8 definitions by coupedehill
As for the bible's usage of Tartarus, it means to be away from God’s presence, and it’s where he put angels who turned against him to follow Satan. This began at the time of the great flood and continues all the way until they are to be thrown into the abyss with Satan upon the Lord’s day. The misconceptions about Tartarus being an actual place are due to the fact that it was a word taken from Greek mythology with a very similar meaning to Hades. Tartarus was actually the lowest depth of Hades in Greek mythology.
By rendering Tartarus as “hell” in the bible also put a big spin on things. Biblically Tartarus had no connection with mankind, by rendering it as “hell” suddenly incorporated demons and mankind in the same place. With a little research, the idea that Tartarus is the same place as both Gehenna and the grave/Hades is complete absurdity.
Take a look at –
2 Peter 2:4 For God didn't spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
See also:
Jude 1:6 and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling.
These angels are actually only removed from God’s holy presence, not literal light; hence the description “chains of darkness.” There is no such thing as “chains of darkness” in a literal sense. What this means is that they are “bound” to this darkness. They are no longer aligned with God’s spirit. Tartarus parallels the “spiritual darkness” mankind is living in today when you put the facts about demons together. Mankind is bound to this spiritual darkness in such a way that we can’t get away from it just as demons are bound to their darkness; we have all become independent of God.
Now think about demons for a minute; we know that they are still able to move about the earth and heaven, and are able to possess people as well as animals. Angels are constantly battling amongst each other in the bible -
Revelation 12:7-9
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
Clearly since Satan and his angels will not be thrown out of heaven until the beginning of the Lord’s Day proves that Satan and his fallen angels were able to move about in heaven for a long time after the flood. So they are not literally in chains down in a dark pit.
Paul also indicated that demons were still in heaven during his day –
Ephesians 6:12
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but … against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Also refer to Job 1:6-7, Daniel 10:13, and Judges 5:20
It is stated in the bible that the Heavens have to be cleansed of sin before the Earth can be, therefore the demons were allowed to move about in Heaven for quite some time after these writings. Tartarus cannot be a specific place like the grave, or even hell, where demons would be confined.
These sinful angels whom Jehovah put into Tartarus are the spirits Jesus made a proclamation to in 1 Peter 3:18-20 once Jehovah resurrected him to spirit form after being dead for three days –
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, “…”
By rendering Tartarus as “hell” in the bible also put a big spin on things. Biblically Tartarus had no connection with mankind, by rendering it as “hell” suddenly incorporated demons and mankind in the same place. With a little research, the idea that Tartarus is the same place as both Gehenna and the grave/Hades is complete absurdity.
Take a look at –
2 Peter 2:4 For God didn't spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
See also:
Jude 1:6 and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling.
These angels are actually only removed from God’s holy presence, not literal light; hence the description “chains of darkness.” There is no such thing as “chains of darkness” in a literal sense. What this means is that they are “bound” to this darkness. They are no longer aligned with God’s spirit. Tartarus parallels the “spiritual darkness” mankind is living in today when you put the facts about demons together. Mankind is bound to this spiritual darkness in such a way that we can’t get away from it just as demons are bound to their darkness; we have all become independent of God.
Now think about demons for a minute; we know that they are still able to move about the earth and heaven, and are able to possess people as well as animals. Angels are constantly battling amongst each other in the bible -
Revelation 12:7-9
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
Clearly since Satan and his angels will not be thrown out of heaven until the beginning of the Lord’s Day proves that Satan and his fallen angels were able to move about in heaven for a long time after the flood. So they are not literally in chains down in a dark pit.
Paul also indicated that demons were still in heaven during his day –
Ephesians 6:12
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but … against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Also refer to Job 1:6-7, Daniel 10:13, and Judges 5:20
It is stated in the bible that the Heavens have to be cleansed of sin before the Earth can be, therefore the demons were allowed to move about in Heaven for quite some time after these writings. Tartarus cannot be a specific place like the grave, or even hell, where demons would be confined.
These sinful angels whom Jehovah put into Tartarus are the spirits Jesus made a proclamation to in 1 Peter 3:18-20 once Jehovah resurrected him to spirit form after being dead for three days –
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, “…”
For God didn't spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
by coupedehill September 23, 2009
Hades as used in the bible means the place of the dead, the grave pit. Hades is also used to indicate being spiritually dead, as used by Jesus in the Lazarus and the rich man illustration. Hades means the same thing as Sheol as far as the bible is concerned, only Sheol was Hebrew and Hades was Greek. See a Greek quote of a Hebrew scripture to prove this:
Psalm 16:10 - For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit.
Acts 2:31 - He was not left in Hades, and His flesh did not experience decay.
In Greek mythology the meaning of Hades described more elaborately “the world of the dead.” These ideas about the place Hades represented in Greek mythology were eventually grandfathered into the bible’s teachings regarding the place of the dead.
For some time around and after 325 C.E. when Rome was in the process of converting to Christianity, there was pressure for the church to cater their teachings to the beliefs of pagan nations in order to gain pagan converts. In consequence of these modified doctrines, much of what is taught among Christendom today regarding the state of the dead was actually taken from Egyptian and Greek beliefs of these subjects.
Psalm 16:10 - For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit.
Acts 2:31 - He was not left in Hades, and His flesh did not experience decay.
In Greek mythology the meaning of Hades described more elaborately “the world of the dead.” These ideas about the place Hades represented in Greek mythology were eventually grandfathered into the bible’s teachings regarding the place of the dead.
For some time around and after 325 C.E. when Rome was in the process of converting to Christianity, there was pressure for the church to cater their teachings to the beliefs of pagan nations in order to gain pagan converts. In consequence of these modified doctrines, much of what is taught among Christendom today regarding the state of the dead was actually taken from Egyptian and Greek beliefs of these subjects.
Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works.
by coupedehill September 23, 2009
Jah can be rendered as Jah or Yah and is short for Jehovah or Yahweh (or Yehowah) in a poetic sort of way. This shortened form of the divine name appeared 50 times in the Hebrew scriptures, 26 as Jah or Yah, and 24 as Hallelujah. The word “Hallelujah” is Greek for a Hebrew phrase. The phrase translates as a literal command to a group of people to “praise Jah,” or “Yah.” Literally, "Praise Ye Jehovah."
by coupedehill September 23, 2009
Gehenna is actually the Grecian mode of spelling the Hebrew word Gehhinnom, which is translated, “The valley of Hinnom.” This was the valley just outside the walls of Jerusalem that was used as a trash dump. There was an enormous amount of trash made by Jerusalem, and they used this entire valley to burn their trash. There was always a fire in this valley; it never stopped burning, so it must have seemed to be unquenchable. Imagine looking down into a valley and instead of seeing the valley flooded with water, you see it flooded with fire. This valley must have appeared to be a lake of fire to onlookers. Everything was thrown into it to be completely destroyed; rubbish, trash, even dead bodies of criminals and those deemed unworthy of a proper burial.
Among the Israelites a burial in a memorial tomb symbolized righteousness for the one being buried. This was not scriptural, just their way of showing that they considered a person to be worthy of a resurrection. So for a corpse to be condemned into the seemingly eternal fire of a trash dump was the opposite of that. For someone to be thrown into Gehenna symbolized the resident’s abhorrence of this person. If the fire didn’t burn up their corpses, they were on display for everyone to see the maggots eating them. This was the place where the worms never died and the fire never went out. You could always find both of these things in this valley. (Isaiah 66:24) This is something that these guys were familiar with, so what better for Jesus to reference in order to get his point across? Jesus used this trash dump as an illustration to explain how everything that is no part of his Father’s kingdom will be shamefully discarded in the same way.
When Jesus spoke of people who were fit for Gehenna the fire, he was speaking of shameful people who were not deemed worthy of a resurrection. There were only twelve instances in the Greek Scriptures speaking of Gehenna. In the manuscripts that render Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna as “hell,” these are the twelve scriptures where hell gets completely different characteristics applied to it, misleading many people.
To be in Sheol/Hades meant to be in a good place in God’s memory and promised a resurrection, as seen at Revelation 20:13. On the other hand, to be in Gehenna meant to be in a bad place in God’s memory and therefore denied a resurrection, as seen at Matthew 23:15. Yet both of these places with absolute opposite meanings are commonly rendered as “hell.”
Brimstone, a.k.a. sulphur, was frequently added to Gehenna to heat the fire up and to keep it going, especially when there was nothing to burn. Sulphur gets really hot and burns for a long time, and it takes temperatures of 3000-5000 degrees to burn a human body quickly and completely, so you can appreciate why it was frequently added to completely destroy corpses. Gehenna was later described as “the Lake of Fire and Sulphur.” Revelation 21:8
God even spoke of living people being burned in Gehenna as sacrifice and said that he never even considered doing such a thing –
They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought. Jeremiah 7:31
Also - They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought. Jeremiah 19:5
Among the Israelites a burial in a memorial tomb symbolized righteousness for the one being buried. This was not scriptural, just their way of showing that they considered a person to be worthy of a resurrection. So for a corpse to be condemned into the seemingly eternal fire of a trash dump was the opposite of that. For someone to be thrown into Gehenna symbolized the resident’s abhorrence of this person. If the fire didn’t burn up their corpses, they were on display for everyone to see the maggots eating them. This was the place where the worms never died and the fire never went out. You could always find both of these things in this valley. (Isaiah 66:24) This is something that these guys were familiar with, so what better for Jesus to reference in order to get his point across? Jesus used this trash dump as an illustration to explain how everything that is no part of his Father’s kingdom will be shamefully discarded in the same way.
When Jesus spoke of people who were fit for Gehenna the fire, he was speaking of shameful people who were not deemed worthy of a resurrection. There were only twelve instances in the Greek Scriptures speaking of Gehenna. In the manuscripts that render Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna as “hell,” these are the twelve scriptures where hell gets completely different characteristics applied to it, misleading many people.
To be in Sheol/Hades meant to be in a good place in God’s memory and promised a resurrection, as seen at Revelation 20:13. On the other hand, to be in Gehenna meant to be in a bad place in God’s memory and therefore denied a resurrection, as seen at Matthew 23:15. Yet both of these places with absolute opposite meanings are commonly rendered as “hell.”
Brimstone, a.k.a. sulphur, was frequently added to Gehenna to heat the fire up and to keep it going, especially when there was nothing to burn. Sulphur gets really hot and burns for a long time, and it takes temperatures of 3000-5000 degrees to burn a human body quickly and completely, so you can appreciate why it was frequently added to completely destroy corpses. Gehenna was later described as “the Lake of Fire and Sulphur.” Revelation 21:8
God even spoke of living people being burned in Gehenna as sacrifice and said that he never even considered doing such a thing –
They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought. Jeremiah 7:31
Also - They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought. Jeremiah 19:5
And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.
by coupedehill September 23, 2009
Hallelujah
Hallelujah is the Greek mode of spelling the Hebrew words, which are translated "Praise Ye Jehovah." Notice Hallelu"jah" ends with Jah. Jah is a shortened form of Jehovah.
Most people have no idea that when they say Hallelujah they are actually saying "Praise Jehovah," the name for the Hebrew, Muslim, Christian God. Hallelujah appears in the Christian Greek scriptures and is a good example that first-century Christians used the divine name.
Hallelujah is the Greek mode of spelling the Hebrew words, which are translated "Praise Ye Jehovah." Notice Hallelu"jah" ends with Jah. Jah is a shortened form of Jehovah.
Most people have no idea that when they say Hallelujah they are actually saying "Praise Jehovah," the name for the Hebrew, Muslim, Christian God. Hallelujah appears in the Christian Greek scriptures and is a good example that first-century Christians used the divine name.
by coupedehill September 22, 2009
Jehovah
Jehovah is the English pronunciation of the divine name. In in the Hebrew scriptures the divine name was written YHWH or JHWH (Tetragrammaton) because there are no vowels in Hebrew. No one knows how to pronounce this name because the Jews became superstitious about saying the name out loud before the time of Christ and the actual pronunciation was lost. Scholars believe it to have sounded like Yehowah or Yahweh. Saying Jehovah in English is like saying Miguel for Michael in Spanish, or like Yeshua in Hebrew is pronounced Jesus in English.
Jehovah means "to become," and it was a popular Hebrew name before God chose it. So when God chose this name for himself he was indicating that he would "become" whatever was needed to fulfill his purposes. The translation "I AM" as seen in Exodus 3 is commonly mistranslated and should more likely read "I will become," as is explained in the passages following.
The original scrolls of the Christian Greek scriptures didn't last long and when Catholicism came about in the 4th century YHWH began being replaced with LORD and GOD due to the man made doctrine of the holy trinity. (If Jesus were actually God, then it didn't make sense to keep calling Him Jehovah, even though that name appeared almost 7,000 times in the Hebrew scriptures.) But there really is no question that Jesus and his disciples used the divine name, especially when quoting and reading from the Hebrew scriptures where the name appeared. (See Luke 4:16-21 and compare Isaiah 61:1-2 in American Standard Version.)
Jesus said that he made God's name known to his disciples John 17:6, 26. And the book of Ezekiel repeatedly says in the end times "they will know that I am Jehovah." (Given that the bible you're reading honors the divine name and has not substituted it with LORD.)
Jehovah is the English pronunciation of the divine name. In in the Hebrew scriptures the divine name was written YHWH or JHWH (Tetragrammaton) because there are no vowels in Hebrew. No one knows how to pronounce this name because the Jews became superstitious about saying the name out loud before the time of Christ and the actual pronunciation was lost. Scholars believe it to have sounded like Yehowah or Yahweh. Saying Jehovah in English is like saying Miguel for Michael in Spanish, or like Yeshua in Hebrew is pronounced Jesus in English.
Jehovah means "to become," and it was a popular Hebrew name before God chose it. So when God chose this name for himself he was indicating that he would "become" whatever was needed to fulfill his purposes. The translation "I AM" as seen in Exodus 3 is commonly mistranslated and should more likely read "I will become," as is explained in the passages following.
The original scrolls of the Christian Greek scriptures didn't last long and when Catholicism came about in the 4th century YHWH began being replaced with LORD and GOD due to the man made doctrine of the holy trinity. (If Jesus were actually God, then it didn't make sense to keep calling Him Jehovah, even though that name appeared almost 7,000 times in the Hebrew scriptures.) But there really is no question that Jesus and his disciples used the divine name, especially when quoting and reading from the Hebrew scriptures where the name appeared. (See Luke 4:16-21 and compare Isaiah 61:1-2 in American Standard Version.)
Jesus said that he made God's name known to his disciples John 17:6, 26. And the book of Ezekiel repeatedly says in the end times "they will know that I am Jehovah." (Given that the bible you're reading honors the divine name and has not substituted it with LORD.)
Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
by coupedehill September 22, 2009
Sheol is Hebrew for “the grave pit” or “mankind’s common grave.” Sheol is not a place, rather than a period of time while people are dead and waiting to be resurrected. Sheol is the most common word to be substituted by the word hell. Bible scriptures that describe the characteristics of Sheol explain it to be exactly how we would describe our dead; buried under the ground, no consciousness, no knowledge, no pain, no joy, no hope. King Solomon explained the unconscious state of the dead in detail when describing sheol –
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.
Since hell replaces Sheol it has to mean the same thing as Sheol. So if hell means a place of anguish for unrighteous people, why would Job ask God to put him there until he was resurrected?
Job 14:13
If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger passes, that You would appoint a time for me and then remember me.
And when Jacob believed his son had died, Jacob said that he would go down into Sheol mourning for him – Genesis 37:35
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said. "I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him.
What Jacob meant by this is that he was not soon going to stop mourning for his son; he felt so bad he said that he would mourn his son until the day that he himself died and went to Sheol, or the grave. There he would join his son in death, waiting to be resurrected. Jacob didn’t mean that his son or he would be in a place of fiery punishment after death, just the place of the dead.
There are also poetic and symbolic descriptions of these places in the bible that may cause confusion. You may read about someone “crying out” to God from Sheol or death. These passages are often taken literally to try and prove that there is consciousness in death, but these are merely forms of poeticism to describe that the injustice of a good person who has died “cries out” to God to make things right and resurrect him. Like –
Psalm 18:5-6
The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.
In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry before him came into his ears.
Take passages such as this into consideration – Genesis 4:10
Then He said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground!
Abel’s blood did not cry out to God anymore than the Psalmist recorded a cry out to God from death. What this means is that all injustice in the world is considered a cry out to God. As you read above, Solomon said the dead don’t know anything, making it impossible for them to cry out for help or even realize that they need help. That would make for contradictions in the bible.
For instance – Isaiah 38:18
For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.
Since hell replaces Sheol it has to mean the same thing as Sheol. So if hell means a place of anguish for unrighteous people, why would Job ask God to put him there until he was resurrected?
Job 14:13
If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger passes, that You would appoint a time for me and then remember me.
And when Jacob believed his son had died, Jacob said that he would go down into Sheol mourning for him – Genesis 37:35
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said. "I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him.
What Jacob meant by this is that he was not soon going to stop mourning for his son; he felt so bad he said that he would mourn his son until the day that he himself died and went to Sheol, or the grave. There he would join his son in death, waiting to be resurrected. Jacob didn’t mean that his son or he would be in a place of fiery punishment after death, just the place of the dead.
There are also poetic and symbolic descriptions of these places in the bible that may cause confusion. You may read about someone “crying out” to God from Sheol or death. These passages are often taken literally to try and prove that there is consciousness in death, but these are merely forms of poeticism to describe that the injustice of a good person who has died “cries out” to God to make things right and resurrect him. Like –
Psalm 18:5-6
The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.
In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry before him came into his ears.
Take passages such as this into consideration – Genesis 4:10
Then He said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground!
Abel’s blood did not cry out to God anymore than the Psalmist recorded a cry out to God from death. What this means is that all injustice in the world is considered a cry out to God. As you read above, Solomon said the dead don’t know anything, making it impossible for them to cry out for help or even realize that they need help. That would make for contradictions in the bible.
For instance – Isaiah 38:18
For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
by coupedehill September 23, 2009