Sheol ( /ˈʃiːoʊl/ shee-ohl or /ˈʃiːəl/ shee-əl; Hebrew שְׁאוֹל Šʾôl) is the "grave", "pit", or "abyss" in Hebrew.[1][2] She'ol[3] is the earliest conception of the afterlife in the Jewish scriptures. It is a place of darkness to which all dead go, regardless of the moral choices made in life, and where they are "removed from the light of God" (see the Book of Job). In the Tanakh sheol is the common destination of both the righteous and the unrighteous flesh, as recounted in Ecclesiastes and Job. But the righteous souls went in the "bosom of Abraham", contrarily the impious souls went in the "torments".
When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BC the word "hades" (underworld) was substituted for "sheol". (see Hellenistic Judaism).
The New Testament (written in Greek) also uses "hades" to refer to the abode of the dead. (Revelation 20:13) The belief that those in sheol were awaiting the resurrection either in comfort (in the bosom of Abraham) or in torment may be reflected in the story of the New Testament of Lazarus and Dives. According to the christianity, the righteous souls, in the Sheol, were awaiting the Redemption of the Christ on the cross, to be delivered and taken in Heaven. [4] English translations of the Hebrew scriptures have variously rendered the word sheol as "Hell" (translation inaccurate and equivocal)[5] or "the grave".[6]
She'ol is a concept that predates the Christian and Muslim ideas of judgement after death and also predates, and is different from Heaven and Hell.
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The origin of the term sheol is obscure. One theory is that Sheol is connected to ša'al, the root of which means "to burrow" and is thus related to šu'al "fox" or "burrower".[7]
Biblical scholar William Foxwell Albright suggested that the Hebrew root for SHE'OL is SHA'AL, which means "to ask, to interrogate, to question."
As regards the origin not of the term but of the concept, the Jewish Encyclopedia considers more probable the view that it originated in animistic conceits: "With the body in the grave remains connected the soul (as in dreams): the dead buried in family graves continue to have communion (comp. Jer. xxxi. 15). Sheol is practically a family grave on a large scale. Graves were protected by gates and bolts; therefore Sheol was likewise similarly guarded. The separate compartments are devised for the separate clans, sects, and families, national and blood distinctions continuing in effect after death. That Sheol is described as subterranean is but an application of the custom of hewing out of the rocks passages, leading downward, for burial purposes."[8]
In the Hebrew Bible, the Tanach (The Tanach includes all 3 "books" of Judaism, the Torah / תּוֹרָה, the Kotvim / Ketuvim (writings), and the Nevi'im / Neviim (Prophets)), the word "sheol" occurs more than 60 times. It is used most frequently in the Psalms, wisdom literature and prophetic books. Jacob, distraught at the reported death of Joseph, exclaims: "I shall go down to my son a mourner unto Sheol" (Genesis 37:35).[9]
Other examples of its usage:
It is also important to note that a few people escaped death and were taken to be with God in Old Testament writings, see Entering heaven alive for details. Examples include the following:
(Genesis 5:24) – "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." (2 Kings 2:11) – "Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven."
In the Wisdom of Sirach the view of She'ol is much the same as Ecclesiastes: "Who will sing praises to the Most High in Hades, as do those who are alive and give thanks? From the dead, as from one who does not exist, thanksgiving has ceased; he who is alive and well sings the Lord's praises. (Sirach 17:27–28)
There is still debate surrounding the views of the Qumran community on She'ol, and whether their texts reflect any consistent view.[10]
Visits to Hades are a common feature of several pseudepigrapha. The Book of Enoch (ca. 160 BCE) purportedly records Enoch's vision of the cosmos. The author describes She'ol as divided into four sections: one where the faithful saints blissfully await Judgment Day (see Bosom of Abraham), one where the moderately good await their reward, one where the wicked are punished and await their Judgment at the resurrection (see Gehenna), and the last where the wicked who do not even warrant resurrection are tormented, which is against the doctrine of Universal resurrection.
The Apocalypse of Zephaniah (ca.100 BCE – 70 CE) represents Sheol/Hades approximately as divided into two sides equivalent to the picture given in the parable of the Bosom of Abraham. A significant difference is the presence of an angelic ferryman, whereas in Luke 16 the chasm cannot be crossed. “Triumph, prevail because thou hast prevailed and hast triumphed over the accuser, and thou hast come up from Hades and the abyss. Thou wilt now cross over the crossing place.” (Apoc. Zeph. 7:9)[11]
Josephus largely follows models of the Hebrew Bible. The "Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades" found in the edition of the Complete Works by William Whiston is actually a 3rd century commentary on Luke 16 by Hippolytus.[12]
The New Testament follows the Septuagint in translating sheol as hades (compare Acts 2:27, 31 and Psalm 16:10). The New Testament thus seems to draw a distinction between Sheol and "Gehinnom" or Gehenna (Jahannam in Islam). The former is regarded as a place where the dead go temporarily to await the Resurrection of the dead, while the latter is the place of eternal punishment for the damned (i.e. perdition). Accordingly, in the book of Saint John's Revelation, hades is associated with death (Revelation 1:18, 6:8), and in the final judgment the dead are brought out of hades and the wicked are cast into the lake of fire, which represents the fire of Gehenna; hades itself is also finally thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15).
The English word "hell" comes from Germanic mythology, and is now used in the Judeo-Christian sense to translate the Hebrew word Gehenna – a term which originally referred to a valley outside Jerusalem used for burning refuse, but came to designate the place of punishment for sinners. Although older translations (such as the King James Version) also translated Hades as "hell", modern English translations tend to preserve the distinction between the two concepts by transliterating the word hades and reserving "hell fire" for gehenna fire.
According to Professors Stephen L. Harris and James Tabor, sheol is a place of "nothingness" that has its roots in the Hebrew Bible.
Harris shares similar remarks in his Understanding the Bible: "The concept of eternal punishment does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, which uses the term Sheol to designate a bleak subterranean region where the dead, good and bad alike, subsist only as impotent shadows. When Hellenistic Jewish scribes rendered the Bible into Greek, they used the word Hades to translate Sheol, bringing a whole new mythological association to the idea of posthumous existence. In ancient Greek myth, Hades, named after the gloomy deity who ruled over it, was originally similar to the Hebrew Sheol, a dark underground realm in which all the dead, regardless of individual merit, were indiscriminately housed."[14] Many hold that the Bible contains one doctrine of Hell with the adumbrations of the Old Testament becoming clearer in the light of the New; others, such as Harris and historical-critical Bible scholars, see variation and evolution in the doctrine throughout the Bible.
The dead in Sheol were called rephaim and conceptualised as empty shades, or ghosts, who could (according to Isa 29:4) only communicate in hushed squeaks. The only way to contact them was through necromancy, as seen in 1 Sam 28:8–19, where the Witch of Endor summons the ghost of the deceased prophet Samuel at the behest of King Saul.[15]
However, a Spiritual Deliverance from Sheol was contemplated in the Old Testament, and carried forward in the New Testament by Jewish Scholars, although of a divided opinion. Psalm 16:10 says, "For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit." In the New Testament, this is reflected in the speech of the Apostle Peter to the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when he says, "Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.'" The Apostle Paul quotes the same scripture in Acts 13:35, when speaking to the Jews in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch in modern day Turkey, Paul quoted Psalm 16:10, saying, "you will not allow your Holy One to see decay", as to illustrate how God would raise the Messiah after death, or the resurrection. Later, Paul caused a great rift in the Jewish leaders when he was having to defend his proclamation of the resurrection, by stating, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead". When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. (See Acts 23: 6-8). Thus, Jewish scholars were divided on the resurrection from Sheol. To the Sadducees, Jesus replied that as God was "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" as both Sadducees and Pharisees prayed, he was not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, and that with the resurrection people were similar to the angels.
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