![]() Interpretation Puck cartoon of 1885 parodying the changing Christian interpretation of Sheol in the Old Testament: a number of historical sinners and atheists are seen enjoying the relatively pleasant atmosphere of "Sheol" after suffering the flames of the traditional Hell at left is a dejected Satan sitting beneath a sign that states "This Business is Removed to Sheol, Opposite."Įven within the realm of Jewish thought, the understanding of Sheol was often inconsistent. Other biblical names for Sheol were: Abaddon (ruin), found in Psalm 88:11, Job 28:22 and Proverbs 15:11 and Shakhat (corruption), found in Isaiah 38:17, Ezekiel 28:8. Sheol is also mentioned in several Psalms, again, as the grave of humanity. Job mentions Sheol in several of his laments, calling it his "home" as he lies in anguish, and yearning for death to take him there to put an end to his suffering. The remaining mentions of Sheol lie in the poetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. Ezekiel, during his prophecy of Egypt's downfall, describes Egypt metaphorically descending into Sheol as a dead man would, where all the spirits of the dead, as well as other fallen empires, such as Assyria, jeer and mock its fall from might. The prophet Isaiah expounds on Sheol to great lengths during some of his sermons, personifying it as possessing an ever-increasing hunger for living men, with a great propensity for the souls of sinners, and where pleas to Yahweh cannot escape. 1 Kings uses "going down to Sheol" as a metaphor for death, describing those who go down to it both "in peace" and "in blood". 1 Samuel describes Yahweh as the one who brings souls down to Sheol, and 2 Samuel further cements Sheol as humanity's ultimate destination, post-mortem. Subsequent mentions of Sheol in the Tanakh codify it as emblematic of the death which necessitates one's entry into it. Sure enough, as he finishes his speech, Yahweh splits the earth open, causing Korah, his family, and all of his possessions to, as the text describes it, "enter Sheol alive." In Deuteronomy, Moses sings that the anger of Yahweh is a flame which burns in the "depths" of Sheol, consuming the entire earth from the bottom up. After Korah attempts to rouse the Israelites to rebel against Moses, Moses vows that Yahweh will prove his legitimacy by splitting open the earth to hurl Korah and his conspirators into Sheol. ![]() Sheol makes its next appearance during the episode of Korah in the Book of Numbers. Later on, the same formula is repeated when describing the sorrow that would befall Jacob should another of his sons, Benjamin, not return to Israel with his remaining brothers. Jacob avows that he will "go down to Sheol" still mourning the apparent death of his son Joseph. The first mentions of Sheol within the text associate it with the state of death, and a sense of eternal finality. Sheol is mentioned 66 times throughout the Hebrew Bible. The gloss of Sheol as "Hades" is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the evil it represents. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BCE, the word " Hades" (the Greek underworld) was substituted for Sheol, owing to its similarities to the Underworld of Greek mythology. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone. While the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (roughly 500 BCE – 70 CE) a more diverse set of ideas developed. ![]() Though such practices are forbidden, the inhabitants of Sheol can, under some circumstances, be summoned by the living, as when the Witch of Endor calls up the spirit of Samuel for King Saul. The implications of Sheol within the texts are therefore somewhat unclear it can be interpreted as either a generic metaphor describing "the grave" into which all humans invariably descend, or, it may be interpreted as representing an actual state of afterlife within Israelite thought. Within the Hebrew Bible, there are few – often brief and nondescript – mentions of Sheol, seemingly describing it as a place where both the righteous and the unrighteous dead go, regardless of their moral choices in life. oʊ l, - əl/ SHEE-ohl, -uhl Hebrew: שְׁאוֹל Šəʾōl, Tiberian: Šŏʾōl) in the Hebrew Bible is the underworld place of stillness and darkness which lies after death. Biblical text on a synagogue in Holešov, Czech Republic: " Hashem kills and makes alive He brings down to Sheol and raises up." ( 1 Samuel 2:6) For the Naglfar album, see Sheol (album).
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