Hell Mug

A number of distinct words and concepts in the original Greek that the New Testament was written in were all translated into the single English word Hell, from the Teutonic word ‘Hel’ which meant ‘to cover’ and later was the name of the Norse goddess of the underworld and later of the underworld itself. Tartaros In 2 Pet. 2:4 this word is used to describe a place where angels, not human beings, that have sinned are temporarily imprisoned. Geenna This word is used by Jesus to reference a physical (not ethereal) and specific (not abstract) garbage dump in the southwest of Jerusalem where the physical bodies (not ethereal spirits) of criminals were disposed of and cremated in flames instead of being given an honorable burial. When Jesus says hell in contexts such as "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33) Geenna is the word actually used. Today this valley is no longer a garbage dump and has instead been converted into a park. Hades This word, which means “unseen” describes the state of nonexistence in death. A being in the state of Hades does not do or experience anything. Sometimes poetic license is taken to express some point, but this is figurative. The term itself in the context of the bible refers to the state of nothingness, the Greek counterpart to the Hebrew Sheol. Sheol Although this later evolved into a type of afterlife, originally this, like Hades, meant merely the grave. The good and bad alike go here. Lake of Fire This was a later construction found in Revelations. The Christian concept of hell evolved out of a hatred for the Romans, who ruled over the Jews, and a desire to annihilate them totally. This incredibly black hatred and desire for revenge to an unjust degree was forged out of a deep-seated insecurity, the childish rage that can only think of destroying one’s adversaries, and an incredible jealousy that wanted to rule over the Romans the way the Romans currently ruled over the Jews—taken to infinity.