The Valley of Hinnom ( he, , lit=Valley of the son of Hinnom, translit=Gēʾ ḇen-Hīnnōm) is a historic valley surrounding

Ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

from the west and southwest. The valley is also known by the name Gehinnom ( ''Gēʾ-Hīnnōm'', lit. 'Valley of Hinnom') an alternative

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

form which survived into

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

and has received various fundamental theological connotations, and by the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages ...

transliteration Gehenna (Γέεννα ''Géenna''/ܓܼܼܗܲܢܵܐ ''Gihanna''). The Valley of Hinnom is first mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Judah and

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...

( Joshua 15:8). During the late

First Temple period The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins in the Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation (see Israelites) appears for the first time in the Merneptah Stele, an inscript ...

, it was the site of the

Tophet In the Hebrew Bible, Tophet or Topheth ( hbo, תֹּפֶת, Tōp̄eṯ; grc-gre, Ταφέθ, taphéth; la, Topheth) is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child th ...

, where some of the kings of Judah had sacrificed their children by fire ( Jeremiah 7:31). Thereafter, it was cursed by the biblical prophet

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

( Jeremiah 19:2– 6). In later

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic w ...

, Gehinnom became associated with divine punishment in Jewish Apocalypticism as the destination of the wicked. It is different from the more neutral term

Sheol Sheol ( ; he, ''Šəʾōl'', Tiberian: ''Šŏʾōl'') in the Hebrew Bible is a place of still darkness which lies after death. Although not well defined in the Tanakh, Sheol in this view was a subterranean underworld where the souls of the ...

, the abode of the dead. The

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

translates both with the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

word ''

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells ...

''. The Valley of Hinnom is the

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the H ...

name for the valley surrounding the

Old City of Jerusalem The Old City of Jerusalem ( he, הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, translit=ha-ir ha-atiqah; ar, البلدة القديمة, translit=al-Balda al-Qadimah; ) is a walled area in East Jerusalem. The Old City is traditionally divided into ...

and the adjacent

Mount Zion Mount Zion ( he, הַר צִיּוֹן, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; ar, جبل صهيون, ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the ...

from the west and south. It meets and merges with the

Kidron Valley The Kidron Valley ( classical transliteration, ''Cedron'', from he, נחל קדרון, ''Naḥal Qidron'', literally Qidron River; also Qidron Valley) is the valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separat ...

, the other principal valley around the Old City, near the

Pool of Siloam The term Pool of Siloam ( ar, بركه سلوان, he, בריכת השילוח, ''Breikhat HaShiloah'') ( gr, Σιλωάμ) refers to a number of rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the Wadi Hilweh, considered by some archaeologists to be t ...

which lie to the southeastern corner of Ancient Jerusalem. It is also known as Wadi er-Rababi ( "valley of the

Rebab The ''rebab'' ( ar, ربابة, ''rabāba'', variously spelled ''rebap'', ''rubob'', ''rebeb'', ''rababa'', ''rabeba'', ''robab'', ''rubab'', ''rebob'', etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via I ...

"). The northwestern part of the valley is now an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

. In Judaism, the term Gehinnom is used for the realm in which the wicked expiate their sins.

Etymology

The Bible refers to the valley as ''Gei Ben-Hinnom'', literally the "valley of the son of Hinnom" or גֵי־הִנֹּם ''Gē Hīnnōm'', "valley of Hinnom". In

Mishnaic Hebrew Mishnaic Hebrew is the Hebrew of Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (also ca ...

and Aramaic, the name was contracted into ''Gehinnom'' or ''Gehinnam.'' English "Gehenna" represents ''Géenna'' ( ; from grc, Γέεννα), the Greek transliteration found in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

Geography

Mount Zion and the Hinnom Valley in Hierusalem - Deshayes Louis Baron De Courmenin - 1631 (cropped)

The exact location of the Valley of Hinnom is disputed.

George Adam Smith :''Note in particular that this George Smith is to be distinguished from George Smith (Assyriologist) (1840–1876) who researched in some overlapping areas.'' Sir George Adam Smith (19 October 1856 – 3 March 1942) was a Scottish the ...

wrote in 1907 that there are three possible locations considered by historical writers: * East of the Old City (today identified as

Valley of Josaphat The Valley of Josaphat (variants: Valley of Jehoshaphat and Valley of Yehoshephat) is a Biblical place mentioned by name in the Book of Joel ( and ): "I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: "Then ...

) * Within the Old City (today identified as the

Tyropoeon Valley Tyropoeon Valley (Greek: i.e., "Valley of the Cheesemakers") is the name given by Josephus the historianWars 5.140 to the valley or rugged ravine, in the Old City of Jerusalem, which in ancient times separated Mount Moriah from Mount Zion and em ...

): Many commentaries give the location as below the southern wall of ancient Jerusalem, stretching from the foot of

eastward past the Tyropoeon to the

. However the Tyropoeon Valley is usually no longer associated with the Valley of Hinnom because during the period of

Ahaz Ahaz (; gr, Ἄχαζ, Ἀχάζ ''Akhaz''; la, Achaz) an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II (of Judah), "Yahweh has held" (; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒄩𒍣 ''Ya'úḫazi'' 'ia-ú-ḫa-zi'' Hayim Tadmor and Shigeo Yamada, ''The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglat ...

and

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

, the Tyropoeon lay within the city walls and child sacrifice would have been practiced outside the walls of the city. * Wadi ar-Rababi: Dalman (1930), Bailey (1986) and Watson (1992) identify the Wadi ar-Rababi, which fits the description of Joshua that Hinnom valley ran east to west and lay outside the city walls. According to Joshua, the valley began at En-rogel. If the modern Bir Ayyub is En-rogel, then Wadi ar-Rababi, which begins there, is Hinnom.

Archaeology

Child sacrifice Child sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of children in order to please or appease a deity, supernatural beings, or sacred social order, tribal, group or national loyalties in order to achieve a desired result. As such, it is a form of hum ...

at other Tophets contemporary with the Bible accounts (700–600 BC) of the reigns of

and

have been established, such as the bones of children sacrificed at the Tophet to the goddess

Tanit Tanit ( Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnīt'') was a Punic goddess. She was the chief deity of Carthage alongside her consort Baal-Hamon. Tanit is also called Tinnit. The name appears to have originated in Carthage (modern day Tunisia), though it d ...

in Phoenician

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cl ...

, and also child sacrifice in ancient Syria-Palestine. Scholars such as Mosca (1975) have concluded that the sacrifice recorded in the Hebrew Bible, such as Jeremiah's comment that the worshippers of

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...

had "filled this place with the blood of innocents", is literal. Yet, the biblical words in the Book of Jeremiah describe events taking place in the seventh century in the place of Ben-hinnom: "Because they

he Israelites He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind; therefore, behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter". J. Day, Heider, and Mosca believe that the

Molech Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ‎ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly co ...

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...

took place in the valley of Hinnom at the Topheth. No archaeological evidence such as mass children's graves has been found; however, it has been suggested that such a find may be compromised by the heavy population history of the Jerusalem area compared to the Tophet found in Tunisia. The site would also have been disrupted by the actions of Josiah "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." (2 Kings 23). A minority of scholars have attempted to argue that the Bible does not portray actual child sacrifice, but only dedication to the god by fire; however, they are judged to have been "convincingly disproved" (Hay, 2011).

The concept of Gehinnom

Hebrew Bible

The oldest historical reference to the valley is found in Joshua 15:8, which describe tribal boundaries. The next chronological reference to the valley is at the time of King

of Judah who sacrificed his sons there according to . Since

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning " Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to ...

, his legitimate son by the daughter of the High Priest, succeeded him as king, this, if literal, is assumed to mean children by unrecorded pagan wives or concubines. The same is said of Ahaz's grandson

in . Debate remains as to whether the phrase "cause his children to pass through the fire" referred to a religious ceremony in which the Moloch priest would walk the child between two lanes of fire, or to literal

child sacrifice Child sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of children in order to please or appease a deity, supernatural beings, or sacred social order, tribal, group or national loyalties in order to achieve a desired result. As such, it is a form of hum ...

wherein the child is thrown into the fire. The

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

does not mention Gehenna by name, but the "burning place" in which the Assyrian army is to be destroyed, may be read "Topheth", and the final verse of Isaiah which concerns of those that have rebelled against God, . In the reign of

Josiah Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...

a call came from Jeremiah to destroy the shrines in Topheth and to end the practice , . It is recorded that

destroyed the shrine of

on Topheth to prevent anyone sacrificing children there in . Despite Josiah's ending of the practice, Jeremiah also included a prophecy that Jerusalem itself would be made like Gehenna and Topheth (, ). A final purely geographical reference is found in to the exiles returning from Babylon camping from

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

to Hinnom. Frequent references to 'Gehenna' are also made in the books of

Meqabyan Meqabyan ( am, መቃብያን, Mek'abiyan, also transliterated as or ), also referred to as Ethiopian Maccabees and Ethiopic Maccabees, are three books found only in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament and Beta Israel Biblical canon. The la ...

, which are considered

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical exampl ...

in the

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

Targums

The ancient Aramaic paraphrase-translations of the Hebrew Bible known as

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

s supply the term "Gehinnom" frequently to verses touching upon resurrection, judgment, and the fate of the wicked. This may also include addition of the phrase "

second death The second death is an eschatological concept in Judaism, Christianity, and Mandaeism related to punishment after a first/initial death on Earth. Judaism Although the term is not found in the Hebrew Bible (the Canonical collection of Hebrew scr ...

", as in the final chapter of the

, where the Hebrew version does not mention either Gehinnom or the Second Death, whereas the Targums add both. In this the Targums are parallel to the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist t ...

addition of "Gehenna" to the quotation of the Isaiah verses describing the corpses "where their worm does not die".

Rabbinical Judaism (with apocryphal/pseudo religious texts)

Although the actual term ehennadoes not occur in the Tanakh or Talmud, it is strictly a oine Greek/Alexandrian Dialectterm originated from the Hebrew ehinnomand used by first Century Christ-followers to depict the literal place of eternal damnation spoken of in evelation 21:8- The Lake of Fire. Gehenna is not mentioned in the Torah. Nevertheless, some rabbinic texts maintain that God created Gehenna on the second day of Creation (Genesis Rabbah 4:6, 11:9). Other texts claim that Gehenna was part of God's original plan for the universe and was actually created before the Earth (Pesahim 54a; Sifre Deuteronomy 37). The concept of Gehenna was likely inspired by the biblical notion of Sheol. The original picture of heolis not the first century "Eternal Lake of Fire" Gehenna as the place of punishment or destruction of the wicked and does not occur frequently in classic rabbinic sources. Gehenna is likened to heolwhere the wicked go to suffer when they are judged. The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

names seven Biblical individuals who do not get a share in Olam Ha-Ba:

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern ...

Ahab Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bible. ...

Menasseh Manasses or Manasseh (;churchofjesuschris ...

Doeg the Edomite Doeg ( ''Dō’ēg'') was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as an antagonist of David responsible for the deaths of a large num ...

Ahitophel Ahitophel or Ahithophel ( he, ''ʾĂḥīṯōp̄el'') was a counselor of King David and a man greatly renowned for his sagacity. During Absalom's revolt he deserted David (Psalm 41:9; 55:12–14) and supported Absalom (2 Samuel 15:12). Absalom ...

Balaam Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah ( Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of ...

, and Gehazi. According to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, Menasseh got a share in Olam Ha-Ba Midrash Konen places Ahab in the fifth department of Gehenna, as having the heathen under his charge.

Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled ...

was consigned to the 7th circle of Gehenna, and according to the description of Gehenna by

Joshua ben Levi Joshua ben Levi (Yehoshua ben Levi) was an amora, a scholar of the Talmud, who lived in the Land of Israel in the first half of the third century. He lived and taught in the city of Lod. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and ...

, who, like Dante, wandered through hell under the guidance of the angel Duma, Absalom still dwells there, having the rebellious heathen in charge; and when the angels with their fiery rods run also against Absalom to smite him like the rest, a heavenly voice says: "Spare Absalom, the son of David, My servant." His half brother

Amnon Amnon ( he, אַמְנוֹן ''’Amnōn'', "faithful") was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah. He was the heir apparent to the t ...

was said to be possibly consigned to the 2nd circle of Gehenna.

Amon of Judah Amon of Judah ''’Āmōn''; el, Αμων; la, Amon was the fifteenth King of Judah who, according to the biblical account, succeeded his father Manasseh of Judah. Amon is most remembered for his idolatrous practices during his short two-year ...

sinned very much but his name was not placed on the list of the kings excluded from the world to come out of respect for his son Josiah; however a midrashic fragment reads: "No sin is more grievous than idolatry, for it is treason against God. Yet even this has been forgiven upon sincere repentance; but he that sins from a mere spirit of opposition, to see whether God will punish the wicked, shall find no pardon, although he say in his heart, 'I shall have peace in the end (by repenting), though I walk in the stubbornness of my evil heart'" (Deut. xxix. 19). Such a one was Amon, the son of Manasseh, for the (Apocryphal) Scripture says: "And Amon reasoned an evil reasoning of transgression and said: 'My father from his childhood was a great transgressor, and he repented in his old age. So will I now walk after the lust of my soul and afterward return to the Lord.' And he committed more evil in the sight of the Lord than all that were before him; but the Lord God speedily cut him off from this good land. And his servants conspired against him and slew him in his own house, and he reigned two years only." It is noteworthy that this very midrashic fragment casts light upon the emphatic teaching of the Mishnah (Yoma, viii. 9): "Whosoever says, 'I will sin and repent thereafter,' will not be granted the time for repentance." In the Aggadah.

Jehoiakim Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...

is still undergoing punishment for his sins. Although the Babylonian Talmud does not include him among those who have no place in the world to come (cf. Sanh. 103b), the Palestinian Talmud cites him as an example of one who has forfeited his place in heaven by publicly transgressing the law. A Judge of Israel

Jair In the Biblical Book of Judges, Jair or Yair ( he, יָאִיר ''Yā’īr'', "he enlightens") was a man from Gilead of the Tribe of Manasseh, east of the River Jordan, who judged Israel for 22 years, after the death of Tola, who had ruled of ...

for forcing men to prostrate themselves before an altar of Baal was punished with

kareth The Hebrew term ''kareth'' ("cutting off" he, כָּרֵת, ), or extirpation, is a form of punishment for sin, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish writings. Kareth in its simplistic meaning refers to an individual being expelled fr ...

by the L-D: "Hear the words of the Lord ere thou diest. I appointed thee as prince over my people, and thou didst break My covenant, seduce My people, and seek to burn My servants with fire, but they were animated and freed by the living, the heavenly fire. As for thee, thou wilt die, and die by fire,a fire in which thou wilt abide forever." Thereupon the angel burnt him with a thousand men, whom he had taken in the act of paying homage to Baal. " The worst part of Gehenna is called Tzoah Rotachat. The specific rabbinical term for heresies, or religious divisions due to an unlawful spirit, is ''minim'' (lit. "kinds

f belief F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...

; the singular ''min'', for "heretic" or "Gnostic," is coined idiomatically, like ''goy'' and ''

am ha'aretz ''Am haaretz'' () or the people of the Land is a term found in the Hebrew Bible and (with a different meaning) in rabbinic literature. The world usually is a collective noun in Biblical Hebrew but occasionally pluralized as עמי הארץ ''am ...

''; see

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...

). The law "You shall not cut yourselves" (לא תתגדדו) is interpreted by the rabbis: "You shall not form divisions �א תעשו אגודות אגודות but shall form one bond" (after , A. V. "troop"). Besides the term ''min'' (מין) for "heretic," the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...

uses the words ''ḥitzonim'' (outsiders), ''

apikoros Epikoros (or Apikoros or Apikores; he, אפיקורוס, lit. "Epicurus", pl. Epicorsim) is a Jewish term figuratively meaning "a heretic", cited in the Mishnah, referring to one who does not have a share in the world to come: The rabbinic lit ...

'', and ''kofer ba-Torah'', or ''kofer ba-ikkar'' (he who denies the fundamentals of faith); also ''poresh mi-darke tzibbur'' (he who deviates from the customs of the community). It is said that all these groups are consigned to Gehinnom for all eternity and have no possibility of a portion in the

world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or p ...

. The traditional explanation that a burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem gave rise to the idea of a fiery Gehenna of judgment is attributed to Rabbi

David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comme ...

's commentary on (ca. 1200 AD). He maintained that in this loathsome valley fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadavers thrown into it. However,

Hermann Strack Hermann Leberecht Strack (6 May 1848 – 5 October 1922) was a German Protestant theologian and oriental studies, orientalist; born in Berlin. Biography From 1877, Strack was assistant professor of Old Testament exegesis and Semitic languages a ...

and Paul Billerbeck state that there is neither archaeological nor literary evidence in support of this claim, in either the earlier intertestamental or the later rabbinic sources. Also, Lloyd R. Bailey's "Gehenna: The Topography of Hell" from 1986 holds a similar view. There is evidence however that the southwest shoulder of this valley (

Ketef Hinnom Ketef Hinnom ( he, כֵּתֵף הִינוֹם ', "Shoulder of Hinnom") is an archaeological site discovered in the 1970s southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations held in the site uncovered a series of Iron Age period ...

) was a burial location with numerous burial chambers that were reused by generations of families from as early as the seventh until the fifth century BCE. The use of this area for tombs continued into the first centuries BCE and CE. By 70 CE, the area was not only a burial site but also a place for cremation of the dead with the arrival of the Tenth

Roman Legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of ...

, who were the only group known to practice cremation in this region. In time it became deemed to be accursed and an image of the place of destruction in Jewish folklore. Eventually the Hebrew term Gehinnom became a figurative name for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism. According to most Jewish sources, the period of purification or punishment is limited to only 12 months and every

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

day is excluded from punishment, while the fires of Gehinnom are banked and its tortures are suspended. For the duration of Shabbat, the spirits who are serving time there are released to roam the earth. At

Motza'ei Shabbat The term Motza'ei Shabbat ( he, מוצאי שבת—literally, the going out of the Sabbath) in Judaism refers to the time in the evening immediately following Shabbat, that is Saturday night. It is a time when, following one's declaration of the i ...

, the angel Dumah, who has charge over the souls of the wicked, herds them back for another week of torment. After this the soul will move on to Olam Ha-Ba (the world to come), be destroyed, or continue to exist in a state of consciousness of remorse. Gehenna became a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for "Hell" due to its morbid prominence in Jewish religious texts.

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...

declares, in his 13 principles of faith, that the descriptions of Gehenna, as a place of punishment in rabbinic literature, were pedagogically motivated inventions to encourage respect of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

commandments by mankind, which had been regarded as immature.Maimonides’ Introduction to Perek Helek, ed. and transl. by

Maimonides Heritage Center The Maimonides Heritage Center (MHC) (Hebrew: מרכז מורשת הרמב"ם) is an educational and cultural non-profit organization in the Israeli city of Tiberias. Established in 2003 by Rabbi Yamin Levy, it works to disseminate the teachings a ...

, p. 3–4. Instead of being sent to Gehenna, the souls of the wicked would actually get annihilated.Maimonides’ Introduction to Perek Helek, ed. and transl. by

, pp. 22–23.

Christianity (New Testament)

In the King James Version of the Bible, the term appears 13 times in 11 different verses as Valley of Hinnom, Valley of the son of Hinnom or Valley of the children of Hinnom. In the

synoptic Gospels The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose con ...

the various authors describe

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, who was Jewish, as using the word ''Gehenna'' to describe the opposite to life in the

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(). The term is used 11 times in these writings. In certain usage, the Christian Bible refers to it as a place where both

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

(Greek: ψυχή, psyche) and body could be destroyed () in "unquenchable fire" (). Christian usage of Gehenna often serves to admonish adherents of the religion to live pious lives. Examples of Gehenna in the Christian New Testament include: * Matthew 5:22: "....whoever shall say, 'You fool', shall be guilty enough to go into Gehenna." * Matthew 5:29: "....it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into Gehenna." * Matthew 5:30: "....better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into Gehenna." *

Matthew 10 Matthew 10 is the tenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. This chapter opens with Jesus calling some of his disciples and sending them out to preach and heal. This section is also known as th ...

:28: "....rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul reek: ψυχήand body in Gehenna." *

Matthew 18 Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew contains the fourth of the five Discourses of Matthew, also called the ''Discourse on the Church'' or the ''ecclesiastical discourse''. It compares "the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" to a child, and also ...

:9: "It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than with two eyes to be thrown into the Gehenna...." *

Matthew 23 Matthew 23 is the twenty-third chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible, and consists almost entirely of the accusations of Jesus against the Pharisees. The chapter is also known as the Woes of the Phar ...

:15: "Woe to you, scribes and

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs b ...

, hypocrites, because you... make one

proselyte The biblical term "proselyte" is an anglicization of the Koine Greek term προσήλυτος (''proselytos''), as used in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in th ...

...twice as much a child of Gehenna as yourselves." * Matthew 23:33, to the Pharisees: "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of Gehenna?" *

Mark 9 Mark 9 is the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It begins with Jesus' prediction that "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God h ...

:43: "It is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into Gehenna into the unquenchable fire." * Mark 9:45: "It is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into Gehenna." * Mark 9:47: "It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into Gehenna." * Luke 12:5: "....fear the One who, after He has killed has authority to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, fear Him." Another book to use the word ''Gehenna'' in the New Testament is James: *

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambigua ...

3:6: "And the tongue is a fire,...and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by Gehenna."

Translations in Christian Bibles

The New Testament also refers to

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

as a place distinct from Gehenna. Unlike Gehenna, Hades typically conveys neither fire nor punishment but forgetfulness. The

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book o ...

describes Hades being cast into the lake of fire (). The King James Version is the only English translation in modern use to translate Sheol, Hades,

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; grc, , }) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ''Gorgias'' (), souls are judg ...

(Greek ταρταρώσας; lemma: ταρταρόω ''tartaroō''), and Gehenna as Hell. In the New Testament, the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest an ...

, New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible (among others) all reserve the term "hell" for the translation of Gehenna or Tartarus (see above), transliterating Hades as a term directly from the equivalent Greek term. Treatment of Gehenna in Christianity is significantly affected by whether the distinction in Hebrew and Greek between Gehenna and Hades was maintained: Translations with a distinction: * The fourth century

Ulfilas Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missiona ...

(

Wulfila Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missiona ...

) or

Gothic Bible The Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible is the Christian Bible in the Gothic language spoken by the Eastern Germanic ( Gothic) tribes in the early Middle Ages. The translation was allegedly made by the Arian bishop and missionary Wulfila in the ...

is the first Bible to use Hell's Proto-Germanic form Halja, and maintains a distinction between Hades and Gehenna. However, unlike later translations, Halja
Matt 11:23
is reserved for Hades,Murdoch & Read (2004) '' Early Germanic Literature and Culture'', p. 160

/ref> and Gehenna is transliterated to Gaiainnan
Matt 5:30
, which surprisingly is the opposite to modern translations that translate Gehenna into Hell and leave Hades untranslated (see below). * The late fourth century Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...

transliterates the Greek Γέεννα "gehenna" with "gehennæ" (e.g. Matt 5:22) while using "infernus" ("coming from below, of the underworld") to translate ᾅδης (Hades]). * The 19th century

Young's Literal Translation Young's Literal Translation (YLT) is a translation of the Bible into English, published in 1862. The translation was made by Robert Young, compiler of ''Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible'' and ''Concise Critical Comments on the New Tes ...

tries to be as literal a translation as possible and does not use the word Hell at all, keeping the words Hades and Gehenna untranslated. * The 19th century Arabic

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

distinguishes Gehenna from Sheol. * The 20th century New International Version,

New Living Translation The New Living Translation (NLT) is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Bible. The origin of the NLT came from a project aiming to revise ''The Living Bible'' (TLB). This effort eventually led to the creation of the ...

and New American Standard Bible reserve the term "Hell" only for when Gehenna or Tartarus is used. All translate Sheol and Hades in a different fashion. For a time the exception to this was the 1984 edition of the New International Version's translation in Luke 16:23, which was its singular rendering of Hades as Hell. The 2011 edition renders it as Hades. * In texts in Greek, and consistently in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

, the distinctions present in the originals were often maintained. The Russian Synodal Bible (and one translation by the

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and othe ...

) also maintain the distinction. In modern Russian, the concept of Hell (Ад) is directly derived from Hades (Аид), separate and independent of Gehenna. Fire imagery is attributed primarily to Gehenna, which is most commonly mentioned as Gehenna the Fiery (Геенна огненная), and appears to be synonymous to the lake of fire. * The New World Translation, used by Jehovah's Witnesses, maintains a distinction between Gehenna and Hades by transliterating Gehenna, and by rendering "Hades" (or "Sheol") as "the Grave". Earlier editions left all three names untranslated. * The word "hell" is not used in the

New American Bible The New American Bible (NAB) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1970. The 1986 Revised NAB is the basis of the revised Lectionary, and it is the only translation approved for use at Mass in the Latin-rite Catholic dioces ...

, except in a footnote in the book of Job translating an alternative passage from the

, in which the word corresponds to

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is com ...

's " inferos," itself a translation of "sheol." "Gehenna" is untranslated, "Hades" either untranslated or rendered " netherworld," and "sheol" rendered "nether world." Translations without a distinction: * The late tenth century ''Wessex Gospels'' and the 14th century

Wycliffe Bible Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of English theologian John Wycliffe. They appeared over a period from approximately 1382 to 1395. These Bible translati ...

render both the Latin ''inferno'' and ''gehenna'' as Hell. * The 16th century

Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execu ...

and later translators had access to the Greek, but

translated both Gehenna and Hades as same English word, Hell. * The 17th century King James Version of the Bible is the only English translation in modern use to translate Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna by calling them all "Hell." Many modern Christians consider Gehenna to be a place of eternal punishment.Metzger & Coogan (1993) ''Oxford Companion to the Bible'', p. 243. Annihilationist Christians, however, imagine Gehenna to be a place where sinners are tormented until they are eventually destroyed, soul and all. Some Christian scholars, however, have suggested that Gehenna may ''not'' be synonymous with the lake of fire, but a

prophetic In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pr ...

metaphor for the horrible fate that awaited the many civilians killed in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Islam

The name given to Hell in Islam, ''

Jahannam In Islam, the place of punishment for unbelievers and other evildoers in the afterlife, or hell, is an "integral part of Islamic theology", Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p.401 and has "occupied an important place in the Muslim imagi ...

'', directly derives from Gehenna.Richard P. Taylor (2000). ''Death and the Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia.'' "JAHANNAM From the Hebrew ge-hinnom, which refers to a valley outside Jerusalem, Jahannam is the Islamic word for hell." The

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

contains 77 references to the Islamic interpretation of Gehenna (جهنم), but does not mention

/ Hades (abode of the dead), and instead uses the word "Qabr" (قبر, meaning grave). In Muslim tradition, graves are considered gates to the otherworld, both paradise and hell. The mainstream concept of Hell in Islam is in the Hereafter, though some fringe Muslim authors proposed that Hell co-exist with the contemporary world somewhere underground, and tried to locate an entrance to hell, and proposed that one of its gates lies in the Valley of Hinnom.

References

External links

Short guide to today's Valley of Hinnom, with biblical story

Columbia Encyclopedia on the Valley of Hinnom

Gehenna
from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish view of Hell
on chabad.org

Judaism 101

Ariela Pelaia, About religion, about.com

Ariela Pelaia, About religion, about.com

from Tentmaker.org
A Christian Conditionalist perspective on Gehenna
from Afterlife.co.nz {{Authority control Christian cosmology Christian eschatology Geography of Jerusalem Hebrew Bible valleys Hell (Christianity) Islamic eschatology Jahannam Jewish eschatology Jewish underworld Religious cosmologies Afterlife places Valleys of Israel Book of Jeremiah