Hell Revealed (What does the Bible say?)

In my previous post I spent some time not only building a case for Biblical revelation, but also for a Biblical theology of Hell.  In short, what does this mean?

1. We will simply ask, what does the Bible say about Hell and gather those passages (which I will do with this post today).
2. We will assess all that the Bible says about Hell.
3. We will form a concise statement summarizing what the Bible says about Hell.
4.  We won’t say about Hell what the Bible doesn’t say about Hell.  We will try to avoid theological conjecture, philosophical infilling, and personal speculation.

This is Biblical theology.

So what does the Bible say about Hell?  Allow me to share some simple information that can be easily obtained from almost any decent Bible dictionary.  I am going to use the New Nave’s Topical Bible.

Hell as Sheol - Deut. 32:22; 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 11:8; 26:6; Psa. 9:17; 16:10; 18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3; 139:8; Prov. 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:11, 24; 23:14; 27:20; Isa. 5:14; 14:9, 15; 28:15, 18; 57:9; Ezek. 31:16, 17; 32:21, 27; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2; Hab. 2:5.

            Sheol spoken of as “the grave” - Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam. 2:6; 1 Kin. 2:6, 9; Job 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; 21:13; 24:19; Psa. 6:5; 30:3; 31:17; 49:14, 15; 88:3; 89:48; 141:7; Prov. 1:12; 30:16; Eccl. 9:10; Song 8:6; Isa. 14:11; 38:10, 18; Ezek. 31:15; Hos. 13:14; pit, Num. 16:30, 33; Job 17:16.

Hell as Hades - Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14;

Hell as Gehenna - Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; Jas. 3:6;

Hell as Tartaros – 2 Peter 2:4

Hell as a place where the wicked go after death - Psa. 9:17; Prov. 5:5; Prov. 9:13–17; Prov. 15:24; Prov. 23:13, 14; Isa. 30:33; Isa. 33:14; Matt. 3:12; Matt. 5:29 v. 30.; Matt. 7:13 v. 14.; Matt. 8:11, 12; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 13:30, 38–42, 49, 50; Matt. 16:18; Matt. 18:8, 9, 34, 35; Matt. 22:13; Matt. 25:28–30, 41, 46; Mark 9:43, 44 vs. 45–48.; Matt. 5:29. Luke 3:17 Matt. 3:12. Luke 16:23, 24, 26 vs. 25,28;; Acts 1:25. 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6, 23; Rev. 9:1, 2 Rev. 11:7. Rev. 14:10, 11; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10, 15; Rev. 21:8 Rev. 2:11.

Hell as the Lake of Fire – Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8.

Now what we can do is survey these passages and create a list of characteristics and information that the Bible reveals about Hell.  What’s the difference between Bible reading and Bible study?  A piece a paper and a pen!  Why is this important?  Because a lot of people are reading what people are writing about Hell without actually consulting what the Bible says about the topic.  Sadly, more people have probably spent more time reading reviews of Rob Bell’s book than they have actually spent searching for Scriptures about Hell.  Happy studying!