Gehenna
*Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references in this article are from the old King James translation. Using this translation best suits the purposes of this article.
The New Testament of the old King James Version (K.J.V.) translation translates three different Greek words as “hell.” These three words are hades, gehenna, and tartarus. These completely different Greek words being translated as the one English word “hell” has caused untold confusion. This study will identify and describe that place that is called gehenna.
The word gehenna literally refers to a burning “city dump.” The word gehenna occurs twelve times in the New Testament’s original Greek. In each instance the K.J.V. translates the word as “hell.” The passages are: Matthew 5:22; 5:29; 5:30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15; 23:33; Mark 9:43; 9:45; 9:47; Luke 12:5; and James 3:6. The word gehenna is the Greek representative of the Hebrew ge-hinnom. An English translation of ge-hinnom would be “valley of hinnom.” This was a deep, narrow valley to the south of Jerusalem. It was here that the Jews, in some of their most wicked Old Testament times, sacrificed their children to the god Molech. When the practice was stopped, the site became the “city dump” for Jerusalem. The bodies of criminals, the carcasses of animals, and all sorts of filth were cast into the valley. The constant burning and smoldering of the refuse caused a continual smoke to rise up out of the valley. Jesus, the master illustrator, chose the site as a symbolic representation of eternal judgment.
Gehenna is the same place as
“the lake of fire.”
The New Testament’s other name for gehenna is “the lake of fire.” This description is used in Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 20:14; 20:15; and 21:18. The Greek word that is translated as “lake” in these verses is the common Greek word for a lake. It is the same word that is used in reference to the famous “lake of Gennesaret” (the Sea of Galilee). This means that the best way to envision the “hell” that is called gehenna is to think of a literal lake. But rather than being a lake of water, gehenna is a lake of everlasting fire.
Gehenna is in existence now
In Matthew 25:41, Jesus speaks of an “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The Greek language doesn’t use the word gehenna in this verse, but the Bible makes it clear that Jesus was talking about gehenna. For one thing, the Bible never depicts Satan as being in hades. For another, the Bible plainly says that the lake of fire will be Satan’s eternal dwelling place (Revelation 20:10). Obviously, Christ was referring to gehenna.
This identification is important because Greek scholars have pointed out that the word for “prepared” in this verse is in the perfect tense. This means that the action that created the present results was completed in the past. The New American Standard translation of the verse brings out this subtle point. It reads: “the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” The point is that gehenna was already in existence at the time Jesus walked this earth. The Bible is silent as to when God actually created gehenna. It is also silent as to the location of gehenna. It does say that the souls from hades are moved into gehenna just before the passing away of this earth (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1). This indicates that gehenna, unlike hades, is not of this earth.
Gehenna was prepared for the devil and the other fallen angels
Gehenna is an everlasting fire that was prepared as an eternal prison for Satan and the other fallen angels (Matthew 25:41). Sadly, however, most human beings will end up there too. It is not God’s will that any human would spend eternity in gehenna (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:3-6), but any human who dies “lost” will ultimately spend eternity there with Satan and the other fallen angels.
Gehenna doesn’t have any occupants yet
The Bible teaches that when a lost person dies, his or her soul goes immediately to the torment section of hades (see article on hades). This makes hades the “hell” that is in use now. Untold millions of lost souls are currently held there in that flame and torment.
There is coming a day, though, when Jesus will bring all those lost souls out of that torment section of hades. This is the day of the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). On that day, each of those lost souls will be reunited with the body that it once inhabited. Those bodies will be brought forth from their graves in a type of resurrection. The bodies will not, however, be glorified. This is the all-important difference between those resurrections and the resurrections of the bodies of the saved.
On the day of the great white throne judgment, every lost person who ever lived will be cast body and soul into gehenna (Matthew 5:29; 5:30; 10:28; 18:9; Mark 9:43; 9:45; 9:47, “hell” translates gehenna in each of these verses). This brings up a very important point about gehenna. Gehenna doesn’t just incarcerate the soul of the lost person; it also incarcerates the body of the lost person. This is one of the main differences between it and the “hell” that is hades. Hades only takes the soul, while the body goes to the grave.
It must be understood, though, that the day of the great white throne judgment is a long way into this earth’s future. That day does not come until after: the rapture of the church; the seven-year tribulation period; the Second Coming of Christ; and Christ’s thousand-year reign upon this earth. Gehenna doesn’t really come to the forefront of God’s program until all of that has occurred, and it has no occupants now.
Gehenna will receive some occupants before the white throne judgment.
It’s true that gehenna doesn’t come front and center to God’s plan until the day of the great white throne judgment, but it should be noted that the first occupants of gehenna do actually take their place there before that day. First of all, at Christ’s Second Coming, the Antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet will be cast alive into gehenna (Revelation 19:20). This shows again that gehenna is for both soul and body. Second, one thousand years after Christ’s Second Coming, Satan loses in a final rebellion against God and is himself cast into gehenna just prior to the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:7-10). Third, the other fallen angels are cast into gehenna when Satan is (Matthew 25:41).
So, the occupancy of gehenna can be summed up in three parts. First, the Antichrist and the false prophet are cast into gehenna at Christ’s Second Coming at the end of the tribulation period. Second, one thousand years later, just prior to the day of the great white throne judgment, Satan and the other fallen angels are cast into gehenna. Third, on the day of the great white throne judgment, all of history’s lost are cast into gehenna.
Occupancy in gehenna is for all eternity
Hades is a very real “hell,” but it is not an eternal “hell.” The lost souls in hades will eventually be called forth, reunited with their resurrected but unglorified bodies, and cast into gehenna. Gehenna, on the other hand, is an eternal abode. Its occupants remain there forever (Revelation 20:10).
It is important to understand that the occupants of hades or gehenna are not annihilated in the fire of these places. How can Revelation 20:11-15 say that the souls in hades will be called forth, reunited with their bodies, and then cast into gehenna if those souls are annihilated in the heat of hades? Furthermore, if the occupants of gehenna are annihilated by its heat, how can Revelation 20:10 say that the Antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet are still in gehenna when Satan joins them there one thousand years later? Clearly, the fires of hades and gehenna do not annihilate.
As further proof of this, Jesus described gehenna as a place where “their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-48, in each instance “hell” translates gehenna). The phrase “where the worm dies not” refers back to the “city dump” that was the valley of hinnom. Those who took their trash out to the site could always see worms feasting on the waste, especially on the corpses and carcasses. The worms lived in the valley of Hinnom without being annihilated by the flame and heat of the place. Other Bible passages that teach that the punishment of the wicked is eternal are: Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; and Revelation 14:10-11.