Hades

Hades is the Greek term used in the New Testament for the realm of the dead, corresponding closely to the Hebrew Sheol, and it can denote the grave, the underworld, or the place of the dead. Historically, the Septuagint regularly renders Hebrew Sheol by Greek Hades, so the two terms overlap in biblical usage. In the Psalms, Sheol is a power that can seize the living and a place from which God can rescue: the psalmist asks God to redeem his soul from the power of Sheol (Psalm 49:15), gives thanks for deliverance from the lowest Sheol (Psalm 86:13), and describes the pains of Sheol gripping him (Psalm 116:3); Jonah cries from the belly of Sheol (Jonah 2:2). The psalmist also expresses the hope that he will awake satisfied with God’s form (Psalm 17:15).

The New Testament presents Hades as a realm under Christ’s authority and, in several passages, as an enemy he defeats. Peter, citing the psalm, says God would not leave Christ’s soul in Hades or allow his Holy One to see decay (Acts 2:27). Jesus says the gates of Hades will not prevail against his assembly (Matthew 16:18), and the risen Christ holds the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). The same word can picture the state of the dead: in the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man lifts up his eyes in Hades, being in torment, and sees Abraham far off (Luke 16:23). The same Gospel records Jesus’ promise to the repentant criminal, “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The text also places Hades under final judgment: Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death (Revelation 20:14). By contrast, Matthew 10:28 speaks of destroying body and soul in Gehenna, so the New Testament does not use Hades as its only term for final punishment.

Christian traditions read the term with different emphases. In Eastern Orthodox teaching, Hades is the place Christ enters in his descent and from which he leads the dead out, in light of Acts 2:27 and Revelation 1:18; in many Protestant readings, Hades is often identified with the grave or the intermediate state, while final punishment is more often associated with Gehenna (Matthew 10:28); in Roman Catholic teaching, the creed’s descent to the dead has been discussed in relation to Hades as the abode of the dead rather than the final hell of the damned. These are confessional readings, and the biblical text itself uses the term with a range that interpreters have not all mapped the same way.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.