Hell in Christianity

In some versions of <a href="/facts/Christian_theology/sLefEsAd">Christian theology</a>, <a href="/facts/Hell/2nIkoYTB">Hell</a> is the place or state into which, by God's definitive judgment, <a href="/facts/Repentance/TDsP6b8K">unrepentant</a> <a href="/facts/Sin/hcWqMsIt">sinners</a> pass in the <a href="/facts/General_judgment/px0juBNX">general judgment</a>, or, as some Christians believe, immediately after death as a result of a person's choice to live a life intentionally separate from God (<a href="/facts/Particular_judgment/UuMwudhp">particular judgment</a>). Its character is inferred from teaching in the biblical texts, some of which, interpreted literally, have given rise to the popular idea of Hell. Some theologians see Hell as the consequence of rejecting union with God.
Different Hebrew and Greek words are translated as "Hell" in most English-language Bibles. These words include:

<ul><li>"<a href="/facts/Sheol/jh2rd4e8">Sheol</a>" in the <a href="/facts/Hebrew_Bible/04qRIX0c">Hebrew Bible</a>, and "<a href="/facts/Christian_views_on_Hades/Uy52fMbP">Hades</a>" in the <a href="/facts/New_Testament/k066sDIn">New Testament</a>. Multiple modern versions, such as the <a href="/facts/New_International_Version/wuysbe1N">New International Version</a>, translate Sheol as "grave" and simply transliterate "Hades". It is generally agreed that both sheol and hades do not typically refer to the place of eternal punishment, but to the grave, the temporary abode of the dead, the <a href="/facts/Underworld/DaB7uJsa">underworld</a>.</li>
<li>"<a href="/facts/Gehenna/3JF5KkKu">Gehenna</a>" in the New Testament, where it is described as a place where both <a href="/facts/Soul/DJl01SxP">soul</a> and body could be destroyed (<a href="/facts/Matthew_10/3e2o9KYg">Matthew 10</a>:28) in "unquenchable fire" (<a href="/facts/Mark_9/5u4bEj2G">Mark 9</a>:43). The word is translated as either "Hell" or "Hell fire" in multiple English versions. Gehenna was a physical location outside the city walls of Jerusalem.</li>
<li>The Greek verb ταρταρῶ (tartarō, derived from <a href="/facts/Tartarus/cvNzCaPM">Tartarus</a>), which occurs once in the New Testament (in <a href="/facts/2_Peter_2/0VCwxrM1">2 Peter 2</a>:4), is almost always translated by a phrase such as "thrown down to hell". A few translations render it as "Tartarus"; of this term, the <a href="/facts/Holman_Christian_Standard_Bible/T9XsocxM">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a> states: "Tartarus is a Greek name for a subterranean place of divine punishment lower than <a href="/facts/Greek_underworld/3JMV6eMT">Hades</a>."</li></ul>

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Hell in Christianity