Bible Dictionaries
Hades

　　The Greek word hades was used in Bible times as the equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol, the name used in the Old Testament for the world of the dead. This world of the dead was the shadowy destiny that awaited all people, whether good or bad (Acts 2:27; cf. Psalms 16:10; for details see SHEOL).

　　With Christ’s conquest of death, there was no need to fear the world of the dead any longer. Hades was a fearful place only to those who would not trust in Christ. Hades spoke therefore of more than death in general; it spoke of the separation from God that followed death in the afterlife (Matthew 11:23; Matthew 16:18; Revelation 20:13-14).

　　In general, however, the word that the New Testament usually used for the place of eternal punishment was not hades but gehenna. This was a place of fiery torment (Matthew 18:9; see HELL).