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 Israelיִשְׂרָאֵל
Transliteration: yiśrā’ēl The name Israel (Septuagint Ancient Greek: Ἰσραήλ, Israēl, “El (God) persists/rules” or “God prevails”) refers to the patriarch Jacob who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was given the name after he successfully wrestled with the Angel of the Lord. The earliest known archaeological artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt (dated to the late-13th century BCE) for more info click here, 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)