The Location of Sheol and Hades

The Location of Sheol and Hades

Sheol and Hades are both the same place, "Sheol" the Hebrew word and “Hades” the Greek word. This is substantiated by the same Scripture appearing in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Psalms 16:10 we are told concerning Christ "For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell (Hebrew, "sheol"), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy one (Christ) to see corruption." Notice that Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, speaking to the Jews quotes this same Scripture in Acts 2:27, "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Greek, “Hades”), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One (Christ) to see corruption.” The last part of this verse stating that Christ would not see corruption, is referring to His Resurrection. This is made clear by Acts 2:31, "He (David) seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell (Hades) neither His flesh did see corruption."

Now, we are going to see how the NIV perverts a great doctrinal truth of God's Word. They mistranslate the Hebrew "Sheol" and Greek "Hades" in these three verses as "GRAVE" instead of "HELL". Here is the comparison:

A. Psalms 16:10 KJT "For thou wilt not leave my soul in HELL (Hebrew “sheol”) ... "

NIV "because you will not abandon me to the GRAVE...

B. Acts 2:27 - Peter Quoting Psalms 16:10.

KJT "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in HELL (Greek "hades”) ... "

NIV "...because you will not abandon me to the GRAVE..."

C. Acts 2:31

KJT "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul (his person) was not left in HELL (Greek 'hades'), neither his flesh (body) did see corruption."

NIV "Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the GRAVE, nor did his body see decay." The NIV in their mistranslation of GRAVE, instead of HELL, puts Christ’s body and soul in the grave for three days and three nights. This erroneously teaches the same damnable doctrine as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, and other cult religions. This perversion by the NIV contradicts Christ's own testimony that "Today shalt thou be with me in PARADISE." (Luke 23:43) Matthew 12:40, previously quoted, states that Christ—upon death—would descend into the "heart of the earth." This was the person of Christ—not His body, as it was in the tomb. Ephesians 4:9 agrees:

"Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?"

One does not have to know any Greek or Hebrew to be able to look this up for themselves. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance or Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words will substantiate the foregoing. If a layman can look this up and verify it; then, will you tell me how a "hundred scholars "can accidentally come up with a "misnomer" like this, which entices its readers to accept a false doctrine. Personally, I believe this was done deliberately and deceitfully. When Christ died on the Cross; His soul and spirit went to Hades, being separated from the body, which went to the tomb. This verse, both in Psalms 16:10 and Acts 2:27; Acts 2:31, state the soul and spirit of Christ would not remain in Hades, but would unite with His resurrected body after three days. The phrase "that His body would not see corruption," is significant in that putrefaction and odor sets in on the fourth day. An example of this can be seen in the death of Lazarus who had been in the grave four days. In John 11:17 we are told that, "Then when Jesus came, he found that he (Lazarus) had lain in the grave four days already."

Notice in John 11:39 that,

"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

The fact that the body of Christ was not to see corruption" plainly meant that the body of Christ would be resurrected before the fourth day. He would not remain in the tomb to the fourth day.

We are not going to exhaust all the Scripture concerning the location of Sheol and Hades, but only give a couple to substantiate clearly where it is located.

1. Matthew 12:40 - Jonah
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Acts 2:27 says that Christ went to Hades and, here, we are told He went to the heart of the Earth; so, Hades is located in the heart (middle or center) of the Earth.

2. Isaiah 14:9 - "Hell From Beneath..."
Here Isaiah is speaking concerning the fall of Babylon. "Hell ("sheol") from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming..." The word "beneath" here is the Hebrew word "tachath.” It comes from a Hebrew root word meaning "to depress, the bottom, below and underneath." In other words, Sheol is located depressed, below, underneath and in the bottom of the Earth. (1)

3. The Two Compartments Within Sheol and Hades.
Within Hades, we learn from Luke 16:1-31, there are two compartments separated by a tremendous gulf. Prior to Christ's Ascension back to Heaven in Acts 1:11, both saved and lost went to one of the two compartments in Hades. The gulf separated the two places; which are called a place of torment (for the lost), and "Abraham's Bosom," or, Paradise for the saved. We must emphasize that Sheol and Hades are all-inclusive of both places. Only the context of the Scripture will determine whether a person went to Torment or Paradise within Hades.

Now in Luke 16:1-31 we find a Christian by the name of Lazarus who was very poor, financially; but when he died he went to the Paradise side of Hades. Here is the record in Verse 22, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom..." This is also the compartment where Christ went for three days and nights before His Resurrection. Notice in Luke 23:43 when Christ was speaking to the thief on the cross, who had trusted Him as Savior.

"And Jesus said unto him (the thief), Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

Remember, no saved in the Old Testament ever went to Heaven; but, rather, to the Paradise side of Sheol and Hades.

Further, in Luke 16:1-31 we are told of a lost man who was very rich, but lost, and who went to the Torment side of Hades. Here is the record in Luke 16:22-24 (22b-24).

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (22) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (23) And 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." (24)

What a sad condition of the reality of what a lost person has to face when they die! Their joking about the Bible, their mocking of Christ, their evolutionary trash they have propagated, their taking of the Lord's name in vain, and their exalted opinion of themselves that they are their own god, will all come to an end. At death, they will be cast into this awful place of torment. Truly, they have played the fool as God has said in Psalms 14:1,

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Little realizing, until it is too late that, "The wicked shall be turned into Hell ("sheol"), and all the nations that forget God." (Psalms 9:17)

We are now told that, within Hades, between Paradise and Torment, that there is a tremendous gulf separating the two places; so, that no one can go from one place to the other. Here is the record in Luke 16:26.

"And beside all this, between us (Abraham and Lazarus) and you (lost men), there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." When the lost man realized there was no hope now for him, as his eternal destiny was sealed in this place of torment, he then interceded for his five brothers that were still alive. In Verses 27 and 28 we have the account.

"Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house: (27) For I have five brethren: that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." (28) This man was now a believer; but, it was too late for himself, so he prays that someone would tell his brothers. The Hebrew word for "pray" in Luke 16:27 brings out the strength of this man's feelings. The usual Greek word for "pray" when used in worship to God is "proseuchomai." But here a different word is used for pray, which is "erotao." This word means "interrogate, desire and entreat." In police work, interrogate means you keep asking in various, different, ways until you get what you want; which is the truth. You are persistent with a strong desire. The Greek word for “pray” lets us know that this man was more than just casually asking Abraham; but had a strong desire, persistently asking in various different ways to persuade Abraham to send someone to warn his five brothers. His persistence is recorded in Luke 16:30 after Abraham had just said to him, "...They (his brothers) have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them." Here is his reply, "and he said, Nay, Father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent (change their mind)." No doubt he was still trying; but to no avail, for Abraham closed the conversation when he told him,

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. " This is a true and literal account of the conversation between a lost man in the Torment of Hades and Abraham in the Paradise side of Hades. A true account of where they were and what they said. Now let us briefly analyze some important facts from Luke 16:19-31 :

Hades has two compartments: one is Paradise and the other is Torment.

They are separated by a large gulf. No one can pass from Torment to Paradise. The lost and saved went immediately to their respective places.

They were taken there by the angels of God. In Torment this man had a tongue, could feel the flames of Torment, could talk, could think and reason. He had all the attributes in Hades that he had on Earth.

He possessed a spiritual or soulish body which had sensitivity and reasoning; but could not be annihilated by the flames of Torment. We might point out that this is not his resurrected body unto damnation, which he will have when he is later cast into the Lake of Fire. This will be illustrated on Diagram Six. No one will go back from Paradise to talk with those still alive on the Earth, as this lost man had requested.

Moses and the prophets did record the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ in the Bible. Since Christ did come back from the dead, there are those who will not believe it; neither would they if someone also came back today. A doctrinal consideration—many claim this is a parable, but one will find that no parable ever uses a proper name. There are no exceptions. Hypothetically, if this were a parable, then the reality of Hell would be much worse, for parables are given to illustrate a Biblical truth.

We can only thank God for telling us of this awful place that we have been delivered from by trusting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. He gave His life to save ours—what a Savior!