Gehenna (or gehenom or gehinom (גהינום)) is the Jewish hell or purgatory. In Judaism hell is a place of purification[1] and fire for the wicked, most being punished there up to a year but some for eternity.[2]
In English, Jews commonly use the term "hell" in place of "gehenna." The name derived from the burning garbage dump near Jerusalem (the Hinnom gulch), metaphorically identified with the entrance to the underworld of punishment in the afterlife.
Gehenna also appears in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the place where evil will be destroyed. It lends its name to Islam's hell, Jahannam.
In both Rabbinical Jewish and Christian writing, Gehenna as a destination of the wicked is different from Sheol, the abode of all the dead.
[edit] Etymology
The word is derived from Hebrew: גי(א)-הינום Gêhinnôm (also Gai ben-Hinnom (Hebrew: גיא בן הינום) meaning the Valley of Hinnom's son.[3] The valley forms the southern border of ancient Jerusalem and stretches from the foot of Mt. Zion, eastward, to the Kidron Valley. It is first mentioned in Joshua 15:8.[3] as a deep, narrow ravine at the foot of the walls of Jerusalem where refuse was burned. It is here that the bodies of executed criminals or others deemed unworthy of a proper burial were dumped. The association with hell derives from the tradition that the Canaanites sacrificed children to their god Moloch in this place.
[edit] Hebrew Bible observations
It is mentioned in the Tanakh in several places, notably 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; 2 Kings 23:10; that the southwestern gate of Jerusalem, overlooking the valley, came to be known as "The Gate of the Valley" (Hebrew: שער הגיא). Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2-6; 32:35; the Book of Jeremiah (2:23) speaks of residents worshipping Moloch and committing abominations, foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem:
"19:2. And you shall go out to the Ben-Hinnom Valley which is at the entrance of the Harsith Gate, and you shall call there the words that I will speak to you. 19:3. And you shall say; Hearken to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; so said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Behold I am bringing evil upon this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle. 19:4. Because they forsook Me and they estranged this place and burnt incense therein to other gods, which they had not known, they, their forefathers, and the kings of Judah, and they filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 19:5. And they built the high places of Baal to burn their children with fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command, neither did I speak nor did it enter My mind. 19:6. Therefore, behold days are coming, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter."
In Hebrew:
וְיָצָאתָ אֶל-גֵּיא בֶן-הִנֹּם אֲשֶׁר פֶּתַח שַׁעַר החרסות (הַחַרְסִית) וְקָרָאתָ שָּׁם אֶת-הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר-אֲדַבֵּר אֵלֶיךָ: וְאָמַרְתָּ שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר-יְהוָה מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִָם כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנְנִי מֵבִיא רָעָה עַל-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר כָּל-שֹׁמְעָהּ, תִּצַּלְנָה אָזְנָיו: יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עֲזָבֻנִי וַיְנַכְּרוּ אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיְקַטְּרוּ-בוֹ לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יְדָעוּם הֵמָּה וַאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם וּמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וּמָלְאוּ אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה דַּם נְקִיִּם: וּבָנוּ אֶת-בָּמוֹת הַבַּעַל לִשְׂרֹף אֶת-בְּנֵיהֶם בָּאֵשׁ עֹלוֹת לַבָּעַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא-צִוִּיתִי וְלֹא דִבַּרְתִּי וְלֹא עָלְתָה עַל-לִבִּי: לָכֵן הִנֵּה-יָמִים בָּאִים, נְאֻם-יְהוָה וְלֹא-יִקָּרֵא לַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה עוֹד הַתֹּפֶת וְגֵיא בֶן-הִנֹּם כִּי אִם-גֵּיא הַהֲרֵגָה:
Pagans once sacrificed their children to pagan idols in the fires in Gehenna, and this was an abomination; in 2 Kings, 23:10, King Josiah forbade the sacrificing of children to Moloch at Gehenna (though Baal is not mentioned in this particular verse). Rashi claims that the Tophet (תופת) was the Molech. Since priests would bang on drums (תופים) so that the father would not hear the groans of the child when he would be burned by the hands of the pagan image, Molech, they called it Topheth.
There are stories of fires that were kept burning via the adding of brimstone (sulfur). Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible Volume I, explains,
“It became the common lay-stall garbage dump of the city, where the dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals, and every other kind of filth was cast.”
The dump was full of rotting garbage which sent up a stench that could be smelled for miles.
[edit] Pharisaic tradition
The Pharisees taught that the dead in sheol would be resurrected for reward or punishment on Judgment Day.[4] Gehenna was the place where the wicked awaited judgment day in fiery torment. The godly, meanwhile, were said to await Judgment Day in the bosom of Abraham.[5]
[edit] Rabbinic tradition
The Rabbinic tradition arose from the Pharisaic tradition after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. In general, it moved away from traditional Judaism's emphasis on an earthly future for Israel toward the concept of reward in the life to come.[6] Gehinom (Gehenna), according to rabbinic literature, is a place or state where the wicked are temporarily punished after death. “Gehenna” is sometimes translated as "hell", but the Christian view of hell differs from the Jewish view of Gehenna. Most sinners are said to suffer in Gehenna no longer than twelve months. Those who are too wicked to reach paradise are sometimes said to be punished forever.[7] Other accounts reject the idea that a merciful God would punish anyone forever,[8] in which case those too wicked for purification are destroyed (see annihilationism).
[edit] New Testament
In the synoptic gospels Jesus uses the word Gehenna to refer to the place where sinners are punished after death.[3] It is a place where both soul and body will be destroyed (Matthew 10:28), a place of "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43).
In the Gospel of Matthew 23:33, Jesus observes,
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of gehenna?”
The word gehenna is also found in the epistle of James, where it is said to set the tongue on fire.
Most Christians understand gehenna (hell) to be a place of eternal punishment. On the other hand, annihilationists, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, understand gehenna to be a place where sinners are utterly destroyed (like garbage in a burning dump), not tormented forever.
The New Testament also refers to hades as a destination of the dead and of those who will not be exalted in heaven (Matthew 11:23). However, hades is portrayed as a different place from gehenna.
[edit] Islam
The word gehenna (Gehennem, Jahannam) also occurs in the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, as a place of torment for sinners or Islamic equivalent to hell.
Divine justice and Eternal Punishment
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