Tiglath-Pileser III

Tiglath-Pileser III

Tiglath-pileser III, king of Assyria 745–727 BCE, is also called Pul in the Bible; relief from Susa, eighth century BCE.

punishment, everlasting, the concept that after death an individual can be subjected to ongoing retribution for evil acts committed during life. The idea developed slowly over a long period of time. The ancient Hebrews, like other Semitic peoples of the ancient Near East, believed that at death the human person lost earthly life, but did not cease to exist entirely. They had no notion of an immortal soul separable from the body, but they did believe that the dead had a shadow-like or phantom-like existence in the realm of the dead. This realm of the dead was usually located under the earth. It was called by various names, most commonly Sheol. This name is related to the verb “to inquire” in Hebrew, which might reflect the practice of seeking oracles from the dead, though that practice was strongly condemned in Israelite law (Deut. 18:10–11; cf. 1 Sam. 28). In the Bible, Sheol is not a place of punishment, though existence there is characterized by weariness and forgetfulness.

The notion of eternal punishment does appear a few times in the Hebrew Bible, though not in explicit association with Sheol. In referring to the wicked, Isa. 66:24 says, “Their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Dan. 12:2 indicates that some will rise from the dead to shame and everlasting contempt.

In 2 Kings 23:10 the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine south of Jerusalem, is mentioned as a place where children were burned as sacrifices to the god Molech. Perhaps as early as the third century BCE, this valley came to represent the place of eternal punishment (1 Enoch 27; 90:26–27; 2 Esd. 7:36). That notion appears in the NT, where the valley is called Gehenna (e.g., Matt. 5:22). In Jewish literature of the Greco-Roman period and in the NT, the punishment envisaged in this valley is a fiery one. The book of Revelation does not use the term “Gehenna,” but speaks of a lake of fire in which the wicked will be punished (20:14–15). Likewise, in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says that at the end of the age “the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (13:41–42).

Elsewhere in that same Gospel, Jesus says that the Son of Man will separate the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and those who are condemned “will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (25:46). See also apocalyptic literature; eschatology; heaven; hell; judgment, day of.

Powell, Mark Allan, ed. “Pul.” The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) 2011 : 854. Print.