From the Encyclopedia Judaica
גֵּיא בֶן־הִנֹּם
(Valley of Ben-Hinnom, Valley of [the Son(s) of Hinnom, Gehenna) a valley south of Jerusalem on one of the borders between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, between the Valley of Rephaimרְפָאִים
Transliteration: rᵊp̄ā’îm Pronunciation: raw-faw’eem – giants, Rephaim For more info click here and En-Rogel (Josh. 15:8, 18:16). It is identified with Wadier-Rababi.
During the time of Monarchy, Gehinnom, at a place called Topheth, was the site of a cult which involved the burning of children (II Kings 23:10, Jer. 7:31 ; 32:35 et al; see Moloch). Jeremiah repeatedly rebuked this cult and predicted that on it’s account Tophet and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom would be called the valley of the “slaughter” (Jer. 19:5-6)
In Judasim the name Gehinom is generally used metaphorically as an appellation for the place of torment reserved for the wicked after death. The New Testament uses the Greek from the Gehenna in the same sense.
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 various authors describe Jesus, who was Jewish, as using the word Gehenna to describe the opposite to life in the Kingdom (Mark 9:43–48). The term is used 11 times in these writings. In certain usage, the Christian Bible refers to it as a place where both soul (Greek: ψυχή, psyche) and body could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). Click here for more info.
More References To The Afterlife
- Paradise And Hell in Later ThoughtFrom the Encyclopedia Judaica 13:82 Paradise and Hell, the place of reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked after death, are traditionally referred to as the Garden and Gehinnom respectively. In the Bible these two names never refer to the abode of souls after death; nevertheless, the idea of a fiery torment for […]
- Abraham’s BosomFrom the Encyclopaedia Judaica 2:165 Designation in the New Testament (Luke 16:22-31) of the abode of the blessed souls of pious and poor in the other world (compare IV Macc. 13:17 ; Matt. 8:11, where all three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are enumerated as those in whose company the pious souls stay). The Hebrew […]
- NetherworldFrom 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 Sheol always femmine and without the definite article - a sign […]
- GehinnomFrom the Encyclopedia Judaica גֵּיא בֶן־הִנֹּם (Valley of Ben-Hinnom, Valley of [the Son(s) of Hinnom, Gehenna) a valley south of Jerusalem on one of the borders between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, between the Valley of RephaimרְפָאִיםTransliteration: rᵊp̄ā’îm Pronunciation: raw-faw’eem – giants, Rephaim For more info click here and En-Rogel (Josh. 15:8, 18:16). It […]
- “Heaven” (name for God)From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 7:682 The Earliest occurrences (except for Dan. 4:23 : “It is Heaven that rules”) of the substitution of the word “Heaven” (God’s abode) for “God” (Himself) are found in the Apocrypha : “In the site of Heaven” (I Macc. 3:18), “Let us cry to Heaven” ( I Macc. 4:10) “They were […]
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