Gehena?

ClassAvenger

Can anyone explain to me what the "Gehena" is? I've seen it all over the NWT yet I haven't seen it once in my christian bible. Thanks.

Orginally Gehenna was a Hebrew name for a valley south of Jerusalem, but in the New Testament it came to be used to refer to a place where, according to Jesus, people are to be punished after they die (Matthew 11:23 , Luke 10:14 ).

~Aztec

ClassAvenger

I have asked some JWs what this is and since they dont believe in hell they tell me it can be translated to death or tomb. I need some more info on this, enough to backfire at a JW and outgun them. Lol.

Yerusalyim

The signifigance of Jesus refering to Gehenna was that it was used as a type of city dump in which fires burned continously.

A Paduan

Like a spiritual dump where people discard what they have no use for ( jwism?)

Adonai438

In a nut shell?

Three words that are translated Hell in the Bible --

Tartarous

is used only once in 2 Peter 2:4

to describe the place God had prepared for devil and his angels- this may also be what is called the abyss where Satan will be bound for the 1000 year reign of Christ.

Hades/Sheol

is used for the physical grave and the spiritual hell the wicked will suffer in until their judgment at the end of time. Pictured in Luke 16. Also notice 1 Peter 3:18-19- Spirits in prison.

Gehenna is used of Hell, The Lake of Fire, where Satan, his demons, and the wicked will spend eternity after their judgment at the end of time.

I have a page of research on the topic if you're interested-- email me at: [email protected]

My 2 cents- Angie <><

Warrigal

I heard that Gehenna represents the 'second death' from which there is no resurrection. Supposedly in Jesus' day, things were thrown into the burning dump including the bodies of dead people who were considered unworthy of a proper burial. Gehenna came to mean the permanent and final removal of anything that would not be back on the earth again.

'course I read that so long ago that undoubtedly there is 'new light' on the subject.

ClassAvenger

But how come I have never seen the word "Gehena" used in other bibles, just in the NWT? Whats the real translation from hebrew to english?

peacefulpete

The Christians utilized Greek mythology extensively in it's theological development. The term Hades was the underworld where the dead as well as various demigods abided in anguish. Tartarus was below Hades and was where the top god Zeus banished the rebellious Titans (sons of gods)for eternity imprisoned. If the Christians had seen a need to distinguish it's theology from the Greek standard they obviously would have used different terminology. In fact so many are the borrowings from the Greek religious concepts that many reference works refer to Christianity as a Sect of Greek religion more than a branch of Judaism. Check your dictionary for Hades and Tartarus. As to Gehenna, the author was simply illustrating the torment in Hades (the underworld) that he deemed just for his enemies. To be burned forever. This understanding has led most all translators to simply substitute Hades as it was inferred. Sloppy but tenable. Tartarus is often translated Hades as well, probably due to ignorance of it's use in Greek mythology as distinct from Hades.

Edited by - peacefulpete on 29 January 2003 2:7:53

Ed

But how come I have never seen the word "Gehena" used in other bibles, just in the NWT? Whats the real translation from hebrew to english?

It means "the Valley of Hinnom", or "the Valley of the sons of Hinnom". You might find different variations such as Ge-hinnom in some translations. And it's sometimes translated as "hell fire" when used in the metaphorical sense. ( = "eternal destruction", for reasons already mentioned).

Gehena?

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