Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna all rendered "hell"--Loyal translation?

Juan Stam jstam at una.ac.cr
Thu Dec 30 10:47:44 EST 1999


It seems significant to me that niether "Hell" (German Hoelle) nor our
Spanish term "infierno" (Latin infernus) are very close equivalents of any
biblical term, and both have ( I think) strong pagan overtones. To my mind,
this produces considerable confusion in our thinking about this subject.
Biblical terms are:

Sheol: shadowy abode of the departed
Hades (also from extra-biblical mythology) about the same as Sheol; not a
place of judgment or separation
Gehena: Valley of Hinnon where child sacrifice had been practiced; Jerusalem
garbage dump
Abyss: headquarters of demonic forces; no humans go there in biblical
accounts
Lake of Fire and brimstone: image of a volcano
Second death, alienation from God, life & light - more precise theological
description

Much of our image of "Hell" (Span infierno) is heavily tainted by pagan
mythology, via medieval elaborations. I try to avoid using the terms "hell"
or "infierno" and surprise people by using the more flexible, imaginative
biblical terms.

Anyway, I hope I never end up there! or meet any of the other B-greekers!

Juan Stam, San Jose, Costa Rica





----- Original Message -----
From: Grant <grant at cajun.net>
To: Biblical Greek <b-greek at franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 10:23 PM
Subject: Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna all rendered "hell"--Loyal translation?


> B-Greek,
>
>     I have noticed for many years that some bible translators render
Hades,
> Tartarus, and Gehenna all by the one word "hell."
>
>  Despite theological meanings that we each may assign, doesn't it seem
> logical that a difference should be illustrated?  Is it a scholarly
> opinion(preference) or rather incorrect to assign one word to 3 Greek
words?
>
> Toward Truth Always,
> Grant Polle
>
> USA
>
>
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
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