· Temporary holding place with temporary punishment for the unbeliever until they go to hell after final judgment.
· The word Hades in English language taken from the Greek word Hadēs
· NASB also translates this as Hades http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G86&t=NASB
· Following verses are taken from NKJV because KJV translated this word as Hell – (10) and grave - (1). http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G86&t=NKJV
And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
"O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
They are higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?
Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?"
Sheol is naked before Him, And Destruction has no covering.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.'
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves."
Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it.
I said, "In the prime of my life I shall go to the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my years."
For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
You went to the king with ointment, And increased your perfumes; You sent your messengers far off, And even descended to Sheol.
And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
All dead Old Testament believers in God who died before Jesus Christ resurrection waited temporarily in Abraham bosom which was one section of Hades.
Luke 16:19-31 - 19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell d from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' 27 Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "
Jesus is the first one to resurrect from dead. From that day onwards all believers in Christ who dies will not go to Abraham bosom but goes to heaven directly. So, now when believers in Christ die then they will go to heaven directly and be with the Lord as said in 2 Cor 5:8 "absent from body present with the Lord"
· 2 Cor 5:6,8 - 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Since, Jesus was first resurrected from the dead then He took all the OT believers waiting in the Abraham bosom where taken up with Him to the Paradise/Heaven.
Matt 27:52-53- 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many
Luke 23:43 - And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
2 Corinthians 12:4 - how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Revelation 2:7 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '
In Rev 2:7 Jesus promises to those who overcome this world will eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '. While heaven is described in Revelation 22 you will notice this tree life is in heaven. So, Paradise is nothing but heaven.
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead and especially as the abode of demons until they go to hell after final judgment. In other words it is a temporary holding place with temporary punishment for the fallen angel or demons, or evil spirits until they go to hell after final judgment.
And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
Read The Bottomless Pit topic that answers questions such as:
What is bottomless pit?
What is the difference between Hades, Bottomless Pit/Abyss and Hell?
Where is the bottomless pit?
...
1) the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews
2) to thrust down to Tartarus, to hold captive in Tartarus
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
1 Peter 3:19 - 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
· Hell is the place of the future punishment call "Gehenna" or "Gehenna of fire". This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.
· Final everlasting destiny for the unbelieving souls/spirits after the final judgment.
· To whom this hell is made for?
NKJV: Matt 25:41 - Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
· This is also described as gnashing of teeth, lake of fire, second death, hell fire
o Mat 13:42 - and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
o Mat 25:46 - And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
o NKJV: Jude 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire
o NLT: Jude 7 And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.
o Rev 2:11 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." '
o NKJV: Rev 19:20-21 - 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
o NKJV: Rev 20:1-3,7,10,13-15 - 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while …… 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison …….10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire--
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
OT References for Hell
For a fire is kindled by my anger, And shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.
Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.
Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.
But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.
Hell and Destruction are before the Lord; So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.
The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from hell below.
You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.
Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
"Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations.
"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day when it went down to hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.
I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth.
They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations.
The strong among the mighty Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell With those who help him: 'They have gone down, They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
They do not lie with the mighty Who are fallen of the uncircumcised, Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war; They have laid their swords under their heads, But their iniquities will be on their bones, Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
"Though they dig into hell, From there my hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down;
"Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples.