Q. Can you tell where Hades is and what happens there?

Q. Can you tell where Hades is and what happens there?

A. Hades is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol, which is the abode of the dead, or disembodied spirits called the Rephaim in Hebrew. Many mistakenly are taught that Hades is the grave, but not once is Hades /Sheol used for the grave, which is the word “kever” in Hebrew and “mneema” in Greek. The translators of the Septuagint never translated Hades as the grave. Look the word up in any lexicon and you will see that it is clearly the abode of the dead. The King James Version mistranslated the word Hades in every occurrence just like it did with Sheol. Hades is not death, that is the Greek word “thanatos” and they appear together in Rev. 1.18 where they are clearly not synonymous. Hades is not hell, the place of final punishment because that is the Greek word “gehenna”. Hades is not heaven, Greek “ouranos”, the place where the righteous go to await the coming resurrection. It is not the new heavens and new earth. So, we know what it doesn’t mean, so what is it. By the time of the New Testament period, the concept of Hades/Sheol had developed to the point where it was believed that Hades/Sheol had two compartments. One was called torment and the other Abraham’s bosom or paradise where the righteous went after death (Lk.16.19-31). It is believed that those who went there are conscious, converse, recognize others, in pain and distress, make moral judgments, not subject to physical needs of this life like marriage, planning and procreation. Before the resurrection of Yeshua, all those who died went there (Jn. 3.13). Paradise was the same as Abraham’s bosom. When Yeshua died, he went there for three days and three nights. On the feast of First Fruits he reentered the tomb and his body was changed and others were resurrected with him (Mt 27.51-53). He takes all those in Paradise to heaven with him (Eph 4.8-10) and that is where believers go after death today (Phil 1.23-24, 2 Cor 5.6-8). The wicked go to Hades/Sheol which is now one compartment to await the resurrection and the Day of Judgment (Rev 20.13-15). Hades/Sheol is described as being in the lowest parts of the earth, under the earth, the lower parts and so on. That is either literal or it is a figure of speech and it is not a part of this world and has an existence in another dimension. So, in conclusion, Hades/Sheol is the intermediate state between death and the resurrection where the wicked wait and are in torment. Hades is without paradise/Abraham’s bosom today and its inhabitants will one day be emptied into the lake of fire and gehenna (Rev 20.13-15)