CHAPTER FOUR
From where came Hell, from man or God?
How did a real earthly valley near Jerusalem
Which existed in the time of Christ
And is still today called by the name “Gehenna”
Become a place of eternal torment named “Hell”
Which is not on this earth?
How was "the wages of sin is death" changed to be “the wages of sin is an eternal life of torment for an immoral soul that is not subject to death”?
The word Hell in the King James Version is translated from four different words, three in the Greek New Testament (Gehenna, hades and Tartarus), and one in the Hebrew Old Testament (sheol). Both sheol in the Old Testament, and hades in the New Testament mean grave, but are translated Hell in the King James Version, and Tartarus is translated Hell one time. Most other translations (American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and others) translate only one word (Gehenna) into Hell, and only in the New Testament, not four different words, which have different meanings. The word Hell is not in the Old Testament in any of the above translations, or is not in most other translations. Although this valley is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament called the valley of Hinnom, even the King James Version did not translated it "Hell" as they did in the New Testament. Gehenna was a well-known valley south of Jerusalem long before it was made into a dump, and it exists and has the name “Gehenna” to this day. Josiah might have made this valley into a rubbish dump (2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:1-4). In the time of Christ this valley was the city dump. Most newer translations, and most all Bible students now admit sheol, hades, and Tartarus do not mean Hell, but some still believe Gehenna should be translated Hell; this makes a detailed look at this valley as it is used in both the Old and New Testament is necessary.
HOW DID ONE PLACE BECOME ANOTHER PLACE?
Gehenna is the name of a valley south of Jerusalem; it is a real geographical location in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it is still a real location today, which was used in the time of Christ as the city dump of Jerusalem. In the fifties I did some work at the dump of a city about the size of Jerusalem in the time of Christ. The refuse would be put in large piles and set on fire, and all day rains could not put it out. There would have been no way for the people of Jerusalem to quench it (put out) before it burnt up all there was to burn. The remains of animals were put in pits to be covered, and worms (Greek, Maggots-Young, page 1074) would get into them, and even after we put many gallons of spray in a pit you could see the remains moving from the working of the maggots. Back in the fifties and before cities did not have landfills, but had garbage dumps where they would put the garbage in piles or in pits, and burn the garbage. Big city garbage dumps were always burning night and day, and the smoke could sometimes be seen for miles. They were the same as Gehenna was in the time of Jesus, and were literally used for the destruction of the unwanted city garbage. Brimstone (sulfur) was added to keep the garbage burning in Gehenna; it was always burning night and day, and those near by could see the smoke always rising. On some of the four occasions Christ used Gehenna as a metaphor, those He was speaking to might have been able to see the smoke of Gehenna in the background while He was speaking. The people of Jerusalem did not have a trash pickup as we do, and had to take their own trash to Gehenna; therefore, many of those Christ was speaking to would be very familiar with the never-ending fires and worms that were in Gehenna. How did the name of a valley that is near Jerusalem that exists to this day, and it’s name is still called Gehenna today, how did it’s name become Hell in the Bible when it is not the name Christ used and a name that was unknown to anyone unto long after the New Testament was written? In the time of Christ it was a place of destruction with no torment, how did it get changed into an English word that means an eternal place of torment, changed from a place that is on this earth to a place that is not on this earth, changed from a place of destruction to a place where there is no destruction as there was in Gehenna? The answer is simple; the translators were willing to change the Bible to put their pagan doctrine into the Bible.
Albert Barnes in his commentary on Matthew 5:22: "The extreme loathsomeness of the place, and filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was ever acquainted."
Alexander Campbell: "In the time of our Savior, it (Gehenna) was the place to which all the filth, and the dead bodies of animals and criminals from the city of Jerusalem, were conveyed. Here worms were ever reveling on the carcasses of the dead, and fires were ever kept burning to consume the noxious matter and to purge the air from its pestilential stench" "Five Discourses On Hell" 1848.
In the time of Jesus Gehenna was used as a place of destruction, but there was no torment in it. Those who heard Jesus would understand the use of Gehenna as a symbol of destruction, but would not have been able to look at Gehenna, their city dump and understand how it could be used as a symbol of a place of torment, for there was no torment in their city dump and nothing alive was thrown into it. When most who use the King James Version read Hell they never understand that Christ was speaking of the city dump, for they cannot from the King James Version for the translators have completely hid this from their readers. It was mistranslated to make the readers understand Christ to be speaking of a place that is not on this earth where God will be forever tormenting immortal souls and will be even after the earth is destroyed, even after the real Gehenna has been destroyed with the earth.
A proper noun is the name of "a particular person, place, or thing." Gehenna is a proper noun, the name of a well-known particular place near Jerusalem, a place when many tourists now visit. To translate it into Hell, another proper noun, the name of a completely different particular place is more than a bad translation; it is a deliberate changing. Bethlehem, Dead Sea, Gehenna, Rome, and Jericho are all proper nouns and should not be changed into another name. Why is Gehenna the only name that is changed to another name? Proper nouns (names) are the same in most languages; therefore, they are not translated, but Gehenna was changed, not translated, into Hell, into another proper noun, the name of another particular place just because the King James translators needed to. Hell is not a translation of Gehenna in the same way that New York is not a translation of Jerusalem. Gehenna and Hell are two different proper names of two completely different places. From where did the King James translators get this name, and why did they want to deliberately mislead all who read their translation? Changing Gehenna into Hell is not a translation; it is a complete change, an unjustifiable change. This valley is used in the New Testament only when speaking to the Jews for it was not a locality that would be known to most Gentiles that did not live near Jerusalem. It was a local particular place and Gehenna would be a name known and used only to those who lived in or near Jerusalem. The names of the city dumps of most cities are not well known to any but to some who live near the dump, and those not from that city would not know or use it. Paul did not use it in any of his letters to those not at Jerusalem.
Is same as mistranslating New York into Jerusalem.
And the same as mistranslating Jericho into Florida.
The name of this valley was not translated into Hell in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek that was used in the time of Christ. "Hell" is not a translation but a deliberate changing of one place for another completely different place. I believe it was deliberately changed to put "Hell" in the Bible. A place has been made up that is not in the Bible; and a name given to it that is not in the Bible; if this is not adding to the Bible then what would it take to add to the Bible? That Christ used the name of a valley, which was the city dump, is completely hid from the reader of the King James Version, whether intentional or not; and the readers are led to believe He spoke of a different place, which has been named "Hell." The teachings of Christ have been deliberately changed. Gehenna is a real geographical location on this earth, not somewhere under the earth or out in space, in the time of Christ Gehenna was a real place where real fires were constantly kept burning since it served as an incinerator for the useless refuse of the city. Christ used it as a symbol (an illustration) of destruction (like the burning of the useless chaff of Luke 3:17). Gehenna cannot be changed into Hell, no one has the right to change what Christ said. To say Gehenna, as used by Christ, is Hell, is to say it has no reference to the Gehenna (the city dump) near Jerusalem.
The Jews might have made the valley of Gehenna a dump because of their hatred of its misuse, but the figures or symbols used by Christ (fire and maggots) came from its use in The Old Testament. Fire and maggots are symbols of destruction, not of torment. In the time of Christ there was no torment, and no idol worshipped in Gehenna (the city dump). Christ was not alluding to idol worship or torment, but to the destruction of those who rejected him. Worms (maggots) do not eat living being, but dead ones, not to torment them, but to consume (eat up for food), neither do maggots eat “souls.” As long as there was something to burn or eat, the maggots would never die out, and the fire would not go out, but be consuming, not tormenting what was being cast in. In the time of Christ the valley of Gehenna was a place used to dispose of useless things, not to torment them. Many misuse this to show that living being will be tormented forever, and make God be doing the tormenting. Living victims was not preserved alive and tormented in Gehenna (as we are told they are in Hell), but fire or worms devoured dead victims. To make it a place of eternal torment is without any base whatsoever. How and when did a valley that exist to this day and you can visit it if you like as many do, get turned into Hell that will not exist unto after the Judgment Day? Before the name of a place can be used as symbolic of another place, the place and it’s name for which the emblem is used must first be known to exist; no such place as the Hell that is taught today or it’s name was not known about in the Old Testament and was not known or used by anyone in the time of the New Testament. Also there must be a parallel between the two; there is no parallel between Gehenna, a place of destruction with no torment and Hell, a place to torment with no destruction. Gehenna that existed in the Old Testament and in the time of Christ is not symbolic of the Hell that is taught today.
Gehenna and the Lake of Fire are often thought to be the same metaphor by many. Gehenna is a place of destruction, and the lake of fire would be a place where no life as we know it could exist; they are two different symbolic pictures (Revelation 20:14). Both picture the total destruction of whatever was thrown into them; neither one is a symbol of an eternal life of torment; Gehenna was a place of destruction of trash or what ever was cast into it, anything that was alive and cast into a lake of fire would be totally destroyed, nothing could live in fire; neither one is not a place of eternal life. Both picture complete destruction, not life.
On 11/1/2010 I found this on the web by Steven Clark Goad, church of Christ Christian Ekklesia Podcast: “In summation, isn’t it strange indeed that false teachers have taken a “real place” (Gehenna) referred to by Jesus himself as a metaphor of destruction and have changed in (? it) into another made up/fabricated “real place” (hell) where souls (spirits, living beings, whatever) will be tortured unendingly by a loving heavenly Father? If Gehenna is a metaphor of “hell” as it is traditionally taught, isn’t it a poor one, for Gehenna (the Jerusalem city dump of Jesus’ era) was a real place of destruction and consummation with no torment and no torture involved, while “hell” is a made up place of torment and torture with no destruction at all? Is this twisted thinking the height of misguided thinking?” “Thoughts on Punishment of the Wicked” at:
http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/ No longer on the web.
WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH
See chapter eight, part four, “Weeping And Gnashing Of Teeth”
UNQUENCHABLE FIRE
AND IMMORTAL WORMS OF GEHENNA
"Unquenchable fire" and "their worm dies not" as they are used in the Old and New Testaments: utter destruction.
John the Baptist used "Unquenchable fire" on one occasion. He says Christ "will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17). Will this unquenchable fire forever torment the chaff, which has been burned up? Adam Clarke: "He will burn up the chaff that is, the disobedient and rebellious Jews, with unquenchable fire that cannot be extinguished by man."
When a fire surpasses the ability of firefighter, and they cannot put out a burning building they say it is an unquenchable fire, but it is not a fire that will burn forever; no one will be able to escape from it by putting it out, but it will go out when there is nothing more to burn. An unquenchable fire is not an eternal fire, but one that cannot be put out unto there is nothing to burn.
Unquenchable fire is used on one occasion by Christ of the burning of trash in the city dump in Mark 9:43 where He repeats it a second time in verses 48 in the American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New International Version. "Unquenchable fire" is repeated five times in Mark 6:43, 44, 45, 46 and 48 in the King James Version. In verses 44, 46, and 46 the American Standard footnote says they, “Are omitted by the best ancient Authorities.” If on the only occasion Christ used "Unquenchable fire" was repeated two times or five times, what He was telling them was the same, what ever was cast into Gehenna was consumed, not tormented.
Both the chaff and trash are utterly destroyed by burning to get rid of something unwanted. The chaff or the trash was not tormented. Gehenna was not used in the rest of the New Testament, and neither is unquenchable fire; Paul, Peter, John, etc never used it. Christ used both the maggots and the fire of Gehenna as a symbol of total destruction, not to show that God will forever torment most of mankind. If this is not figurative language, will there be immortal maggots in Hell? Can earthly maggots eat an immortal soul in Hell? Most that believes in Hell make the maggots they say will be in Hell figurative maggots, not real maggots in Hell, but make the fire they say will be in Hell be literal fire. If this was true, how could they know it? Are they saying literal worms cannot eat a soul that is “immaterial, invisible,” and has no earthly substance that literal worms can eat, but literal fire can burn this immaterial soul that has no earthly substance that literal warms can eat?
If Gehenna’s "unquenchable fire" and "their worm dies not" are a description of the endless punishment of the wicked in "Hell," the silence of the New Testament writers would be unexplainable. (1) Acts, a history of the preaching and church for about thirty years does not mention Gehenna, unquenchable fire, or immortal maggots. (2) In none of Paul's fourteen letters, he never mentioned them. (3) Peter, John, James, and Jude are also as silent as Paul. (4) Neither can they be found in the Book of Revelation.
(1) The only occasion Christ used "unquenchable fire" is in Mark 9:43 and 9:48, where He was quoting from Isaiah 66:24. To understand His words, they must be understood in the way the Old Testament used them, just as much of Revelation is to be understood by the way the same symbols are used in the Old Testament. “Unquenchable fire” was a well-known expression in the Old Testament and would be understood by those hearing Christ. "And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" (Isaiah 1:31). Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of the consequence of their sins, "Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched" (Jeremiah 17:27). His warning was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:19-21. Jerusalem was destroyed with an "unquenchable fire." It consumed all, and was not quenched unto it went out when there was nothing more to consume; then the unquenchable fire went out. Jerusalem is not burning today. Those who believe in Hell change "unquenchable" into "eternal" then move the unquenchable fire that destroyed Jerusalem from Jerusalem on this earth and put this "eternal fire" in their "Hell," which they say is not on this earth.
Isaiah says, " For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with the flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many...Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses (“dead bodies” in American Standard Version) of the men who have transgressed against me. For their (the corpses) worm shall not die, and their (the corpses) fire shall not be quenched; and they (the corpses) shall be an abhorrence to all mankind" (Isaiah 66:15-24); “carcasses” in King James Version, “dead bodies” New International Version. The worms consumed the corpses, and the fires were not quenched unto there was no more flesh to consume or burn. It was corpses, carcasses, dead bodies, which were on the earth that were being consumed by the unquenchable fire and undying maggots, it was “those slain by the Lord” slain “by His sword,” dead bodies that was being burn up by fire and eaten by maggots (Isaiah 66:16), not “those tormented by the Lord,” not deathless immortal souls in Hell that cannot be slain screaming in anguish and pain; Isaiah 66:16; 66:24 describes the aftermath of a battle with the dead unburied. Those people back in the time of Isaiah did not look from Heaven down into Hell, and see living souls being eaten by maggots; it was the living people on this earth that went out to the battle field, and saw real dead bodies on this earth being eaten and burned, not immortal souls in Heaven that "shall go forth and look on the corpses" and see living souls that are that are being tormented by God in Hell as worms and fire are consuming, but never consume them. How can fire or worms eternally torment a dead body? It is difficult to conceive those that believes a soul is an immaterial, no substance something, can be eat by maggots, and made more difficult by the fact that maggots eat only dead flesh. It is the fire that is unquenchable and both Isaiah and Christ speak only of the maggots being alive, not the corpses that were alive while they were being burnt up or eaten, they are dead, they have been slain, there is nothing said about them being alive and in torment, but today’s theology says they are both alive and are being forever tormented by fire. There is not even a hint that the corpses that were in the unquenchable fire were aware of anything. For this to prove the soul is immortal they would have to be viewing disembodied immortal souls that had been "slain by the Lord" (Isaiah 66:16), but were still living after the Lord had slain these souls, not viewing dead bodies that were on this earth. Without doubt, this unquenchable fire burning those that had been slain by the Lord was a judgment and punishment on this earth that has ended, and the unquenchable fire went out when it had did it’s work, not a punishment in Hell that will never end.
Changes that must be made to make this prove the doctrine of Hell.
(2) "Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched" (Jeremiah 7:20). If this was the Lord’s anger being poured out in Hell, it would make beasts, trees, fields, and the fruit of the ground be in unquenchable fire in Hell. In Jeremiah 17:27 it is “the palaces of Jerusalem” that would be destroyed by an unquenchable fire; are “the palaces of Jerusalem” now burning in Hell or any other place?
(3) Ezekiel also speaks of the destruction of Judah using the imagery of a forest burning. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest to the field in the South; and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and it shall devour ever green tree in you, and ever dry tree; the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched" (Ezekiel 20:47-48). Adam Clarke, "The forest of the south field is the city of Jerusalem; which was as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees. I will kindle a fire, i. e., I will send war; and it shall devour ever green tree, i. e., the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, i. e., the lowest and meanest also; it shall not be quenched, i. e., till the land be utterly ruined." The “unquenchable fire” was God using Babylonian to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 21:19; Nehemiah 1:3); Babylonian was the unquenchable fire God used to destroy Judah, not a literal fire. God’s judgment on Israel was unquenchable, no one could stop it, but it ended when Israel was utterly ruined and in captivity.
(4) Isaiah describes the desolation of Edom, "For my sword has drunk its fill in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment...For Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land there of shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; and the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lay waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein" (Isaiah 34:6-15). If this fire that "shall not be quenched night nor day," is the Hell that is taught today, how is it that "none shall pass through it forever and ever," is their no one that shall be in Hell but pelican, porcupine, owl, and ravens? This is clearly an earthly judgment on Edom that has long passed, not an unquenchable fire in Hell after the Judgment Day. After the unquenchable fire had done it’s work the fire went out and the land became a desert inhabited by pelicans, porcupines, owls and ravens (Isaiah 34:10-11).
(5) For more examples of God's judgments in this world being spoken of as an unquenchable fire see Isaiah 1:31; Jeremiah 17:27; 21:12; Amos 5:6; 2 Kings 22:26-17; 2 Chronicles 34:24-25. These passages show that the writers of the Old Testament used "unquenchable fire" as a judgment by war and famine both on Israel and wicked nations when they sinned, BUT WHEN THE JUDGMENT WAS OVER AND THE UNQUENCHABELE FIRES HAD DID THEIR WORK THEY WENT OUT. When Jesus was speaking of the fire and worms of Gehenna, he was giving a description of the finality of the coming destruction of Israel who rejected Him. His audience would know the way unquenchable fire and undying worms were used in the Old Testament and would understand His use of them. They would have known the Gehenna that He was speaking of was a foul place of destruction where worthless things were disposed of, and would have known He was saying the destruction He was speaking of would be like the destruction of the garbage in Gehenna, like the destruction of Jerusalem by unquenchable fire and maggots in the Old Testament. They knew they were being threatened with complete destruction just as the trash in the city dump. Jerusalem was destroyed and burnt, and historian's say in A. D. 70 many dead bodies were burned and many were left unburied for the maggots. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem…And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" (Isaiah 1:1-31). The strong man and all that the strong man had built, all his work, will burn together.
Curtis Dickinson: “There are some 70 cases in scripture where fire is used as judgment upon wickedness…never was it used for the purpose of torture.” “A Place Called Gehenna,” church of Christ
Summary: The worm that dies not, and the unquenchable fire, as used in the Old Testament and by Christ, proves utter destruction, not everlasting torment. Gehenna is believed by those who teach everlasting torment to be their strong hold, but the symbols of maggots eating dead bodies on this earth, and fire consuming unwanted trash ("dead bodies" Isaiah 66:24) are symbols of destruction, not symbols of torment. Many think this is the strongest proof of everlasting torment in the Bible, but it is the other way around, it is a strong proof that the lost will be everlasting destroyed. It does not prove that a sadistic God will forever torment anyone.
THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY OF GEHENNA
Gehenna was first mentioned in Joshua 15:8; 18:16 although it was never called "Gehenna" in the Old Testament. Ahaz "burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire" (2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Kings 16:3). Manasseh also burnt his children in the fire in this valley (2 Chr