Part 1: Sheol
Sheol is the Old Testament Hebrew word for death or the underworld. The word sheol appears 63 times, with the vast majority of those being in Psalms, Isaiah, Proverbs, and Job. Trying to figure out what the various Old Testament writers believed about sheol is complicated to say the least. How sheol was understood seemed to vary among Israelite writers. They at times even seem to contradict themselves. All this is complicated by the almost exclusive use of poetic language when referring to sheol.
Sheol as death
Job 17:13-16 gives no indication that sheol is anything more than death, or the grave. It refers to darkness, worms, and dust, all of which fits with being buried. Job does refer to being without hope, and the “bars of sheol”, but that is likely poetic language referring to the fact that no one comes back from the dead (Isaiah 38:10 also refers to sheol’s permanence.) Israel weeps upon hearing the news of Joseph’s “death”, saying that he will now go down to join his son in sheol (Genesis 37:35). Since we have every reason to believe that Israel (formerly Jacob) is now a righteous man, this would seem to refute the idea of sheol being a place of judgment. The writer of Ecclesiastes clearly believes that everyone is headed for sheol, writing, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). This would seem to indicate that sheol is not a place of judgment, so it is either merely death, or a neutral place of repose for all who die. None of this, of course, disproves the idea that sheol is the underworld, but it doesn’t support it either.
Sheol as judgment
Korah and his entire family went directly to sheol as God’s judgment against his rebellion (Numbers 16). This was clearly the judgment of God, resulting in immediate death, but it is not clear from this usage that sheol is anything more than the grave. David praises God from saving him from sheol (Psalm 30:3), which could either be a reference to God sustaining his life on earth, or salvation for the faithful. King Hezekiah praised God for saving him from sheol (“the pit of destruction”) when he recovered from being deathly ill (Isaiah 38:10-20). This reference to a reprieve is interesting because it refers to God removing or overlooking the king’s sins as part of his restoration. Thus, sheol could have been a judgment for his sins, or again, could merely mean death.
Sheol as underworld
Isaiah 14 seems to indicate sheol is a place of the dead, referring to sheol stirring up shades to greet the king of Babylon when he comes (Isaiah 14:9-10). The shades greeting the king will say that he is now as weak as they are, which could either refer to shades being weaker than the living, or the king of Babylon is no longer stronger than these weaker kings, now that they are all dead. Job says that the shades of sheol tremble at God (Job 26:5-6), indicating that sheol is in fact the underworld.
Sheol as judgment & underworld
God asks in Hosea 13:14 if he should “ransom them [Israel] from the power of sheol?” Again, this seems to indicate sheol is a place of the undead, and in fact, that there may be some hope of release for the faithful. David makes an even stronger case that sheol is not for the faithful, writing, “For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit” (Psalm 16:10, see also Psalm 49:15).
Biblical scholars are split on whether sheol is equivalent to Hell, about which Jesus taught. It seems most likely that the understanding of sheol in the Old Testament developed over time. God never handed anyone a manual on the afterlife. The slow development of sheol understanding would explain the seeming contradictions. Assuming this is the case, it would still be incorrect to use this as evidence of errors in the Bible, particularly in light of the poetic use of terms that we’ve seen and the freedom of each author’s voice. Next time we will look into the Greek understanding of Hades, which may be able to shed some light back on the understanding of sheol.
