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The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus
The topic of hell has held a strange fascination for believers through the centuries, becoming the subject of paintings, sermons, books, articles, and much more. For many it has been a source of terror, for most a wellspring of questions. Is there such a thing as hell? How long will it last? Who will go there? Is hell fair? In this study, Kim Papaioannou tackles the topic at its most foundational level, in the words and teaching of Jesus. Rather than attempt overarching and all-encompassing answers, he begins instead with a detailed study of the relevant texts and builds from there upwards. The result is a picture that is not only coherent and satisfying, but more importantly, solidly based on biblical exegesis of the most refined nature. Papaioannou concludes by putting hell into a more palatable and biblically sound perspective. Though unreservedly scholarly, the study is written in such a way that lay readers can understand and enjoy it.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2013
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February 25, 2026
WAS GEHENNA A ‘GARBAGE DUMP OUTSIDE JERUSALEM’? A BIBLICAL STUDY OF SUCH QIESTIONS
Kim Papaioannou has served as a minister and educator for over 20 years; he has a PhD in theology from Durham University in England.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2013 book, “The near uniformity of belief in an everlasting hell began to crumble in the 17th century, when notable preachers … argued in favor of universal salvation for sinners and saints alike, a belief that came to be known as ‘universalism.’ This teaching gained momentum in the 19th century… ‘Universalism’ continues to be popular among more liberal Protestant circles and has lately even won support among generally traditionalist Catholics. The 19th century also witnessed another development: a tendency to view the last judgment as an act of God that will result in the end of sinners rather than their everlasting suffering. This view, frequently called ‘conditionalism,’ was not new; indeed some early patristic writers maintained the same, as well as writers like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. However, it re-emerged with force in the 19th century and has since been gaining influence.” (Pg. xiv-xv)
He suggests, “Since the majority of works on the topic of the final fate of the wicked are broad in context, apologetic in nature, and overly categorical in their conclusions, much work remains to be one. The topic needs to be detached from the apologetic approach and to be studied from a historical perspective… A historical study of the nature of hell in the Gospels is not merely valuable as an attempt to inform contemporary debate; it can enrich the field of New Testament studies in its own right… any attempt to study … the fate of the wicked as variously expressed throughout the New Testament … may offer an insight into the thinking of the early church… because eschatology in its different facets played such a prominent role in its theology.” (Pg. xvii-xviii) He adds, “This study hopes to help fill this vacuum in New Testament research by comprehensively considering aspects of punishment in the Gospels.” (Pg. xxvi)
In the first chapter, he explains, “‘Gehenna’ often appears in the Synoptic Gospels as the place where God will bring retribution upon sinners…. I shall attempt to trace the development of the concept of Gehenna as a place of punishment from its earlier use in the Old Testament as a toponym [place name], its usage in the New Testament and Jewish writings to the end of the 1st century… the ultimate purpose here is to discern how a tradition linking the specific toponym of Gehenna with eschatological punishment came into existence.” (Pg. 3)
He continues, “‘Gehenna’ derives from a geographical location. It refers to a valley outside Jerusalem variously designated in the Hebrew text as valley ‘of the sons of Hinnom’ (2 Ki 23:10) or ‘of the son of Hinnom’ (Jer 19:2) or simply ‘of Hinnom’ (Neh 11:30)… I will use the term ‘Ge-hinnom’ when referring to the Old Testament references and ‘Gehenna’ when referring to the New Testament references.” (Pg. 3-4)
He summarizes, “It seems inescapable therefore to conclude that the specific use of the name Ge-hinnom with reference to eschatological punishment was a rather obscure motif, found only in Jeremiah, and not apparently popularized in subsequent Old Testament works.” (Pg. 12) He adds, “This overview … has provided us with an impressive accumulation of evidence: lack of interest for the toponym Ge-hinnom among the later Hebrew prophets concerned with eschatological punishment; casual reference to Ge-hinnom in late historical Old Testament books; absence of exegetical additions and casual transliterations of Ge-hinnom in the Septuagint, which does not betray a strong Gehenna tradition; and complete silence of such important witnesses as the Dead Sea documents, Josephus, Philo, the early Mishna and Talmud rabbis and of the early ‘Apocrypha’ and ‘Pseudeigrapha.’ None of these… even hints at a coherent, gradual development of the theme… continuing down through the centuries. On the contrary, what we have is a large and obvious gap… It seems therefore that there is no evidence that Gehenna was a part of common eschatological judgment parlance at any time before the 1st century AD.” (Pg. 21)
He suggests, “Of the … Synoptics, Matthew shows a preference for Gehenna. Mark uses the term only [once] and is obliged to explain it through Isaiah 66:24. Luke uses the word only once… and it seems that the only reason he included it was a commitment to adhere faithfully to his source. Since Matthew is recognized as the most Palestinian of the Gospels, we have therefore an indication that the Gehenna motif… sprang back to life within Palestinian circles.” (Pg. 23)
He states, “Mark 9:43-50 shows the influence of two very similar biblical prophecies---Jeremiah’s Ge-hinnom texts and Isaiah 66:24… Nothing in either … suggests torment by fire or other means for shorter or longer periods of time. Both envisage the complete destruction of the wicked.” (Pg. 32)
He contends, “not much emphasis should be placed on the apparent distinction between body and soul expressed by the phrase, ‘do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.’ … there [is] a danger in understanding the phrase in light of the belief in the immortal soul. Such a belief found its way into Judaism through Hellenistic influence and gained some prominence in the first century of this era… the purpose of Matthew is not to separate body from soul, but to show that being human involves more than an animal existence. Body and soul are not separate, but comprise the whole person: this saying emphasizes the totality of the final destruction.” (Pg. 50-51)
He summarizes, “We may conclude that the three texts all unique to Matthew all regard Gehenna as a place of divine judgment in which unrepentant sinners are annihilated rather than tormented… There is nothing in [these] texts that even vaguely hints at everlasting torment.” (Pg. 69)
He points out, “This short study of Gehenna has revealed several things… we have seen that Gehenna was most likely NOT a garbage dump outside Jerusalem as is often assumed. The evidence for this is too late. Neither was the term… a common word used to designate the eschatological punishment of the wicked before the time of Jesus. The evidence from various relevant Jewish sources is dated toward the end of the 1st century AD. Rather, it appears that Jeremiah was the only Hebrew prophet to link directly the valley of Ge-hinnom with the punishment of unfaithful Jews… The first one who brought the eschatological elements of Ge-hinnom out of obscurity and used the term almost as a synonym for the judgment of the wicked was Jesus of Nazareth. His teaching must have exerted considerable influence on the Palestinian masses and his ministry often involved conflict and debate with Pharisees. Thus it is no surprise that in the NT the word Gehenna appears mostly in works of Jewish Palestine origin---Matthew and James.” (Pg. 80)
Of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, he notes, “the most common depiction of Sheol/Hades in Jewish writings envisions a place of silence and death. The possibility of disembodied souls carrying on some kind of existence was... beginning to be entertained in some non-biblical circles, but even such an existence was considered shadowy… the presence of living, corporeal persons in Hades, fully conscious and engaged in lively conversation could not fail to strike an odd note to … the readers of Luke’s Gospel. A living, corporeal person would best fit a motif of an eschatological resurrection and a Day of Judgment, but neither is mentioned or hinted at here.” (Pg. 127)
He points out, “Mark’s account of the healing of the demon possessed man adds an insight that further underlines this. While in Luke 8:31 the demons request not to be sent to the Abyss, in Mark 5:10 they request not to be sent ‘out of the country.’” (Pg. 171)
He notes, “The phrase ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ is absent from Mark, but appears once in Luke and six times in Matthew with whom … it is a favorite expression.” (Pg. 177) Later, he adds, “the suggestion that … the perpetual torment of the wicked is envisaged which in turn causes weeping and gnashing of teeth has no foundation in [Lk 13:28]. Those who suggest as much are simply imposing a foreign concept onto the text. In light of extant parallels, the weeping represents disappointment at the thought of being excluded from the kingdom, and the gnashing of teeth denotes anger towards the master for having excluded them… How long this will last we are not told; probably not very long… Indeed, in light of the close relationship between this passage in Luke, the Psalms in general, and Psalm 112:10 in particular, it may be suggested that the wicked soon perish in their anger, as was the case with the wicked in Psalm 112:10.” (Pg. 190)
This is an excellent study of this limited subject, that will be of great interest to those Christians studying hell, conditional immortality, and related topics.
Kim Papaioannou has served as a minister and educator for over 20 years; he has a PhD in theology from Durham University in England.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2013 book, “The near uniformity of belief in an everlasting hell began to crumble in the 17th century, when notable preachers … argued in favor of universal salvation for sinners and saints alike, a belief that came to be known as ‘universalism.’ This teaching gained momentum in the 19th century… ‘Universalism’ continues to be popular among more liberal Protestant circles and has lately even won support among generally traditionalist Catholics. The 19th century also witnessed another development: a tendency to view the last judgment as an act of God that will result in the end of sinners rather than their everlasting suffering. This view, frequently called ‘conditionalism,’ was not new; indeed some early patristic writers maintained the same, as well as writers like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. However, it re-emerged with force in the 19th century and has since been gaining influence.” (Pg. xiv-xv)
He suggests, “Since the majority of works on the topic of the final fate of the wicked are broad in context, apologetic in nature, and overly categorical in their conclusions, much work remains to be one. The topic needs to be detached from the apologetic approach and to be studied from a historical perspective… A historical study of the nature of hell in the Gospels is not merely valuable as an attempt to inform contemporary debate; it can enrich the field of New Testament studies in its own right… any attempt to study … the fate of the wicked as variously expressed throughout the New Testament … may offer an insight into the thinking of the early church… because eschatology in its different facets played such a prominent role in its theology.” (Pg. xvii-xviii) He adds, “This study hopes to help fill this vacuum in New Testament research by comprehensively considering aspects of punishment in the Gospels.” (Pg. xxvi)
In the first chapter, he explains, “‘Gehenna’ often appears in the Synoptic Gospels as the place where God will bring retribution upon sinners…. I shall attempt to trace the development of the concept of Gehenna as a place of punishment from its earlier use in the Old Testament as a toponym [place name], its usage in the New Testament and Jewish writings to the end of the 1st century… the ultimate purpose here is to discern how a tradition linking the specific toponym of Gehenna with eschatological punishment came into existence.” (Pg. 3)
He continues, “‘Gehenna’ derives from a geographical location. It refers to a valley outside Jerusalem variously designated in the Hebrew text as valley ‘of the sons of Hinnom’ (2 Ki 23:10) or ‘of the son of Hinnom’ (Jer 19:2) or simply ‘of Hinnom’ (Neh 11:30)… I will use the term ‘Ge-hinnom’ when referring to the Old Testament references and ‘Gehenna’ when referring to the New Testament references.” (Pg. 3-4)
He summarizes, “It seems inescapable therefore to conclude that the specific use of the name Ge-hinnom with reference to eschatological punishment was a rather obscure motif, found only in Jeremiah, and not apparently popularized in subsequent Old Testament works.” (Pg. 12) He adds, “This overview … has provided us with an impressive accumulation of evidence: lack of interest for the toponym Ge-hinnom among the later Hebrew prophets concerned with eschatological punishment; casual reference to Ge-hinnom in late historical Old Testament books; absence of exegetical additions and casual transliterations of Ge-hinnom in the Septuagint, which does not betray a strong Gehenna tradition; and complete silence of such important witnesses as the Dead Sea documents, Josephus, Philo, the early Mishna and Talmud rabbis and of the early ‘Apocrypha’ and ‘Pseudeigrapha.’ None of these… even hints at a coherent, gradual development of the theme… continuing down through the centuries. On the contrary, what we have is a large and obvious gap… It seems therefore that there is no evidence that Gehenna was a part of common eschatological judgment parlance at any time before the 1st century AD.” (Pg. 21)
He suggests, “Of the … Synoptics, Matthew shows a preference for Gehenna. Mark uses the term only [once] and is obliged to explain it through Isaiah 66:24. Luke uses the word only once… and it seems that the only reason he included it was a commitment to adhere faithfully to his source. Since Matthew is recognized as the most Palestinian of the Gospels, we have therefore an indication that the Gehenna motif… sprang back to life within Palestinian circles.” (Pg. 23)
He states, “Mark 9:43-50 shows the influence of two very similar biblical prophecies---Jeremiah’s Ge-hinnom texts and Isaiah 66:24… Nothing in either … suggests torment by fire or other means for shorter or longer periods of time. Both envisage the complete destruction of the wicked.” (Pg. 32)
He contends, “not much emphasis should be placed on the apparent distinction between body and soul expressed by the phrase, ‘do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.’ … there [is] a danger in understanding the phrase in light of the belief in the immortal soul. Such a belief found its way into Judaism through Hellenistic influence and gained some prominence in the first century of this era… the purpose of Matthew is not to separate body from soul, but to show that being human involves more than an animal existence. Body and soul are not separate, but comprise the whole person: this saying emphasizes the totality of the final destruction.” (Pg. 50-51)
He summarizes, “We may conclude that the three texts all unique to Matthew all regard Gehenna as a place of divine judgment in which unrepentant sinners are annihilated rather than tormented… There is nothing in [these] texts that even vaguely hints at everlasting torment.” (Pg. 69)
He points out, “This short study of Gehenna has revealed several things… we have seen that Gehenna was most likely NOT a garbage dump outside Jerusalem as is often assumed. The evidence for this is too late. Neither was the term… a common word used to designate the eschatological punishment of the wicked before the time of Jesus. The evidence from various relevant Jewish sources is dated toward the end of the 1st century AD. Rather, it appears that Jeremiah was the only Hebrew prophet to link directly the valley of Ge-hinnom with the punishment of unfaithful Jews… The first one who brought the eschatological elements of Ge-hinnom out of obscurity and used the term almost as a synonym for the judgment of the wicked was Jesus of Nazareth. His teaching must have exerted considerable influence on the Palestinian masses and his ministry often involved conflict and debate with Pharisees. Thus it is no surprise that in the NT the word Gehenna appears mostly in works of Jewish Palestine origin---Matthew and James.” (Pg. 80)
Of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, he notes, “the most common depiction of Sheol/Hades in Jewish writings envisions a place of silence and death. The possibility of disembodied souls carrying on some kind of existence was... beginning to be entertained in some non-biblical circles, but even such an existence was considered shadowy… the presence of living, corporeal persons in Hades, fully conscious and engaged in lively conversation could not fail to strike an odd note to … the readers of Luke’s Gospel. A living, corporeal person would best fit a motif of an eschatological resurrection and a Day of Judgment, but neither is mentioned or hinted at here.” (Pg. 127)
He points out, “Mark’s account of the healing of the demon possessed man adds an insight that further underlines this. While in Luke 8:31 the demons request not to be sent to the Abyss, in Mark 5:10 they request not to be sent ‘out of the country.’” (Pg. 171)
He notes, “The phrase ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ is absent from Mark, but appears once in Luke and six times in Matthew with whom … it is a favorite expression.” (Pg. 177) Later, he adds, “the suggestion that … the perpetual torment of the wicked is envisaged which in turn causes weeping and gnashing of teeth has no foundation in [Lk 13:28]. Those who suggest as much are simply imposing a foreign concept onto the text. In light of extant parallels, the weeping represents disappointment at the thought of being excluded from the kingdom, and the gnashing of teeth denotes anger towards the master for having excluded them… How long this will last we are not told; probably not very long… Indeed, in light of the close relationship between this passage in Luke, the Psalms in general, and Psalm 112:10 in particular, it may be suggested that the wicked soon perish in their anger, as was the case with the wicked in Psalm 112:10.” (Pg. 190)
This is an excellent study of this limited subject, that will be of great interest to those Christians studying hell, conditional immortality, and related topics.
February 11, 2020
While preaching through the Gospel of Matthew for about a year and a half, I found myself constantly coming across the theme of Hell. What surprised me in that time was that the Hell being described there didn’t quite seem to match the Hell I was taught about my whole life. Something seemed off.
This book does an incredible amount of research and nailed home the impression I was starting to get about not only Hell, but all the spiritual places mentioned throughout the Bible. It is an incredible read that I highly recommend. Many try to write Hell off these days. This author does not. Instead, he helps us see it more clearly in the light the Bible meant it to be understood.
This book does an incredible amount of research and nailed home the impression I was starting to get about not only Hell, but all the spiritual places mentioned throughout the Bible. It is an incredible read that I highly recommend. Many try to write Hell off these days. This author does not. Instead, he helps us see it more clearly in the light the Bible meant it to be understood.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews