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Gehenna

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bikinibomb (talk | contribs) at 00:32, 15 January 2008 (The OT never says it is "only" a real valley and can be nothing more, which is what the tone implies. rewording it). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Gehenna (disambiguation).
Main article: Jewish eschatology
File:JPF - Hinnom Valley.JPG
The Valley of Hinnom in 2005 from Mount Zion.
Valley of Hinnom, c. 1900.
tombs in the Valley of Hinnom
Valley of Hinnom, 2007

Gehenna (or gehenom or gehinom (גהינום)) is the Jewish hell or purgatory. In Judaism hell is a place of purification[1] and fire for the wicked, most being punished there up to a year but some for eternity.[2]

In English, Jews commonly use the term "hell" in place of "gehenna." The name derived from the burning garbage dump near Jerusalem (the Hinnom gulch), metaphorically identified with the entrance to the underworld of punishment in the afterlife.

Gehenna also appears in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the place where evil will be destroyed. It lends its name to Islam's hell, Jahannam.

In both Rabbinical Jewish and Christian writing, Gehenna as a destination of the wicked is different from Sheol, the abode of all the dead.

Etymology

　　"Gehenna" is derived from "Ge Hinnom", meaning "Valley of Hinnom". "Ge Hinnom" is also called "Gai ben-Hinnom", meaning "valley of Hinnom's son". The valley is outside the south wall of ancient Jerusalem, and stretches from the foot of Moutain Zion eastward to Kidron Valley.　

　　It is mentioned totally 13 times in 11 different verses in The Old Testament (King James Version) as "valley of Hinnom", "valley of the son of Hinnom" or "valley of the children of Hinnom." It is not described as a spiritual hell but a literal valley in Jerusalem.

　　Joshua 15:8, "And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite(the name is Jerusalem); and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward. "

　　Joshua 18:16, "And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to En-rogel...."

　　2nd Kings 23:10, "And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. "

　2nd Chronicles 28:3, "Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abomination of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. "

2nd Chronicles 33:6, "And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom...."

　　Nehemiah 11:30, "....And they dwelt from Beer-sheba unto the valley of hinnom. "

　　Jeremiah 7:31~32, "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daugh- ters in the fire, which I commanded them not,neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter, for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. "

　　Jeremiah 19:2, "And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. "

　　Jeremiah 19:6, "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. "

　　Jeremiah 32:35, "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. "

　　After 638 B.C., Judah King Josiah cleaned Jerusalem and Judah (2nd Chronicles 34, and 2nd Kings 23), the valley of Hinnom and the valley of the son of Hinnom became the place for burning rubbish from Jerusalem.

Hebrew Bible observations

It is mentioned in the Tanakh in several places, notably 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; 2 Kings 23:10; that the southwestern gate of Jerusalem, overlooking the valley, came to be known as "The Gate of the Valley" (Hebrew: שער הגיא). Jeremiah 7:31; 19:2-6; 32:35; the Book of Jeremiah (2:23) speaks of residents worshipping Moloch and committing abominations, foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem:

"19:2. And you shall go out to the Ben-Hinnom Valley which is at the entrance of the Harsith Gate, and you shall call there the words that I will speak to you. 19:3. And you shall say; Hearken to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; so said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Behold I am bringing evil upon this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle. 19:4. Because they forsook Me and they estranged this place and burnt incense therein to other gods, which they had not known, they, their forefathers, and the kings of Judah, and they filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 19:5. And they built the high places of Baal to burn their children with fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command, neither did I speak nor did it enter My mind. 19:6. Therefore, behold days are coming, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter."

In Hebrew:

וְיָצָאתָ אֶל-גֵּיא בֶן-הִנֹּם אֲשֶׁר פֶּתַח שַׁעַר החרסות (הַחַרְסִית) וְקָרָאתָ שָּׁם אֶת-הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר-אֲדַבֵּר אֵלֶיךָ: וְאָמַרְתָּ שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר-יְהוָה מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִָם כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנְנִי מֵבִיא רָעָה עַל-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר כָּל-שֹׁמְעָהּ, תִּצַּלְנָה אָזְנָיו: יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עֲזָבֻנִי וַיְנַכְּרוּ אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיְקַטְּרוּ-בוֹ לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יְדָעוּם הֵמָּה וַאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם וּמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וּמָלְאוּ אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה דַּם נְקִיִּם: וּבָנוּ אֶת-בָּמוֹת הַבַּעַל לִשְׂרֹף אֶת-בְּנֵיהֶם בָּאֵשׁ עֹלוֹת לַבָּעַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא-צִוִּיתִי וְלֹא דִבַּרְתִּי וְלֹא עָלְתָה עַל-לִבִּי: לָכֵן הִנֵּה-יָמִים בָּאִים, נְאֻם-יְהוָה וְלֹא-יִקָּרֵא לַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה עוֹד הַתֹּפֶת וְגֵיא בֶן-הִנֹּם כִּי אִם-גֵּיא הַהֲרֵגָה:

Pagans once sacrificed their children to pagan idols in the fires in Gehenna, and this was an abomination; in 2 Kings, 23:10, King Josiah forbade the sacrificing of children to Moloch at Gehenna (though Baal is not mentioned in this particular verse). Rashi claims that the Tophet (תופת) was the Molech. Since priests would bang on drums (תופים) so that the father would not hear the groans of the child when he would be burned by the hands of the pagan image, Molech, they called it Topheth.

There are stories of fires that were kept burning via the adding of brimstone (sulfur). Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible Volume I, explains,

“It became the common lay-stall garbage dump of the city, where the dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals, and every other kind of filth was cast.”

The dump was full of rotting garbage which sent up a stench that could be smelled for miles.

Pharisaic tradition

The Pharisees taught that the dead in sheol would be resurrected for reward or punishment on Judgment Day.[3] Gehenna was the place where the wicked awaited judgment day in fiery torment. The godly, meanwhile, were said to await Judgment Day in the bosom of Abraham.[4]

Rabbinic tradition

The Rabbinic tradition arose from the Pharisaic tradition after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. In general, it moved away from traditional Judaism's emphasis on an earthly future for Israel toward the concept of reward in the life to come.[5] Gehinom (Gehenna), according to rabbinic literature, is a place or state where the wicked are temporarily punished after death. “Gehenna” is sometimes translated as "hell", but the Christian view of hell differs from the Jewish view of Gehenna. Most sinners are said to suffer in Gehenna no longer than twelve months. Those who are too wicked to reach paradise are sometimes said to be punished forever.[6] Other accounts reject the idea that a merciful God would punish anyone forever,[7] in which case those too wicked for purification are destroyed (see annihilationism).

New Testament

In the synoptic gospels Jesus uses the word Gehenna to refer to the place where sinners are punished after death.[8] It is a place where both soul and body will be destroyed (Matthew 10:28), a place of "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43).

In the Gospel of Matthew 23:33, Jesus observes,

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of gehenna?”

The word gehenna is also found in the epistle of James, where it is said to set the tongue on fire.

Many Christians understand gehenna (hell) to be a place of eternal punishment. On the other hand, annihilationists, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, understand gehenna to be a place where sinners are utterly destroyed (like garbage in a burning dump), not tormented forever.

The New Testament also refers to hades as a destination of the dead and of those who will not be exalted in heaven (Matthew 11:23). However, hades is portrayed as a different place from gehenna.

Islam

The word gehenna (Gehennem, Jahannam) also occurs in the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, as a place of torment for sinners or Islamic equivalent to hell.

The term gehenna has appeared in popular culture, particularly in a number of popular role-playing games, as well as rock songs, such as "Hourglass" by the American Groove metal band Lamb Of God, and in "Gates of Gehenna" by the straight edge band Purified in Blood from Norway.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=611&letter=P&search=purgatory Rabbinic Views of Purgatory
  2. ^ http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=467 The Basics of Judaism: Messiah and the Next World
  3. ^ In this teaching they contradicted the Sadducees, whose stricter interpretation of scripture excluded the resurrection.
  4. ^ Bosom of Abraham entry in Catholic Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Heaven and Hell in Jewish Tradition
  6. ^ Gehenna in Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906
  7. ^ Sheol/Hell/Gehenna
  8. ^ Metzger & Coogan (1993) Oxford Companion to the Bible’’, p243.

References

Note: Tanakh quotes are from the Judaica press Tanach. New Testament quotes from the Bible in this article are from the King James Version.
  • Metzeger, Bruce M. (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[1]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valley of Hinom.
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