Netherworld

From the Encyclopedia Judaica 12:996

Apart from the Isaiah 14:14-19 and Ezekiel 38:18 ff passages, the numerous biblical references to the netherworld are vague and inspired by Ancient Near Easter folklore. Several names are given to the abode of the dead, most common being She`ol always feminine and without the definite article – a sign of proper nouns. The term does not occur in Semite languages, except as a loan word from the Hebrew Sheolשְׁאוֹל‎
Transliteration: šᵊ’ôl Pronunciation: sheh-ole’ underworld, grave, hell, pit For more info click here, and it’s etymology The history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing it’s development since it’s earliest recorded occurrence in a language where it is found, by tracing it’s transmission from one langue to another, by identifying it cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language. is obscure. Other common designations of the netherworld are erez “earth” or “underworld” (e.g. I Sam. 28:13 ; Jonah 2:7 ; Job 10:21-22) ; qever, “grave” (Ps. 88:12) ; afar, “dust” (Isa. 26:5-19; cf Gen. 3:19) ; borr “pit” (e.g. Isa 14:15 ; 38:18 ; Prov. 28:22) ; shahat , “pit” (Ps. 7:16) ; `avaddon “Abaddon” (e.g. Job 28:22) ; dumah (apparently= “the place of abbiding” ; Ps. 94:17 ; 115:17) ; nahale beliyya`al (the torrents of Belial” ; II Sam. 22:5) ; “the Nether parts of the earth” (Ezek. 31:14) ; “the depths of the pit” (Lam. 3:55) ; “the land of the darkness” (Job 10:21).

The Netherworld is located somewhere under the earth (c.f. Num. 16:30 ff) or at the bottoms of the mountains ( Jonah 2:7), or under the waters – the cosmic ocean (Job 26:5). It is sometimes personified as a voracious monster with a wide-open mouth (e.g. Isa. 5:14 ; Hab. 2:5 ; Prov. 1:12), Kings nobles and pauper, master and slaves are equal in Sheolשְׁאוֹל‎
Transliteration: šᵊ’ôl Pronunciation: sheh-ole’ underworld, grave, hell, pit For more info click here (Job 3:13 ; Ezek. 32:18-32). For Israel’s neighbors, the rule of the universe was divided among various deities, and the netherworld was the dominion of a pair of infernal gods. For Israel, however, the Lord rules over the whole universe, His sovereignty extends from heaven to She`ol (Ps. 139 ; Job 26:6 ; cf. Ps. 90:2 ; 102:26-28). However, there is no communication between the dead and the Lord (Ps. 88:6) ; no praise to the Lord comes from the netherworld (Isa. 38:18 ; Ps. 30:10 ; 88:12-13)