THE PLACE OF THE AFTERLIFE as viewed in the In the Old Testament the place of the afterlife for the wicked is most often called She’ol (usually translated “hell” or “the grave”). 10 It is also identified with ‘avaddon, “Abaddon, the place of destruction” (Job 26: 6; 31: 12; Ps. 88: 11; Prov. 27: 20), and bor, “the pit,” literally, a cistern, but used metaphorically as the entrance to She’ol or as a synonym for She’ol itself (Ps. 30: 3; Isa. 14: 15; Ezek. 31: 14). When translated “hell” (KJV), however, it is not a place where Satan has his headquarters, nor is it controlled by Satan. God rules it (1 Sam. 2: 6; Ps. 139: 8; Amos 9: 2). She’ol Not the Grave. Because She’ol, “the pit,” “the grave,” “destruction,” and “death” are sometimes parallel in grammatical construction (e.g., Pss. 30: 3; 88: 11-12), some say both She’ol and “the pit” always mean “the grave.” 11 However, when the Bible speaks of graves in an unmistakable way, as when the Israelites asked Moses, “‘ Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?’” (Exod. 14: 11), another word, qever, is normally used. When Jacob thought Joseph was torn to pieces and obviously not in a grave, Jacob still thought he was in She’ol (Gen. 37: 35). The Bible also pictures people as having some kind of existence in She’ol (Isa. 14: 9-10; Ezek. 32: 21). God acts powerfully and intervenes in She’ol (Ps. 139: 8; Amos 9: 2), and it can do nothing against Him (Job 26: 6). Consequently, others limit it to the place of the afterlife and say it never means the grave. 12 Three passages (Pss. 6: 5; 115: 17-18; Isa. 38: 17-19) are often cited to show that She’ol is the grave. 13 Psalm 6: 5 reads,
“No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave [Heb. She’ol]?” The remembering is, however, parallel to the praising. The same word (Heb. zakhar) is used of a solemn naming of God among the people (Exod. 3: 15). It speaks of an active reminding here on earth, which ends when a person dies. In other words, when the spirit goes to She’ol that person’s praise and testimony to the people here on earth ceases. Psalm 115: 17 speaks of the dead going down into silence. This is from the point of view of people on the earth. However, the Psalmist goes on to say, “It is we who extol the LORD both now and forevermore” (v. 18), which implies a better hope and certainly does not rule out praising the Lord in the afterlife. King Hezekiah in his prayer stated, “In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction: you have put all my sins behind my back. For the grave [Heb. She’ol] cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness” (Isa. 38: 17-18). Here Hezekiah was concerned about his testimony and its results among the people. God’s forgiveness of his sins kept him from going to the place of punishment. Now that he was healed, he would see God’s faithfulness— and he did— for fifteen additional years (Isa. 38: 5). Actually, She’ol is often described as a depth that contrasts with the height of heaven (Job 11: 8; Ps. 139: 8; Amos 9: 2). Often the context refers to the anger or wrath of God (Job 14: 13; Pss. 6: 1,5; 88: 3,7; 89: 46,48), and sometimes to both wrath and fire (Deut. 32: 22). In some cases the references are brief, and it seems it is treated simply as the place or the state of the dead. In it the dead are called repha’im, or what we might call “ghosts” (Isa. 14: 9; 26: 14). 14 Other passages refer to some of the dead as ‘elohim, in the sense of “powerful spirit beings” (1 Sam. 28: 13). 15 She’ol Translated as Hadēs. Where the New Testament quotes Old Testament passages referring to She’ol, it translates the word Hadēs, which it sees not as the vague place pagan Greeks talked about but as a place of
punishment (Luke 10: 15; 16: 23-24; cf. Rev. 6: 8; 20: 13). 16 Peter also describes the wicked dead from Noah’s day as “spirits in prison” (1 Pet. 3: 19-20). 17 She’ol a Place for the Wicked. In view of this it is important to note that the Old Testament does not teach that everyone goes to She’ol. It is true that Job spoke of death as a beth mo’ed, a “meeting house” for all living (Job 30: 23). But he was simply referring to the fact that all die, not that all go to the same place when they die. Some Old Testament saints had a better hope. Enoch and Elijah were taken directly to heaven (Gen. 5: 24; 2 Kings 2: 11; Heb. 11: 5). When David felt the wrath of God because of his sin, he cried out for mercy to escape going to She’ol (e.g., Ps. 6: 1-5,9). But when his faith rose, his hope was to “dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Ps. 23: 6; cf. Ps. 17: 15). Though the New Testament identifies Psalm 16: 10 with the death and resurrection of Jesus, the verse that follows it indicates that the path of life made known by God leads to joy in His presence and eternal pleasures at His right hand. Psalm 49: 15 says, after considering the lot of the wicked, who are headed for She’ol, “God, however, will redeem my soul from the hand of She’ol, for He will take me [to himself]” (author’s translation). That is, She’ol is personified as trying to grab him and take him down to the place of punishment, but God redeems and rescues him so that he escapes from having to go to She’ol at all and instead goes into the presence of God. 18 She’ol a Place of Punishment. Several passages clearly indicate that She’ol is a place of punishment for the wicked (Ps. 9: 17; cf. Num. 16: 33; Job 26: 6; Pss. 30: 17-18; 49: 13-15; 55: 15; 88: 11-12; Prov. 5: 5; 7: 27; 9: 18; 15: 10-11; 27: 20; Isa. 38: 18). 19 God said of idolaters, “‘ A fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of She’ol below’” (Deut. 32: 22). “The wicked return [change their total orientation] to She’ol, all the nations [Heb. goyim, “peoples,” especially pagans] that forget God” (Ps. 9: 17). “Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to She’ol, for evil
finds lodging among them” (Ps. 55: 15; cf. 55: 23). “My soul is full of trouble and my life draws near She’ol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit. … Your wrath lies heavily upon me” (Ps. 88: 3-4,7). “Her house [the prostitute’s house] is a highway to She’ol, leading down to the [dark] chambers of death” (Prov. 7: 27). “The woman Folly is loud … calling out to those who pass by. … ‘Let all who are simple come in here!’ she says to those who lack judgment. … But little do they know that the dead are there, and her guests are in the depths of She’ol” (Prov. 9: 13,15-16,18). When God pronounced judgment on the city of Tyre, He compared it to “those who go down to the pit,” and said, “‘ I will bring you to a horrible end’” (Ezek. 26: 19-21). Then when judgment comes on the hordes of Egypt, “From within She’ol the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword’” (Ezek. 32: 18-21). In fact, all those Ezekiel mentions as being in She’ol are wicked. 20 When Korah gathered his followers in opposition to Moses and Aaron, God told Moses to warn the assembly, ‘“ Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.’ … And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them. … They went down alive into She’ol (Num. 16: 23-33). On the other hand, when the spiritist medium at Endor said she saw a spirit coming up out of the ground (Heb. ha’arets) looking like an old man wearing a robe (1 Sam. 28: 13-14), it may be referring to his body rising from the grave and does not prove his soul was in an underworld any more than the fact Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb proves it (John 12: 17). 21 The psalmist Asaph wrote that, in contrast to the destruction of the wicked, “You guide me with your counsel,” that is, while on earth, “and afterward you will take me into glory,” that is, into heaven (Ps. 73: 18-19,24-26; cf. Pss. 16: 9,11; 17: 15). 22 Solomon also declared that “the path of life leads upward [to the place above] for the wise [that is, for those who fear the Lord] in order to avoid She’ol beneath” (Prov. 15: 24, author’s translation). 23 God’s message to Balaam made him recognize that the death of the righteous is better than the death of the wicked (Num. 23: 10)
Horton, Stanley M.. Our Destiny: Biblical Teachings on the Last Things (Kindle Locations 621-640). Logion Press. Kindle Edition.
