This is not a textual issue

This issue does not stem from the early manuscripts or collations we have. Both Erasmus’s Greek Textus Receptus from which the KJV NT was translated and the various Critical NT Texts consistently use the word ᾅδης  (Hades). Likewise the Hebrew Masoretic Text uses the various forms of the Hebrew word שְׁאוֹל (Sheol). There is no ambiguity over the words in question, they are in every use a noun referring to ‘the place of the dead ones’. So why the inconsistency and mistranslations? Surely it must stem from the biases, and presuppositions of the translators. Essentially they translating a doctrine they had accepted, rather than the text that was before them, and thus they altered the very text of scripture to fit their doctrine. We must endeavour not to make that same error when we approach scripture. We need to lay our presuppositions down and humbly let the Spirit of Christ in the Word teach us.

The Mistranslations

Sheol is not ‘the grave’

The Hebrew word for grave is קָ֫בֶר (qeber), which refers to a tomb or sepulcher in most cases. There are 68 uses of the word קָ֫בֶר (qeber) in the Old Testament.

Sheol is not ‘the pit’

The Hebrew word for pit is פַּ֫חַת (pachath), as in a deep hole or cave like the one Absolom was thrown into (2 Samuel 18:17). There are ten uses of פַּ֫חַת (pachath) throughout the Old Testament.

Sheol is not ‘Hell’, ‘the lowest hell’ or ‘the depths of hell’

The word ‘hell’ is not found in the Old Testament, but the closest word we have is הִנֹּם (Hinnom) the valley Southwest of Jerusalem associated with evil and death. There are twelve uses of the world הִנֹּם (Hinnom) in the Old Testament.

The use of the word ‘hell’ in the Old Testament is deeply problematic because it is an anachronism, specifically a future reality in the ‘lake of fire’. It is alluded to the Old Testament, but was not somewhere people could be sent until the judgement began at the end of the age.

Sheol is not destruction

The Hebrew word for ‘destruction’ is אֲבַדּוֹן (abaddon). In the Old Testament it is used alongside ‘Sheol’ to refer to the place of the dead ones.

Hades is not ‘hell’

The Greek word for ‘hell’ is γέεννα (geenna) and appears often as either hell or Gehenna in English translations.

The King James Bible translates the eleven instances of γέεννα as ‘hell’ nine times, and ‘Gehenna’ twice, but it also translates all ten instances of ᾅδης (hadés) as ‘hell’. The words are clearly different with entirely different meanings, and yet the translators hide any differences and any nuance behind the same word ‘hell’.

Conclusion

It should be clear by now that the translators of our oldest English Bibles were biased by their own presuppositions a doctrinal misunderstandings, and allowing those to impact the translation.

This mistranslation leads not only to confusion and ignorance of the original meaning of the text, but also to an undermining of the redemptive work of Christ. It supports the false doctrine that Christ went to heaven at death, despite the clear teaching of scripture that He rose from Sheol (more on that in a later article, Christ willing). This in turn leads to the false view that the resurrection must be of bodies (meaning biological) rising out of physical graves, rather than of spiritual bodies rising into the heavenly realm.

Bad translations have bad consequences, and one presuppositional wrong turn can easily lead us down a path away from the truth. The scriptures aught to be our only guide, and – if we let it – it corrects our misunderstandings. By allowing all scriptures to be factored in into our understanding, we come to a fuller and deeper understanding of the truth of God’s word, rather than having to explain away the difficult passages that don’t fit into our theology.

This mistranslation of ‘Sheol’ and ‘Hades’ severely limits our understanding of the type of death Christ died and thus that Adam died, and ultimately what type of death we now die. What’s more it leads to a misunderstanding of what the resurrection of Christ accomplished in the defeat of Satan, death and Hades, and the new entrance into heaven made possible after Christ arose. It leads some futurists to assert that David ascended into heaven when he died, despite Acts 2:34 stating the opposite.

We ought to be grateful that modern translations of the Bible in English have gone back to the route words and translated them as the nouns they originally were. God will be able to use these words routed in truth to shine the light of truth into the hearts of his people on the true nature of the death and resurrection of Christ!

You can see my summary of the translations of Sheol and Hades in the popular Bible versions in the PDF ‘A Summary of Bible Translations of “Sheol” & “Hades”’.