Sheol

This is in the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh). Sheol is the underworld, or the place of the dead. This is a place of stillness & darkness & dust, which is death.

Within the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), there are a few, brief (& nondescript) mentions of Sheol. Sheol wasn’t a punishment or reward. It was the great equalizer. Whether King or beggar, wicked or righteous, every single person went to Sheol. Irregardless of their moral decision in their mortal life.

Even though such practices are prohibited, the residents of Sheol can, under certain circumstances, be summoned/called by the living to the mortal realm. Like when the infamous Witch of Endor makes Samuel’s spirit show up for King Saul.

It’s often pictured as being “down.” Either deep under the earth or the floor of the ocean.

The residents of Sheol were called Raphaim (shades or ghosts). They weren’t exactly “alive” per se. But they weren’t totally gone either. They exist in a state of extreme lethargy, cut off from the living & importantly, often pictured as being cut off from active communion with God.

As Jewish thought evolved, particularly during the Second Temple period (circa 500 BCE to 70 BCE), the idea of Sheol began to change. Sheol began to be viewed as having “compartments.” Like a pleasant area for the righteous (often called “Abraham’s Bosom”) & a separate place for the suffering of the wicked.

When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (the Septuagint), Sheol was almost always translated as Hades. By the time the New Testament was written, the focus shifted further toward Gehenna (a place of fiery judgment) & Tartarus. So in the New Testament, Hades is both the underworld of the dead & the personification of the evil it represents.

Sheol is mentioned 66x throughout the Hebrew Bible. The 1st mentions of Sheol within the text associate it with the state of death & eternal finality. Jacob says that he’ll “go down to Sheol,” because he was still mourning the apparent death of his favorite son, Joseph (of Technicolor Dreamcoat fame).

Later in Genesis, the same scene plays out for a 2nd time when Jacob’s sorrow is repeated when another 1 of his sons, Benjamin, couldn’t return to him with his other brothers.

Sheol shows up again during Korah’s story in the Book of Numbers. After Korah attempted to provoke the Israelites to rebel against Moses, Moses vows that Yahweh will prove his legitimacy by splitting open the earth to hurl Korah & his conspirators into Sheol. Sure enough, after Moses stops talking, Yahweh splits the earth open. This causes Korah, his family, & all of his earthly possessions to “enter Sheol alive.”

In Deuteronomy, Moses sings that the anger of Yahweh is a flame which burns in the “depths” of Sheol, consuming the entire earth from the bottom up.

Later mentions of Sheol in the Tanakh picture it as a representation of death. Suggesting that entry into Sheol is an unavoidable consequence of dying.

I Samuel describes Yahweh as the 1 who brings souls down to Sheol. II Samuel further cements Sheol as humanity’s ultimate postmortem destination. I Kings uses “going down to Sheol” as a metaphor for death. Describing those who go do it both “in peace” & “in blood.”

Isaiah, the prophet, explains Sheol at great length during some of his “sermons.” He personified it as possessing an ever-increasing hunger for living people, with a great propensity for the souls of sinners, & where pleas to Yahweh cannot escape.

Ezekiel, during his prophecy of Egypt’s downfall, described Egypt metaphorically descending into Sheol as a dead person would, where all the spirits of the dead, as well as other fallen empires, such as Assyria, jeer & mock its fall from might.

The remaining mentions of Sheol are in the poetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. Job mentions Sheol in several of his laments, calling it his “home” as he lies in anguish & yearning for death to take him there to put an end to his suffering. Sheol is also mentioned in several Psalms as the grave of humanity.

Other biblical names for Sheol were/are: Abaddon (“ruin,” Psalms 88:11; Job 28:22; & Proverbs 15:11) & Sahat (“corruption,” Isaiah 38:17 & Ezekiel 28:8).

Owing to the evolution of its interpretation, some aspects of Sheol seem to contradict each other:

• Those who are in Sheol don’t remember anything. Not even Yahweh. But elsewhere, in Sheol, its residents have an otherwise impossible perception of earthly events. Even those that happen AFTER their demise.
• Pleas to Yahweh cannot escape Sheol. Yet, Yahweh stays its unmistakable master.
• Those who go to Sheol can’t escape. Yet Yahweh raises souls from it.

Despite the abstract nature of Sheol, there’s some physicality to it. Because it was clearly understood to be underground, which is further supported by the term bor (“pit”, Isaiah 14:15 & 24:22 & Ezekiel 26:20).

It’s a “land,” has “gates,” has sections (think Dante’s Inferno), & there are multiple mentions of its “deepest depths” & “farthest corners.”

The concept of both the righteous & unrighteous eventually going to Sheol seems to be an unspoken assumption in the Hebrew Bible. With the codification of Rabbinical Judaism & the Talmud, Jewish theology concerning the afterlife largely rejected the idea of a single place for EVERYONE after death.

It adopted what we recognize today. It maintains a place of reward for the righteous & punishment for the wicked called Gehinnom. As a result, Sheol, Abaddon, Bor, Shakhat, & other related terms were reduced to synonyms for a realm of punishment.

In Mandaeism, the World of Darkness (the underworld) is sometimes called Sheol in the Ginza Rabba & other Mandaean scriptures.

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‘ABADDON’: CUANDO LA INJUSTICIA FABRICA MONSTRUOS, EL NUEVO SINGLE CONCEPTUAL DE PEAK LEVEL | vía #iRock

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Proverbs, Chapter 27

“As iron shrpens iron, so 1 man sharpens another.”

Proverbs 27:17

Don’t boast about tomorrow. For you don’t know what a day may bring forth. Let another praise you. Not your own lips. Someone else, & not your own lips. Stone is heavy & sand is a burden. But provocation by a fool is heavier than both. Anger is cruel & fury overwhelming. But who can stand before jealousy?

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted. But an enemy multiplies kisses. He who is full loathes honey. But to the hungry, even what’s bitter tastes sweet. Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who starts from his home.

Perfume & incense bring joy to the heart. The pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel. Don’t forsake your friend & the friend of your dad. Don’t go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you. Better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Be wise, my son, & bring joy to my heart. Then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt. The prudent see danger & take refuge. But the simple keep going & suffer for it. Take the garment of 1 who puts up security for a stranger. Hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse. A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day. Restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. AS iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens another.

He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit. He who looks after his master will be honored. As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. Sheol & Abaddon are never satisfied & neither are the eyes of man. The crucible for silver & the furnace for gold. But man is tested by the praise he receives.

Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you’ll not remove his folly from him. Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds. For riches don’t endure forever, & a crown isn’t secure for all generations.

When the hay is removed & new growth appears & the grass from the hills is gathered in. The lambs will provide you with clothing. The goats are worth the price of a field. You’ll have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you & your family & to nourish your servant girls.

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A Clutter of Abaddons

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https://evepics.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/a-clutter-of-abaddons/