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Did Jesus Go To Hell? Acts 2:31

franklinmonroe

Active Member
The KJV and some other versions state that Jesus went to "hell". Most modern versions have something else, like "grave" or "Hades". Acts 2:22-32 for context --
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Can "hell" be considered an accurate rendering here? What would have been the First Century Jewish concept of "Hell"? What is a sound and specific biblical definition of "Hell" now? Does this translation of "hell" here have an affect on any doctrine?
 

Zenas

Active Member
"Hell" is an accurate rendering only if you use the medieval concept of the word , which refers to the realm of the dead (which is the NIV rendering). E.g.,that line of the Apostles Creed that says, “He descended into Hell,” really means He descended to the dead, the underworld. Use your modern translations more often and you won’t encounter as many archaic and confusing usages.
 

plain_n_simple

Active Member
He descended to the lowest depths. He sang praises to the Father. He preached the gospel. He rose the 3rd day. He defeated Death and Hell. He led captivity, captive.
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
He descended to the lowest depths. He sang praises to the Father. He preached the gospel. He rose the 3rd day. He defeated Death and Hell. He led captivity, captive.

He went tp Paradise, did not preaxch the Gospel, but procalimed he is the risen Lord, and did NOT go to hell and suffer as a sinner needing to get born again, as WoF teaches!
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Bible study requires reading scripture and deriving as best we can, its meaning. Much prayer, meditation and soliciting the views of others is sometimes required.

The question wasn't, did Jesus go to "hell," but was "hell" whatever that might mean, an accurate translation of Acts 2:31. And the answer of course is no! The idea in view was the promise that the Messiah's body would not rot nor His soul be abandoned to Hades.

This view is also presented in Psalm 16:10, "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Sheol is used in the OT to both refer to the grave, or place where our dead bodies are placed, and for the abode of the dead, the place where our souls go after physical death. Because of the construction, referring both to the a soul being abandoned, and to the body seeing corruption or decay, the best and most accurate translation is Hades.
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Bible study requires reading scripture and deriving as best we can, its meaning. Much prayer, meditation and soliciting the views of others is sometimes required.

The question wasn't, did Jesus go to "hell," but was "hell" whatever that might mean, an accurate translation of Acts 2:31. And the answer of course is no! The idea in view was the promise that the Messiah's body would not rot nor His soul be abandoned to Hades.

This view is also presented in Psalm 16:10, "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Sheol is used in the OT to both refer to the grave, or place where our dead bodies are placed, and for the abode of the dead, the place where our souls go after physical death. Because of the construction, referring both to the a soul being abandoned, and to the body seeing corruption or decay, the best and most accurate translation is Hades.

he went to Paradise with thief on Cross, went to hades to proclaim that he was risen Lord, and returned to heaven!
 

Getting it Right

Member
Site Supporter
Contrary to what Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Charles Capps et al proclaim, He did not go to hell. Satan didn't beat Him up, punch Him in the face, kick Him, drag Him around, or otherwise harm Him.

It is soooooooooooooooooo sad that this ugly message is being proclaimed by "preachers" on TBN, Daystar, and similar. Africa is being flooded with this perverted "gospel." As of 1-5-2015, England is under the gun.

I see where Jim Bakker is further expanding his "ministry." What next?

:tonofbricks::praying::jesus:
 
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Marooncat79

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
His suffering ended on the cross when he cried out "It is finished". After that it is all glorification

He did not go to hell with fire and the demons etc
 

plain_n_simple

Active Member
1 Peter 3 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Ephesians 4 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Acts 2 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
 

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
Bible study requires reading scripture and deriving as best we can, its meaning. Much prayer, meditation and soliciting the views of others is sometimes required.

The question wasn't, did Jesus go to "hell," but was "hell" whatever that might mean, an accurate translation of Acts 2:31. And the answer of course is no! The idea in view was the promise that the Messiah's body would not rot nor His soul be abandoned to Hades.

This view is also presented in Psalm 16:10, "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Sheol is used in the OT to both refer to the grave, or place where our dead bodies are placed, and for the abode of the dead, the place where our souls go after physical death. Because of the construction, referring both to the a soul being abandoned, and to the body seeing corruption or decay, the best and most accurate translation is Hades.
:thumbs: The erroneous notion that Jesus went to "Hell" (the place of torment...e.g., where the rich man found himself separated from Lazarus) rather than Hades makes it impossible for some to understand the implications of Christ conquering death in this verse. I have heard some actually preach that Jesus went to Hell (a place of torment) and suffered there because of the sins that He took upon Himself. It is unfortunate that misunderstanding often becomes tradition. But you are absolutely correct that "Hell" (being the place of torment) is not the proper term, as "Hell" in those passages is Hades (or Sheol, the place of departed spirits...the grave). Jesus Himself made this clear as He spoke to the thief on the cross.
 
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PreachTony

Active Member
He went tp Paradise, did not preaxch the Gospel, but procalimed he is the risen Lord, and did NOT go to hell and suffer as a sinner needing to get born again, as WoF teaches!

I've always wondered about that, as 1 Peter 3 seems to indicate that Christ did actually preach to the souls in prison/Hades/Sheol, depending on your translation. Some translations say He preached, others that He made proclamation, others still say He "proclaimed His message," which to me a tantamount to preaching.

All that aside, I find it disgusting how the WoF movement has so butchered the scripture to indicate something the Bible has never indicated. This idea that Jesus went into the lowest Hell and was tormented by Satan is terrifying in its lack of truth and foundation, and even more terrifying in the number of people buying it.
 

annsni

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
If the verse is speaking of preaching to those in hell, why is it only the people from Noah's day that He preached to?
 

PreachTony

Active Member
If the verse is speaking of preaching to those in hell, why is it only the people from Noah's day that He preached to?

Is your interpretation of that scripture that it was only those from the time of Noah? I understand if it is. I read that as a statement of God's patience, like the "longsuffering of God" that Peter writes about later, or the "times of ignorance" which God winked at. It shows that God was willing to be patient with man. During the time of Noah, this patience was revealed in both the amount of time it took to build the ark, and in the fact that, as Peter points out, Noah was a "preacher of righteousness."

Two interpretations to one scripture. The notion of preaching to those in prison/Hades/Sheol first became apparent to me in this scripture (emphasis mine):
Luke 4:16-20 said:
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
The scripture He read from is in chapter 61 of Isaiah, the first verse of which reads:
Isaiah 61:1 said:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Note that parts of the scripture are left out in Christ's reading, and words are different. I've seen people make a huge deal about that, and I've seen people gloss over it and keep moving forward. To me, it's clear that Christ preached/proclaimed to someone in prison/bondage/captivity. The audience of this message can be debated.
 

annsni

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Is your interpretation of that scripture that it was only those from the time of Noah? I understand if it is. I read that as a statement of God's patience, like the "longsuffering of God" that Peter writes about later, or the "times of ignorance" which God winked at. It shows that God was willing to be patient with man. During the time of Noah, this patience was revealed in both the amount of time it took to build the ark, and in the fact that, as Peter points out, Noah was a "preacher of righteousness."

Two interpretations to one scripture. The notion of preaching to those in prison/Hades/Sheol first became apparent to me in this scripture (emphasis mine):

The scripture He read from is in chapter 61 of Isaiah, the first verse of which reads:

Note that parts of the scripture are left out in Christ's reading, and words are different. I've seen people make a huge deal about that, and I've seen people gloss over it and keep moving forward. To me, it's clear that Christ preached/proclaimed to someone in prison/bondage/captivity. The audience of this message can be debated.

Don't you think outside of Christ we are ALL captive to sin?
 

PreachTony

Active Member
Don't you think outside of Christ we are ALL captive to sin?

We are all bound in a sin nature, so yes. All I was trying to say, ann, was that I do see it has Christ preaching to an audience. That's why I said the audience was debatable. It could mean the entirety of those hearing the message, or it could mean a very specific group in a very specific place. Again, it's all down to interpretation of scripture.
 

annsni

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
We are all bound in a sin nature, so yes. All I was trying to say, ann, was that I do see it has Christ preaching to an audience. That's why I said the audience was debatable. It could mean the entirety of those hearing the message, or it could mean a very specific group in a very specific place. Again, it's all down to interpretation of scripture.

But what would be the purpose to preach to souls in hell?
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
But what would be the purpose to preach to souls in hell?

My understanding is that he went there to proclaim to them that he was the risen Lord, and that he ascended back to heaven, and took with him all of the OT belivers who had physically died, and were all waiting for Him to come to deliver them unto heaven when he ascended...
 

PreachTony

Active Member
But what would be the purpose to preach to souls in hell?
If by "hell" you mean the place of eternal torment, then there really is no purpose to it. If, however, "hell" is in fact a reference to "Hades" or the place of the dead, then that changes things. There were obviously people with faith in the coming Messiah but who never got to see Him. Depending on your beliefs on the manner in which men and women are saved, there is a belief, based on Paul's writing, that hearing the preached Word is essential to faith, and faith is essential to salvation.

My understanding is that he went there to proclaim to them that he was the risen Lord, and that he ascended back to heaven, and took with him all of the OT belivers who had physically died, and were all waiting for Him to come to deliver them unto heaven when he ascended...
Again, so much of our belief on this topic is based on personal interpretation of scripture. I personally believe He did preach His own gospel to them, but I don't hold anyone in higher or lower esteem if they take a differing position than mine.
 

robycop3

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Jesus went to the 'paradise' side of HADES. Remember, in His parable of the rich man & the beggar Lazarus, both died and went to hades; Lazarus went to paradise, or "Abraham's bosom" while the rich man went to 'torments'.

And Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross that he'd be with Jesus in PARADISE that very day.
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
If by "hell" you mean the place of eternal torment, then there really is no purpose to it. If, however, "hell" is in fact a reference to "Hades" or the place of the dead, then that changes things. There were obviously people with faith in the coming Messiah but who never got to see Him. Depending on your beliefs on the manner in which men and women are saved, there is a belief, based on Paul's writing, that hearing the preached Word is essential to faith, and faith is essential to salvation.


Again, so much of our belief on this topic is based on personal interpretation of scripture. I personally believe He did preach His own gospel to them, but I don't hold anyone in higher or lower esteem if they take a differing position than mine.

two truths that we should on all agree on here:

jesus did NOT have to go to Hell as a sinner, to some how complete salvation as WoF teaches, as that was fully accomplished while on the Cross

And that he did NOT offer sinners any second chanch to get saved...
 
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