What were the Jews beliefs on eternal hell in the old Testament days? Did they believe in an eternal hell?

-- Jason (enchantedfire5@yahoo.com), February 25, 2005

Answers

bump

-- bump (bumppmub@bumpmail.com), February 25, 2005.

Remember, to anyone who is Jewish, these are the (Christian) Old Testament days.

I'll search around for some quotes for you, but you need to realize that Hell really isn't a focus for Jews, living a life according to God's will is.

-- Pat Thompson (pat.thompson.45@gmail.com), February 25, 2005.

Thanks Pat. But yeah I'm just wondering if they believed that when one of them died in a sin such as murder or was stoned to death because of Adultry, that they would go to a place of suffering. I mean what world did the believe to go to after death?

-- Jason (enchantedfire5@yahoo.com), February 26, 2005.

as i am to understand, jason, the first definate mention of an afterlife with a clearly defined heaven or hell doesnt come until after the book of Job. it was postulated by my professor in biblical traditions that the jewish of the time believed in a sort of limbo whereby the people were more or less held in waiting.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), February 26, 2005.

Perhaps this will help:

Olam Ha-Ba: The Afterlife

Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence. However, because Judaism is primarily focused on life here and now rather than on the afterlife, Judaism does not have much dogma about the afterlife, and leaves a great deal of room for personal opinion. It is possible for an Orthodox Jew to believe that the souls of the righteous dead go to a place similar to the Christian heaven, or that they are reincarnated through many lifetimes, or that they simply wait until the coming of the messiah, when they will be resurrected. Likewise, Orthodox Jews can believe that the souls of the wicked are tormented by demons of their own creation, or that wicked souls are simply destroyed at death, ceasing to exist.

(From http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm )

-- Pat Thompson (pat.thompson.45@gmail.com), February 26, 2005.

Jason, I recommend that you seek a good Orthodox Jewish forum at which you can ask your question. I don't think that you are going to get a reliable answer here, unless a "completed Jew" (former Orthodox Jew) is visiting us now.

-- (My@Opinion.com), February 26, 2005.

What did Christ mean then when He spoke of such things like "Where the worms die not, unquenchable fire," Mark 9:41-48, or eternal PUNISHMENT and verses like Matt. 7:13, 25:46?

Also Rev. 14:11? And how it is spoken of Satan and the false prophet along with all who follow Satan to be cast in the lake of fire and will be TORMENTED DAY AND NIGHT forever and ever?

What did Jesus have in mind when he spoke these things and from where in the Old Testament did He get His refrences and where did the apostles get these beliefs from? The Church Fathers clearly believed in eternal hell.

I am asking these questions because I was in a debate recently at my work with a Christian who did not believe in hell because she said it's not what a loving God would do to a poor soul. Plus she used her interpretation from the Bible to make her point.

-- Jason (enchantedfire5@yahoo.com), February 27, 2005.

If there is no hell, then all people logically must end up in heaven. Therefore, why would a loving God cause people to go through this meaningless charade on earth, 50 or 70 or 90 years of struggling, sickness and suffering, before entering into our inevitable eternal state? Does He take some perverse pleasure in watching us struggle and suffer? Is our earthly existence merely for His personal amusement? If He could not allow for hell because of His perfect love, then why doesn't He simply create us in heaven, and bypass an earthly existence that is filled with unpleasantness, and is essentially meaningless?

In fact, earthly existence only makes sense if it involves a choice between two eternal alternatives.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), February 27, 2005.

Yeah Paul M. I agree. I guess you can say why would a loving God create carnivores that eat other animals. Or why would he give snakes the poisonous venom system they have or the stinger of bees? We live in a world that's in a state of journeying to perfection I say.

But never the less, they would just say that our sins caused God to curse the universe. But again, why would He like you say, just create us in Heaven with Him? Perhaps their answers would be that we have to make a choice here on earth, but if we chose wrong then we will simply be "cut-off" from existence. The verses in of the New Testament seem pretty clear that there is a hell. If Jesus is going to say to those who are unsaved to "depart into the everlasting fire that was created for the devil," and we see that in revelation that the devil will be cast into a lake of fire where he will be tormented day and night, forever and ever (along with those unsaved), then that must be an eternal hell. It seems clear to me but you know as well as I do that following your own interpretation of what "you" want to hear will cause them to come up with unBiblical doctrines.

Ironicly she was telling me to not listen to man but the Bible. Yet man is who SHE is listening her (God bless here heart because she is a very nice woman). She had no comment when I told her there are numerous denominations who all claim what they believe is the Holy Spirits teaching yet come to different conclusions. Funny, I do not think many Christians ever realize that.

-- Jason (enchantedfire5@yahoo.com), February 27, 2005.