Gehenna

Gehenna (Greek Geenna, from Hebrew Gê Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom) was originally a ravine southwest of Jerusalem associated with the abominable practices of child sacrifice to Molech carried out by apostate Israelites during the monarchic period (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31). Josiah defiled the Topheth in this valley to end these practices. In later Judaism, the valley came to be seen as a place of divine judgment and was associated with the burning of refuse — providing the backdrop for Jesus's use of the term.

In the New Testament, Gehenna appears twelve times — eleven in the Gospels on Jesus's lips and once in James. Jesus uses it consistently as a term for the place of final eschatological punishment, in contrast to the kingdom of God and eternal life. Its fire does not go out (Mark 9:43–48), the body and soul are destroyed there (Matthew 10:28), and it is the destination of the unrighteous at the final judgment. The imagery of an ever-burning fire consuming refuse gave the physical valley its theological resonance as the fitting image of permanent, irreversible divine judgment upon the wicked.