In the original version of this book, I skipped an important trail. I went directly from the Old Testament to the New Testament but missed the intertestamental literature (technically Jewish books written from the end of the Old Testament in 400 BC to the start of the New Testament in c. AD 50, though it also encompasses books written in subsequent centuries).
This vast literature is “commonly divided into seven main categories:” the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Bible translations (e.g., the Septuagint), Philo (c. 20 BC–AD 50), Josephus (AD 37–100), and rabbinical literature (e.g., the Mishnah).[i]
Apocrypha
Apocryphal books are included in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles but not found in most Protestant Bibles. However, Martin Luther included these books in his German translation of the Bible in 1534, placing them in their own section with this label: “Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read.” Beginning with the Coverdale Bible (1535), most early English Bible versions contained the Apocrypha, including the King James Bible of 1611. In the early 1800s, Protestant Bible Societies discontinued the practice of publishing Bibles with apocryphal books.
Where do these books come from? They were found in the first major translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint or LXX, completed around 100 BC. About five centuries later, Jerome included the apocryphal books in his Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate. In fact, the name apocrypha or “hidden” comes from Jerome, who gave them this label.
In 1546, at the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church officially accepted the apocryphal books into the canon. The Catholic Church refers to these books as deuterocanonical, which means “second canon” in distinction from the protocanonical books or “first canon.” For Catholics, second canon books have the same divine status as first canon books. The Catholic deuterocanonical books, known as apocryphal to Protestants, include Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, and additions to Esther, Daniel, and Baruch.
The Eastern Orthodox Bible also contains the additional books found in Catholic Bibles. Orthodox believers call these books both deuterocanonical and anagignoskomena, meaning “worthy of reading” or “things to read.” While these books are worth reading, they are not viewed as divinely inspired like the canonical books. In addition to the deuterocanonical books, the Anagignoskomena includes the Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Esdras (or 3 Ezra), Psalm 151, and 3 Maccabees.[ii]
It’s important to note that while Christian Bibles differ on the list of Old Testament books, a consensus exists on the list of New Testament books.
4 Ezra (or 2 Esdras)
With the exception of the Orthodox Tewahedo Bible from the Oriental Orthodox Church in Ethiopia, Christian Bibles do not include 4 Ezra. (This book is also known as 2 Esdras, not to be confused with 2 Esdras in the Roman Catholic Bible, which is another name for Nehemiah). Essentially, then, 4 Ezra is outside the Protocanon and Deuterocanon for most of Christianity.
This book, written around the late first century AD, purports to be “the second book of the prophet Ezra,” who was taken captive by Artaxerxes, king of Persia (reign: 465–424 BC). After expressing dismay at the plight of his people compared to the “the wealth of those who live in Babylon” (3:1–3), an angel encourages Ezra to change his perspective: “Why have you not considered in your mind what is to come, rather than what is now present?” (7:16). The angel continues,
The Most High shall be revealed on the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn. Only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. Recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep. The pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell [Gehenna] shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. (7:33–42 NRSVA)
This sounds like the final judgment scene. God is on the judgment seat and “recompense shall follow” for righteous and unrighteous deeds. Then Gehenna will appear. Gehenna is connected with a “furnace” and the “pit of torment” and juxtaposed with the “place of rest” and the “paradise of delight.” I think we can safely interpret this as an afterlife setting: the valley outside of Jerusalem has taken on an otherworldly meaning. Gehenna has moved from Jerusalem to the world to come.
Pseudepigrapha
Unlike the apocryphal books, the pseudepigraphal books are not considered Scripture by any major Christian denomination. For the most part, they are books that are falsely ascribed to biblical characters and written much later than their purported time periods.[iii]
2 Baruch
Also dated to around the end of the first century AD, 2 Baruch, attributed to Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, contains a reference to Gehenna. After praying for understanding, an angel named Ramiel arrives and explains to Baruch what God revealed to Moses:
And the height of the air, and the greatness of Paradise, and the consummation of the ages, and the beginning of the day of judgment: And the number of the offerings, and the earths which have not yet come: And the mouth of Gehenna, and the station of vengeance, and the place of faith, and the region of hope: And the likeness of future torment, and the multitude of innumerable angels, and the flaming hosts, and the splendor of the lightnings, and the voice of the thunders, and the orders of the chiefs of the angels, and the treasuries of light, and the changes of the times, and the investigations of the law. (59:6–10)[iv]
As in 2 Esdras, this passage mentions judgment, Gehenna and Paradise. Since Ramiel only says, “the mouth of Gehenna,” it does not add much to our understanding. However, the context provides afterlife clues: “Paradise, and the consummation of the ages, and the beginning of the day of judgment . . . And the likeness of future torment.”
Ascension of Isaiah
In the Ascension of Isaiah, written in the late first-century to late second century AD, we have two references to Gehenna:
And he [King Hezekiah] called him [Manasseh] into the presence of Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet, and into the presence of Josab the son of Isaiah, in order to deliver unto him the words of righteousness which the king himself had seen:
And of the eternal judgments and torments of Gehenna, and of the prince of this world, and of his angels, and his authorities and his powers. (1:2-3)
Later it says,
And after (one thousand) three hundred and thirty-two days the Lord will come with His angels and with the armies of the holy ones from the seventh heaven with the glory of the seventh heaven, and He will drag Beliar into Gehenna and also his armies. (4:14)[v]
Since Gehenna is linked to “eternal judgments and torments” and the place where Beliar or the devil will be dragged with “his armies,” these appear to be references to the afterlife.
1 Enoch
Although 1 Enoch does not use the word Gehenna, some believe it is a central text in tracking down the development of the concept. The book claims to convey the words and visions of Enoch, a saint from the first book of the Bible.
Then said I: ‘For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley between?’ Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: ‘This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement. In the last days there shall be upon them the spectacle of righteous judgement in the presence of the righteous for ever: here shall the merciful bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King.’ (27:1–3)[vi]
While sections of 1 Enoch may have been composed at different times, an early date for chapter 27 (i.e., first century BC) is commonly accepted. In this passage, we have a reference to “this accursed valley” where the accursed will be “gathered together.” It is “for those who are accursed for ever” and it will serve as “their place of judgement.” Whether this judgment should be understood as completed or ongoing is not clear. The phrase, “In the last days” along with viewing “the spectacle” sounds like a momentary experience may ensue. If this is correct, a case can be made for seeing this valley as merely earthly. However, this judgment is connected with “for ever”—“the spectacle of righteous judgment in the presence of the righteous for ever.” Will the righteous be watching this forever or will it serve as an eternal memorial for them? The idea of eternal conscious torment is not made explicit.
Several chapters later, Enoch says,
And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning fire. And they brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast them into this deep valley. And there mine eyes saw how they made these their instruments, iron chains of immeasurable weight. And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying: ‘ For whom are these chains being prepared ? ‘ And he said unto me: ‘ These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded. And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.’ (54:1–6)
This vision adds “burning fire” to the “deep valley” as well as a scene of violent judgment—“the kings and the mighty” thrown into the deep valley. Enoch then learns that “iron chains of immeasurable weight” are being prepared for the “hosts of Azazel,” who is probably a fallen angel or Satan. The “hosts,” then, probably refer to fallen angels. The chains will be used by righteous angels who will place them on the subjects of Satan then throw them “into the abyss of complete condemnation” or “into the burning furnace.” Again, the idea of perpetual conscious suffering is not made clear.
Two chapters later, judgment begins to unfold:
And I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment going, and they held scourges and chains of iron and bronze. And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying: ‘To whom are these who hold the scourges going ?’ And he said unto me: ‘To their elect and beloved ones, that they may be cast into the chasm of the abyss of the valley.’ (56:1–3)
In chapter 90 Enoch sees another vision of a fiery abyss:
And the judgement was held first over the stars, and they were judged and found guilty, and went to the place of condemnation, and they were cast into an abyss, full of fire and flaming, and full of pillars of fire. And those seventy shepherds were judged and found guilty, and they were cast into that fiery abyss. And I saw at that time how a like abyss was opened in the midst of the earth, full of fire, and they brought those blinded sheep, and they were all judged and found guilty and cast into this fiery abyss, and they burned; now this abyss was to the right of that house. And I saw those sheep burning and their bones burning. (90:24–27)
Preceding this strange passage, shepherds and wild animals attack the sheep so God stands up for them. Both the stars, which may refer to fallen angels, and the seventy shepherds are “cast into an abyss, full of fire and flaming” or that “fiery abyss.” Intriguingly, this abyss is located “to the right of that house.”
So what is this “fiery abyss” in 1 Enoch? Is it a place where the wicked will suffer conscious torment forever? Or is it a place of final destruction? I lean toward ultimate destruction but keep in mind that 1 Enoch is highly visionary so arriving at detailed literal information is probably expecting too much. At the end of chapter 90, Enoch says, “This is the vision which I saw while I slept” (v. 40). Also, note that 1 Enoch refers to a valley where divine judgment occurs, but it does not use the word Gehenna. Finally, some passages make it clear that the targets of judgment are demonic forces.
The Mishnah
In the Mishnah, the first authoritative collection of Jewish oral laws, given its final form around AD 200, we have several references to Gehenna as a place of postmortem punishment and purification. Although these documents were compiled long after the Gospels, they purport to record comments of respected rabbis, some of whom lived in the first century or earlier. In total, the Talmud, of which the Mishnah is a major part, contains more than 50 references to Gehenna.[vii] For example,
There will be three groups of people on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days: One of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written and sealed for eternal life. Wholly wicked people will immediately be written and sealed for Gehenna, as it is stated: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Middling people will descend to Gehenna to be cleansed and to achieve atonement for their sins, and they will cry out in their pain and eventually ascend from there, as it is stated: “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My name, and I will answer them” (Zechariah 13:9). This is referring to the members of the third group, who require refinement and cleansing. . . .
Beit Hillel say: He Who is “and abundant in kindness” (Exodus 34:6) tilts the scales in favor of kindness, so that middling people should not have to pass through Gehenna. . . .
The rebellious Jews who have sinned with their bodies and also the rebellious people of the nations of the world who have sinned with their bodies descend to Gehenna and are judged there for twelve months. After twelve months, their bodies are consumed, their souls are burned, and a wind scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righteous, as it is stated: “And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet” (Malachi 3:21).
But the heretics; and the informers; and the apostates [apikorsim]; and those who denied the Torah; and those who denied the resurrection of the dead; and those who separated from the ways of the Jewish community and refused to share the suffering; and those who cast their fear over the land of the living; and those who sinned and caused the masses to sin, for example, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and his company; all of these people descend to Gehenna and are judged there for generations and generations, as it is stated: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die; neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24).
Gehenna will terminate, but they still will not terminate, as it is stated: “And their form shall wear away the netherworld, so that there be no dwelling for Him” (Psalms 49:15); that is to say, Gehenna itself will be worn away before their punishment has come to an end.[viii]
These teachings, which don’t require readers to decipher visionary symbolism, are clearly referring to a postmortem Gehenna. At the final judgment, “wholly wicked people” and “middling people” will descend immediately to Gehenna. For “middling people” Gehenna will be a place of purification from which they will eventually ascend so “they do not have to pass through Gehenna.” “The rebellious Jews who have sinned with their bodies and also the rebellious people of the nations of the world who have sinned with their bodies” will be judged in Gehenna for twelve months then they appear to be annihilated in body and soul: “After twelve months, their bodies are consumed, their souls are burned, and a wind scatters them . . .” But heretics and others will be judged in Gehenna for “generations and generations.” Eventually, though, their punishment will come to an end: “Gehenna itself will be worn away before their punishment has come to an end.”
Here is one more passage to confirm an unearthly Gehenna.
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says: Rabbi Yoḥanan raises a contradiction between two texts. In one place it is written: “Riches profit not on the day of wrath, but charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4), and elsewhere it is written: “Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2). Why is it necessary to have these two verses about charity, that it delivers from death? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba continues: One verse serves to teach that charity delivers from an unnatural death in this world, and one verse serves to teach that charity delivers from the judgment of Gehenna in the World-to-Come.[ix]
Other Jewish Writings
Among the seven major categories of intertestamental literature, there is not much to discuss regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, Philo, and Josephus. According to Kim G. Papaioannou, they are all silent on Gehenna as a place of punishment.[x] He notes that this lack of evidence is especially striking in the War Rule, which is the Dead Sea Scroll document depicting the final battle between the “sons of light” and the “sons of darkness.” Regarding the Septuagint, he adds that since the translators used a variety of Greek forms to translate Ge-hinnom, “a fixed tradition that would conjure up images of divine punishment” had probably not developed.[xi] Philo and Josephus were prolific Jewish authors in the first century so if Gehenna had taken on a definite afterlife meaning, it is peculiar that they didn’t even make a passing reference to it in their many volumes.[xii]
Summary
Gehenna was used in an afterlife sense in ancient Jewish and Christian writings.[xiii] We have seen evidence to support that claim from 2 Esdras, 2 Baruch, Ascension of Isaiah, and the Mishnah.[xiv] Without using the word Gehenna, 1 Enoch, also comments on afterlife punishment.
However, it is difficult to find explicit evidence for eternal conscious torment in these accounts. In fact, according to the Mishnah, middling people will ascend from Gehenna and rebels will suffer in it for twelve months then be destroyed.
Regarding the dating of this literature, Kim Papaioannou concludes that the early texts of possible relevance for understanding Gehenna are “all dated after AD 70, toward the end of the century or even later.”[xv] First Enoch 27 may be one exception, but it does not use the word Gehenna. Dating ancient documents is tricky. Even if these books predate Jesus, we still don’t have enough evidence to conclude that he was influenced by these other literary uses of Gehenna. On the other hand, we also can’t say for certain that Jesus was a trailblazer in the way he used Gehenna. We can say that Jesus was not the only ancient Jew who spoke of Gehenna as the place of fire, condemnation, and destruction (e.g., Matt 10:28; Lk 12:5).
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[i] Roger Beckwith, “Intertestamental Judaism, its Literature and its Significance,” in Themelios, vol. 15, issue 3. www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/intertestamental-judaism-its-literature-and-its-significance.
[ii] Variation on the list of books exists between Orthodox communions.
[iii] These books are called apocryphal by Roman Catholics. Some of the books Protestants label as apocryphal are considered deuterocanonical to Catholics. Thus, Catholics use Apocrypha for what Protestants call Pseudepigrapha.
[iv] www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/2Baruch.html
[v] www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ascension.html
[vi] Quotations of 1 Enoch taken from www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM.
[vii] Kim G. Papaioannou, “The Development of Gehenna between the Old and New Testaments” in Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism, chap. 18.
[viii] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, 16b, 17a, www.sefaria.org.
[ix] Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra, 10a, www.sefaria.org.
[x] Papaioannou, chap. 18.
[xi] Ibid., chap. 18.
[xii] In The Wars of the Jews, written around AD 75, Josephus explains the views of the Essenes, which includes a reference to Hades: “For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever; and that they come out of the most subtle air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. And indeed the Greeks seem to me to have followed the same notion, when they allot the islands of the blessed to their brave men, whom they call heroes and demi-gods; and to the souls of the wicked, the region of the ungodly, in Hades, where their fables relate that certain persons, such as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and Ixion, and Tityus, are punished; which is built on this first supposition, that souls are immortal; and thence are those exhortations to virtue and dehortations from wickedness collected; whereby good men are bettered in the conduct of their life by the hope they have of reward after their death; and whereby the vehement inclinations of bad men to vice are restrained, by the fear and expectation they are in, that although they should lie concealed in this life, they should suffer immortal punishment after their death. These are the Divine doctrines of the Essens about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy.” (2.154)
[xiii] Dale Allison makes the point that most ancient Jewish books have been lost. He says we only have “maybe 5-10% of the texts mentioned by the church fathers.” Email correspondence, June 22, 2022.
[xiv] I made no attempt to be exhaustive with this enormous literature.
[xv] Papaioannou, chap. 18.
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.