ABSTRACT
Abode or state of the dead prior to their eternal disposition at the last judgment. Although Hades is translated as "hell" in some English versions of the Bible, "hell" more properly translates gehenna, the true hell of everlasting punishment. Hades was originally the name of the Greek god of the underworld. Hellenistic Judaism, however, appropriated the term as the equivalent of the Hebrew sheol, the realm of the dead. Sheol-Hades was believed to be located in the heart of the earth (Ps. 26:5; Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15).
