Gehenna
Gehenna, originally a physical location known as the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, has undergone significant transformation in its interpretation over time. Initially associated with dark practices such as child sacrifice, it evolved into a metaphorical representation of punishment for the wicked by the first century CE. In Jewish texts, particularly the Mishna, Gehenna is described as a place where souls endure purification for up to twelve months before ascending to the "world to come," although the truly wicked may face eternal punishment. This concept of Gehenna is further echoed in the New Testament, where Jesus refers to it as a fiery realm of punishment, linking it to moral failings. The idea extends into Islamic theology, where Gehenna, or Jahannan, is depicted as a multi-level place of torment for those judged to be wicked on the Last Day. Today, while the physical Valley of Hinnom still exists in Jerusalem, its contemporary form contrasts sharply with the ominous historical and theological interpretations of Gehenna found in various religious writings. The enduring concept of Gehenna serves as a focal point for discussions about judgment and the afterlife across Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions.
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Gehenna
The earliest references to the Valley of Bar Hinnom, also called Gehenna, point to a physical place somewhere near Jerusalem. That place is described variously as a place of child sacrifice, a fiery place, and even the place of an evening encampment.
However, Gehenna would not remain a simple, physical location for long. By the turn of the first century Common Era (CE), Gehenna was being transformed from a hellish place to a place of fiery punishment for wicked souls. In the Mishna, the first important work of rabbinical literature, early Jewish sages described a place where souls would remain in punishment for twelve months to be purified before being released to the world to come. In the New Testament, Jesus makes repeated references to Gehenna as a fiery place of punishment for the wicked. Later, the Quran picks up on the idea of Gehenna and expands it further, making Jahannan a place of eternal punishment for those who are judged to be wicked on the last days.
In modern Jerusalem, the Valley of Hinnom is once again a physical place located just below the walls of the Old City. The modern Valley of the Hinnom, though, bears little resemblance to the horror that the Hebrew Bible suggests happened in the dark place. However, while the new Valley of Hinnom may have been stripped of its grisly past, the idea of a place of punishment known as Gehenna has endured in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic writings.
Brief History
The Book of Joshua references the location of the Valley of Hinnom in relationship to ancient Jerusalem (Josh. 15:8), yet the exact location of the valley has been lost in time. The Bible does, however, indicate that the valley was a physical location and was used for a sinister purpose. According to the biblical account in I Kings 23:10, the Valley of Hinnom was used to sacrifice children to Molech and, in a later account, as a place where children were passed through the fire (2 Chron. 33:6).
However, not all accounts in the Hebrew Bible present the valley in such a dark light. A quick reference in Nehemiah 11:30 makes note of the valley without any claims of its use for sacrifice or punishment. Instead, it reports the valley only as a place used for camping. In addition, while the valley is believed to be a physical place, attempts to find archeological evidence of child mass graves to locate the Valley of Hinnom have not been successful.
By the time the New Testament gospels were written and Rabbinic Judaism was starting to take shape, the Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, was no longer just a physical location with a dark past. Instead, Gehenna had begun to morph into a place of punishment and destruction for the wicked, a concept that would provide the roots for more modern understandings of hell.
Overview
By the first century CE, Gehenna was beginning to be identified as a place of punishment and damnation for the wicked that no longer had ties to a strict geographical location. Instead, in the New Testament, the Mishna, and the Quran, Gehenna was described as a fiery place where the wicked were purified, punished, and possibly doomed to eternal damnation as a consequence of their misdeeds while on earth.
The early sages of the Mishna made numerous references to Gehenna as a place of punishment; however, this punishment was not meant to be eternal. Instead, most souls—other than the truly righteous—descended into the place of punishment, Gehenna, for a period of twelve months. After the twelve-month period, most souls, having gone through the period of purification, ascend into the Olam Ha-ba, or the "world to come." (Shabbat 33a), while only the truly wicked remain in eternal punishment.
This Gehenna also appears to be distinct from the hell found in the Hebrew Bible. Sheol is described in both the Books of Numbers and Job as a place of the dead. Although described as a pit, Sheol is not a place of punishment but simply a place where all souls, regardless of their actions during life, go after death (Job 3:11–19).
In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus describes Gehenna as a place of punishment and fire. In Matthew 5, Jesus speaks of Gehenna three times, including as a place of punishment for those who call others "fools" in anger. (Matt. 5:22). Jesus also links punishment in Gehenna to sin, warning that it is better to cast off and gouge out that which offends than to face the fires of Gehenna (Matt. 5:29–30). References to Gehenna also appear in all four of the gospel narratives and once in the Book of James, in each case linked to punishment and damnation. In modern English translations of the New Testament, "Gehenna," as spoken by Jesus, is often translated as "hell." However, much of the Christian theology revolving around hell and Satan was not developed until well after New Testament times. The fiery punishment of Gehenna as referenced by Jesus makes no mention of the fallen angel Lucifer or of a well-developed place of punishment as imagined by Dante in the Inferno.
The concept of Gehenna also appears in the Quran as a fiery place of torture. Jahannan, as described in the Muslim scriptures, has seven levels, with the punishment growing more macabre at each level. On the "Last Day," all souls will be raised and judged and those found to be wicked will be sent to hell.
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