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The rule of first use states that when a word first appears in the scriptures, it is in its
purest form. Thus, we should pay close attention to the first occurrence of any word in
order to understand its meaning and use. The word hell appears first in the New
Testament in Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother
will be subject to the judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is
answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the
fire of hell. (The word hell when it appears in the Old Testament is translated from the
Hebrew Sheol, which means grave. It has no relation to the Greek term Gehenna
translated hell in the New Testament)
Here is what my NIV Study Bible says under the notes for Matthew 5:22 "hell. The
Greek word is ge(h)enna, which derives its name from a deep ravine south of Jerusalem,
the "Valley of (the Sons of) Hinnom" (Hebrew ge hinnom). During the reigns of the
wicked Ahaz and Manasseh, human sacrifices to the Ammonite god Molech were
offered there. Josiah desecrated the valley because of the pagan worship there (2Ki 3:10;
see Jer 7:3132; 19:6). It became a sort of perpetually burning city dump and later a
figure for the place of final punishment."
The above is very good short description of Gehenna. But it leaves two important
questions unanswered. One is, why on earth did the editors of the NIV render Gehenna,
hell? Gehenna is proper noun. It's name a real place which existed in Jesus' time and still
exists to this day. As a basic rule of translation, proper nouns should be transliterated,
not translated. One author points out that translating Gehenna into hell is like translating
Miami into New York. It just doesn't make any sense.
Secondly, the last phrase, "later a figure for the place of final punishment." Just when did
Gehenna become a figure for the place of final punishment? Certainly, those who heard
Jesus that day were not thinking of some subterranean torture chamber where souls are
tormented for eternity. When Jesus said Gehenna, I'm certain his listeners thought of
Gehenna, the local burning garbage dump. It was a figure of punishment to be sure. The
worst criminals were thrown into it. But they were not burned alive like the helpless
infants of centuries past. They were only thrown there after they had been executed. This
was the worst penalty the civil government could hand down. Being thrown in this
disgusting place was a sign of contempt for their crimes and made them unworthy of any
future resurrection. It was a harsh penalty, but unlike hell, nothing was ever tormented or
tortured in Gehenna. In fact, there is no mention of torment in any of the Gehenna
passages.
We can get a little insight into how the people of Jesus' day understood the metaphor of
Gehenna from James, chapter 3. In this verse, we have the only occurrence of Gehenna
outside of the gospels: The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the
body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself
set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)
There you have it, nothing about torment or future punishment at all. James used
Gehenna the same way Jesus used it, as a metaphor for destruction, not future
punishment, eternal torment or any such thing. Whatever you think of Gehenna, it has
nothing to do with what Christians believe to be hell.
In the Latin Vulgate, the Bible of the Christian world for over a thousand years, Gehenna
is properly rendered gehennae. It wasn't until the first English language Bible was
published that it was changed into hell. This is Matthew 5:22 from Wycliffe's translation
(1395):
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.
Don't you just love that old English spelling!
Two hundred sixteen years later, the famous King James Bible was published, and it
followed the tradition started by Wycliffe, translating Gehenna into hell.
Not all modern translation use hell for Gehenna. Some just use Gehenna. One version
even translates it garbage dump. But the NIV, and many other English translations
decided to follow tradition rather than good scholarship.
Thus, my original questions:
Why did the editors of the NIV translate Gehenna into hell? Tradition.
When did Gehenna become hell? In 1395.