Hades

Hades (Greek, meaning that which is out of sight or the unseen realm) is the New Testament term used to translate the Hebrew Sheol—the place of the dead in the underworld. In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), Hades consistently renders Sheol, designating the shadowy abode where the dead were understood to exist in a diminished state beneath the earth. The English word hell in older translations often renders Hades, though modern versions typically transliterate it directly.

In the New Testament, Hades is contrasted with heaven: Christ descended to Hades (Acts 2:27, citing Ps. 16:10) and holds its keys (Rev. 1:18). Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:23) depicts Hades as a place of conscious existence divided by a great gulf between torment and comfort. At the final judgment, Death and Hades give up their dead and are themselves cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:13–14), indicating that Hades is a temporary state preceding the final resurrection and judgment rather than the eternal final state.