📖 Biblical Definition
The Old Testament term for the realm of the dead; the place to which both righteous (Jacob, Job) and wicked (Korah, the Egyptians) descended at death, often translated grave, hell, or pit in the King James Bible. The New Testament reveals more clearly that Sheol/Hades was a place of conscious existence with two compartments — Abraham's bosom for the righteous, and a place of torment for the wicked (Luke 16).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
SHEOL, n.
expand to see more
A Hebrew word denoting the place of departed spirits, or the grave; in older versions, sometimes rendered “hell.”
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 37:35 — "I will go down into the grave [Sheol] unto my son mourning."
Psalm 16:10 — "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Ecclesiastes 9:10 — "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."
Luke 16:23 — "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern annihilationism flattens Sheol; Christ's parable of Lazarus and the rich man stays sober.
expand to see more
Old Testament Sheol is more nuanced than either modern annihilationism or simplistic conceptions of an undifferentiated “hell.” Hebrew Scripture portrays it as the realm of the dead with two outcomes hinted in the Psalter (Ps 16:10 promises the righteous will not be left in Sheol; Ps 49:15 promises God will redeem the soul from Sheol's power) and made explicit in the New Testament (Luke 16, Christ in Hades, the keys of death and Hades, Rev 1:18).
Christ's parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16) is one of the most direct teachings on the intermediate state. The righteous Lazarus is comforted in Abraham's bosom; the rich man is in torment; a great gulf separates them; both are conscious; both remember; communication with the living is denied. The doctrine is sober. Take Christ at His word; share the gospel.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew sheʾol (H7585).
expand to see more
H7585 — sheol — realm of the dead; grave; underworld
G86 — hades — Greek equivalent; realm of the dead
Usage
"Sheol is the OT realm of the dead; Christ revealed two compartments and a great gulf."
"Modern annihilationism flattens what Christ Himself spoke of in Luke 16."
"Take Christ at His word; share the gospel; the great gulf is fixed."