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From “Answers To Your Bible Version Questions” by David W. Daniels 

Question: Gehenna is not hell, is it? It was a valley where outcasts, thieves and infected people where thrown when they died. The Bible refers to “Gehenna” as the place of death and pain. The word “hell”, as you so often use, where eternal pain and fire awaits is actually “Gehenna”. If you have read a bible written before 1400, you will notice a very important thing: “HELL” is missing. Instead it says “Gehenna”. There is no fire breathing eternal pain demon hell!! In fact YOU are committing a sin here. Telling people, or lying to people about hell, when you should know about “Gehenna”. There is no hell. Only the valley of “Gehenna”. A graveyard!!

Answer: The word “Gehenna” is properly translated “hell” in the King James Bible. And actually, except for three known Bibles1, every Bible says “hell,” not the untranslated word “Gehenna”.

What does “Gehenna” mean?

“Gehenna” originally referred to the Valley of Hinnom by Jerusalem. It was the place of horrible idolatry. So when the Hebrews finally came back to Jerusalem after 70 years of Babylonian Captivity (about 605-535/6 BC), they resolved never to use the Valley of Hinnom for idolatry again. Instead, they burned their trash there, and it became a burning valley of waste.

But we know that Jesus and the apostles didn’t mean to refer to a garbage dump. Here’s why. There are certain statements in the Bible that tell us clearly about “Gehenna”, translated “hell” in the King James Bible. Notice these verses.

Both body and soul are destroyed there

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). No power on earth can destroy a soul. The soul is a part of a person that exists beyond physical death (Revelation 20:4). “Gehenna” has to be a place to destroy both the body and the soul.

A person goes there after death

“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5). It is no threat to throw a dead body into a grave, a junkyard or a furnace. But God has power to cast a person, whose body is dead, into “Gehenna.” There is only one reason to fear the person that can throw you into Gehenna: you must be aware that you are cast there. So Gehenna is hell, the place where the unrighteous dead are cast.

Its fire shall never be quenched

“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:” (Mark 9:43, 45). “Gehenna” is said to be a “fire that shall never be quenched”. The earth and the works therein shall all be burned up (2 Peter 3:10), but they will be replaced with a new earth wherein righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). So “Gehenna” could not mean an earthly place, since all fires shall be quenched on earth. But hell’s fire shall never be quenched. It is clear: Gehenna is hell, not a trash dump.

Even though the word “Gehenna” comes from the Valley of Hinnom, simply rendering it as “garbage dump” or “valley of waste disposal” or “burning garbage” could not be an accurate translations, because that’s not what Jesus and the apostles meant when they used the word. It meant “the place where people go when they die.” That’s what we mean when we say “hell”.

You wrote:

“If you have read a bible written before 1400. You will notice a very important thing, HELL is missing. Instead it says Gehenna.”

You mentioned Bibles before 1400. The only known Bible in English from before then is the Wycliffe Bible of 1380. Does it use “hell” or “Gehenna”? Let’s find out!

The term “Gehenna” is found in Greek in these verses of the Bible:

Matthew 5:22,29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Lu 12:5; Jas 3:6

Here they are in the Wycliffe version:

Matthew 5:22 But Y seie to you, that ech man that is wrooth to his brothir, schal be gilti to doom; and he that seith to his brother, Fy! schal be gilti to the counseil; but he that seith, Fool, schal be gilti to the fier of helle.

Matthew 5:29-30 That if thi riyt iye sclaundre thee, pulle hym out, and caste fro thee; for it spedith to thee, that oon of thi membris perische, than that al thi bodi go in to helle. And if thi riyt hond sclaundre thee, kitte hym aweye, and caste fro thee; for it spedith to thee that oon of thi membris perische, than that al thi bodi go in to helle.

Matthew 10:28 And nyle ye drede hem that sleen the bodi; for thei moun not sle the soule; but rather drede ye hym, that mai lese bothe soule and bodi in to helle.

Matthew 18:9 And if thin iye sclaundre thee, pulle it out, and caste awei fro thee. It is betere to thee with oon iye to entre in to lijf, thanne hauynge tweyn iyen to be sent in to the fier of helle.

Matthew 23:15 Wo to you, scribis and Farisees, ypocritis, that goon aboute the see and the loond, to make o prosilite; and whanne he is maad, ye maken hym a sone of helle, double more than ye ben.

Matthew 23:33 Ye eddris, and eddris briddis, hou schulen ye fle fro the doom of helle?

Mark 9:43 (9:42) And if thin hoond sclaundre thee, kitte it awey; it is betere to thee to entre feble in to lijf, than haue two hondis, and go in to helle, in to fier that neuer schal be quenchid,

Mark 9:45 (9:44) And if thi foote sclaundre thee, kitte it of; it is betere to thee to entre crokid in to euerlastynge lijf, than haue twei feet, and be sent in helle of fier, that neuer schal be quenchid,

Mark 9:47 (9:46) That if thin iye sclaundre thee, cast it out; it is betere to thee to entre gogil iyed in to the reume of God, than haue twey iyen, and be sent in to helle of fier, where the worme of hem dieth not,

Luke 12:5 But Y schal schewe to you, whom ye schulen drede; drede ye hym, that aftir he hath slayn, he hath power to sende in to helle. And so Y seie to you, drede ye hym.

James 3:6 And oure tunge is fier, the vniuersite of wickidnesse. The tunge is ordeyned in oure membris, which defoulith al the bodi; and it is enflawmed of helle, and enflawmeth the wheel of oure birthe.

So you see that “Gehenna” is not the term used in English at all! Not until Young’s Literal Translation in the late 1800s, followed by the Catholic New American Bible of 1970 was the untranslated “Gehenna” put in. Look at foreign translations. The Spanish Reina-Valera of 1602-1989 rightly says “el infierno” and the Portuguese Corrigida Fiel says “do inferno”, both of which mean “Hell” as we in English use the term. “Hell” is an understandable word. “Gehenna” is not.

And “hell” accurately translates the meaning of the word “Gehenna.” “Gehenna” is not a translation; it is just a transliteration (translating letters, but not meaning). We find that first in the perverted Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate (400s AD), which was forced on the people of Europe as the only legal Bible for over a thousand years. Not until the Reformation of the 1500s were God’s actual words translated into the language of the people. And every one of them was careful to translate “Gehenna” into an English word with the same meaning. All but two of the English Bibles, from at least 1380 onward (that’s all I’ve checked on this so far), translate “Gehenna” into the understandable word “hell.”2 That’s what a good Bible should do.

WHO NEEDS HELL?

“Hell” is an uncomfortable word. Everybody knows what it means. But new Bible versions, wherever possible, try to remove the word “hell” from the Scriptures and replace it with “sheol” or “gehenna” or “hades” or “Tartarus.” In doing so, they rob the Scriptures of the force of the word “hell.”

“Hades” has a big pagan meaning that is completely divorced from the Bible. “Sheol” is a Hebrew word without any meaning at all to an ordinary reader. Have you ever heard people say they don’t want to “go to gehenna?”

No. But people do say, “I don’t want to go to hell.” Many people’s salvation is based on that …they didn’t want to go to hell. They may not understand the love of God, but they understand clearly that they do not want to go to hell. The revival that happened under the ministry of Jonathan Edwards began with a sermon called “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” His listeners felt themselves slipping out of their seats and their feet getting singed by the fires of hell when he preached, and revival broke out.

We need a Bible with a lot of hell in it. We need to know where we are not going. The whole purpose of evangelism is to save people from hell. We need a Bible that doesn’t try to sanitize it with a nicer sounding word that people don’t understand. That forceful warning word, “hell,” is found in the King James Bible.

I hope this has helped you understand the King James Bible a little more, and why it is the preserved words of God in English.

May God bless you as you read and understand His words.

Footnotes

  1. Specifically, the Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate (400s AD), Young’s Literal Translation (1862 & 1898) and the Roman Catholic New American Bible (1970-1991)
  2. This list includes the 1380 Wycliffe, the 1534 & 1535 Tyndale, the Cranmer (Great) Bible of 1539 & 1540, the Geneva Bibles of 1557, 1560 and 1599, the Bishop’s Bible of 1568 & 1602, even the Jesuit Rheims New Testament of 1582, and almost all Bibles from 1881 to the present. Except for Young’s Literal and the New American Bible, they all say “hell” (spelled “hel,” “helle” or “hell”), not “Gehenna”.

Is Hell Forever or Temporal? | More on Hell here

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SHOULD “GEHENNA” BE TRANSLATED “HELL”?

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There is power in prayer but the power is not the prayer.

The power is God.

He’s the One answering the prayers of His saints.

This is done on the basis of Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

Yes God is the power. Is there “power in prayer”? Yes because when we pray we are blessed to access God the Father through Christ – who is the power, who has “all power.”

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18

Prayer is simply the venue God gave us to access Him.

In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

God’s desires to answer our prayers in the name of Jesus that our “joy may be full” in Christ.

“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23-24

Abiding in Christ according to the wisdom and counsel of His written Word is a condition for answered prayer.

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7

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Empowered by His Word and Cross [podcast]


Being Crucified with Christ Assures that we will Preach His Word.

Why do people get weak and compromise, and faint in the battle?

“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” Proverbs 24:10

How to go from “small” “strength” to much strength

How to get built up, to be “nourished up” …..

“praying in the Holy Ghost.”

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Jude 20

“nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine”

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”1 Timothy 4:6

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” – running rich on the divine fuel of God’s Word.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16

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“Our love to the word of God is evidence of our Love to God”. Matthew Henry.

God, and therefore what He’s stated are unchanging, unfailing, everlasting, ever-living and ever-relevant.

The LORD would and will never contradict His own Word.

“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” Psalms 119:89

“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Psalms 89:34

The LORD’s Word cannot and will not change because He will never change. Divinity, eternal perfection, needs no change.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Mark 13:31

The Word of God is the authority of God – the very “thoughts of his heart.”

“The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalms 33:11

Jesus called the Scripture the authority of God.

“Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:” Luke 11:49

“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” John 8:47
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Every part of His creation is changing, yet He is forever Constant.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8

What God has stated in His Word will come to pass and has no expiration date.

“Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail.” Isaiah 34:16

As seen from the inception, in the very Garden of creation, Satan wants the “foundation” …..removed or diminished.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalms 11:3

“that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” 

“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 

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26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

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29  For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:24-29

Building the house of our lives on the Word, the only sure, eternal foundation.

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20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 

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23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

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28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 

29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:19-29 

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“The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalms 33:11

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Isa 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isa 8:16  Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

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Let us cease to pretend that we represent the LORD when everything we say isn’t coming straight out of His Word. Read that again please. He didn’t instruct us to entertain or to tell stories. He commanded us to preach HIS Word. King James Bible.

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Speaking the Word of God in the Crucified Life.

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Will you love darkness or will you turn to God in repentance and love “the light of the world” Jesus Christ and His truth?

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:19-21

Prayer: Holy Father, I know You are unchanging, and Your Word is settled in Heaven. Thank You so very much for giving us Your unalterable Word, for preserving it for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Abiding

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HERE’S WHAT BEING FULFILLED, WHAT’S COMING TO PASS RIGHT NOW

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:10-14

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“God is love” and God is “Holy, holy, holy.” (1 John 4:8, 16; Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8)

He loves us. Fact.

He is holy. Fact.

Do we love Him?

Such will determine our eternal destination.

“And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:33

Choosing to love God with….

“all the heart”

“all the understanding”

“all the soul”

“all they strength”

“We are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Mat 22:37). That means a total surrender of all that one holds dear, including yourself. It is a command from the LORD to love God with every fiber of our being and to have Him as our first love. This means a wholehearted devotion to Him, and Him alone. Let your heart be the dwelling place for the Lord.” Karen Cochran

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

“IF”

“But IF we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”1 John 1:7

“IF we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   1 John 1:9

“Continually”

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11

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