Where Did the Word Hell Come From?

The English word Hell is not a translation. It is a substitution—an intrusion of foreign mythology into the sacred text of Scripture. It is a term that replaced the original Hebrew and Greek words—Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus—each of which carried distinct and layered meanings. By lumping them all into one terrifying label, Bible translators—especially under Roman Catholic and post-medieval influence—deformed the biblical vision of judgment, distorted the character of God, and armed religion with a weapon of fear.

The result? A false doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT) and Annihilationism, both built on a foundation of mistranslation, myth, and pagan confusion.

A Book of Signs, Not Literal Fires

The book of Revelation opens with this statement:

“He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John” (Revelation 1:1)

The Greek word for signified (sēmainō) tells us plainly that Revelation is a book of signs and symbols—not a book of literal geography. Yet we are told to read “fire,” “brimstone,” and “lake” as physical locales of eternal torment, despite the warnings of symbolism at the book’s very outset.

The word Hell never appears in the Greek text of Revelation. Instead, the words are Hades and Gehenna. But the English word “Hell” was forcibly inserted, coloring every image with medieval fear.

The Word “Hell”—Where It Comes From

The English term Hell has no Hebrew or Greek origin. It is entirely Germanic.

Old English: hel or helle
Proto-Germanic: haljō – meaning “the hidden” or “covered” place
Related to: the Norse underworld goddess Hel, who ruled over Helheim, a shadowy realm of the dead

This “Hel” was not a realm of fire and torment, but a cold, gloomy place for those who died ordinary deaths—not in battle, not in glory. Yet through layers of myth, fear, and manipulation, this word would be chosen to replace Sheol and Hades, importing its own pagan imagery.

The Norse Invasion of Scripture

When translators used Hell for Hades and Sheol, they brought with it Norse and Germanic baggage:

Hel was a goddess, ruling over the underworld
Her realm was separate from the gods, and the dead were cut off from glory
The realm itself was gloomy, cold—not fiery—but still undesirable
It later became feared, not because of torture, but because it signified separation from honor and life

Over time, under the pressures of Roman Catholic eschatology, the cold Hel merged with Dante’s infernos, and with Latin Infernum, forming the vision we now call “Hell.”

But it’s not biblical. It’s myth.

The Original Words: What Scripture Actually Says

Let’s compare the four original words with the hijacked substitute:

1. Sheol (Hebrew)

Used throughout the Old Testament
Meaning: the grave, the place of the dead, silence

Neutral—neither a place of punishment nor reward
David, Jacob, and righteous men all went to Sheol
Not once described as a place of conscious torment

2. Hades (Greek)

Used in the New Testament to translate Sheol
Meaning: the unseen realm, the underworld

Greek myth used it as the place of all the dead
Biblically, it continues the Hebrew concept of Sheol
Hades is cast into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:14—if Hell is eternal, why is it destroyed?

3. Gehenna

A Greek word based on the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem
Meaning: the place of burning trash and corpses

A real place, used as a symbol of judgment
Jesus references Gehenna to warn Israel of coming destruction (see Matthew 23:36)
It was symbolic of national judgment, not post-mortem torture

4. Tartarus

Used once in 2 Peter 2:4
Refers to the holding place of angels who sinned

Not humans
Not eternal torture
A lower chamber for spiritual beings, possibly pre-judgment

Now compare this with:

5. Hell (English)

A hybrid term not found in the original texts
Carries connotations from Norse, Roman, and Catholic mythology
Implies eternal, conscious, fiery torment with no end
Projects a grotesque image onto the nature of God

It’s not just bad translation—it’s spiritual slander.

How “Hell” Replaced the Gospel

Once the myth of Hell was installed into Christian tradition, it became the centerpiece of fear-based religion. The gospel was no longer about life from the dead, but about avoiding torture. Instead of rescuing humanity from sin and death, Jesus was rebranded as the one who saves you from Himself—a warden holding back the flames He stoked.

This is the cruel irony of Eternal Conscious Torment:
Jesus is preached not as the Savior of the world, but as the chief torturer of the damned.

As if Revelation 20:10 (a highly symbolic passage) grants the church permission to brand God as an eternal sadist, burning souls without mercy—while claiming this is justice.

The Absurdity of Annihilationism

In response to ECT, some have chosen a “kinder” heresy: Annihilationism. The idea that God just burns people out of existence.

Yet this still misses the point entirely.

Jesus didn’t come to destroy people—He came to save them (Luke 9:56)
God is not the author of death—He is the one who abolishes death (2 Timothy 1:10)
The lake of fire is the second death—but death itself is thrown into it (Revelation 20:14)

You can’t destroy death with more death.

And you don’t show God’s justice by annihilating the very souls He created to reflect His glory.

The Glorious Truth of Universal Reconciliation

When the false imagery of Hell is stripped away, the truth begins to shine:

All will be made alive in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22)
Every knee will bow, every tongue confess—not by coercion, but because God’s love melts every resistance (Philippians 2:10-11)
The Lamb takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), not just of the elect
God is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe (1 Timothy 4:10)
The judgment fire is refining, not destructive—like silver purified in a furnace

The “lake of fire” is not a torture pit—it is the fire of divine truth, justice, and purification. It is the fire that saves, even if by burning away the dross (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

God is Not a Monster. The Lie Must End.

The God of Scripture is not the god of Helheim.
He is not Dante’s infernal judge.
He is not Rome’s executioner.
He is the Father of lights, in whom there is no darkness at all (James 1:17).
He is the One who leaves the 99 to seek the 1—not to destroy it, but to carry it home.

The word Hell is a theological virus—a hybrid lie forged from myth, mistranslation, and centuries of religious fear. It has nothing to do with the Hebrew worldview of Sheol, nothing to do with the love of God revealed in Christ, and everything to do with controlling hearts through terror.

It’s time we burned Hell out of our theology—so we can see clearly the God who saves all.