Gehenna

From Textus Receptus

Valley of Hinnom, c. 1900

Gehenna, gehenom, or gehinom (Hebrew: גהנום, Greek γεεννα) are words used in Jewish and Christian writings for the place where evil people go in the afterlife (see Hell). The name is derived from a geographical site in Jerusalem known as the Valley of Hinnom, one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City. In Jewish tradition this valley was associated with the idea of Hell. The reasons for this association are uncertain. Some believe that it relates to the role of the valley in the disposing and burning of rubbish and unclean animals. However, Jewish tradition suggests the valley had a 'gate' which led down to a molten lake of fire. (Possibly 'The furnace of Yahweh' in Zion to which Isaiah refers 31:9, 30:33). It is unknown whether this 'gate' was an actual geophysical feature within the valley that provided the focus for cultic activity (2 Kings 23:10) or simply a metaphorical identification with the entrance to the underworld that had come to be associated with the valley.

Gehenna is cited in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the final place where the wicked will be punished or destroyed after resurrection. 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 or Hades, the abode of the dead.

Etymology

"Gehenna" is the Christian rendering of "Ge Hinnom," literally "Valley of Hinnom," known in the Old Testament as Gai Ben-Hinnom, literally the "Valley of Hinnom's son", and in the Talmud as Gehinnom (גהנום). In the Qur'an, gehenna (Gehennem, Jahannam, جهن�...) is a place of torment for sinners or the Islamic equivalent of hell.Template:Clr In the Hebrew Bible, Gai Ben-Hinnom does not refer to hell but rather to a real valley in Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8, Joshua 18:16, 2 Kings 23:10, 2 Chronicles 28:3, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Nehemiah 11:30, Jeremiah 7:31~32, Jeremiah 19:2, Jeremiah 19:6, Jeremiah 32:35). Garbage from the walled city was burned there.

Geography

The Valley of Hinnom is located below the southern wall of ancient Jerusalem. It stretches from the foot of Mount Zion eastward past the Tyropoeon to the Kidron Valley.In the King James Version of the Bible, the term appears 13 times in 11 different verses as "valley of Hinnom," "valley of the son of Hinnom" or "valley of the children of Hinnom."

History

In ancient times, it is believed that children were sacrificed to the pagan god Molech in Gehenna, a practice that was outlawed by King Josiah (2 Kings, 23:10). Biblical commentator Rashi explains that priests would bang on drums (Hebrew: tof, tupim) (תופים) so fathers would not hear the groans of children being sacrificed. Hence the name Topheth. Fires were kept burning and the valley became the garbage dump of the city. The dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals were also thrown there.

Christian New Testament references

In the synoptic gospels Jesus uses the word Gehenna 11 times to describe the opposite to life in the promised, coming Kingdom (Mark 9:43-8). <ref name="Blue Letter Bible: Gehenna">Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for geenna (Strong's 1067)".</ref> It is a place where both soul and body could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43).

In Matthew 23:33, Jesus observes, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of gehenna (απο �,,η�, κρισεω�, �,,η�, γεεννη�,)?”. The word gehenna is also found in the epistle of James, where it is said to set the tongue on fire. Many Christians understand gehenna to be a place of eternal punishment called hell. <ref name="oxford">Metzger & Coogan (1993) Oxford Companion to the Bible’’, p243. </ref> On the other hand, annihilationists understand gehenna to be a place where sinners are utterly destroyed, not tormented forever. Christian Universalists, who believe that God will eventually save all souls, interpret the New Testament references to Gehenna in the context of the Old Testament, and conclude that it always refers to the imminent divine judgment of Israel and not to eternal torment for the unsaved.

The New Testament refers to Hades as a destination of the dead. Hades is portrayed as a different place from gehenna. Yet, even so, the Book of Revelation describes Hades being cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14), which many Christians today interpret as meaning the same thing as gehenna.

Literary references

• John Milton, "Paradise Lost", Book I

[Moloch] made his Grove
The pleasant Vally of HINNOM, TOPHET thence
And black GEHENNA call'd, the Type of Hell.

See also

• Hell

References

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External links

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• Daily Bible Study page on the Valley of Hinnom
• Columbia Encyclopedia on the Valley of Hinnom
• Biblical Proper Names on the Valley of Hinnom
• Gehenna from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
• The Jewish view of Hell on chabad.org
• A Christian Universalist perspective from Tentmaker.org