Dictionary:
Ge·hen·na (gĭ-hĕn'ə)  |
[Late Latin, from Greek Geenna, from Hebrew gê' hinnōm, possibly short for gê' ben hinnōm, valley of the son of Hinnom, a valley south of Jerusalem : gê', valley of, bound form of gay', valley + hinnōm, personal name.]
| Bible Guide: Gehenna |
According to the NT and rabbinic literature, a place where the dead are to be judged; the abode of the wicked.
The name (given as hell in the KJV) is derived from the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, situated immediately southwest of Jerusalem. In biblical times this was the site of a cult where children were burned as offerings to the god Moloch (II Kgs 23:10). The prophet Jeremiah, condemning these idolatrous practices, predicted that the valley would be known as the "Valley of Slaughter" (Jer 7:31; 19:5-6).
In the NT Gehenna (hell in the KJV) is seen as a place of unquenchable fire (Matt 5:22; Mark 9:43-47). God has the authority to cast wicked men into this hell (Matt 10:28; Luke 12:5) in whose fire he can destroy the soul and the body. Jesus taught that it is better to forfeit vital limbs or organs than to lose the whole body by being flung into hell (Matt 5:29; Mark 9:43). According to Mark, Gehenna is a place where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:47). Only the wicked will be thrown into the blazing furnace, the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:50). Although it is full of fire, there is no light in Gehenna, but only darkness (Matt 8:12).
Sewers derived from the Upper City of Jerusalem ("Bethso") drained into the Hinnom Valley. Aceldama is situated close to the lower end of the valley.
See ABADDON, HADES, SHEOL.
| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: Gehenna |
One of the words in the Christian New Testament for hell, the place of destruction. The word is derived from the Hebrew ge and hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom—originally a valley in Palestine where the Hebrews passed their children through the fire to Moloch, the god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11; 2 Kings 23:10).
Gehenna was popularly regarded as a place of destruction to which the wicked were consigned when they died (Matt. 18:7-8). Gehenna is usually translated as "hell fire" in the New Testament (Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5). Over the centuries it was merged with other terms for the abode of the dead, and through the writings of novelists such as Dante and John Milton the Christian world was given a description of hell as a place of unutterable anguish, horror, and despair.
The locality of hell and the duration of its torments have for centuries been the subject of much speculation. Some imagined there was a purgatorial region—a kind of upper Gehenna "in which the souls of just men are cleansed by a temporary punishment" before being admitted to heaven. It was believed that during this period the soul could revisit the places and persons it had loved. The Persians understood Gehenna as the place inhabited by the divs (rebellious angels), to which the rebels were confined when they refused to bow down before the first man.
| Word Tutor: Gehenna |
| Wikipedia: Gehenna |
Gehenna, gehinnam, or gehinnom (Hebrew: גהנום, גהנם, 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. Initially the site where idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to the god Molech (2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6; Jer. 7:31, 19:2-6), the valley later became the common wasteyard for all the refuse of Jerusalem. Here the dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and rubbish, were cast and consumed by a constant fire. In time it became the image of the place of everlasting destruction in Jewish tradition[1]. 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. The name given to Hell in Islam, Jahannam, directly correlates with Gehenna as well. 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.
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"Gehenna" (ܠܓܗܢܐ), found in the New Testament, is the Aramaic equivalent to the Hebrew "Ge Hinnom," literally "Valley of Hinnom," known in the Old Testament as Gai Ben-Hinnom, literally the "Valley of the son of Hinnom", and in the Talmud as Gehinnam (גהנם) or Gehinnom. In the Qur'an, gehenna (Gehennem, Jahannam, جهنم) is a place of torment for sinners or the Islamic equivalent of hell.
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, 2nd Kings 23:10, 2 Chronicles 28:3, 2nd 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.
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."
The southwestern gate of Jerusalem, overlooking the valley, came to be known as "The Gate of the Valley" (Hebrew: שער הגיא). The Book of Jeremiah (2:23) speaks of residents worshipping Moloch and committing abominations, foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem. It is not described as a spiritual hell but as a literal valley in Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8, Joshua 18:16, 2nd Kings 23:10, 2 Chronicles 28:3, 2nd Chronicles 33:6, Nehemiah 11:30, Jeremiah 7:31~32, Jeremiah 19:2, Jeremiah 19:6, Jeremiah 32:35).
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) (Hebrew: 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.
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).[2] 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?" ("οφεις γεννηματα εχιδνων πως φυγητε απο της κρισεως της γεεννης"). 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.[3] 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.
The Valley of Hinnom is also the traditional location of the Potter's Field bought by priests after Judas' suicide with the "blood money" with which Judas was paid for betraying Jesus.
[Moloch] made his Grove
The pleasant Vally of HINNOM, TOPHET thence
And black GEHENNA call'd, the Type of Hell.
And thus, joy suddenly faded into horror, and the most beautiful became the most hideous, as Hinnom becameGehenna.
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Bible Guide. Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible. Copyright © 1986 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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