Jonah Died and went to Hell

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,097
3,683
113
#22
Jonah went to Sheol. In the Hebrew tradition that is not Hell. Jews do not believe in Hell.
That doesn't matter. What saith the Scriptures is what matters. God says it's hell, it's hell. I speak English and the proper word is hell.
 

Aerials1978

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2019
1,707
987
113
#23
I can certainly see how one might conceive that Jonah had died and went to Sheol. Jesus did assert that comparison of His death and resurrection. However, I don’t think scripture gives us enough information to determine if that actually happened.

You also have to take into account what Jesus taught about Hell from the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

And
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,366
13,728
113
#24
That doesn't matter. What saith the Scriptures is what matters. God says it's hell, it's hell. I speak English and the proper word is hell.
This is a perfect example of KJV-only blindness. It is well established that "hell" is not the correct word in every place that the KJV uses it. However, your mind is closed on that subject. At least the other readers may benefit.
 

Whispered

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2019
4,551
2,230
113
www.christiancourier.com
#25

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#27
Ezekiel 31
14 So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them.
‘For they have all been delivered to death,
To the depths of the earth,
Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.
15 “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 [f]mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 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. 17 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 words Jonah used are the same (Hell / Sheol / Pit)
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,771
113
#29
>Jonah gives the account - out of Sheol (Hell) he cried out. This is not to create a precedent that others can cry out from hell and be delivered in the same way. No. It just means that God is sovereign and can do as He pleases.
Just because the translators of the KJV translated Sheol as "hell" or sometimes "the grave" does not mean that Sheol is Hell. Sheol is Hades, and Hades is not Hell (the Lake of Fire). I believe it was a great disservice to use the words "hell" and "the grave" for Sheol (which should have simply been transliterated (and Hades too).

Sheol is in the heart of the earth (the lower parts of the earth) or near the core of the earth. Before the resurrection of Christ all souls and spirits went to Sheol/Hades, but the righteous dead were kept separate from the unrighteous dead. So Jonah would have been with the righteous dead in Sheol for three days and three nights (to prefigure the descent of Christ into Sheol/Hades for the same period of time). Jonah did experience resurrection.

Note: The Nicene Creed says that Christ descended into "hell", but He descended into Sheol/Hades.
 

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#30
Isaiah 5
14 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.
15 People shall be brought down,
Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.

But @Whispered says the Jews don't believe Hell exists. You see statements like that, with no fundamental support, are reckless. The link I gave above gives more than enough OT support for this place existing. Maybe the Jews that @Whispered was speaking to didn't read their Tanakh.
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#31
Acts 2
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
This is about Jesus not Jonah.
 

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#32
Just because the translators of the KJV translated Sheol as "hell" or sometimes "the grave" does not mean that Sheol is Hell. Sheol is Hades, and Hades is not Hell (the Lake of Fire). I believe it was a great disservice to use the words "hell" and "the grave" for Sheol (which should have simply been transliterated (and Hades too).

Sheol is in the heart of the earth (the lower parts of the earth) or near the core of the earth. Before the resurrection of Christ all souls and spirits went to Sheol/Hades, but the righteous dead were kept separate from the unrighteous dead. So Jonah would have been with the righteous dead in Sheol for three days and three nights (to prefigure the descent of Christ into Sheol/Hades for the same period of time). Jonah did experience resurrection.

Note: The Nicene Creed says that Christ descended into "hell", but He descended into Sheol/Hades.
How do you link "Hell" to "Lake of Fire"?
Sincere question from my side.
 

Whispered

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2019
4,551
2,230
113
www.christiancourier.com
#33
Isaiah 5
14 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.
15 People shall be brought down,
Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.

But @Whispered says the Jews don't believe Hell exists. You see statements like that, with no fundamental support, are reckless. The link I gave above gives more than enough OT support for this place existing. Maybe the Jews that @Whispered was speaking to didn't read their Tanakh.
No, statements like that are due to being educated due to a committment to personal study.

The onus is on you to prove your point. Show us in the Tanakh where the word, "Hell", appears.
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#34
Jonah chapter 2 starts with,
"Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,"
Jonah 2:1 NASB
Verse 2 starts out, "and said", ...
All that stuff from the rest of the chapter
He also said the earth with it's bars were around me forever.
So I guess that down in sheol there are bars all around and because he said forever, he never got out and is still there today. He also said he was expelled from God's sight. So I guess God couldn't see him but could hear him.

So I guess God can't keep Jonah or whoever he pleases, in the belly of a fish for 3 days if it's what suits him.
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#35
Did the fish have gas?
Was it a methane type environment?
How much O2 do you think he had before he ran out of air (3 days worth?)

But feel free to ignore all the references to hell.
how long do you think it would take for a person to be completely digested in a fish's stomach? Probably three days, all except for the bones and hair.
So God did something miraculous; he kept him 3 days in the belly of a fish that he had prepared for the job. I imagine it was a pretty horrific experience, one might even say hellish.
 

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#36

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#37
how long do you think it would take for a person to be completely digested in a fish's stomach? Probably three days, all except for the bones and hair.
So God did something miraculous; he kept him 3 days in the belly of a fish that he had prepared for the job. I imagine it was a pretty horrific experience, one might even say hellish.
Or we could just believe what Jonah actually said "Sheol and the Pit", with the bars of the earth enclosing about him forever.
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#39
Or we could just believe what Jonah actually said "Sheol and the Pit", with the bars of the earth enclosing about him forever.
Jonah did say those things, from the belly of the fish he was in. Where God had him 3 days not forever.
 

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
2,492
517
113
#40
Are you still searching the Tanakh for those verses that contain the word, Hell?
Being disingenuous I see. Does the Tanakh contain the word Revelation? See what I mean. You play games. Clear for all to see.

What is this Nether World to the Jews?