veteran said:
Why settle for an inaccurate translation? Let's talk about that for a second.
The reason why haides appears in the New Testament manuscripts is because the Greek langauge was like a universal language during the time of the early Christian Church. But does that word haides accurately describe the abode of the wicked and where the angels in chains are? No. Why not?
It's because Greek Hades comes from Greek paganism.
Hades is what the pagan Greeks called a Greek god of the underworld, and the realm of the dead. So why did the Apostles use that word? It was because there was not any other... Greek word available whereby the Greek speaking people could understand. Apostle Paul spoke the Koine Greek (common Greek of the people). Bible word study reveals there's many cases where the choice of Greek words was lacking with explaining concepts from the Old Testament Hebrew. Greek theos as a name for God used in the New Testament is another case. Theos is the word the Greek pagans used for their Greek gods. Yet in the Hebrew our Heavenly Father has many descriptive Titles that more accurately define Him and His Divine Nature. The Koine Greek didn't.
Does this mean our Heavenly Father is not able to overcome such language barriers? No, of course not. Paul used whatever detail in the Greek language necessary to distinguish the difference between the pagan gods the Greeks believed on in contrast to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
Even the KJV translators made use of this, like in Isaiah 14 with the name "Lucifer". The KJV translators put 'O Day Starre' in the margin of Isaiah 14 to let the reader know that alternate reading (in 1st Edition KJV Bible). Why? Because the actual Hebrew word means 'morning star', which is not to be confused with our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the True Morning Star of Rev.22. The devil was claiming he will be like God in that; thus his false claim to that title of 'morning star'. So the KJV translators used the name "Lucifer" from the Latin instead to ensure the meaning.
Does it get the point across better who God is really talking about in that Isaiah 14:12 verse? Yes, definitely. A look at the NIV and other later translations and we see they failed to do that, but left it as "morning star", failing to make it clear who was really being spoken about. Which would I rather my children read to properly understand who that Isaiah 14:12 verse is speaking about? The KJV. The translators obviously saw how 'O Day Starre' could be confusing.
The word hell comes from Germanic origin, which is where English came from. But in the NT manuscripts it is not always haides. The Scripture I quoted in my previous posts has it as geena (Gehenna = OT valley of Hinnom). So there's no mistaking the meaning our Lord Jesus was giving in the Matthew 10:28 verse, for that "hell" is about the "lake of fire" of Rev.19 and 20, a fire of consuming destruction.
I specifically mentioned what the Greek texts say in Revelation 20:13-14.
Yes, other parts of the Greek manuscripts mention Gehenna and the Abyss, as well as Tartarosas (2 Peter 2:4).
Where the Greek word used refers to a place of fire, English versions use the English word "Hell" because "Hell" is the English word that people associate with a place of fire.
Yet, the Greek word "Hades" is not used in the Greek manuscripts in reference to fire.
In his book
Word Meanings in the New Testament, Dr. Ralph Earle writes the following:
"
Hades was the name of the god of the underworld and does not mean the place of everlasting punishment; so it should not be translated at
Hell. It is used in the NT for the abode of departed spirits." [ Ralph Earle, Th.D.,
Word Meanings in the New Testament (Baker Book House: 1986), p. 447. ]
Indeed, in Revelation 20:14, Hades is thrown into the lake of fire.
So, if the lake of fire is Hell, then Hades has to be a separate place from Hell, because how could Hell be thrown into the lake of fire if the lake of fire is Hell?
It may be appropriate to use the English word
Hell as a translation for Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarosas, because the latter three refer specifically to a place of torment.
However, it is inappropriate to use the English word
Hell as a translation for
Hades in Revelation 20:13-14, because the latter does not mean what Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarosas mean. That is why English versions of the Bible other than the KJV use
Hades in Revelation 20:13-14, because in that particular verse,
Hell is a mistranslation of
Hades.
Is there a reason why I should use a mistranslation when I do not need to? No, of course not.
I dislike being the bearer of unpleasant news, but there is no perfect English version of the Bible. Not even the KJV is perfect. The latter is still usable, but it isn't the standard to judge other versions of the Bible by.
Anyway, what I said before is still true. The word
Hell does not appear in the Greek New Testament manuscripts because the word
Hell is Norse in origin, and the New Testament writers did not use the Norse language or any Germanic language.
