Sheol, in the Hebrew Bible, is a place of darkness where all the dead go, the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness separated from life but not from God because it is written in Psalm 139:8 “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there.”
The inhabitants of Sheol are the “shadows” (rephaim), entities without personality or strength. Under certain circumstances, it is believed that they can be contacted by the living, as the Witch of Endor contacts the shadow of Samuel for Saul, but such practices are forbidden (Deuteronomy 18:10).
While the Hebrew Bible describes Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (approximately 500 BCE – 70 CE) a more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, destined for the wicked dead alone, and is compared to Gehenna in the Talmud.
When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BC, the word “Hades” (the Greek underworld) was substituted for Sheol. This is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of it.
1. Judaism
According to Herbert C. Brichto, writing in Hebrew Union College Annual, the family tomb is the central concept in understanding biblical views of the afterlife. Brichto states that “it is not mere sentimental respect for physical remains that is… the motivation for the practice, but rather an assumed connection between proper burial and the condition of the deceased in the afterlife.”
The early Israelites apparently believed that family or tribal graves, united into one, and collectively united, is what the biblical Hebrew term Sheol refers to: the common grave of humans. Although not well defined in the Tanakh, Sheol in this view was an underground underworld where the souls of the dead went after the body died.
The Babylonians had a similar underworld called Aralu, and the Greeks had one known as Hades. According to Brichto, other biblical names for Sheol were: Abaddon (ruin), found in Psalm 88:11, Job 28:22, and Proverbs 15:11; Bor (the pit), found in Isaiah 14:15, 24:22, Ezekiel 26:20; and Shakhat (corruption), found in Isaiah 38:17, Ezekiel 28:8.
The Tanakh has few references to existence after death. The notion of resurrection of the dead appears in two late biblical sources, Daniel 12 and Isaiah 25–26.
2. Personification in the Hebrew Bible
Wojciech Kosior has argued that “Sheol” in the Hebrew Bible refers to a deity of the underworld. Some additional support for this hypothesis comes from ancient Near Eastern literary materials. For example, Akkadian tablets mention the name shuwalu or suwala in reference to a deity responsible for ruling the abode of the dead.
As such, it could have been borrowed by the Hebrews and incorporated into their early belief system. Furthermore, some scholars argue that Sheol was understood to be anthropomorphic, fitting into the semantic complex of other ancient deities of death in the Near East, such as Nergal, Ereshkigal, or Mot.
3. Sheol
Humans have both a physical and a spiritual nature. When a person dies, these two natures are separated. The body goes to the grave. Now we will address the question of what happens to the departed spirit. Is it wandering in space or in some definite place?
Wandering around The Bible says that the spirits of the dead are not wandering around: there is a particular place where they go. The Old Testament refers to this place as “Sheol.”
The Hebrew word “Sheol” is often translated as “hell” in English versions. However, this gives the wrong inference. It is never used of the final destination of the wicked. Sheol is used in the Old Testament in basically three ways:
- The incorporeal government of the deceased
- Specifically, the place of punishment for the wicked
- Symbolically The place where the righteous are kept
4. Context
The context sometimes makes the exact meaning of Sheol difficult to determine: it can overlap these categories. Consequently, it is essential to review the context to find the correct meaning of Sheol each time it is used.
The Invisible Kingdom of the Dead
It generally means the invisible realm of the dead, the current state of death. Both the righteous and the wicked go to Sheol in this sense of the term. When used in this way, there is no idea of a place of judgment or condemnation. It is, for example, the place where the righteous Jacob would go.
All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he [Jacob] refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will go down to the grave in mourning for my son.” Then his father wept for him (Genesis 37:35).
Sheol was also the place where sinners would end up.
In common speech, this refers to the grave, not the literal burial place of the dead but the realm of death. The New International Version usually translates Sheol as “grave.” It is usually used in the sense of the realm of the dead. (Numbers 16:30).
5. Grave
Not only does Sheol figuratively represent the grave, but it can also refer to the actual physical place where the literal bodies of the dead are buried.
Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave [Sheol], like when one plows and breaks up the earth (Psalm 141:7).
But he said, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.” (Genesis 42:38).
In this case, Sheol could refer to the actual tomb or simply to the realm of the dead.
6. Place of punishment for the wicked
Sheol is often used to refer to the temporary place of judgment for the wicked. It is the place where God’s wrath burns against unbelievers.
Sheol is a place of spiritual death, or separation from God.
Let death come upon them. Let them go down alive into Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts (Psalm 55:15).
Sheol has an appetite that cannot be satisfied.
There are three things that are never satisfied, four things that never say, ‘Enough is enough’: Sheol (Proverbs 27:20; 30:15, 16).
Isaiah wrote
Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself and opened its mouth beyond measure; its glory and its multitude and its pomp, and he who is rejoicing will descend into it (Isaiah 5:14)
The prophet Habakkuk said
For its desire is like Sheol, and it is like death and cannot be satisfied (Habakkuk 2:5).
7. Symbolism in the Old Testament.
For you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken refuge.” (Isaiah 28:15).
For greed
Moreover, wealth is treacherous; the arrogant cannot endure it. They open their throats like Sheol; like death they are never satisfied. They gather all nations to themselves, and gather all peoples as their own (Habakkuk 2:5).
8. Place from which the righteous were saved
Though the wicked remain in Sheol, it is the place from which the righteous are saved. The psalmist wrote.
For great is your love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol (Psalm 86:13).
Still within God’s reach
Those in Sheol are still within God’s reach. The prophet Amos said.
Though they dig down to the depths of the grave (Sheol), from there My hand will take them. (Amos 9:2).
Sheol has no lasting influence on the godly.
O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes (Hosea 13:14).
9. Where is Sheol?
Whenever there is a geographical reference to Sheol, it is described as below, in the lowest parts of the earth. God said.
It will devour the earth and its crops and set the foundations of the mountains on fire (Deuteronomy 32:22).
Isaiah the prophet said.
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit (Isaiah 14:15).
Ezekiel testified
They also went down to Sheol with him, those who were slain by the sword, together with their allies, who lived in his shadow among the nations (Ezekiel 31:17)
Since every geographical description of Sheol refers to a place that is below, some theologians have suggested that Sheol is somewhere in the heart of the earth.
10. Descriptions of Sheol
The following descriptions are given of Sheol.
Gates
Sheol is symbolically described as having gates. As the Scriptures say: Will we go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we rest together in the dust? (Job 17:16).
Sheol is a dark and gloomy place.
If I wait for Sheol as my home, if I make my bed in the darkness (Job 17:13).
Pain
Sheol is a place of pain.
The pains of death surrounded me, and the pains of Sheol seized me; I found trouble and sorrow (Psalm 116:3).
Darkness and silence
Sheol is a lowly region of darkness and silence.
A land as dark as darkness itself, without any order, where even light is like darkness (Job 10:22).
Shadows
Sheol is a place where people are mere shadows of their former selves. Isaiah wrote.
The grave below is ready to receive you when you come; it awakens the spirits of the dead to greet you, all those who were leaders in the world; it brings them up from their thrones, all who were kings of the nations. (Isaiah 14:9, 10).
11. It is not the final state of the righteous
Whatever the term Sheol means, it is clear that it was never considered the final home of the righteous. It was, at best, only a temporary place where the righteous dead went. Sheol is also a temporary place for the wicked dead. After the resurrection and final judgment, the wicked will be sent to their final destination: hell.
12. Summary
According to the Old Testament, all people who die go to the intermediate state called Sheol. Existence continues in Sheol, but not life as we know it. This Hebrew word, unfortunately translated as “hell” in some English versions, has a variety of meanings. These include:
- The invisible kingdom of the dead
- The tomb
- The special place where the wicked reside
- Symbolically, the place of the dead
- The place where the righteous are saved from eternal punishment
Sheol can also refer to a combination of these. “Grave” is probably the best English word to translate Sheol.
Sheol is described as a dark and lonely realm beneath the earth. The distinction between believers and nonbelievers is made clear in the New Testament. Sheol, or the grave, will continue until the resurrection. Since Sheol is an intermediate state, it will one day come to an end.
