In the AV this is the translation of
1. sheol, which is often translated “grave,” and three times it is “pit.” It refers to an invisible place or state, which may have several applications, according to the connection of each passage. Korah and his company and their houses went down into “sheol” (Num. 16:33). Jonah said, “Out of the belly of ‘sheol’ cried I” (Jonah 2:2). “The wicked shall be turned into sheol” (Psa. 9:17). “Let them go down quick into ‘sheol,’ for wickedness is in their dwellings” (Psa. 55:15; Prov. 7:27). But for the redemption which faith looked for “sheol” must have had to Old Testament saints the character of eternal punishment, and so finally “hades” will be cast into the lake of fire. The word also refers to the place of departed spirits. The Lord said, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in ‘sheol’” (Psa. 16:10). This signification corresponds with
2. ἄοης, hades, which occurs where this last passage is quoted in Acts 2:27,31; and has the same meaning in other passages: (Matt. 11:23; Matt. 16:18; Luke 16:23; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 6:8; Rev. 20:13-14).
3, 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 afterward 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 Old Testament TOPHET or TOPHETH (2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33; Jer. 19:13).
4. ταρταρόω, “to cast into Tartarus,” a term used by heathen writers for the “deepest abyss of the infernal regions,” a place of extreme darkness (2 Pet. 2:4: Compare 2 Pet. 2:17 and Jude 13).
Whatever figurative meaning there may be in the use of any of the above words, it is plain and certain from scripture that there is a place of everlasting punishment. It is awfully described as the LAKE OF FIRE, “the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10, 15; Rev. 21:8). It was prepared for the devil and his angels, but into it the wicked also will be cast (Matt. 13:40, 42; Matt. 25:41; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6, and others).
See ETERNAL.