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THE KING’S BUSINESS
MANY TERMS. It is important in the first place to study with all possible care the various words and phrases connected with future punishment. On the basis of the widest induction all the terms must be examined. (1) In the Old Testament “Shed” occurs sixty-five times and is ren- dred in the Authorized Version by “Hell” thirty-one times; by “grave” thirty-one times, and by “pit” three times. In the Revised Version the rendering “the grave” or “the pit” is given in the Historical Books, and in the Poetical Books “Shed” is usually found in the text and “the grave” in the margin. It is quite clear from a careful study of the passages that “Shed” is to be dis tinguished from “the grave.” (Gen. 37:35; Psalm 15:10.) (2) In the N ew T e s t ajn e n t “Hades” occurs eleven times, in ten of which it is rendered “Hell” and once “grave.” The Revised Version has “Hades” for these ten cases. The word (which exactly reproduces the Greek, “not. seen”) means in general “the unseen place,” and is equivalent to the Old Testament “Shed” as a term expressive of the place of departed spirits, in the next world, both good and bad. It is in teresting to observe that there is no instance of reference to a believer as being in “Hades” after the death of Christ. (3) The word “Tartarus” occurs in a verbal form once (2 Pet. 2:4) and is rendered in the Authorized and Revised Versions by “Hell.” (4) The word “Gehenna” is a New Testament expression, always rendered “Hell” in the Authorized Version, and it occurs twelve times. All these except one (James 3 :6) are associated with our Lord (Matt. 5: 22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5). The Revised Version adds a marginal
note where “Gehenna” occurs, indi cating the Greek word. In the Old Testament the phrase merely signi fies the name of a place, the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem. (Ge henna—land of Hinnom.) In the New Testament wherever “Gehenna” occurs it is always used to imply the place of final punishment of the wicked after the judgment. There is no indication of this Use in the New Testament, as applied to the polluted valley of Hinnom. But if that valley was used as a place of refuse, always burning, we can read ily see how appropriate was the symbolical application of the term by our Lord. The offal and carcases constantly alight would indicate and express utter and hopeless destruc tion. So far as can be seen, “Ge henna” refers solely to the future after the judgment, and is, therefore, not yet tenanted; while “Hades” is used to indicate the present place of the wicked until the time of the Judgment. It is also perhaps sig nificant that the word “ascend” is never used in connection with “Hades,” but always. the opposite idea of “going down.” (5) The word “abyss,” rendered sometimes “deep” and sometimes “pit,” occurs nine times, once in the Gospels (Luke 8:31), once in the Epistles (Rom. 10:7), and seven times in the Revelation (9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3). In the Gospel it is used by the demons as a place to which they deprecated a return (cf. Matt. 8:29). In the Epistle it is used generally by the Apostle in his argument about bringing Christ up. In the Revelation in the Author ized Version the phrase “bottomless pit” is literally “pit of ' the abyss.” It would seem to be a term strictly limited to the fallen angels and wick ed spirits until the Judgment; at any rate it is never used of human beings.
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