Sheol/Hades: What is it?

Written by Samuel Frost Friday, 30 November 2007 17:03

The only way to answer that question is to look at the occurrences in the Bible.
Sheol (lAav.) is the Hebrew term we are interested in. The first occurrences ar
e in Genesis (Gn). All four occurrences there are utterances of Jacob (37.35; 42
.38; 44.29; 44.31). Jacob saw himself, in the end of his life, as one going down
to the grave (sheol). Note the directional location. The DOTTE (Dictionary of Old
Testament Theology and Exegesis, Ed., Van Gemeren) notes that this place of the
dead is a place in which the righteous and the unrighteous dwell. This is confirm
ed in that Jacob viewed the end of his life as one going down to sheol. Numbers
(Nu) 16.30 confirms that the unrighteous go there, too. There is a connection in
this passage that the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and the locational
direction of down hinted at as well. This metaphor is used in Revelation 12.16. Th
e whole scene in Nu deals with Korahs rebellion against Moses. Gods wrath is said
to burn to the realm of the deepest depth (sheol) (Dt Hannahs Song states that God m
akes alive; he brings down to sheol and he raises up (I Sa 2.6). What is of inter
est there is that Hannahs Song serves as an introductory psalm to I & II Samuel.
The latter book closes with Psalm 18 (II Sa 22). Both are closely paralleled in
vocabulary. At the end of the first book, Saul (whose name is spelled like shl as
with the Hebrew shl sheol) goes to the Witch of Endor (I Sa 28). There, the witc
h conjures up Samuel (the Hebrew uses bring up Samuel 28.11 and I see a spirit com
ing up out of the ground 28.13). The direction of up indicates that Samuel is down in
the ground. He is in sheol. Samuel speaks to Saul and tells him that tomorrow yo
u and your sons will be with me (28.19). Samuel, we know, is righteous. He is a tru
e servant of the LORD. However, Saul was pitiful. His last act was witchcraft. H
is death is horrible. Jonathon, the righteous son of Saul, died with him on the
battlefield. Yet, Samuel says that both Saul and Jonathan will be with Samuel wh
ere he is. Clearly, then, the righteous and the wicked ended up in the same plac
e: sheol. Hannahs Song reflects that God causes to go down to sheol and brings up
from sheol as well. The Hebrew word for bring up in Hannahs Song is alah, the same
word in 28.11 (whom shall I bring up?). The Witch claims to bring up but it is God
that actually brings up from sheol. 32.22). The majority of occurrences of this wo
rd (and its Greek counterpart hades) are found in the Wisdom Literature of the B
ible (Psalms, Proverbs, Job). In Job the place of sheol is described as a realm
from which no one returns (7.9). 14.7-19 is an interesting passage. There, Job cri
es for God to hide him in sheol until his anger has passed. Jobs hope is that God w
ould renew him later on. However, hope is destroyed by God (14.19). At least a tre
e has hope, but a man has no hope. Gloomy indeed. Further, Job says that his hope
is in sheol. But, even there, there is no hope. Will hope go down to the gates of s
heol? Will we [Job and Hope] descend together into the dust? (17.13-16). The para
llelism here is obvious: sheol and dust are synonymous. The place of the dust is the
place of the grave or sheol. For Job, the wicked and the righteous end up in the
same place. But, Job does have hope. It is quite foggy, but it is there nonetheles
s. The psalmists present the same picture. No one praises God from sheol (Ps 6.5
). The wicked return to sheol (9.17). 49.14-15 states that the wicked are destined
for sheol, but so is the writer of this psalm. However, But God will redeem my s
oul from sheol; he will surely take me to himself. Here, the soul (nephesh) is sa
id to one day be redeemed from sheol. Now, if this righteous authors soul is to be
redeemed from sheol, then, one may ask, what was it doing there in the first pla
ce? Psalm 55 is even more explicit: I am set apart with the deadwhom you remember
no more, who are cut off from your care (55.5). Verse 3 mentions sheol.

Psalm 89.48 asks, What man can live and not see death or save his soul from the p
ower of sheol? What is of interest here is the phrase see death and save his soul fr
om sheol are paralleled. Seeing death is the same as going to sheol. Jesus promis
ed those in Jhn 8.51 that if a man believes in him, he shall not ever see death. W
as Jesus looking forward to a time when sheol/hades would be no more (Rev 20.14)
? I am getting ahead of myself. Eccl 9.10 states plainly that all end up in sheo
l. Is 5.14 states that Israels rebellious lot will end up in sheol. The mouth" of
sheol enlarges itself. This is the same imagery already seen in Nu above. The ear
th opened up and swallowed up the wicked rebellion into sheol. It should start beco
ming plain that death, sheol, dust, and grave all can be used interchangeably. Before
aving the psalms, there is one more interesting use of the term. It is used in t
he context of those who are still physically alive. Ps 18.5 states that the cords
of sheol coiled around me, the snares of death confronted me. Again, the paralle
l death and sheol is obvious. In 30.3-12 the parallels confirm my position. There, D
avid stated that God brought me up from sheol (the Hebrew for brought up here is ala
h as well). Did David physically die? Since God so redeemed him, David asks, What
gain is there in me going to the pit (another word for sheol)? Will the dust pr
aise you? (30.9). Further, you removed my sackcloth (30.11). Sackcloth and ashes (
dust) are a sign of mourning. Rising up from the dust is a sign of rejoicing and
being clothed with joy (30.11). One set of clothes is taken away for another set
of clothes. 86.13 again states that the writers soul was delivered from sheol. 11
6.3 speaks of the anguish of sheol that came upon the writer. The cords of death en
tangled me, the anguish of sheol came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sor
row. What does trouble and sorrow have to do with sheol? David was confronted by deat
h and the cords of sheol. But, the psalm there was about David being confronted
with the enemies of Israel. Is sheol something that stirs up trouble and grief?
Does it produce anguish and doubt, as in Job? If sheol was removed, would the gr
ief, doubt, anguish, trouble and despair that it produced be wiped away as well?
Not that all forms of trouble would cease, but at least knowing that sheol was
not a place where one was going, where God remembers no more the dead, where wor
ms, and destruction reside would seem to provide a great comfort. If I knew that
my soul would never see sheol, then all of the anguish that going to sheol stir
red up, and knowing that I was going to sheol caused, would disappear. No wonder
Job, Jacob, David and the psalmists did not want to go to sheol. The very thoug
ht of going there was terrifying. The very knowledge of knowing that this was th
eir lot was troubling. When situations like war or trouble caused near death inc
idents, the writers were in fear of drawing near to sheol. It was fear of death. T
his, as our survey has shown, was even a fear the righteous entertained. The Bib
le has a term for those in sheol. We translate is as shades. For example, Psalm 88
.1 states, Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades arise and praise you? (
NAB). The word for shades there is rephaim. The King James translates this as the dea
d in this verse. However, dead is used in the first clause, do you work wonders for
the dead and the parallel, are the shades raised? The answer is no. The Greek word he
re in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, used in
Pauls day) is the word we translate as resurrection. Thus, shall the shades be resu
rrected? Further, Pr 2.18: For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the
dead. (New King James). Here, death comes before dead in this translation, but the w
ord dead is rephaim. Youngs Literal translates it as shades. Pr 9.18 is But he knoweth
not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. (Kin
g James). The first clause has dead (rephaim) and the second phrase depths of hell i
s sheol! This is as clear as the Scriptures can get: the

shades dwell in sheol. These are spirits or souls that dwell in sheol. not care
to go there, either.
I would
On further study, Dead they are, they have no life, shades that cannot rise; For
you have punished and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them. (Isaiah 2
6.14, New American) The first word dead is the regular Hebrew word. The second wor
d is shades in this translation. The Greek version clearly states that the dead o
nes (nekroi) are not resurrected. All memory of them is wiped out (from the land of
the living). God knows them, though. This is interesting here, because some in
Corinth were saying the same thing: there is no resurrection from the dead ones (
nekroi) (I Co 15.12). Quite possibly, these Gentile converts of Paul, reading the
Greek Old Testament, understood that the shades or the dead ones do not rise, a
s affirmed by David in Ps 88.1 and here by Isaiah. Were they reading these texts
? The vocabulary is remarkably the same. Isaiah, however, did not stop there. A
few verses later, in the same chapter (26.19), he wrote, Your dead ones shall be
raised -- My dead body they rise. Awake and sing, ye dwellers in the dust, For t
he dew of herbs is thy dew, And the land of shades thou causest to fall. Here, th
e dead ones mentioned in 26.14 are promised that life. The next phrase my dead body
(singular) they shall awake. My dead body refers to Isaiahs body? The dead shall re
surrect from the dead. The translation here is extremely difficult. The NIV has t
heir dead bodies will rise (plural) which is surely misleading. It could be Messi
anic: The Lords dead (who dwell in sheol) will be raised in my body they will live
. Thus, the dead come alive in the body of Christ. It is difficult here, but, for
right now, and for our study, the land of the shades as it is called (sheol) God
will cause to fall. Isaiah 26.20-21 speak that in that day, the Lords wrath will be
for a little time and the earth will no longer cover her slain. That is, they will
be uncovered. Is 27.1-13 continues this prophetic discourse ending it with in tha
t day Israel with the Gentiles will be gathered up and in that day a great trumpet w
ill sound and the inhabitants of the land will come and worship in Jerusalem. Sou
nds like New Testament eschatology! If the souls of all men in Adam became shades
in the land of the shades (sheol), and they are also called the dead ones and promis
ed that those who hoped in the Lord their soul shall be delivered from sheol as se
en in the psalms above, then has Jesus, through the resurrection of his dead bod
y raised up those in sheol in his body of the resurrection? Is this the Pauline
doctrine of the resurrection of the dead? No one could, by themselves, of their
own power, raise themselves from this place. Unless Jesus died as a man, and ent
ered sheol as a man, then no man could have ever been redeemed. I have written t
hese things for some truths to chew on in your own studies. But, one thing must
also be pointed out: the destruction of sheol/Hades. Revelation 20.14 states qui
te plainly that at the resurrection of the dead, hades is thrown into the lake o
f fire. The inhabitants of sheol are released, some to everlasting life, and oth
ers to eternal judgment. These are the nations that are spoken of in the Old Testa
ment. God had gathered them together and he judged them before his throne. This
was the great judgment. We are living on this side of the judgment. Now, one last
nugget: Is 25.6-8, in the same context we have discussed above, looks forward to
a day when the death will be swallowed up in victory (25.8). This is quoted by Pa
ul in I Co 15.54. The death is clearly linked with sheol and the shades. The death
ruled over these souls, all souls. Jesus, we Preterists affirm with the Bible,
has destroyed the death entirely, and has raised out of sheol those who are his
in his own body and made alive those on earth by his Spirit. Why make eschatolog
y any more complicated than the simple good news that it is?