adequate warning to the living wicked, and facts of great importance bearing
upon the proper interpretation of this peculiar passage.
10. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament in
Greek. Here an important fact is to be noticed: The Old Testament uses the word
sheol to designate the place which in the New Testament
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is called hades. Thus the sixteenth Psalm, written in Hebrew, says, "Thou wilt not
leave my soul in sheol." Verse 10. The New Testament, quoting this text, and
expressing the words in Greek, says, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades." Acts
2:27. The Hebrew term sheol, as used in the Old Testament, is, therefore, the
same in meaning with the Greek word hades as used in the New. In other words,
the hades of Christ and the apostles is the sheol of Moses and the prophets.
11. It is well here to observe that the Hebrew word sheol is used in the Old
Testament sixty-five times. It is rendered grave thirty-one times. Gen. 37:35;
42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam. 2:6; 1 Kings 2:6, 9; Job 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; 21:13; 24:19;
Ps. 6:5; 30:3; 31:17; 49:14, 15; 88:3; 89:48; 141:7; Prov. 1:12; 30:16; Eccl.9:10;
Cant. 8:6; Isa. 14:11; 38:10, 18; Eze. 31:15; Hosea 13:14. It is rendered pit three
times, as follows: Num. 16:30, 33; Job 17:16. It is also rendered hell in thirty-one
instances, as follows: Deut. 32:22; 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 11:8; 26:6; Ps. 9:17; 16:10;
18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3; 139:8; Prov. 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:11, 24; 23:14; 27:20;
Isa. 5:14; 14:9, 15; 28:15, 18; 57:9; Eze. 31:16, 17; 32:21, 27; Amos 9:2; Jonah
2:2; Hab. 2:5.
Hades, the New-Testament term for the sheol of the Old Testament, is used
eleven times, and in ten of these it is rendered hell: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke
10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14. It is once rendered grave:
1 Cor. 15:55.
12. Moses and the prophets were indeed divinely inspired on every point
concerning which they wrote; but on the point respecting which we seek light,
they have the special endorsement of our Lord. We may therefore confide in their
teachings concerning hades, or sheol, assured that the great facts revealed
through them by the Spirit of God, will be found in divine harmony with the
teachings of Christ and the apostles.
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13. The texts quoted above, relating to hades, or sheol, reveal to us many
important facts. We learn that sheol is the common receptacle of the dead,
whether they are righteous or wicked. Thus Jacob expressed his faith in what
should be his state in death when he said, "I will go down into sheol unto my son
mourning." Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31. Korah and his company went down into
sheol. i * Num. 16:30, 33. Joab went down into sheol. 1 Kings 2:6, 9. Job was to
be hid in sheol, and wait there till the resurrection. Job 14:13; 17:13. All the
wicked go into sheol. Ps. 9:17; 31:17; 49:14. All mankind go there. Ps. 89:48;
Eccl. 9:10.
14. Sheol, or hades, receives the whole man at death. Jacob expected to go
down with his gray hairs to sheol. Gen. 42:38. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, went
into sheol bodily. Num. 16:30, 33. The soul of the Saviour left sheol at his
resurrection. Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27, 31. The psalmist, being restored from
dangerous sickness, testified that his soul was saved from going into sheol. Thus
