Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun one of various hells in Abrahamic religions, being the hell into which sinners are cast after judgment for eternal suffering
  • noun depending on interpretation of religious texts, one of various names for just one hell
  • noun a place of suffering and misery

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Thought to be named after the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, which was constantly filled with the waste of the city, which was then burnt. Heinous deeds are also associated with this valley, as during the time when Jerusalem was ruled by non-Jews (referred to in scriptures simply as 'pagans') child sacrifice was practiced there.

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Examples

  • Jesus 'uses of the term gehenna warn of the danger of hell fire (Matt. 5: 22) and the relative insignificance of losing a bodily part (and going to heaven) in comparison to remaining whole but being wholly lost (Matt.

    Apprising Ministries 2009

  • My guess is that when priests first preached Christianity to the English they needed an Old English word to translate "gehenna" or "hades", asked the interpreter what his people called the bad place you go to after you die, and were told it was called "helle", after which the word became the standard term.

    Old English gods and myths: Hell Carla 2009

  • Upon his arrival, by a somewhat ominous conjuncture, he had supped with some of the leading citizens in the hall of the "gehenna" or torture room, certainly not a locality calculated to inspire a healthy appetite.

    The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Complete (1566-74) John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • Upon his arrival, by a somewhat ominous conjuncture, he had supped with some of the leading citizens in the hall of the "gehenna" or torture room, certainly not a locality calculated to inspire a healthy appetite.

    PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • Upon his arrival, by a somewhat ominous conjuncture, he had supped with some of the leading citizens in the hall of the "gehenna" or torture room, certainly not a locality calculated to inspire a healthy appetite.

    The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 11: 1566, part II John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • Upon his arrival, by a somewhat ominous conjuncture, he had supped with some of the leading citizens in the hall of the "gehenna" or torture room, certainly not a locality calculated to inspire a healthy appetite.

    The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Complete (1555-84) John Lothrop Motley 1845

  • The image of 'gehenna' and 'maggots' means decomposition.

    Latest Articles Redeemer.com 2009

  • He saw in the dream Mary daughter of Heli was being punished in hell or gehenna as you stated.

    Debunking Debunking Christianity Christianity James F. McGrath 2009

  • If you are a KJV only buff, then you can find many OT verses that use the word "hell", but those instances have been more appropriately changed in modern translations to "grave"/sheol/gehenna.

    Picking and Choosing James F. McGrath 2009

  • Libet eos nunc interrogare qui domus marmoribus vestiunt, qui uno filo villarum ponunt precia, huic seni modo quid unquam defuit? vos gemma bibitis, ille concavis manibus naturae satisfecit; ille pauper paradisum capit, vos avaros gehenna suscipiet.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

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