What is Gehenna?
Answered from the commentary of J. N. Darby, A. J. Pollock, William Kelly and 7 others
Gehenna is the place of final judgment and punishment for the lost, where body and soul are under God’s judgment. The name comes from the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, a place defiled by idolatry and associated with fire and filth; it became a figure for that place of punishment.
The fire and worm are used as figures, but they point to a real and enduring punishment: the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. Gehenna is distinct from Hades, which refers to the state of departed spirits; Gehenna is the final doom after judgment. The passages also report views of Gehenna as temporary or remedial, but they reject those views; they teach its punishment is eternal.
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What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
γέεννα, Gehenna, the Greek equivalent for two Hebrew words, signifying 'valley of Hinnom.' It was the place near Jerusalem where the Jews made their children pass through fire to heathen gods, and which was afterwards defiled. 2 Kings 23:10. A continual fire made it a fit emblem of the place of eternal punishment. Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 18:9; Matt. 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. The above-named place of defilement and fire is also called in the O.T. TOPHET or TOPHETH. 2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33; Jer. 19:13.
Γέεννα, Gehenna, was derived from the valley of Hinnom so often spoken of in Kings and Chronicles, the receptacle for burning all that defiled, and became the figure for the place of endless punishment.
The N.T. and especially the Lord Himself deepens its usage from anything seen outside of Jerusalem to what we in English call Hell, with which Hades (referring to departed spirits) ought never to be confounded. No spiritual mind can doubt that He taught its final and everlasting character in Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 18:9; Matt. 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5.
The Valley of Hinnom, the refuse dump outside Jerusalem, where fires always burned and maggots continually did their work, was known as Gehenna; and this word on the Lord's lips became a terribly apt figure of the abode of the lost. Verily hell will be the great refuse heap of eternity, where all that is incorrigibly evil will be segregated from the good, and lie for ever under the judgment of God. This terrible fact reaches us from the lips of Him who loved sinful men and wept over them.
Gehenna is like the prison into which he is cast on judgment being passed.
Just as the grave is a locality for the dead body, so gehenna is the locality for the lost—body and soul.
Gehenna was the valley of Hinnom, literally ‘the valley of the groans of the children’. It was a deep, narrow gorge on the east side of Jerusalem. We read of King Ahaz:
Gehenna is like the prison in which he is cast on judgment being passed.
Just as the grave is a locality for the dead body, so gehenna is the locality for the lost—body and soul.
Gehenna was the valley of Hinnom, literally the valley of the groans of the children. It was a deep narrow gorge on the east side of Jerusalem. We read of King Ahaz, “Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen” (2 Chr. 28:3).
Gehenna is eternal. “Two hands to go into hell [Gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mark 9:43). Hades affects only the soul as we have seen. Gehenna affects both body and soul. “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” (Matt. 10:28).
Gehenna is eternal. “Two hands to go into hell [gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mark 9:43). Hades affects only the soul as we have seen. Gehenna affects both body and soul. “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 [gehenna]” (Matt. 10:28).
Gehenna is a place. “Whole body … CAST INTO hell [gehenna]” (Matt. 5:29). “Two eyes … cast INTO hell fire [gehenna]” (Matt. 18:9). It is never said that the body is cast into hades.
322 Luke 12:5. — "Gehenna," here alone in Luke, the valley of Hinnom: see Joshua 18:6 in the LXX. The final a is that of the Aramaic ending am (Dalman). Jewish apocalyptic (e.g., Apoc. of Baruch, xlix. 10) regarded Gehenna as the place, not of the final but of the intermediate punishment of the wicked. See further note 418 below.
In Matthew 5 the statement is general: danger of hell-fire — thy whole body cast into hell; referring to sacrificing one member rather than sin; clearly not the valley of Hinnom. "Fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell," chap. 10:28. It is not the valley of Hinnom. They do not put souls there. It is metaphorically used for the place of final judgment and punishment. Chapter 18:9 is as in chapter 5; in chapter 23:15, a child of hell — one who is the natural heir — belongs to this place. That it is the place of condemnation in judgment Matthew 23:33 shews: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the judgment (kriseos) of hell?" (Mark 9:43-48.) We have solemnly repeated the call to sacrifice the dearest thing that is a snare to us, under penalty of being cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. It is a judgment, a judicial punishment, for which there is no relief, of which there is no cessation.
Verses
- Matthew 5:22But I say unto you, that every one that is lightly angry with his brother shall be subject to the judgment; but whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be subject to [be called before] the sanhedrim; but whosoever shall say, Fool, shall be subject to the penalty of the hell of fire.
- Matthew 5:29–3029But if thy right eye be a snare to thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand be a snare to thee, cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell.
- Matthew 10:28And be not afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Matthew 18:9And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life one-eyed, [rather] than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.
- Matthew 23:15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass the sea and the dry [land] to make one proselyte, and when he is become [such], ye make him twofold more [the] son of hell than yourselves.
- Matthew 23:33Serpents, offspring of vipers, how should ye escape the judgment of hell?
- Mark 9:43–4843And if thy hand serve as a snare to thee, cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having thy two hands to go away into hell, into the fire unquenchable; 44[where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched]. 45And if thy foot serve as a snare to thee, cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life lame, than having thy two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire unquenchable; 46[where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched]. 47And if thine eye serve as a snare to thee, cast it out it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire, 48where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.