August 5
HELL / PART 4
SHEOL
According to J. W. Hanson:
-"That the Hebrew "Sheol" never designates a place of punishment in a future state of existence, we have the
testimony of the most learned of scholars, even among the so-called orthodox. We quote the testimony of a few:
Rev. Dr. Whitby: "Sheol throughout the Old Testament, signifies not a place of punishment
for the souls of bad men only, but the grave, or place of death."
Dr. Chapman: "Sheol, in itself considered has no connection with future punishment."
Dr. Allen: "The term "Sheol" itself, does not seem to mean anything more than the state of the dead in their
dark abode."
Dr. Firbairn, of the College of Glasgow: "Beyond doubt, "Sheol", like "Hades", was regarded as the abode
after death, alike of the good and the bad."
Edward Leigh, who says Horne's, "Introduction," was "one of the most learned understanding of the original
languages of the scriptures," observes that "all learned Hebrew scholars know the Hebrews have no proper word for "hell",
as we take hell."
Prof. Stuart: "There can be no reasonable doubt that "Sheol" does most generally mean the underworld, the
grave or sepulchre, the world of the dead. It is very clear that there are many passages where no other meaning can reasonably
be assigned to it. Accordingly, our English translators have rendered the word "Sheol" grave in thirty instances out of the
whole sixty-four instances in which it occurs."
Dr. Thayer in his Theology of Universalism quotes as follows: Dr. Whitby says that "hell" "throughout the
Old Testament signifies the grave only or the place of death." ( The Bible Hell, J. W. Hanson )
-Well … There you have it! The word “Sheol” means: the grave, or the place of the dead.
In no way does it denote a place of punishment, torment, or torture. The idea that "Sheol" signified a place of punishment
entered in through pagan mythology. We are now on our way to understanding the "hell" of the Bible. Our next stop on our journey
through "hell" will be to look at and dissect the Greek word “Hades”. We will see that "Hades" is the Greek equivalent
to the Hebrew word "Sheol". It is the New Testament word that signifies the grave, or the place of the dead.
-O WHAT A DIFFERENCE THE TRUTH MAKES!-
