What does "Hades" mean in the Bible?
Hades occurs eleven times in the Greek Testament (Matt 11:23; 1 Cor 16:18; Acts 2:31; Rev 1:18, etc.), and ought to have been retained in the English Version (as it probably will be in the Revision) to distinguish it from Gehenna ("hell"). Hades appears in 10 verses across 4 books of the Bible.
What does the Bible say about Hades?
HA'DES (the unseen world, the spirit-world) occurs eleven times in the Greek Testament (Matt 11:23; 1 Cor 16:18; Acts 2:31; Rev 1:18, etc.), and ought to have been retained in the English Version (as it probably will be in the Revision) to distinguish it from Gehenna ("hell"). The word is used in Homer as a proper noun for Pluto, the god of the unseen or lower world, next brother to Zeus (Jupiter). In later writers it signifies a place, viz., the unseen spiritworld, the realm of the departed, the abode of the dead. The Greek view of Hades and the Roman view of Orcun is that of a place for all the dead in the depths of the earth -dark, dreary, cheerless and shut up, inaccessible to prayers and sacrifices, ruled over by Pluto. The Hebrew Sheol is the equivalent for the Greek Hades, and is so translated in the Septuagint. It is likewise the subterranean abode of all the dead, but only their temporary abode till the advent of the Messiah or the final judgment, and is divided into two departments, called paradise or Abraham's bosom for the good, and Gehenna or hell for the bad. The N.T. Hades does not differ essentially from the Hebrew Sheol, but Christ has broken the power of death, dispelled the darkness of Hades, and revealed to believers the idea of heaven as the state and abode of bliss in immediate prospect after a holy life. The English Version translates Hades and Gehenna by the same word ("hell"), except in 1 Cor 15:55 ("grave"), and thus obliterates the important distinction between the realm of the dead or spiritworld and the place of torment. Hades is a temporary jail or prison-house; heaven and hell are permanent and final. Since Christ's descent into Hades, or the unseen, the spirit world, believers need not fear to enter this realm through death. Christ declares, "I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Hades] and of death." Rev 1:18.
Definition text: Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible · 1898. Public domain.
Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.
What is the Greek word for Hades?
Greek · G86
ᾍδης
Hadēs
hell: Hades
TBESG, from Abbott-Smith (1922). Public domain.
Where does Hades appear in the Bible?
Hades is referenced in 10 verses across 4 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.
- Acts 2:27
- Acts 2:31
- Luke 10:15
- Luke 16:23
- Matthew 11:23
- Matthew 16:18
- Revelation 1:18
- Revelation 6:8
- Revelation 20:13
- Revelation 20:14
What else appears in these passages?
These turn up in the same passages as Hades.
Common questions
How many times does the Bible mention Hades?
Hades appears in 10 verses across 4 books, most often in Revelation, which accounts for 4 of them.
Which books of the Bible mention Hades?
Revelation, Acts, Luke, Matthew.
Where can I read every verse about Hades?
This page lists 10 of them. Protos carries all 10, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.
