GEHENNA, a place of fiery torture?

[onewithhim]

Jesus warned his disciples against suffering the judgment of Gehenna. Was he referring to a burning hell of everlasting torture? (Matthew 5:22)

The Greek word Ge'en na corresponds to the Hebrew geh veneh-Hin nom,---Valley of the sons of Hinnom. It became a garbage dump for Jerusalem, serving as an incinerator where fires were kept burning to dispose of rubbish, and anything thrown into this dump would be completely destroyed, turned into ashes.

Many Bible translators haven rendered Ge' en na as "hell." (Matthew 5:22, KJV) Why is this? (Since Gehenna and hell are two different things.) Because they associated the pagan-inspired notion of an afterlife of fiery judgment for the wicked with the physical fire in the valley outside Jerusalem. Jesus, though, did not associate Gehenna with torture. He knew that the thought of burning people alive is repugnant to Jehovah. He referred to the use made of Gehenna in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. God said: "They have built the high places of Topheth which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart." Burning people was not something that God can countenance, and He can't to this day. A good point is that the idea of torture for the dead conflicts with God's loving personality as well as with the Bible's clear teaching that "the dead are conscious of nothing." (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10)

Jesus used the term "Gehenna" to symbolize the utter destruction that would come from God's judgment on the wicked. So...."Gehenna" means, similarly, the lake of fire in Revelation. Both symbolize eternal destruction from which there is no resurrection. (Luke 12:4,5; Revelation 20:14,15.

Doesn't this sound more merciful than people being tortured in a never-ending fire? The fire symbolizes complete annihilation, just like what the fires in Gehenna did to trash and bodies of criminals.

[JehovahsWitness]

Does anyone still not understand "Gehenna"?

I'm sure some still dont get it !

On the positive side 30 years ago trying to prove Sheol/ hades just meant the common grave was really hard because most the bible translators were rendering those words as HELL/ HELLFIRE ...it was'hellfire here and it was HELLFIRE there...now those same translations are translating in line with what we had been saying for 100 years (and being mocked for) and rendering sheol / hades "the grave" (or leaving it as the original language)

[onewithhim]

Does anyone still not understand "Gehenna"?

I'm sure some still dont get it !

On the positive side 30 years ago trying to prove Sheol/ hades just meant the common grave was really hard because most the bible translators were rendering those words as HELL/ HELLFIRE ...it was'hellfire here and it was HELLFIRE there...now those same translations are translating in line with what we had been saying for 100 years (and being mocked for) and rendering sheol / hades "the grave" (or leaving it as the original language)

Unfortunately that is true. I guess most people never heard of "Gehenna." Their Biblical education is limited. I should have made the title "Hell, a place of fiery torture."

[JehovahsWitness]

D'you think people still really believe in hellfire? I don't really come across anyone in real life that fors anymore...maybe in more religious countries like America or countries in South America or Africa...

[myth-one.com]

Does anyone still not understand "Gehenna"?

I'm sure some still dont get it !

On the positive side 30 years ago trying to prove Sheol/ hades just meant the common grave was really hard because most the bible translators were rendering those words as HELL/ HELLFIRE ...it was'hellfire here and it was HELLFIRE there...now those same translations are translating in line with what we had been saying for 100 years (and being mocked for) and rendering sheol / hades "the grave" (or leaving it as the original language)

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

If "hell" in Mark 9:43 is the common grave, and not the lake of fire, then the grave is on fire and will burn eternally.

Does that sound correct?

[onewithhim]

D'you think people still really believe in hellfire? I don't really come across anyone in real life that fors anymore...maybe in more religious countries like America or countries in South America or Africa...

Yes, there are many who would like to stuff hellfire down anyone's throat. They love the concept. Right here on these threads there are people who love the idea of people being tortured forever.

[onewithhim]

Does anyone still not understand "Gehenna"?

I'm sure some still dont get it !

On the positive side 30 years ago trying to prove Sheol/ hades just meant the common grave was really hard because most the bible translators were rendering those words as HELL/ HELLFIRE ...it was'hellfire here and it was HELLFIRE there...now those same translations are translating in line with what we had been saying for 100 years (and being mocked for) and rendering sheol / hades "the grave" (or leaving it as the original language)

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

If "hell" in Mark 9:43 is the common grave, and not the lake of fire, then the grave is on fire and will burn eternally.

Does that sound correct?

I have said, as has JehovahsWitness, that "hell" has been substituted in the place of "Gehenna" in the verses in which Jesus talks about Gehenna. "Hell" is put there instead. It is a wrong translation. There are versions that keep Gehenna where it belongs, such as Young's Literal Translation (see, for example, Matthew 23:33), and others (such as the 21st Century New Testament, and the footnote in the American Standard Version). And "hell" IS the grave. It shouldn't have been put into the verses in the NT where Jesus speaks of Gehenna.

[myth-one.com]

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

If "hell" in Mark 9:43 is the common grave, and not the lake of fire, then the grave is on fire and will burn eternally.

Does that sound correct?

I have said, as has JehovahsWitness, that "hell" has been substituted in the place of "Gehenna" in the verses in which Jesus talks about Gehenna. "Hell" is put there instead. It is a wrong translation. There are versions that keep Gehenna where it belongs, such as Young's Literal Translation (see, for example, Matthew 23:33), and others (such as the 21st Century New Testament, and the footnote in the American Standard Version). And "hell" IS the grave. It shouldn't have been put into the verses in the NT where Jesus speaks of Gehenna.

OK, let's put Gehenna in place of "hell":

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Gehenna, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

If "Gehenna" in Mark 9:43 is the common grave, and not the lake of fire, then the grave is on fire and will burn eternally.

Does that sound correct now?

[Bible_Student]

The last verse of the book of Isaiah also speaks of Gehenna. Read it.

It is interesting that it speaks of bodies in a place where the fire is not extinguished; but in that place there are worms. There are worms because if a body is not completely burned, the worms end up eating it. In the end, it is impossible for anyone to be alive in that place.

The destruction of the wicked will be like that; that is why the symbolic place where they metaphorically end up is a place of inextinguishable fire, where nothing escapes its total destruction.

[myth-one.com]

The last verse of the book of Isaiah also speaks of Gehenna. Read it.

It is interesting that it speaks of bodies in a place where the fire is not extinguished; but in that place there are worms. There are worms because if a body is not completely burned, the worms end up eating it. In the end, it is impossible for anyone to be alive in that place.

The destruction of the wicked will be like that; that is why the symbolic place where they metaphorically end up is a place of inextinguishable fire, where nothing escapes its total destruction.

It's interesting that worms are living in an environment where nothing escapes total destruction.

<==============================================>

Mark 9:44
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:46
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

I think a better explanation of these verses is that the worms of those cast into the lake of fire never exist, as dead bodies which are quickly cremated in the lake of fire produce no worms!

If they never live, then they never die!

[Bible_Student]

It's interesting that worms are living in an environment where nothing escapes total destruction.

<==============================================>

Mark 9:44
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:46
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

I think a better explanation of these verses is that the worms of those cast into the lake of fire never exist, as dead bodies which are quickly cremated in the lake of fire produce no worms!

If they never live, then they never die!

You think in ontradiction with the passage, which is saying precisely that there are worms there.

To understand you need to put your sights on the real place where the figure is based: in a garbage dump where the fire destroys everything, but where the fire doesn't reach there are worms that feed on the remains of meat that don't burn completely, because the fire is less intense in that corner, or simply because those remains are on the edges of the fire.