A Greek transliteration of the Hebrew gê-hinnōm (Valley of Hinnom), a ravine south of Jerusalem where child sacrifices were offered to Molech (2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Jer 7:31). By the intertestamental period, it had become a symbol for the place of eschatological punishment. Distinguished from hadēs (G86, the realm of the dead) — Gehenna is specifically the place of final, fiery judgment.
Strikingly, geenna appears 12 times in the NT, and 11 of those are on the lips of Jesus. The doctrine of hell is not an invention of fire-and-brimstone preachers but a teaching of Jesus Himself — the one who taught 'God so loved the world.' He describes Gehenna as a place where 'their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched' (Mark 9:48), a place of 'outer darkness' with 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt 25:30). Rather than softening judgment, Jesus intensified it: 'Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna' (Matt 10:28). The historical background — the Valley of Hinnom, where children were sacrificed — adds horrific weight: Gehenna represents the ultimate corruption of what God created good, the final destination of unrepentant evil.