Part 1-Hell in Judaism- Gehenna
Posted by Eli Dahan on December 15, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Folklore | 
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Most of us are familiar with the concept of Hell from what we see in the Media: Hell is a place where sinners and evil people go after death.
We are told that hell is a fiery place of torment and the souls are suffering for eternity. In Judaism however, and in the Bible particularly, there is no mention of a place called hell. In Judaism hell has another name: Gehenna or Gehinom.The name “Gehinom “derived from a valley in south Jerusalem which belonged to a man named Ben Hinom. The word valley in Hebrew is Gai and therefore this place is called Gai Ben Hinom.
In biblical times, Gai Ben Hinom was the site of a cult where children were burned as offerings to the god Moloch as mentioned in 2 kings 23:10-
” וְטִמֵּא אֶת-הַתֹּפֶת, אֲשֶׁר בְּגֵי בני- (בֶן-) הִנֹּם: לְבִלְתִּי, לְהַעֲבִיר אִישׁ אֶת-בְּנוֹ וְאֶת-בִּתּוֹ בָּאֵשׁ–לַמֹּלֶךְ.”
“And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.”
Gehenna is not hell, but rather a sort of Purgatory where one is judged based on the things he has done while he was alive.
Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation
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Hebrew |
Transcription |
Translation |
|
גֵּיא בֶּן הִנֹּם |
Gê’ ben hinnōm |
Hinnom valley |
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חוֹטֵא |
Hōtē’ |
Sinner |
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מֹלֶךְ |
mōlek |
Moloch (deity to whom parents sacrificed their children) |
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תֹּפֶת |
tōpet |
Inferno |
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