Sheol

See HELL.

():

By: Emil G. Hirsch

Position and Form.

Hebrew word of uncertain etymology (see Sheol, Critical View), synonym of "bor" (pit), "abaddon" and "shaḥat" (pit or destruction), and perhaps also of "tehom" (abyss).

—Biblical Data:

It connotes the place where those that had died were believed to be congregated. Jacob, refusing to be comforted at the supposed death of Joseph, exclaims: "I shall go down to my son a mourner unto Sheol" (Gen. xxxvii. 36, Hebr.; comp. ib. xlii. 38; xliv. 29, 31). Sheol is underneath the earth (Isa. vii. 11, lvii. 9; Ezek. xxxi. 14; Ps. lxxxvi. 13; Ecclus. [Sirach] li. 6; comp. Enoch, xvii. 6, "toward the setting of the sun"); hence it is designated as (Deut. xxxii. 22; Ps. lxxxvi. 13) or (Ps. lxxxviii. 7; Lam. iii. 55; Ezek. xxvi. 20, xxxii. 24). It is very deep (Prov. ix. 18; Isa. lvii. 9); and it marks the point at the greatest possible distance from heaven (Job xi. 8; Amos ix. 2; Ps. cxxxix. 8). The dead descend or are made to go down into it; the revived ascend or are brought and lifted up from it (I Sam. ii. 6; Job vii. 9; Ps. xxx. 4; Isa. xiv. 11, 15). Sometimes the living are hurled into Sheol before they would naturally have been claimed by it (Prov. i. 12; Num. xvi. 33; Ps. lv. 16, lxiii. 10), in which cases the earth is described as "opening her mouth" (Num. xvi. 30). Sheol is spoken of as a land (Job x. 21, 22); but ordinarily it is a place with gates (ib. xvii. 16, xxxviii. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 10; Ps. ix. 14), and seems to have been viewed as divided into compartments (Prov. vii. 27), with "farthest corners" (Isa. xiv. 15; Ezek. xxxii. 23, Hebr.; R. V. "uttermost parts of the pit"), one beneath the other (see Jew. Encyc. v. 217, s. v. Eschatology). Here the dead meet (Ezek. xxxii.; Isa. xiv.; Job xxx. 23) without distinction of rank or condition—the rich and the poor, the pious and the wicked, the old and the young, the master and the slave—if the description in Job iii. refers, as most likely it does, to Sheol. The dead continue after a fashion their earthly life. Jacob would mourn there (Gen. xxxvii. 35, xlii. 38); David abides there in peace (I Kings ii. 6); the warriors have their weapons with them (Ezek. xxxii. 27), yet they are mere shadows ("rephaim"; Isa. xiv. 9, xxvi. 14; Ps. lxxxviii. 5, A. V. "a man that hath no strength"). The dead merely exist without knowledge or feeling (Job xiv. 13; Eccl. ix. 5). Silence reigns supreme; and oblivion is the lot of them that enter therein (Ps. lxxxviii. 13, xciv. 17; Eccl. ix. 10). Hence it is known also as "Dumah," the abode of silence (Ps. vi. 6, xxx. 10, xciv. 17, cxv. 17); and there God is not praised (ib. cxv. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 15). Still, on certain extraordinary occasions the dwellers in Sheol are credited with the gift of making knowntheir feelings of rejoicing at the downfall of the enemy (Isa. xiv. 9, 10). Sleep is their usual lot (Jer. li. 39; Isa. xxvi. 14; Job xiv. 12). Sheol is a horrible, dreary, dark, disorderly land (Job x. 21, 22); yet it is the appointed house for all the living (ib. xxx. 23). Return from Sheol is not expected (II Sam. xii. 23; Job vii. 9, 10; x. 21; xiv. 7 et seq.; xvi. 22; Ecclus. [Sirach] xxxviii. 21); it is described as man's eternal house (Eccl. xii. 5). It is "dust" (Ps. xxx. 10; hence in the Shemoneh 'Esreh, in benediction No. ii., the dead are described as "sleepers in the dust").

God Its Ruler.

God's rulership over it is recognized (Amos ix. 2; Hos. xiii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 22; I Sam. ii. 6 [Isa. vii. 11?]; Prov. xv. 11). Hence He has the power to save the pious therefrom (Ps. xvi. 10, xlix. 16, the text of which latter passage, however, is recognized as corrupt). Yet Sheol is never satiated (Prov. xxx. 20); she "makes wide her soul," i.e., increases her desire (Isa. v. 14) and capacity. In these passages Sheol is personified; it is described also as a pasture for sheep with death as the shepherd (Ps. xlix. 15). From Sheol Samuel is cited by the witch of En-dor (I Sam. xxviii. 3 et seq.). As a rule Sheol will not give up its own. They are held captive with ropes. This seems to be the original idea underlying the phrase (II Sam. xxii. 6; Ps. xviii. 6; R. V., verse 5, "the cords of Sheol") and of the other expression, (Ps. cxvi. 3; R. V. "and the pains of Sheol"); for they certainly imply restraint or capture. Sheol is used as a simile for "jealousy" (Cant. viii. 7). For the post-Biblical development of the ideas involved see Eschatology.

Etymology.

—Critical View:

The word "Sheol" was for some time regarded as an Assyro-Babylonian loan-word, "Shu'alu," having the assumed meaning "the place whither the dead are cited or bidden," or "the place where the dead are ingathered." Delitzsch, who in his earlier works advanced this view, has now abandoned it; at least in his dictionary the word is not given. The non-existence of "Shu'alu" has been all along maintained by Jensen ("Kosmologie," p. 223), and recently again by Zimmern (in Schrader," K. A. T." 3d ed., p. 636, note 4) even against Jastrow's explanation (in "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xiv. 165-170) that "sha'al" = "to consult an oracle," or "to cite the dead" for this purpose, whence the name of the place where the dead are. The connection between the Hebrew "Sheol" and the Assyro - Babylonian "shillan" (west), which Jensen proposed instead (in "Zeitschrift für Assyriologie," v. 131, xv. 243), does not appear to be acceptable. Zimmern (l.c.) suggests "shilu" (= "a sort of chamber") as the proper Assyrian source of the Hebrew word. On the other hand, it is certain that most of the ideas covered by the Hebrew "Sheol" are expressed also in the Assyro-Babylonian descriptions of the state of the dead, found in the myths concerning Ishtar's descent into Hades, concerning Nergal and Ereshkigal (see Jensen in Schrader, "K. B." vi., part 1, pp. 74-79) and in the Gilgamesh epic (tablets ii. and xii.; comp. also Craig, "Religious Texts," i. 79; King, Magic," No. 53).

This realm of the dead is in the earth ("erẓitu" = ; comp. Job, x. 21, 22), the gateway being in the west. It is the "land without return." It is a dark place filled with dust (see Sheol, Biblical Data); but it contains a palace for the divine ruler of this shadow-realm (comp. Job xviii. 13, 14). Seven gates guard successively the approach to this land, at the first of which is a watchman. A stream of water flows through Sheol (comp. Enoch, xvii. 6, xxii. 9; Luke xvi. 24; Ps. xviii. 5; II Sam. xxii. 5).

Origin of Biblical Concept.

The question arises whether the Biblical concept is borrowed from the Assyrians or is an independent development from elements common to both and found in many primitive religions. Though most of the passages in which mention is made of Sheol or its synonyms are of exilic or post-exilic times, the latter view, according to which the Biblical concept of Sheol represents an independent evolution, is the more probable. It reverts to primitive animistic conceits. With the body in the grave remains connected the soul (as in dreams): the dead buried in family graves continue to have communion (comp. Jer. xxxi. 15). Sheol is practically a family grave on a large scale. Graves were protected by gates and bolts; therefore Sheol was likewise similarly guarded. The separate compartments are devised for the separate clans, septs, and families, national and blood distinctions continuing in effect after death. That Sheol is described as subterranean is but an application of the custom of hewing out of the rocks passages, leading downward, for burial purposes.

Bibliography:

Stade, Ueber die A. T. Vorstellungen vom Zustande nach dem Tode, Leipsic, 1877;

idem, Gesch. des Volkes Israel, i. 418 et seq.;

idem, Biblische Theologie des A. T. pp. 183 et seq., Tübingen, 1905;

F. Schwally, Das Leben nach dem Tode, Giessen, 1892;

A. Bertholet, Die Israelitischen Vorstellungen vom Zustande nach dem Tode, Freiburg, 1899;

G. Beer, Der Biblische Hades, Tübingen, 1902;

idem, in Guthe, Kurzes Bibelwörterbuch, s.v. Hölle;

Zimmern, in K. A. T. 3d ed., ii. 641, 642, Berlin, 1903 (where the Assyrian literature is given).

SHEOL.—The Semitic equivalent of the classical conception of Hades. The word has been derived from a number of roots. The two main probable origins seem to be those from the Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] root sha’al (‘to consult an oracle’), and shilu (‘chamber’). The latter derivation seems somewhat more in accordance with the synonym of pit. In any case, according to this derivation of the word, Sheol was regarded as an underworld of the dead in which the shades lived. Hebrew eschatology, although somewhat obscure in its early phase, probably tended to perpetuate the animistic conception. The habit of burying the family in communal tombs may also have lent some meaning to the word. In Sheol the dead continued to live as on earth. It seems to have been a somewhat common belief that they could be summoned by some process of necromancy (1Sa 2:6). In the absence of any consistent Hebrew eschatology, however, it is impossible to determine whether the dead were believed to be conscious or active. Apparently different opinions existed on this point (cf. Psa 88:13; Psa 94:17; Psa 30:10, Job 14:3, with Eze 32:27). From the latter it would appear that the non-activity of the dead was the more current opinion.

According to Eth. Enoch 22.1–14, Sheol was divided into four sections, intended respectively for the martyrs, the righteous who were not martyrs, sinners who had lived prosperously, and sinners who had been to some degree punished. The situation of those in these four sections varied from extreme bliss in the first case to loss of all hope of the resurrection in the fourth. The souls in the third division were to be ‘slain’ In the day of judgment; but the meaning of this is obscure. Nor is it at all clear that this fourfold division was commonly held. The twofold division into the abode of the blessed and the abode of those suffering punishment seems the more generally held. At the resurrection, which preceded the judgment, it was believed, at least by those under the influence of Pharisaism, that the righteous shades would rise from Sheol, and, after receiving new bodies, ascend to heaven.

The NT conception of Sheol is not fundamentally other than that of Judaism, if we may judge from the few references. The most important is that of Luk 16:23, the parable of Dives and Lazarus. Hades (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] hell) in the NT is either the synonym of death, or of complete loss and misery, although the idea of punishment is usually expressed by Gehenna. It would appear that the idea of purgatorial cleansing, which Rabbinical Judaism introduced into the conception, was altogether absent from NT thought. Christ is said (Rev 1:18) to have ‘the keys of death and Hades,’ and in 1Pe 3:18 He is said to have preached to ‘spirits in prison,’ i.e. in Sheol (cf. Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] Baruch 23.4; 2 Es 7:85, 95). Generally speaking, however, the NT does not develop any new doctrine of Sheol, and is as far as possible from favouring the extreme speculation of either Rabbinic Judaism or of Patristic Christianity.

Shailer Mathews.

(Hebrew: a cave)

In the Old Testament times it was the place where the souls of the dead abide: the land of oblivion (Psalm 87); called Hades in the Greek New Testament (Luke 16), and later used as a synonym for Gehenna, the hell of torments, the Latin infernus. Souls were treated according to their merit; the just looked for liberation.

shē´ōl (שׁאול, sh^e’ōl):

1.    The Name

2.    The Abode of the Dead

(1)    Not a State of Unconsciousness

(2)    Not Removed from God’s Jurisdiction

(3)    Relation to Immortality

3.    Post-canonical Period

1. The Name:

This word is often translated in the King James Version “grave” (e.g. Gen 37:35; 1Sa 2:6; Job 7:9; Job 14:13; Psa 6:5; Psa 49:14; Isa 14:11, etc.) or “hell” (e.g. Deu 32:22; Psa 9:17; Psa 18:5; Isa 14:9; Amo 9:2, etc.); in 3 places by “pit” (Num 16:30, Num 16:33; Job 17:16). It means really the unseen world, the state or abode of the dead, and is the equivalent of the Greek Háidēs, by which word it is translated in Septuagint. The English Revisers have acted somewhat inconsistently in leaving “grave” or “pit” in the historical books and putting “Sheol” in the margin, while substituting “Sheol” in the poetical writings, and putting “grave” in the margin (“hell” is retained in Isa 14). Compare their “Preface.” The American Revisers more properly use “Sheol” throughout. The etymology of the word is uncertain. A favorite derivation is from shā’al, “to ask” (compare Pro 1:12; Pro 27:20; Pro 30:15, Pro 30:16; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5); others prefer the root shā’al, “to be hollow.” The Babylonians are said to have a similar word Sualu, though this is questioned by some.

2. The Abode of the Dead:

Into Sheol, when life is ended, the dead are gathered in their tribes and families. Hence, the expression frequently occurring in the Pentateuch, “to be gathered to one’s people,” “to go to one’s fathers,” etc. (Gen 15:15; Gen 25:8, Gen 25:17; Gen 49:33; Num 20:24, Num 20:28; Num 31:2; Deu 32:50; Deu 34:5). It is figured as an under-world (Isa 44:23; Eze 26:20, etc.), and is described by other terms, as “the pit” (Job 33:24; Psa 28:1; Psa 30:3; Pro 1:12; Isa 38:18, etc.), ABADDON (which see) or Destruction (Job 26:6; Job 28:22; Pro 15:11), the place of “silence” (Psa 94:17; Psa 115:17), “the land of darkness and the shadow of death” (Job 10:21 f). It is, as the antithesis of the living condition, the synonym for everything that is gloomy, inert, insubstantial (the abode of Rephaim, “shades,” Job 26:5;, Pro 2:18; Pro 21:16; Isa 14:9; Isa 26:14). It is a “land of forgetfulness,” where God’s “wonders” are unknown (Psa 88:10-12). There is no remembrance or praise of God (Psa 6:5; Psa 88:12; Psa 115:17, etc.). In its darkness, stillness, powerlessness, lack of knowledge and inactivity, it is a true abode of death (see DEATH); hence, is regarded by the living with shrinking, horror and dismay (Psa 39:13; Isa 38:17-19), though to the weary and troubled it may present the aspect of a welcome rest or sleep (Job 3:17-22; Job 14:12 f). The Greek idea of Hades was not dissimilar.

(1) Not a State of Unconsciousness.

Yet it would be a mistake to infer, because of these strong and sometimes poetically heightened contrasts to the world of the living, that Sheol was conceived of as absolutely a place without consciousness, or some dim remembrance of the world above. This is not the case. Necromancy rested on the idea that there was some communication between the world above and the world below (Deu 18:11); a Samuel could be summoned from the dead (1Sa 28:11-15); Sheol from beneath was stirred at the descent of the king of Babylon (Isa 14:9 ff). The state is rather that of slumbrous semi-consciousness and enfeebled existence from which in a partial way the spirit might temporarily be aroused. Such conceptions, it need hardly be said, did not rest on revelation, but were rather the natural ideas formed of the future state, in contrast with life in the body, in the absence of revelation.

(2) Not Removed from God’s Jurisdiction.

It would be yet more erroneous to speak with Dr. Charles (Eschatology, 35 ff) of Sheol as a region “quite independent of Yahwe, and outside the sphere of His rule.” “Sheol is naked before God,” says Job, “and Abaddon hath no covering” (Job 26:6). “If I make my bed in Sheol,” says the Psalmist, “behold thou art there” (Psa 139:8). The wrath of Yahweh burns unto the lowest Sheol (Deu 32:22). As a rule there is little sense of moral distinctions in the Old Testament representations of Sheol, yet possibly these are not altogether wanting (on the above and others points in theology of Sheol). See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

(3) Relation to Immortality.

To apprehend fully the Old Testament conception of Sheol one must view it in its relation to the idea of death as something unnatural and abnormal for man; a result of sin. The believer’s hope for the future, so far as this had place, was not prolonged existence in Sheol, but deliverance from it and restoration to new life in God’s presence (Job 14:13-15; Job 19:25-27; Psa 16:10, Psa 16:11; Psa 17:15; Psa 49:15; Psa 73:24-26; see IMMORTALITY; ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; RESURRECTION). Dr. Charles probably goes too far in thinking of Sheol in Psalms 49 and 73 as “the future abode of the wicked only; heaven as that of the righteous” (op. cit., 74); but different destinies are clearly indicated.

3. Post-Canonical Period:

There is no doubt, at all events, that in the postcanonical Jewish literature (the Apocrypha and apocalyptic writings) a very considerable development is manifest in the idea of Sheol. Distinction between good and bad in Israel is emphasized; Sheol becomes for certain classes an intermediate state between death and resurrection; for the wicked and for Gentiles it is nearly a synonym for Gehenna (hell). For the various views, with relevant literature on the whole subject, see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT; also DEATH; HADES; HELL, etc.

When the Old Testament writers spoke about the afterlife, they referred to it by using the Hebrew word sheol (translated into the Greek as hades). Some early versions of the English Bible translated sheol and hades as ‘hell’, which is unfortunate, for that gives the wrong idea. Hell, as a place of fiery punishment, is the equivalent of the word gehenna. Sheol (or hades), by contrast, is simply the place or state of the dead. More recent English versions either transliterate the words as ‘sheol’ and ‘hades’, or translate them by such expressions as ‘the world of the dead’, ‘the grave’ and ‘the pit’.

The Old Testament writers expressed their view of the afterlife in broad general terms. They saw that all people eventually die and go to sheol, whether they be rich or poor, good or bad (Job 3:13-19; Psa 88:1-5; Isa 38:18; Eze 31:17; Eze 32:18-32; cf. Luk 16:19-31). In fact, the writers often used ‘sheol’ simply as another word for ‘death’ (Gen 42:38; Psa 18:5; Psa 86:13; Psa 116:3; cf. Mat 16:18). But by speaking of sheol, they made it clear that death does not end human existence. They may have had very little knowledge concerning the state of the person in the afterlife, but they did not doubt that the person continued to exist.

People saw death as an enemy (Psa 6:5; Psa 56:13; Ecc 8:8; cf. Rom 6:23; 1Co 15:26; Rev 6:8). The mysterious, silent, shadowy existence that lay beyond it was not something they looked forward to (Job 10:21-22; Job 17:13-16; Psa 94:17; Psa 115:17; Isa 14:9-11; Eze 26:19-20). The hope of the Old Testament believers was that God would not desert them in sheol, but would bring them into a new and joyful experience of life in the presence of God (Job 19:26; Psa 16:10-11; Psa 49:15; Psa 73:24; cf. Act 2:27; Act 2:31). For the wicked, however, sheol would bring nothing but terror (Deu 32:22; Job 31:11-12; Psa 55:15; Isa 14:19-20; Eze 32:18-32).

During the latter part of the Old Testament era, believers became more firmly convinced that beyond death lay the resurrection (Dan 12:1-2). This confidence grew into bold assurance through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once Christ had conquered death and hades (sheol), people had no need to fear them any longer. God had now clearly shown immortal life to be a certainty (Mat 16:18; 2Ti 1:10; Heb 2:14-15; Rev 1:18).

Since believers now shared Christ’s conquest, they naturally looked upon those who were not believers as still under the power of death. They therefore associated the afterlife of the wicked dead with the unwelcome aspects of hades (Mat 11:23; 1Pe 3:19-20; Rev 20:13). In relation to themselves, however, believers no longer thought of the afterlife as a gloomy existence in sheol or hades, but as a joyful experience of life with Christ in paradise (Luk 23:42; 2Co 5:8; Php 1:23; see HEAVEN; PARADISE).

The place where people go when

they die. Usually, this means the grave,

but it can mean the place where spirits

go.