This is something that I've been (for lack of a better term) "wrestling" with for the past year or so. Why are there 4 or 5 words in the Bible (Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus) translated as "Hell," yet they are not identical? Sometimes they are not even similar! Sheol was the place of the dead, and was the word used in the Old Testament. Gehenna was used only in the Gospels 12 times and referred to the town dump, not an eternal lake of fire. Hades was the equivalent of the word Sheol (we know this from the Greek Septuagint which is the OT written in Greek), yet Hades is translated as "Hell" more often than not in the NT, rather than "the grave." Not too mention, this concept of a eternal hell would have been foreign to the Jews at that time. No one questioned Him on this? Not even the Pharisees who were trying to discredit Him? Not too long ago, I wrote a post on Facebook (which interestingly got no responses), and it follows:
