Bible Questions and Answers

What is the meaning of hell (Gehenna) in Matthew 10:28 and James 3:6?

• Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. This describes the complete destruction of the wicked as it were on the Jerusalem garbage dump.
• James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. ‘Set on fire of hell’ describes either the person’s speech condemning them to complete destruction, or their actual future destruction as refuse.

Using Strong’s Concordance - Hell <1067> γέεννα geenna of Hebrew origin גַּיא־הִנֹּם from <01516> גַּיא (valley) and <02011> הִנֹּם(Hinnom) Translated in the KJV – ‘hell’ 9 times, ‘hell fire 3 times; Meaning: Hell is the place of the future punishment called "Gehenna" or "Gehenna of fire". This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city and the bodies of executed criminals were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.

Gehenna fire is used to describe the complete destruction of the wicked following the judgment as in the following:

• Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell (Gehenna) fire.
• Matthew 13:40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
• Philippians 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things.

It represents complete destruction, not a place of eternal torment presided over by mythical fallen angels. The penalty for unforgiven sin is death, not eternal residence in a place of eternal torture called hell. Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

When we die our faculties corrupt into dust. Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

In death, there is no consciousness. Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.

Hell as an actual location depends upon 3 fictions:

1. That the ‘soul’ survives death with its faculties intact. Ergo it can be tormented.
2. That it is the residence of a fallen angel and his crew of ‘evil spirits’.
3. That it is a place of eternal torment for dead souls who somehow have eternal life and can thus be tormented forever.

None of these ideas are found in the Bible. They come from pagan mythology and have been superimposed on the Bible's teaching by an apostate church.

I hope you find this helpful.

God bless,
Glenn