Gehenna (or: There's no such thing as Hell)

[Please note: this first paragraph was originally the conclusion of the piece, but, fearing that no one would ever get that far, it has been prehended... if such a word exists]
In other words, all of you poor bastards got served. There ain't any such thing as hell, bitches, surprise! It was thought of later and then fucking translated right into the goddamn text. The words changed as the ideas changed, get it - and not just in the "isn't that funny" way where 'awful' used to mean 'full of awe' (!) and how 'Jacko' didn't used to mean 'to put penises into small boys after disorienting them by means of carousel,' no bitches, no no no, bitches, they've fucked your brains up about that shit. When Jesus fucking told off thugs with Hell, he was saying something more like "you're going to Commerce City" (Colorado reference only - but I know how much you Californians prize inside humor, Cowbell fuckers.)

and so...
    Attempting to piece together the cultural, historical, and theological significance of “Gehenna” can be a daunting task if one is only familiar with the King James (or similar) translation of the New & Old Testaments because of their incompleteness and inconsistency.  The word “Hell” is used translate each of the following terms at least once: Tartaroo (Taratarus), Gehenna, Sheol, and Hades.  Gehenna (occurring twelve times) and Tartaroo (occurring only once in 2 Peter 2 :4) are always translated as “Hell,” whereas Sheol is translated as “Hell” 30 (31?) times, “grave” 31 times, and “pit” three times.  “Hades” is likewise inconsistently translated; as “Hell” 10 times and “grave” once.   This could lead to the impression that references to a “pit” a “grave” and “Hell” are three unique things, while they would all be “Sheol” in the Hebrew.  

The larger problem is of course that when one reads the word “Hell,” one cannot be sure whether it refers to Tartarus, Gehenna, Hades, or Sheol, all of which have a different connotation, function, and theological significance (the issue of Hades as compared to Sheol will be dealt with shortly).  As these words are all translated according to a specific ‘interpretation’ of the Greek, each individual meaning is lost in ambiguity and non-descriptiveness.  The relevance of this would be hard to understate, given the dominating influence this particular translation of the New Testaments has carried.  It shows why it is an obscure coctail party fact to most that “Gehenna” is an actual physical location south-west of Jerusalem.  In these twelve instances in the NT, Jesus was making a figurative reference to an actual place, presumably one familiar to most of those to whom he preached, as opposed to the vague and abstract state of being known commonly as ‘Hell.’

    The etymology of the term “Hell” helps us to understand how this interpretive translation came about.  The Old English, “Hell,” meaning ‘covered or hidden,’ comes from the Old Germanic “Helan,” meaning ‘to conceal.’  At the time, then, this was an accurate translation for “Hades,” an Ancient Greek term meaning ‘imperceptible, unseen,’ and as a place is familiar to those who have studied Greek Mythology as the underworld for all dead mortals.  It seems that as Christian theology developed to accept ‘Hell’ as the state of eternal flames, punishment and torment, this term, once used as a direct correspondence to the Greek but by this stage loaded with other connotations, came to be used for almost every reference to the fate awaiting sinners upon death.  Thus, in most contexts all four of these terms began to be understood as ‘Hell,’ although, I believe, the terms were translated differently (‘grave’ or ‘pit’) when they did not fit the imposed understanding in the given context.   

Tartarosas is the murky abyss beneath Hades where the immortals such as Kronos and the Titans are punished, and other who have transgressed directly against the gods.  Peter seems to use it in his letter to the Greeks not as a reference to Gehenna, Sheol, or anything else in the Judao-Christian understanding, but rather as an attempt to argue certain theological points ‘in their own terms.’   Sheol, in it’s Hebrew and Judaic understanding, is the underworld where the dead congregate without any expectation of leaving; in parts of it there is also a giant, insatiable beast who devours flesh.  Many Christian scholar consider “Hades” and “Sheol” to be one in the same, and tend to see them both as temporal states, a temporary address, from which one can rise up to Heaven or drop down ever further, as opposed to the Judaic interpretation.  This is because it would not make any sense in the Christian conception of the world to have righteous people (King David comes to mind) stuck there for all of eternity.

    Gehenna, (‘Geenna’ in Ancient Greek) is a reference to the Ravine of Hinnom (also known in the OT as “the valley of the son(s) of Hinnom”), located close to the walls of the ancient city.  It runs into the Kidron valley near the present day city of Silwan, the ravine once formed the boundary between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Joshua 15:8;18:16).  Now, my friend Katya assures me, a peaceful area with tall grasses, lovely trees, and wily, playful horses, it was once a site of human sacrifice, known as “Topeth,” or “fireplace.”  During the period of worship of Moloch, an Ammonite god, by the Israeli people, live human sacrifices (often times children) were carried out here by fire, as one might expect from the term, ‘fireplace’ (see 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31, 32; 32:35).  Finally, the faithful King Josiah came along and dispelled the idolaters; in order to secure the victory over them and their idolatry religion, and to insure that this spot could never be used for such religious purposes again, he desecrated it by burning relics of Moloch, as well as spreading about human bones ‘and other corruptions,’ and eventually turning it into a waste dump.  One final added touch was to turn the area into an incinerator, where the bodies of dead animals, thieves, thugs, and flammable trash were thrown.  So that various worms and other predators of human flesh could not infest the area, the fire burned constantly, which likely accounts for it later being referred to as “unquenchable” and “where the fire never goes out.”  This is the central image from which the modern conception of “Hell” has derived.

    The term “Gehenna” seems to be used in the NT by Jesus because of its association with fiery (and repulsive) destruction.  Also, because the body is incinerated in the meanest fashion possible and not properly buried, no hope is left for resurrection.  Therefore, when Jesus refers to throwing a body into Gehenna, it seems that he is referring to the eternal destruction of the senses (the soul).  That is, to be throw into Gehenna is to lose all hope for eternal life.   This is opposed to the commonly preached theory of eternal damnation by means of burning, which is not mentioned (or even implied - the fucking thing burned you to pieces and that was that) along with any of the twelve references to Gehenna in the NT. The fire and brimstone interpretation was an imposition from other mythological and pagan sources.



References:
jewishencyclopedia.com
concordant.org
watchman.org
reslight.addr.com
matthewmcgee.org
bibletexts.com
biblestudytools.net
Harper’s Bible Dictionary
Harper’s Study Bible