There is actually no word for hell in the old or new testaments specifically, but rather 3 different words, Sheol in the Hebrew and Hades and Geenna ( more commonly transcribed as Gehenna because of the vowel sound) in the Greek. The word “Hell” comes from Germanic “Hellan” which describes a place of punishment according to the ancient Germanic cultural traditions. The common pictures of hell that we use in western culture (fire, torment, etc.) are images that started with and were integral parts of these Germanic culutres. The Greek and Hebrew words Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna are completely unrelated.
Sheol – literally just means “covered” and in the old testament is used to describe the unknowable or mysterious/unimaginable etc. realm of the dead, for good and bad souls alike. Hades is the Greek translation of this Hebrew word.
Gehenna – the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Hinnom which was an actual geographic place spoken of in Isaiah, a ravine where the peoples of the Old Testament burnt funeary fires constantly and it seemed as though the fires were never put out. The meaning given by Jesus here was the meaning that all Jewish people historically associated with Hinnom’s physical location, that you would be put to death as punishment and then your body would be thrown into this ravine as further disgrace. It is in Isaiah 66:23,24 where Gehenna is given theological significance for what it will be in the future, and this seems to indicate that those who were killed and whose bodies were then thrown into Gehenna will not be deemed worthy of being resurrected in new bodies. The implication here is not of a final-state, but rather as “being cast into the lake of fire”. Think of it as cremation without the dignity of a burial.
There is actually no word for devil in the Biblical Greek or Hebrew either, but rather a whole lot of aliases such as tempter, slanderer, liar, the enemy etc. The actual word “devil” never surfaces anywhere in the Bible outside of these vague references which are often taken out of context. In Greek you have diablos which means “one who is prone to slander, liar”.
Good Night and God Bless,
Laura
