SHEOL
662
SHEOL
most probable translation is " tbe mountain of the plains | of the Perizzites." In the edition of Wilkins the text is altered to ^'l^^S "'"P"? ^. " the mountain that cor- rupteth frnits," in agreement with theTargums on Dent, iii. 9, though it is there given as the equivalent of Sirion. Which of tiiese is the original it is perhaps impossible Dow to decide. The former has the slight considera- tion in its favor that the Hivites are specially mentioned as "under Mount Ilermon," and thus may have been connected or confounded with the Perizzites; or the reading may have arisen from mere caprice, as that of the Samaritan version of Dent, iii, 9 appears to have done. — Smith. See Axtilibanls.
Sheol, 3'X'r. This Hebrew name for "the place ♦.f departed s])irits," and the " state of the dead," is used in a variety of senses by the writers of the Old. Test., which it is desirable to investigate, referring to the ar- ticles Hell, Hades, etc., for the general opinions of the Jews respecting the continuance of existence after death.
I. Siffnificat'um of the Word. — The word is usually said to be derived from 3X1I.", shadl, "to ask or seek," and may be supposed to have the same metaphorical signitication as the orcus i-apax of the Latins, or "the insatiable sepulchre" of English writers. This etymol- ogy, however, is rather uncertain, and no aid can be ob- tained from the cognate Sheniitic languages, for, though the word occurs in Syriac and Ethiopic, its use is too indeterminate to afford any clue to its origin. We are therefore left to determine its meaning from the con- text of the most remarkable passages in which it oc- curs.
The first is (Gen. xxxvii, 35) : "And (Jacob) said, I will go down into the grave (HsXp, sheolah) unto my son mourning." The meaning of this passage is ob- viously given in the translation. There is rather more difficulty m Numb, xvi, 30, where Moses declares that Korah and his company shall go down alive into sheol (HiXw, shefilah), and in ver. 33, which describes the fulfilment of the prophecy. But on referring to Dent. xxxii, 22, we find that sheol is used to signify "the un- derworld." "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell"(ri^rnri bisd, sheol techi- thifh) ; to which the sequel gives the following paral- lelism : "It shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Hence it would appear that, in the de- scription of Korah's punishment, .s-Af<5/ simply means the interior of the earth, and does not imply a place of tor- ment. In 2 Sam. xxii, G the English version stands thus: "The sorrows of hell compassed me about ^ the snares of death prevented me." The English word " hell" (from tiic Saxon hela, " to conceal") does not here mean a place of torment, as will at once appear from a literal translation of the passage in which the parallel- ism of the Hel)rew is preserved. "The snares oi' sheol (sixiii ^5Sn. vhehlhj sheol) encompassed me," "The nets of death (r'1'2 "'^"plS, mokeshey muveth) came upon me." Thus viewed, it appears that "the snares of sheol" are precisely equivalent to " the nets of death." In Jol) xi, 8, there seems to be an allusion to a belief — common among ancient nations — tliat there is a deep an<l dark abysss beneath the surface of the earth, ten- anted by departed spirits, but not necessarily a place of torment :
Cnnst thou explore the deep thhigs of God ?
Cinist thon coiiii)rehen(i I lie whole power ol'tlie Almighty ?
Hiirlier than lienven ! Whiit canst thou do?
Deeper than hIkoI! VV'liMt Ciinst Ihnu know?
Again (xxvi, 5, G), in the description of God's omnip- otence :
Sh&'il is open before him,
An<l there is no covering for the region of the dead.
In Isa. xiv, 9, '■'■Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy cijming," the meaning of the prophet
is, that when the king of Babylon, whose miserable fate he is predicting, should go down into the underworld, or sheiil, the ghosts of the dead would there rise up to meet him with contumely and insult. Our English version in this passage renders sheol " hell;" but, clear- ly, the place of torment cannot be meant, for it is said in ver. 18 that all the kings of the nations repose in (jloi-y there — that is, "rest in their sepulchres, surround- ed by all the ensigns of splendor which the Eastern na- tions were accustomed to place around the bodies of de- ceased kings."
These and many other passages which might be quoted sulHciently prove that a i)elief in futurity of existence was familiar to the Hebrews, but that it was unfixed and indeterminate. It is dilficult, and in some cases impossible, to determine wlicther the term sheCd, when used in a menacing form, implies the idea of future punishment or premature death. Hence, while we are led to conclude, with the Articles of the Church of England, that " the old fathers did not look merely to transitory promises," we see that only through the Gospel were "life and immortality brought to light."
II. Is Sheol a Placei — According to the notions of the Jews, sheol was a vast receptacle where the souls of the dead existed in a separate state until the resur- rection of their bodies. The region of the blessed dur- ing this interval, or the inferior paradise, they supposed to be in the upper part of this receptacle; while be- neath was the abyss, or Gehenna (Tartarus), in which the souls of the wicked were subjected to punishment.