The word Hell like the word baptism is not really a proper translation is it? I looked up the word hell and it is Gehenna, and Gehenna is a place, Originally the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem (ISBE). So it would be helpful to use Gehenna instead of hell, just as I find it helpful to use the word immersion instead of baptism. Both words, hell and baptism, give the wrong impression. The word baptism is not in the Bible and neither is the word hell.<\/p>\n\t
Translating literature between languages has always been a difficult task. Common phrases that have meaning in one culture become meaningless in another. Hence, if a translator gives the precise literal translation, the meaning may be lost. Yet, if things are translated too loosely, you run the risk that you are dealing with the translator’s opinion and not what was meant by the author of the original material.<\/p>\n
It is true that Gehenna can be a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, which is located near Jerusalem. “Gehenna” is not actually a Greek word, but it is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that literally means “Hinnom Valley.” The transliterated word is found in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible but is not found in the common Greek literary works.<\/p>\n
The Hinnom Valley was where apostate Israelites offered child sacrifices to the idol god Molech. “Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom<\/i>” (II Chronicles 33:6). These idol worshipers had the perverse notion that gods would be more inclined to answer petitions if the worshipers gave up something valuable. Since the life of one’s child is very valuable to a parent, this was considered to be the ultimate sacrifice. “And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin<\/i>” (Jeremiah 32:35).<\/p>\n
Because of its strong association with disgusting practices, when Israel finally left their idolatrous practices, the valley became associated with God’s just punishment for sins. “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room<\/i>” (Jeremiah 7:32, see also\u00a0Jeremiah 19:6). Eventually, it became a representation of the punishment of the wicked, no longer referring to a physical place. ““For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD. And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”<\/i>” (Isaiah 66:22-24).<\/p>\n
When we move to the New Testament, we must determine whether the use of the word\u00a0gehenna<\/i>\u00a0is referring to the physical valley near Jerusalem or to the broader idea of a place of punishment. If the translator uses the phrase “Valley of Hinnom” when the idea of a place of punishment was meant, it is likely that people in other cultures, not knowing the valley’s horrible past, will only think of the physical location and not the concept it represents.<\/p>\n
Gehenna<\/i>\u00a0only appears twelve times in the New Testament and is translated as\u00a0hell<\/i>\u00a0in the following quotes:<\/p>\n “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire<\/i>” (Matthew 5:22).<\/p>\n “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell<\/i>” (Matthew 5:29-30).<\/p>\n “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell<\/i>” (Matthew 10:28).<\/p>\n “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire<\/i>” (Matthew 18:9).<\/p>\n “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves<\/i>” (Matthew 23:15).<\/p>\n “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?<\/i>” (Matthew 23:33).<\/p>\n “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched– where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched– where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire– where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’<\/i>” (Mark 9:43-48).<\/p>\n “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!<\/i>” (Luke 12:5).<\/p>\n “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell<\/i>” (James 3:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Eleven of the twelve references are made by Jesus and when we read through these references we conclude that each reference is toward the same place. However, the place is not the physical Hinnom Valley. Jesus said it was a place where only God had the power to cast a man (Luke 12:5). If this was the literal Hinnom Valley, anyone could put a person there. Jesus also said not to fear men who can only kill the body but to fear God who could put both the body and soul into\u00a0gehenna<\/i>. Again, Jesus is not making a reference to a physical place because no physical place can contain a man’s soul. Jesus also refers back to the passage in\u00a0Isaiah 66:24\u00a0and states that\u00a0gehenna<\/i>\u00a0is a place where the fire is not quenched and the decay never ends. The physical Valley of Hinnom is not eternal. Hence, we conclude that Jesus is not speaking of a physical place but using the term\u00a0gehenna<\/i>\u00a0to refer to the place of eternal punishment. In English, this place is known by the name\u00a0Hell.<\/i><\/p>\n Why was\u00a0gehenna<\/i>\u00a0transliterated into the Greek instead of being translated? My guess is that the Greek culture did not have a word that referred to a place of eternal punishment, hence the Hebrew term was borrowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: The word Hell like the word baptism is not really a proper translation is it? I looked up the word hell and it is Gehenna, and Gehenna is a place, Originally the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem (ISBE). So it would be helpful to use Gehenna instead of hell, just as I find it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[373,190],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-hell","tag-translation"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14226,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-go-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":0},"title":"Did Jesus go to Hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Jesus go to Hell? Answer: The idea comes from a poor choice of words selected by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. \"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87347,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-hell-changed-to-hades-to-support-the-idea-of-purgatory\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":1},"title":"Was “hell” changed to “hades” to support the idea of purgatory?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, I received the following letter: You're wrong, brother. The word was changed from \"hell\" to \"Hades\" as a way for the church to support purgatory, which is not true. There is no purgatory for sanctification, as sanctification is done here on Earth through the Holy Spirit who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-hell-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":2},"title":"Does Hell Exist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Mark 9:42-48 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Generally people prefer to think upon pleasant things, so when talking to people about the need to become a Christian, we put emphasis on reaching heaven. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People focus on the love of God - Romans 5:8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But they don\u2019t want to think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/of-course-god-sends-people-to-hell-but-hell-doesnt-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":3},"title":"Of course God sends people to hell, but hell doesn’t exist!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your article that God does not send people to hell falls way short of giving any real and meaningful answer.\u00a0 True, people have a choice to some extent and God will not force Himself on anyone, but it most\u00a0certainly\u00a0says in the Scriptures that no one can come to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33826,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-make-a-difference-that-the-preposition-used-for-in-the-name-of-is-different-in-various-verses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":4},"title":"Does it make a difference that the preposition used for “in the name of” is different in various verses?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have often tried to tell people that \"in the name of\" in Acts 2:38, means or is \"by the authority of.\" When I was looking at the Greek, it has the word \"epi\" in Acts 2:38 for the word \"in\" which means \"on, upon\", and the usage is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8271,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-biblical-word-korah\/","url_meta":{"origin":1505,"position":5},"title":"What is the meaning of the biblical word “korah?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the meaning of the biblical word \"korah?\" Answer: Korah is a proper name in Hebrew. Like most names, it is used without reference to its direct meaning. Such is still done today. My name is \"Jeffrey,\" but few use the word for its original meaning \"at peace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}