GEHENNA IN THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

__________________________________________

A Paper

Submitted to Dr. Andrew Pitts

Phoenix Seminary

Phoenix, Arizona

__________________________________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for

BL595 Judeo/Greco-Roman Backgrounds to the New Testament

__________________________________________

by

Andrew Harshman

November 2, 2015
 GEHENNA IN THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

The topic of hell in Christianity always seems to be on people’s radar. There are many ideas and

misconceptions about what it is and what happens there from ideas of red devils with horns and

pitchforks to believing that there is no such place as hell. This study is going to examine what

Jesus really meant when he mentioned hell, or better yet, Gehenna γέεννα, by taking a look at the

Old Testament, intertestamental literature, and the times Jesus mentioned it specifically.

Was Gehenna a Garbage Dump?

In March of 2011, Rob Bell wrote the book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the

Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. He brought up a lot of questions about God and the idea

of eternal punishment without giving many answers. It created a stir within the evangelical

world, causing many people to rethink their ideal of hell. There were many negative reactions

against Bell’s book ranging from John Piper tweeting “Farewell Rob Bell” to whole books being

written in response to Love Wins. In one section of the book, he talks about what Jesus meant

when he used the word Gehenna. Bell says,

Gehenna, in Jesus’s day, was the city dump. People tossed their garbage and waste into
this valley. There was a fire there, burning constantly to consume the trash. Wild animals
fought over scraps of food along the edges of the heap. When they fought, their teeth
would make a gnashing sound. Gehenna was the place with the gnashing of teeth, where
the fire never went out. Gehenna was an actual place that Jesus’s listeners would have
been familiar with. So the next time someone asks you if you believe in an actual hell,
you can always say, “Yes, I do believe that my garbage goes somewhere.”1

1
Rob Bell, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (New
York, NY: HarperOne, 2011), 68.

2
 3

So where did Rob Bell get this idea that Gehenna was a garbage dump? Unfortunately, knowing

exactly where someone gets their ideas from is hard to do if they aren’t noted (and Bell didn’t

note this in Love Wins). But this idea of Gehenna being a garbage dump comes up in other

literature.

The book, Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You've Been Taught About God's Wrath

and Judgment by Sharon L. Baker was released just seven months prior to Bell’s. She writes that

Gehenna comes from the Aramaic/Hebrew word Ge-Hinnom which means “Valley of [the son

of] Hinnom.” She goes on to say that “During times of war, soldiers piled dead bodies in the

valley, where they burned seemingly forever. And for centuries, the community dumped the dead

bodies of criminals into Gehenna. Many centuries later, after the siege of Jerusalem in the year

70, the Romans heaped up and burned dead bodies of Jews in Gehenna.”2

N.T. Wright has also played a role in popularizing the idea that Gehenna was a trash

dump in the 1st century AD. In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the

Mission of the Church, Wright says, “The most common New Testament word sometimes

translated as hell is Gehenna. Gehenna was a place, not just an idea: it was the rubbish heap

outside the south-west corner of the old city of Jerusalem. There is to this day a valley at that

point that bears the name of Ge Hinnom…Rome would turn Jerusalem into a hideous, stinking

extension of its own smoldering rubbish heap.”3 In a footnote in Jesus and the Victory of God, he

states that “Gehenna was Jerusalem’s smouldering rubbish-heap, and thence became a metaphor

for the place of fiery judgment after death”4 and he cross references Lloyd R. Bailey in

2
Sharon L. Baker, Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught about God’s Wrath and
Judgment (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 129.
3
N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
(New York: HarperOne, 2008), 174.
4
N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 183.
 4

“Gehenna: The Topography of Hell,”5 Chaim Milikowsky in “Which Gehenna? Retribution and

Eschatology in the Synoptic Gospels and in Early Jewish Texts,”6 and Duane F. Watson’s article

on “Gehenna” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (who also only lists the Bailey and

Milikowsky articles in his bibliography).7 The problem with N.T. Wright using these references

to support his claim is that they contradict each other. First off, the Milikowsky article doesn’t

mention Gehenna being a trash dumb at all. Only the ABD article supports Wright’s claim.

Watson states that “the Valley of Hinnom was noted for the fires of the Molech cult and later

contained the continually burning fires of a refuse dump” but the trouble is that he doesn’t cite

any sources for that information.8 But Bailey notes that there is “no support in literary sources or

archaeological data from the intertestamental or rabbinic periods. There is no evidence that the

valley was, in fact, a garbage dump.”9

It seems most likely that the idea of Gehenna being a garbage dumb comes from two

sources. The first is from Flavius Josephus, a 1st century AD Jewish historian. In recording what

happened during the siege of Jerusalem, he writes, “Now the seditious at first gave orders that

the dead should be buried out of the public treasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead

bodies. But afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the walls into

the valleys beneath.”10 Outside of any biblical reference, this is the clearest example of bodies

5
Lloyd R. Bailey, “Gehenna: The Topography of Hell,” Biblic. Archaeol., no. 49 (1986): 187–91.
6
Chaim Milikowshy, “Which Gehenna? Retribution and Eschatology in the Synoptic Gospels and in Early
Jewish Texts,” NTS 34 (1988): 238–49.
7
David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University
Press, 2008), Duane F. Watson, “Gehenna,” 2:928.
8
Ibid., 2:927.
9
Bailey, “Gehenna: The Topography of Hell,” 189.
10
Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New
updated ed. (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), Wars 5:518.
 5

being thrown into the valleys below Jerusalem. While Josephus doesn’t specifically mention

Gehenna, it’s not hard to see the parallels in judgment between Josephus and Jesus in Matthew

23:33, 36 (You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell

γεέννης”; Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation).11

The next place that Gehenna is said to have been a garbage dumb goes back to a source

from 1200 AD. In one of the popular-level books that was written to refute Love Wins, Francis

Chan and Preston Sprinkle devote a portion of their book to the exact quote from Bell mentioned

earlier. They show that the idea of Gehenna being a literal garbage dump can originally be traced

back to Rabbi David Kimhi around 1200 AD.12 In a commentary on Psalm 27, Kimhi writes,

“Gehenna is a repugnant place, into which filth and cadavers are thrown, and in which fires

perpetually burn in order to consume the filth and bones; on which account, by analogy, the

judgement of the wicked is called “Gehenna.””13 This shows that besides the quote from

Josephus, there is no clear evidence that Gehenna was ever a garbage dump. The first mention of

it being one was from a Rabbi who lived over a millennium after the events he mentioned in his

commentary. There is no other specific mention of Gehenna ever being used as a garbage dumb

in Jewish or Christian writings before the 13th century AD.14

11
All Scripture quotations will be taken from the ESV and NA27.
12
Francis Chan and Preston M. Sprinkle, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity and the Things We
Made Up (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011), 59-60. After writing this book, Preston Sprinkle became an
annihilationist.
13
Bailey, “Gehenna: The Topography of Hell,” 188.
14
Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of Final Punishment
(Fallbrook, Calif., U.S.A: Verdict Publications, 1982), 161.
 6

Gehenna in the Old Testament15

The Valley of Hinnom, today called Wadi er-Rababi, is a narrow gorge that runs from the

southwest side of Jerusalem towards the Kidron Valley in the east. 16 In the Old Testament, it

was called the Valley of Hinnom and also referred to as the “Valley of the sons of Hinnom.”17

There are three categories that Ge-Hinnom belongs to in the OT: (1) texts that mention Ge-

Hinnom as a geographical term, (2) texts that describe historical events that occurred at Ge-

Hinnom, and (3) prophetic texts which mention Ge-Hinnom.18

Ge-Hinnom as a Geographical Location

Josh. 15:8 Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫גֵּ֣י בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֗נם‬

φάραγγα Ονομ) at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And

the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley

of Hinnom (‫י־הנם‬
ִ ‫ ג‬φάραγγος Ονομ) on the west, at the northern end of the Valley

of Rephaim.

Josh. 18:16 Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the

Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫ גֵּ֣י בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֔נם‬νάπης Ονναμ) which is at the north end of

the Valley of Rephaim. And it then goes down the Valley of Hinnom (‫ֵּ֨גי הִ ֹּ֜נם‬

Γαιεννα) south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel.

15
Technically, Gehenna is never referred to in the Old Testament. It is referred to as Ge-Hinnom. “Ge-
Hinnom” will be used to refer to its Old Testament and intertestamental usage and “Gehenna” for the New
Testament.
16
Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964), Joachim Jeremias, “γέεννα,” 1:657.
17
Watson, Duane F. “Hinnom Valley.” ABD 3:202.
18
Kim Papaioannou, The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus: Gehenna, Hades, the Abyss, the
Outer Darkness Where There Is Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2013), 4.
 7

Neh. 11:30b So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom (‫)גיא־הִ נם‬.

There is nothing too interesting to make notice of as Ge-Hinnom is used in these verses except

that there are numerous ways to refer to the Valley of Hinnom in both Hebrew and Greek.

Historical Events in Ge-Hinnom

2 Chr. 28:3a and he [Ahaz] made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫בְּ גֵּ֣יא בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֑נם‬

Γαιβενενομ) and burned his sons as an offering

2 Chr. 33:6a And he [Manasseh] burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of

Hinnom (‫ן־ה ֹּ֔נם‬

ִ ֶ‫ ְּבגֵּ֣י ב‬Γαι-βαναι-εννομ)

Jer. 32:35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫בְּ גֵ֣יא בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֗נם‬

φάραγγι υἱοῦ Εννομ), to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech

These verses are all showing the atrocities that took place in the Valley of Hinnom under the

reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh and in the Jeremiah passage, the blame for idolatry is place on the

children of Israel and Judah. They used the Valley of Hinnom to sacrifice their children to Baal

and Molech and made other offerings at the high places built there.

Since it was a usual practice for Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) cultures to place alters as

close as possible to the divine realm where the gods resided, Bailey compares making sacrifices

on high places to making sacrifices in low places. Just like the gods were believed to be above

the firmament, there were also gods of the underworld, with Molech being the most well-known

underworld god. Therefore, it would be most efficient to build alters in ravines and valleys to

contact the gods.19 Isaiah 57:5-6, 9 provides an example of one who slaughters their children in

19
Bailey, “Gehenna: The Topography of Hell,” 190.
 8

the valleys, pouring out a drink offering and bringing a grain offering, and journeying to

Molech20 with oil while wearing perfume.

2 Kgs. 23:10 And he [Josiah] defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom

(‫י־ה ֹּ֑נם‬
ִ ‫ ְּבגֵ֣י ְּבנ‬φάραγγι υἱοῦ Εννομ), that no one might burn his son or his daughter as

an offering to Molech.

In 2 Kings 23:1-25 and 2 Chronicles 34:1-7, Josiah sets out to reform the evil practices that had

become normative in Judah. He sets out on a campaign to destroy anything idolatrous in the land

of Judah. Part of this reform includes desecrating Topheth, which was a specific area inside of

the Valley of Hinnom. While the etymology of Topheth ‫ תפֶת‬isn’t known with certainty, W.R.

Smith maintains that it comes from the Aramaic/Syriac word ‫ת ָפיָא‬,

ְּ meaning cooking hearth or

the stone upon which the cooking pot is set. This would give Topheth a meaning along the lines

of hearth or fire-place.21 A similar word, (‫תָ פְּ תֶ ה‬, tophteh), is used in Isa. 30:33 and is translated as

“a burning place” and the surrounding context of says, “its pyre made deep and wide, with fire

and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.” This gives

support that Topheth was a specific place for cooking/burning something.

Prophetic Texts Concerning Ge-hinnom

Jer. 7:31-32 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son

of Hinnom (‫ן־ה ֹּ֔נם‬

ִ ֶ‫ ְּבגֵּ֣יא ב‬φάραγγι υἱοῦ Εννομ), to burn their sons and their

daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.
32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no

20
In Isa. 57:9, he NRSV translates ‫ מלך‬as Molech instead of king. It seems to make better sense given the
context.
21
Ludwig Köhler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.
(Leiden: Brill, 1996), 1781.
 9

more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫ וְּ גֵּ֣יא בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֔נם‬Φάραγξ

υἱοῦ Εννομ), but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because

there is no room elsewhere.

Jer. 19:2 and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫) גֵּ֣יא בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֔נם‬22 at the entry of the

Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.

Jer. 19:6 therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no

more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (‫וְּ גֵּ֣יא בֶ ן־הִ ֹּ֑נם‬

Πολυάνδριον υἱοῦ Εννομ), but the Valley of Slaughter

Jeremiah prophesies that the coming judgment on Judah and Jerusalem will result in their

destruction because of their infidelity to God. A bleak picture is painted in Jer. 7:30-8:3 where

Ge-Hinnom will be renamed the Valley of Slaughter. The dead bodies will be food for the birds

and beasts, the land will become waste, everyone’s bones will be brought out of their tombs and

spread all over the ground like dung, and death will be more preferable than living. Jeremiah

19:1-15 repeats the renaming of Ge-Hinnom to the Valley of Slaughter and that the birds and

beasts will feed on the dead bodies. It adds that this will happen by the sword of their enemies.23

Everyone who passes by Jerusalem will be horrified and hiss at the city. During the siege, the

inhalants of Jerusalem will eat their children and their neighbors. Jerusalem will become exactly

like Topheth, the place of burning and human sacrifice.

There is one more place where Ge-Hinnom is referred to but indirectly. Jer. 31:40 says

“The whole Valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron,

to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be

22
LXX has πολυάνδριον υἱῶν τῶν τέκνων αὐτῶν (the burial place of the sons of their children)
23
It’s eerie that this happened again to Jerusalem in 70 AD, hundreds of years later.
 10

plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.” It is clearly referring to Ge-Hinnom but instead of

focusing on the doom to come in Jer. 7 and 19, this text focuses on the restoration of Israel and

Judah (Jer. 31:27-34), the new covenant (31:31-34), and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (31:38).

There is still hope for the people of Israel. They will not be left in despair forever.

The Potsherd Gate is mentioned in Jeremiah 19:2 to be the entrance into Ge-Hinnom.

This gate is also the same gate in Neh. 2:13, 3:13-14, and 12:31 referred to as the Dung Gate

)‫)אַ ְּשפת‬.24 The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB) translates this as “ash-

heap, refuse-heap, dung-hill”25 and The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

(HALOT) adds “(heap of) manure, feces; heaps of garbage and manure.”26 Lam. 4:5 refers to

‫ אַ ְּשפת‬as an “ash heap”. The south side of Jerusalem would be the perfect place to dump refuse

and trash where the wind would blow any odors away.27 Ancient cultures had different ways of

dealing with their garbage. Some would leave it close by and let it accumulate, others would

create street drains to carry it away, and others would dispose of it away from the city28 It seems

logical with the cleanliness laws the Israelites had that they would dispose of their refuse away

from their cities. The most likely reason that the Potsherd Gate became known as the Dung Gate

is because that was the gate used to take the refuse away from Jerusalem.

24
Liid, Dale C. “Potsherd Gate.” ABD 5:427.
25
Francis Brown, S. R Driver, and Charles A Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon ([Chicago]: Snowball Publishing, 2010), 1046.
26
Köhler and Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 97.
27
Mare, W. Harold “Dung Gate.” 2:240.
28
Carl A. Zimring and William L. Rathje, eds., Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste: The Social
Science of Garbage (Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Reference, 2012), 1:346-348.
 11

Summary

In the OT, the Valley of Hinnom is clearly a geographical place that wraps around the southern

border of Jerusalem. It was used as a place to offer sacrifices to Molech and was described as a

place of physical judgment for the sins of Israel and Judah in the book of Jeremiah. The various

ways to write Ge-Hinnom in Hebrew and Greek attest to the fact that the toponym, “Gehenna,”

had not yet developed into a tradition associated with eschatological overtones as found in the

New Testament and other Jewish literature.29

Gehenna in other Jewish Literature

This section will provide a sample of the literature which mentions Gehenna from the Second

Temple Period. While the Valley of Hinnom was still recognized as a historical, geographical

place, it started to take on overtones of being a place of eschatological judgment. Since there is

such an abundance of extra-biblical literature, not every instance or allusion to Gehenna will be

listed but enough to show the concept of Gehenna in Jewish thought during the Second Temple

Period and shortly after. It should be noted that Gehenna is never mentioned in the apocryphal

books by name. Most of the references to Gehenna in extra-biblical literature come from the

Pseudepigrapha and most of the pseudepigraphal accounts date from sometime around the 1st

century AD. These are able to provide insight into what was meant by Gehenna in writings

contemporary to and later than the New Testament.

29
Papaioannou, The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus, 13.
 12

Apocryphal Accounts30

The Book of Judith

Jdt. 16:17 The Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgement, to put

fire and worms in their flesh; And they shall weep and feel their pain for ever.

The book of Judith was written during the middle of the 2nd century BC.31 The context

surrounding this passage concerns the return to Jerusalem after the exile. This passage from

Judith has language that is similar to that of Jesus when he refers to Gehenna in Mark 9:47-48

and both the Judith and Mark passages use language that can be found in Isaiah 66:24. Gehenna

is not specifically mentioned here but only the day of judgment.

Sirach

Sir. 7:17 Humble yourself to the utmost, for the punishment of the ungodly is fire and

worms (NRSV)

The book of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, can be dated to the early 2nd century BC.32 This

quote is similar to the example given from Judith. Both books have an expectation that there will

be punishment for the ungodly. Though the length of this punishment can be argued, there is a

definite concept that the wicked are judged.

30
All apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts from The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old
Testament edited R.H. Charles.
31
Robert H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament: In English with
Introductions and Critical and Explanatory Notes to the Several Books, repr. (Oxford: University Press, 1973),
1:245.
32
Ibid, 1:293.
 13

Pseudepigraphal Accounts

First Enoch

1 En. 10:11-14 And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have

united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all

their uncleanness. 12 And when their sons have slain one another, and they have

seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations

in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their

consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated. 13 In

those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire and to the torment and the

prison in which they shall be confined forever. 14 And whosoever shall be

condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to

the end of all generations.

1 En. 27:1-2 Then said I: ‘For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with

trees, and this accursed valley between?’ 2 Then Uriel, one of the holy angels

who was with me, answered and said: ‘This accursed valley is for those who are

accursed forever: here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with

their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things.

Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement.

1 En. 54:1-6 And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley

with burning fire. 2 And they brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast

them into this deep valley. 3 And there mine eyes saw how they made these their

instruments, iron chains of immeasurable weight. 4 And I asked the angel of

peace who went with me, saying: ‘For whom are these chains being prepared?’ 5
 14

And he said unto me: ‘These are being prepared for the hosts of Azâzêl, so that

they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and

they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.

6 And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel shall take hold of them on

that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of

Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject

to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.’

1 En. 56:1-4 And I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment going, and they held

scourges and chains of iron and bronze. 2 And I asked the angel of peace who

went with me, saying: ‘To whom are these who hold the scourges going?’ 3 And

he said unto me: ‘To their elect and beloved ones, that they may be cast into the

chasm of the abyss of the valley. 4 And then that valley shall be filled with their

elect and beloved, And the days of their lives shall be at an end, And the days of

their leading astray shall not thenceforward be reckoned

Even though 1 Enoch lacks the usage of the word “Gehenna,” it is one of the most influential

books in the study judgment in the centuries prior to the birth of Jesus.33 Since it is not the work

of one author, Ch. 1-36 and 72-82 may be dated to the 3rd century BC, Ch. 83-108 in the 2nd

century BC, and Ch. 37-71 should be placed in the early 1st century BC.34 There are conflicting

ideas about the afterlife in 1 Enoch since some passages reflect punishment for the wicked that

consists of burning fire and chains that lasts forever while others convey a limited time of

33
Ibid, 2:163.
34
Ibid, 2:170-171.
 15

punishment where the wicked will be consumed completely by the fires and annihilated.35 There

are also conflicting ideas on who is being judged. Much of 1 Enoch indicates that the ones being

judged and condemned are the heavenly beings who oppose God but in other parts it is clear that

humans are the recipients of judgment.

Valleys are frequently mentioned in 1 Enoch as places of judgment and condemnation

but Gehenna is never specifically mentioned as being one of them. Ezekiel 39:11 mentions the

Valley of Hamon-gog where multitudes will be buried. In Rev. 16:16, a great battle against God

takes place in the Valley of Megiddo, which is a part of the Valley of Jezreel.36 The Valley of

Jehoshaphat has traditionally been associated with the last judgment by Jews, Christians, and

Muslims and has been identified as part of the Kidron Valley on the east side of Jerusalem.37 It is

spoken of in Joel 3:1-15 as the place where God will judge the nations and is reminiscent of

language used by Jesus and the book of Revelation concerning judgment on Jerusalem. There are

many similarities between Joel 3:1-15 and Rev. 14:14-20 and Ch. 1638 causing many scholars to

see the Valley of Jehoshaphat as a cipher for the Valley of Megiddo which was a popular thing to

do in apocalyptic literature.39

Traditionally, 1 Enoch has been used to interpret the background of Jesus’ language

concerning Gehenna. But the fact is that Gehenna is never mentioned in 1 Enoch and only refers

35
Geoffrey W. Dennis, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, 1st ed. (Woodbury, MN:
Llewellyn Publications, 2007), 103.
36
White, Sidnie Ann “Esdraelon.” ABD 2:609.
37
Mare, W. Harold “Jehoshaphat, Valley of” 3:669.
38
G. K Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, 2013, 775-776.
39
Hans Walter Wolff and S. Dean McBride, Joel and Amos: A Commentary on the Books of the Prophets
Joel and Amos, Hermeneia--a critical and historical commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977),
76.
 16

to valleys as being places of judgment. It can’t be shown with certainty which valley or valleys 1

Enoch has in mind and a good case can be made that some of Israel’s other valleys are the ones

the author is referring to.

Jubilees

Jub. 2:2 For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the

waters and all the spirits which serve before him — [followed by a list of different

kinds of angles and spirts God created] (He created) the abysses and the darkness,

eventide 〈and night〉, and the light, dawn and day.

Jubilees can be dated to the middle of the 2nd century BC.40 This verse doesn’t specifically

mention Gehenna but does mention the creation of the abyss. Later traditions took this to mean

one of two different things: 1) Palestinian Targums record that the Garden of Eden and Gehenna

were created 2,000 years before the creation of the world; 2) Later Rabbinic traditions state that

God created Gehenna on the second day of creation based on the fact that the second day is never

called “good” by God.41 In later Jewish writings, Gehenna is often contrasted with the Garden of

Eden.

The Assumption of Moses

As. Mos. 10 10 And thou shalt look from on high and shalt see thy enemies in Ge(hena) γῇ.

And thou shalt recognize them and rejoice, and thou shalt give thanks and confess

thy Creator.

40
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:5
41
David J Powys, “Hell”: A Hard Look at a Hard Question : The Fate of the Unrighteous in New
Testament Thought (Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006), 113-134.
 17

The Assumption of Moses was written sometime between 3 BC and 70 AD,42 is full of

apocalyptic language that very much parallels that of the New Testament. In other literature (Isa.

66:24; 1 En. 90:26-27), the righteous are often able to see the place of punishment of the dead.43

The Sibylline Oracles

Sib. Or. 4 179 But when at last everything shall have been reduced to dust and ashes 180

and God shall quench the giant fire, even as he kindled it, 181 then God Himself

shall fashion again the bones and ashes of men, 182 and shall raise up mortals

once more as they were before. 183 And then the judgement shall come wherein

God himself shall give sentence, 184 judging the world again. And all who have

sinned with deeds of impiety 185 a heap of earth shall cover again, 186 and

murky Tartarus and the black recesses of hell (Gehenna, γέεννα).

The Sibylline Oracles are a compilation of old and new oracles worked up by Jewish and

Christian authors who lived at various times between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD.

They were started in Rome but destroyed by fire during the burning of Rome in 82 BC and a

commission was dispatched to collect them again.44 This passage cannot be dated with any

accuracy.

These lines speak of Tartarus, which was the prison of the Titans. In The Sibylline

Oracles, Gehenna is regarded as a part of Tartarus or identical with it, while Hades is the abode

of all the dead.45 This section shows that Gehenna was considered a place of judgment for the

42
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:411. From internal evidence, it can
be dated sometime after the death of Herod and before the fall of Jerusalem.
43
Ibid, 2:422.
44
Ibid, 2:368-369.
 18

wicked that burns everything and turns it to ashes. This is followed by the resurrection in which

the wicked will suffer annihilation.46 It is interesting that the fire mentioned here will ultimately

by “quenched” by God after everything has been burned up when often in the Bible, God’s fire

of judgment is called “unquenchable” (this will be examined in more detail below).

Second Baruch

2 Bar. 59:10 And the mouth of Gehenna, and the station of vengeance

2 Bar. 85 13 There there is the sentence of corruption, The way of fire, And the path which

bringeth to Gehenna. 14 On this account there is one law by one, One age and an

end for all who are in it. 15 Then He will preserve those whom He can forgive,

And at the same time destroy those who are polluted with sins.

Written during the latter half of the 1st century AD, 2 Baruch mentions Gehenna twice.47 First in

59:10, where God shows Moses “the mouth of Gehenna” (a reference to the entrance) along with

other places, paradise included. Gehenna is the place where the wicked will be punished in the

coming judgment (54:21) before he blots them out (54:22). In the second reference, the corrupt

are on the path to Gehenna where God will forgive some and destroy others.48

45
Milton Terry, The Sibylline Oracles: Translated From The Greek Into English Blank Verse (New York:
Eaton & Mains, 1899), 15.
46
Papaioannou, The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus, 17.
47
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:470.
48
Papaioannou, The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus, 15.
 19

Fourth Ezra (Second Esdras)

4 Ezra 7:36 And then shall the pit of torment appear, sand over against it the place of

refreshments; The furnace of Gehenna shall be made manifest, and over against it

the Paradise of delight.

According to 4 Ezra 3:1, it was written in 100 AD, 30 years after the fall of Jerusalem.49 The

setting of this chapter is about the general resurrection and the day of judgment; it is very similar

to other Jewish writings of the time period. In like fashion to other writings of this period and

later, Gehenna as a place of torment is contrasted with Paradise.

Pirkē Aboth

Pi. Ab. 1:5 Jose b. Joḥanan of Jerusalem50 said: Let thy house be opened wide; and let poor

folk be thy household; and talk not much with the wife. (He said it concerning his

own wife; much more concerning the wife of his associate. Hence the Wise have

said: So long as a man talks much with the wife he causes evil to himself, and

desists from words of Torah, and his end is that he inherits Gehenna.)

Pi. Ab. 5:22 What is the difference between the disciples of Abraham our father and the

disciples of Balaam the wicked? The disciples of Balaam the wicked inherit

Gehenna and go down to the pit of destruction, as it is said: ‘But Thou, O God,

wilt bring them down to the pit of destruction. Men of blood and deceit shall not

live out half their days; but I will trust in Thee.’ But the disciples of Abraham our

father inherit the Garden of Eden and inherit the world to come

49
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:552.
50
Margaret Barker, King of the Jews: Temple Theology in John’s Gospel, 2014, 410. Johanan was the head
of the Sanhedrin in 160 BC.
 20

Pi. Ab. 5:24 The bold-faced man is for Gehenna, and the shame-faced man is for the Garden of

Eden.

The book “Pirkē Aboth,” or “Sayings of the Fathers,” is a collection of sayings, from Jewish

teachers between the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. It was not the work of one author. It

is one of the 63 treaties of the Mishnah. The editor/compiler of the Mishnah was Rabbi Judah the

Holy who died in 219 AD. He is considered the “author” of the Pirkē Aboth though most of the

sayings are clearly from before his time.51 While it can’t be proven for certain, these are probably

later sayings from the Mishnah.

The first reference, Pi. Ab. 1:5, shows that some of the sayings can be traced back to the

middle of the 2nd century BC. This reference mentions that whoever abandons the Torah will

meet their ultimate end in Gehenna.

The second reference, Pi. Ab. 5:22 contrasts the disciples of Abraham with those of

Balaam, in which the wicked disciples of Balaam will inherit Gehenna, the pit of destruction.

The reference to the disciples of Balaam may be an indirect reference to the disciples of Jesus

because in the Talmud, Balaam often serves as a metaphor for Jesus.52 Again, as in other

literature, Gehenna and the Garden of Eden are contrasted with each other, where the wicked

inherit Gehenna and the righteous go to Paradise.

Summary

While there are many other texts in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha that speak of judgment,

the abyss, valleys, fire, and Gehenna, the ones listed above provide a good sample of Gehenna in

extra-biblical texts. One way of interpreting this data would be to see the images of a fiery

51
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:686.
52
R. Travers Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash (New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1975), 69.
 21

judgment in valleys and the abyss as representative of an eschatological judgment and that the

concept of judgment in OT texts like Jer. 7, 19, 31 and Isa. 66 gave rise to the development of

the Gehenna tradition. Therefore, Jesus and the pseudepigraphal books of the 1st century AD and

later used Gehenna as a metaphorical place of judgment for all the wicked.53

Another way of looking at the evidence would be to note that the apocryphal books and

the pseudepigraphal books dated before the 1st century AD never mention the word “Gehenna”

and that there is no evidence specifically pointing to Gehenna as being a part of a common

eschatological judgment before the 1st century AD. This is furthered by the fact that in the OT

references, Gehenna hadn’t taken on this meaning. While some would point to Jeremiah’s use of

Ge-Hinnom, he uses Ge-Hinnom as a place of physical judgment upon Jerusalem. Joel’s

language concerning the Valley of Jehoshaphat seems to fit better with the concept of judgment

in the New Testament.54

Gehenna in the Synoptic Gospels

Gehenna is recorded twelve times in the New Testament, seven times in Matthew, three times in

Mark, once in Luke, and once in James. In nine of the eleven warnings Jesus gives concerning

Gehenna, he is speaking to his disciples; the other two times he directs his speech towards the

Pharisees.55 Even though there are many phrases and terms used to describe judgment by Jesus,

only the texts where he specifically mentions Gehenna will be considered. Part of the struggle

with understanding what Jesus meant when he used the term Gehenna is that Gehenna is never

the subject of any lengthy discourse but it is always assumed that the originals hearers would

53
Watson, Duane F. “Gehenna.” ABD 2:927.
54
Joseph C Dillow and Joseph Dillow, Final Destiny: The Future Reign of the Servant Kings (Monument,
Colo.: Paniym Group, 2012), 848.
55
Powys, Hell, 276.
 22

have known what Jesus was talking about.56 Since Gehenna is never specifically mentioned

outside of the Bible before the time of Jesus, it has to be assumed that the Old Testament’s use of

Ge-Hinnom played an important role in the development of how Jesus and his audience

understood Gehenna. There it is portrayed as a place where children were sacrificed by fire,

where the people of Jerusalem who were overrun were thrown to decompose, and where the

city’s garbage was taken. It’s this type of imagery that Jesus’ original audience would have been

familiar with.

Jesus Speaking to his Disciples

Matthew

Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to

judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council (συνέδριον);

and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire (τὴν γέενναν τοῦ

πυρός).

Chronologically, this is the first recorded instance of Jesus’ use of Gehenna.57 Jesus gives a

three-fold warning against being angry, insulting one’s brother, and calling someone a fool with

judgments by the local court, the Sanhedrin, and the fire of Gehenna which indicate a

progressiveness of severity. One would expect with a progressive order of judgment that the

crimes would also be progressive in manner but this isn’t the case.58 The fate of the unrighteous

56
Dale C. Allison, Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition and Its Interpreters (New York:
T&T Clark, 2005), 78.
57
Since the occurrences of Gehenna in Mark and Luke parallel later passages in Matthew, this is the first
time Jesus uses Gehenna. This can also be shown since Luke’s use of Gehenna comes after the Sermon on the Plain,
which parallels the Sermon on the Mount here in Matthew.
 23

isn’t in view here. Jesus’ “purpose was to take the listeners’ existing notions of the fate of the

unrighteous, notions expressing the liability of murderers and other heinous sinners, and with a

shocking rhetorical twist, to apply the same notions to those who vented hatred in other ways.

This was not instruction about after-life; it was a call to holiness.”59 The following verses are a

call to disciples to be reconciled with one another.60 So instead of Jesus telling his disciples that

calling someone a fool can cause them eternal damnation (which has been the popular way to

read this verse), he is instead telling them that they need to have their relationships reconciled

with one another in order to live out a righteous life.

Matthew also gives evidence that Gehenna here isn’t a place of eternal punishment but

that people will eventually be released.61 In vs. 26, Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, you will

never get out until you have paid the last penny.” In some Jewish circles, Gehenna became a

place of a refining fire. Shammai taught that:

There will be three groups at the Day of judgment – one of thoroughly righteous, one of
thoroughly wicked, and one of intermediates. The thoroughly righteous will forthwith be
inscribed definitively as entitled to everlasting life; the thoroughly wicked will forthwith
be inscribed as doomed to Gehinnom. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches and everlasting
abhorrence. The intermediates will go down to Gehinnom, and squeal and rise again, as
it says And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is
refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will answer
them (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Ha-shanah 16b, 17a, Gemara, p.64)62

58
William David Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel
according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 1: Introduction and Commentary on Matthew I-VII, Latest impr., The international
critical commentary on the Holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997), 515.
59
Powys, Hell, 277.
60
Matt. 5:23-26 loosely parallels Luke 12:57-59 where there is no mention of Gehenna.
61
Allison, Resurrecting Jesus, 79.
62
Powys, Hell, 189.
 24

Shammai lived towards the end of the 1st century BC63 it’s not inconceivable that Jesus could

also share this view of Gehenna in which the thoroughly wicked will stay in Gehenna forever but

where some will eventually be released after a time of refining. This would fit nicely with Jesus’

warning to his disciples since it seems less likely that Jesus is telling them that they are in danger

of being eternally damned and it accounts for the language in vs. 26 of being released after the

punishment has been served.

Matthew and Mark

Here, Matt. 18:8-9 and Mark 9:43-49 are clearly parallel with each other. While Matt. 5:29-30

doesn’t have a direct parallel in either Mark or Luke, its theme fits best with these other two

passages so they will be discussed together. Since Mark gives the most descriptive version of

what Jesus said, those verses will be given the most attention.

Matt. 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better

that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell

(γέενναν). 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it

away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole

body go into hell (γέενναν).

Matt. 18:8-9 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is

better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be

thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and

throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to

be thrown into the hell of fire (τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός).

63
Goldenberg, Robert “Shammai, School of.” ABD 5:1158.
 25

Mark 9:43-48 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life

crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire (τὴν γέενναν,

εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον). 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is

better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell

(γέενναν). 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to

enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell

(γέενναν), 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

In these passages, Jesus is again addressing his disciples and doesn’t have the unrighteous in

mind. He is teaching them on temptation and sin. Just like in the previous passages, Jesus is

again stressing the call to holiness and righteousness by emphasizing the seriousness of sin by

using very strong judgment language. He is using a hyperbolic appeal to his disciple to warn

them of the dangers of lust and temptation.64 As inconceivable as it sounds, Jesus teaches that it

would be better in the resurrection to be crippled, lame, or blind (in one eye) than to have sin in

one’s life now. It is a call to radical discipleship.65

A few observations should be made. Jesus’ message is clearly an eschatological one.

Entering life. i.e. the kingdom of God (Matt. 9:47), is contrasted with being cast into Gehenna.

Jesus’ overall message during his ministry was that the kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15)

and people need to be ready to enter into it. Judgment is a secondary issue and a consequence for

not being prepared for the new age.66 Since Jesus clearly contrasts inheriting new life in the

kingdom of God, i.e. resurrection, with being cast into Gehenna, this shows that Gehenna can’t

64
Powys, Hell, 279.
65
Dillow and Dillow, Final Destiny, 875.
66
Allison, Resurrecting Jesus, 86-87.
 26

only be meant as a place of physical torment in the Valley of Ge-Hinnom (even if it was an on-

going burning trash dump in the 1st century AD) but also as an eschatological place of judgment.

Mark 9:48 quotes Isa. 66:24 saying, “where their worm does not die and the fire is not

quenched.” 67 The word here used for “worm” is σκώληξ and would be better translated as

maggot.68 This passage is not referring to eternal damnation but rather to the decay of dead

bodies as maggots consume them.69 This reading agrees with the context of Isa. 66:24 where the

maggots feed on the dead bodies of men who have rebelled against God.70 The fire that “is not

quenched” does not mean that it will never go out. A fire that is “unquenchable” is one that can’t

be put out, not one that will never go out. Some other places where the Bible mentions a fire that

will not be quenched is Isa. 34:3-10 where, in addition to the fire never being quenched, the

smoke will go up forever in Edom; in Jer.17:27 there is an unquenchable fire burning against

Jerusalem; and in Ezek. 20:47-48, the forest of Negeb is burned with an unquenchable fire. Jer.

7:20 also mentions that God’s anger and wrath against Jerusalem won’t be quenched. All of

these other examples show that when interpreting verses about smoke going up forever and fire

never being quenched in the New Testament, the Old Testament usage of those phrases should

be used to understand them. It is clear in the OT that an “unquenchable fire” doesn’t mean that it

will never go out because Jerusalem and Edom are no longer on fire. While the worm and the

fire are symbols of destruction and judgment, this doesn’t imply that their victims suffer endless

67
Mark 9:48 – ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται.cf. Isa. 66:24 LXX – ὁ γὰρ σκώληξ
αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται
68
J. P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic
Domains, 2nd ed. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989), 1:46.
69
The image of a maggot devouring flesh is common in the OT to refer to the decay of a body. Cf. Ex.
16:20, 24; Job 7:5, 21:26; Isa. 14:11
70
Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 185.
 27

punishment.71 All the references to hell, i.e. γέεννα (Matt. 5:29, 30; Mark 9:45, 47), eternal fire

(Matt. 18:8), the hell of fire (Matt. 18:9) and to hell, to the unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), are

equated with each other in these passages and mean the same thing as the phrase “where their

worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” These passages do not mean that what is in

Gehenna will be there for all eternity but that whatever is in Gehenna will eventually be

completely burned up until it is destroyed.

Lastly, the term “into the eternal fire (εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον),” in Matt. 18:8 is used again

in Matt. 25:41, 46: “41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into

the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal

punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” In Matt. 25:31-46, Jesus is separating the sheep

from the goats, the people who cared for him and the people who didn’t. The ones who didn’t

take care for “the least of these,” are sent into “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his

angels.”72 Since the language in vs. 41 matches that of Matt. 18:8, it is logical to say that this

“eternal fire” is the same “unquenchable fire” that can’t be put out but will eventually go out

when it has nothing left to burn up. Also, Matt. 25:46 contrasts life with punishment just like in

Matt. 18:8-9. This punishment in Matt. 25:46 is the eternal fire that is in vs. 41. Therefore, this

eternal punishment, like the eternal/unquenchable fire, will come to an end when there is nothing

left to consume.

71
Stephen Travis, Christ and the Judgment of God: Divine Retribution in the New Testament, Foundations
for faith (Basingstoke, Hants, UK: M. Pickering, 1986), 137.
72
This language is similar to that used in 1 Enoch where the abyss and valleys are the places that the evil
spirits and angels are sent to.
 28

Matthew and Luke

Matt. 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him

who can destroy both soul and body in hell (γεέννῃ).

Luke 12:4-5 I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have

nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who,

after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell (γέενναν). Yes, I tell you, fear

him!

These passages are framed within a discourse where Jesus is teaching his disciples about how

they should behave in the face of persecution and the results of their behavior, whether good or

bad (Matt. 10:16-42; Luke 12:1-11). He tells them that the one who endures will be saved (Matt.

10:22), that they shouldn’t fear because God value’s them (Matt. 10:31; Luke 12:7), and that he

will acknowledge those before the father who acknowledge him but deny those before the father

who deny him. (Matt. 10:32-33; Luke 12:8-9). So in light of the context, there are two different

ways to interpret what Jesus meant by telling his disciples to fear God who is the only one with

the ability to destroy/cast someone into Gehenna.

One way of understanding this is that Jesus is mentioning Gehenna for rhetorical effect

(as in the other occurrences), using the image of Gehenna to shock the disciples with such strong

language but in reality, God would never send his followers into such a place (Matt. 10:31).73

Gehenna is not a place for disciples but for the truly unrighteous. So as disciples, there is nothing

to fear from God, only from the persecutors.

A second way to understand Jesus’ statement about Gehenna is that true disciples can still

be in danger of going to Gehenna, though it is not a place of destruction, but a place of refining.74

73
Powys, Hell, 280.
 29

Both these interpretations agree that Jesus is talking to true disciples but in this second view,

disciples can still deny God and be judged for their denial; they will enter into the kingdom

though they will lose their rewards (Matt. 10:33, 42; Luke 12:9; 1 Cor. 3:12-15). The unfaithful

disciples, while still inheriting new life, will have the shame and disgrace of denying Jesus under

times of persecution and trial.75

Jesus Speaking to the Pharisees

Matt. 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land

to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice

as much a child of hell (γεέννης) as yourselves.

Matt. 23:33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell

(γεέννης)?

Some books start the discussion of Gehenna with these two references. Since these give the most

credence to the idea that Jesus was referring to a physical place of judgment when he mentioned

Gehenna, every other reference to Gehenna is than taken to refer to the actual Valley of Hinnom.

The support for this comes from Jesus in Matt. 23:36 and 24:34 when he said that “all these

things will come upon this generation.” This is taken to refer to the judgment spoken about in

Matt. 23-24 (cf. Mark 13, Luke 21) which did come upon Jerusalem and the Pharisees in the 1st

century AD. This corroborates what happened during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD

where Josephus records that the Roman army threw the dead bodies of the people into the valleys

below the city. It also fits with Jesus’ prediction in Luke 21:20-24 where he says that armies will

74
Dillow and Dillow, Final Destiny, 888.
75
Ibid, 899.
 30

surround the city and it will be trampled by the gentiles. It’s because of this evidence that every

other time Jesus uses Gehenna, it is interpreted to mean the physical Valley of Hinnom.76

These occurrences of Gehenna are the only ones in which Jesus is not addressing the

disciples. Just like in Matt. 18:8-9 (cf. Mark 9:43-48), Jesus contrasts entering into the kingdom

of heaven, i.e. new life, with entering into Gehenna (Matt. 23:13-15). This is consistent with the

understanding looked at above, that Gehenna is a place of eschatological judgment for the

wicked, not just a physical place for the destruction of dead bodies after the fall of Jerusalem.

Whatever view one takes on Gehenna in Matt. 23, Jesus’ warning to the scribes and Pharisees is

clear. Judgment is coming upon them and they will be sent to Gehenna for their hypocrisy.

Summary

After surveying all the places that Jesus talks about Gehenna, a decision has to be made on what

Jesus meant when he used the term Gehenna. It can’t be known for certain whether or not Jesus

also thought of Gehenna as a place of refining before the resurrection though an argument can be

made in support of this view. It was shown that Jesus did not believe Gehenna was a place of

unending torment but instead, he used familiar language from the Old Testament that refers to

temporal punishment. While the fact remains that the Valley of Hinnom was a real place,

familiar to the Jews in Jerusalem as a place where horrible atrocities had been committed and

where their trash was most likely burned, Jesus refers to Gehenna as something more than a

burning trash dump. Since he constantly contrasted Gehenna with new life, it seems that the most

convincing argument is that he believed Gehenna to be a place of divine, eschatological

judgment and punishment.

76
Ibid, 869.
 31

Conclusion

After exploring the usage of Gehenna in the Old Testament, extra-biblical literature, and the

Synoptic Gospels, it seems that the tradition of Gehenna grew over the centuries. It is always

referred to as a physical place in the OT where horrible atrocities occurred. While it is never

specifically mentioned by name in any extra-biblical literature between the time of the OT and

the NT, a tradition of eschatological judgment in the valleys around Israel did develop. Since

Jesus usually contrasts Gehenna with life in the age to come (or eternal life), is seems that he

believed it to be a place of eschatological judgment, not just a physical valley where trash was

burned.77

77
While the evidence points to Gehenna being the most likely the place where trash was taken in the 1 st
century AD, there is no specific, early source to corroborate this idea. It is mostly inferred by the fact that the
entrance to Ge-Hinnom was called the Dung Gate in Nehemiah, Josephus’ record of bodies being thrown into the
valleys, and reasoning that the south side of Jerusalem would have been the best place to dispose of all their waste.
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