odds with the modern concept of hell, since in this first-century way of thinking, people who go to hades do not stay there forever. Then, What is hades according to the New Testament point of view? Several New Testament texts provide powerful insight into the nature and location of hades.
Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15
For example, Jesus indicates that he had set himself in contrast to heaven. In Matthew 11:23, Jesus says that while Capernaum was exalted to heaven, he will be reduced to hades (cf. Luke 10:15). Does this mean that the citizens of Capernaum were headed for eternal suffering in the pit of hell?
No, it cannot mean this, unless the citizens of Capernaum were previously in heaven. Such an idea makes no theological sense. Even those who believe that it is possible for a person to lose their eternal life do not believe that those in heaven can still be sent to hell. Therefore, it is better to see that Jesus is speaking of both heaven and the gods in a symbolic way.
In Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, Jesus is speaking of heaven as a reference to God’s apparent blessing upon a city in this life and in this world. The city of Capernaum had great fame, honor, glory, wealth, power, and respect in the minds of most people.
Going down to hades, therefore, symbolizes the opposite. The city would lose its power, privilege, and position and become weak, poor, and desolate, just like Tire and Sidon (Luke 10:13) or Sodoma and Gomorra (Matthew 11: 23-24). The “day of judgment” that Jesus refers to in these texts is not referring to some future judgment when all the people of these cities are condemned to eternal punishment in hell, but to the historical events that cause the physical destruction of the cities. .
So when Jesus teaches about what hades is and what it means in Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, he talks about the destruction of cities on this earth in history; not about the torment of human souls in flaming fire for all eternity.
Matthew 16:18
The best understanding of what hades is, taking into account what is found in Matthew 16:18 can be based on the following: Jesus declares that He will build his church and that the “gates of hades” will not prevail against it. Since the church that Jesus is building exists here and now, on this earth. Furthermore, the church is on the offensive against the gates of hades, and not the other way around. But the gates will not prevail or resist the attacks of the church.
When many people read Matthew 16:18, they imagine that the church exists behind a gleaming white wall, and hell is outside, trying to break down the doors. But, death and resurrection have nothing to do with this.
The book of Revelation and hades
The book of Revelation also contains several references that help us to really know what hades is. While many people are more familiar with the reference in Revelation 20:13-14 where hades is emptied and its inhabitants thrown into the Lake of Fire, we must first understand the earlier references to hades in Revelation 1:18; 6:8 before we can understand what John is talking about in Revelation 20.
In Revelation 1:18, we read that through his death and resurrection, Jesus obtained the keys of death. What’s interesting about this is that the Greek god Hades was occasionally depicted in Greek mythology as holding a key to the gates of the underworld. He kept the doors locked forever so that no one inside could escape.
But in Revelation 1:18, we see that Jesus now holds the keys, and plans to open the gates of hades. When Revelation 1:18 is read in connection with Matthew 16:18, we discover that when Jesus storms the gates of Hades with the church, a battle is not fought. Jesus simply walks to the doors and opens the door, calling those inside to “come out.” The task of the church is to show people how to be free and live life.
death and hades they are again combined in Revelation 6:8. Death is represented as riding a pale horse, although the “yellow-green” color of a corpse is probably a better translation of the Greek word used here. Of the four horsemen in the context, this fourth horseman is the only one given a name (“Death”), and he is also the only one without a tool or weapon.
However, instead of a weapon, he has death. This means that while the other horsemen achieve their devastation through an instrument, death accomplishes its task through hades. Taking this into account, what is hades? Hades is not a place where people go after they die; instead, it is the tool by which the rider on the pale horse brings death and destruction to the world.
In Revelation 20:13-14, we read that death hades are thrown into the Lake of Fire. If we believe that hades is a place, then this description makes little sense. But when we recognize that death and hades are the life-destroying powers on this earth, it’s no surprise that before Jesus restores all things to the way God wants and desires them to be, he removes death and destruction.
Hades is hell?
“hell” is not a good translation for the Greek word hades. While the most basic meaning for hades is similar to sheol, serious and later development in the New Testament era reveals that hades can be primarily understood as the power of despair, decay, and destruction that enslaves human beings. in this life.
Hades operates in direct contradiction to the kingdom of God and the power of life, light, and love that accomplishes God’s will on earth. It’s not a place of burning suffering for the unregenerate dead. It is instead a destructive presence here on earth that ruins what God wants for our lives. And in the end, as with everything else that is against God, hades will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
This brief study of what hades is, has shown that the word does not refer to hell as a place of eternal suffering in burning flames for the unbelieving dead. But what about “the lake of fire”? Surely this term in Scripture refers to a place of eternal burning and torment for unbelievers! It is not like this. Let’s watch this video: