Yes, Jesus Descended, but not to “Hell”
The Apostles’ Creed has become an essential statement of faith for the Church. Possibly going back as early as the 3rd century, it is a creed that Protestants and Catholics get behind. For some Protestants, there’s one particular line in the creed depending on the translation that brings confusion:
“He (Jesus Christ) descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day.”
Certain traditions in Christianity have interpreted this to mean that when Jesus died, he went to fiery pits of hell. This would be called the Harrowing of Hell. On the surface, there’s a lot of Scripture to back it up. 1st Peter 3:19, Ephesians 4:9, and Revelation 1:18 seem to imply Jesus took certain action while dead and descended to another realm.
I would suggest that the much of this tradition is true. Jesus did descend to another realm when he died, he did do something significant while dead, and his resurrection brought a triumphant victory not only over the earth but also said realm. The key difference is where Jesus descended, and I would suggest it was not hell, at least not as we commonly understand hell to be. I do think it’s important to understand the descension of Christ because it is an overlooked piece of the Gospel that brings a deeper understanding to what Jesus accomplished once and for all.
Sheol/Hades and Hell: What’s the difference?
The early Church believed and taught that Jesus descended to the realm of the dead, known in Hebrew as Sheol, and Hades in Greek. The Greek word for “hell”, or at least what is typically understood as the final place of judgment for the damned, is Gehenna, and the Greek text of the Apostles’ Creed states that Jesus descended into Hades. An important distinction is that Sheol/Hades is not the same place as Gehenna. Gehenna (or hell), according to the Greek New Testament, is the place of final judgment that is to come after Jesus returns.
This is most evidently seen in Revelation 20, which describes Jesus bringing final judgment upon Satan, the beast, the false prophet, and all those whose names are not written in the Book of Life. They are thrown into the lake of fire, the second death. What’s often missed is that Hades is mentioned in this passage, but not as the location of the lake of fire: “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14 CSB)
So if Sheol/Hades is not hell, what is it?
The Old Testament describes Sheol as the realm of the dead, where all people go when their time comes. Righteous and unrighteous alike, all end up in Sheol.
“Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah’s people, and all their possessions. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.” -Numbers 16:31-33
“As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.” -Job 7:9
“Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love. For there is no remembrance of you in death; who can thank you in Sheol?” -Psalm 6:4-5
“The Lord brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.” -1st Samuel 2:6
“But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.” -Proverbs 9:18
“Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” -Ecclesiastes 9:10
“For Sheol cannot thank you; Death cannot praise you. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.” -Isaiah 38:18
By the Second Temple Period, Jewish tradition elaborated the theology of Sheol. The Book of Wisdom shares that death was not part of God’s original creation, and describes Sheol/Hades as a dark kingdom:
“Do not strive for death in the deception of your life, or invite destruction by the works of your hands, because God does not cause death or delight in the destruction of living ones. For he created all things to exist, and the generations of the world bring salvation, and there is no poison of destruction in them, and the Kingdom of Hades is not on the earth, for righteousness is immortal.” -Wisdom 1:12-15 (Lexham English Septuagint, 2019)
So why all the confusion? I don’t want to oversimplify it, as there are a few reasons over history why this happened, but one reason is that older translations of the Bible, such as the King James Version, often failed to distinguish Sheol/Hades from hell. Instead, “hell” was often chosen as the translated word for Sheol/Hades, which made “hell” a sweeping term for the dead and afterlife all together. Thankfully, modern translations have begun to correct this mistake, but there is still some confusion in churches. When most people think of “hell”, at least in the West, they often think of some combination of Hades and the lake of fire described in Revelation 20. But the Bible doesn’t describe these as one and the same. Until Jesus returns, resurrects the dead, and judges the righteous and unrighteous, no one has currently been thrown into the lake of fire.
So while the most popular English translation of the Apostles’ Creed states that Jesus descended into hell, a more accurate translation is that, “he descended into Hades…”, or to paraphrase, “he descended into the realm of the dead.”
What about Purgatory?
If Sheol/Hades is an intermediate state of the dead where all go, isn’t that Purgatory? Not exactly. Purgatory, as it is understood today, adapted the traditions of Sheol/Hades, but Second Temple Judaism and the first couple centuries of Christianity had a different understanding of Hades.
The story Jesus tells of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16 is a great example of how some Jews in that time period viewed the realm of the dead. In the story, Jesus frames two potential sides one could go to when they die. The condemned go to a miserable place of torment called Hades, and the righteous go to a place of comfort and rest, known as Paradise or the Bosom of Abraham.
To this day, there is debate as to whether or not Jesus told this story as a mere parable. Regardless of whether or not Jesus told the story as a parable, this framing of Paradise and Hades was already known in Jesus’ time, and multiple Church Fathers after would hold this view:
“The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse place, waiting for the time of judgment.” -Justin Martyr’s “Dialogue with Trypho” (Chapter 5)
“…for paradise has been prepared for righteous men, such as have the Spirit; in which place also Paul the apostle, when he was caught up, heard words which are unspeakable as regards us in our present condition, and that there shall they who have been translated remain until the consummation, as a prelude to immortality.” -Irenaeus’s “Against Heresies” (Book 5, Chapter 5)
“Our answer to this is, that the Scripture itself which dazzles his sight expressly distinguishes between Abraham's bosom, where the poor man dwells, and the infernal place of torment.” -Tertullian’s “Against Marcion” (Book 4, Chapter 34)
“But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guardhouse for souls…
But the righteous shall obtain the incorruptible and unfading Kingdom, who indeed are at present detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous…
But the faces of the fathers and the righteous are seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham’s Bosom.” -Hippolytus’s “Against Plato, on the cause of the Universe” (Chapter 1)
This helps give context to Jesus assuring the repentant thief on the cross that they would be in Paradise by the end of the day. (Luke 23:43) Jesus wasn’t assuring the man that he would go to heaven by the end of the day, but rather be in rest with the saints as they both descended.
Hades and Jesus’ Descent in the New Testament
Now we’ll examine a few passages from Scripture that are commonly interpreted as Jesus’ descent into the realm of the dead. Some of these are direct, while others are more implied.
Acts 2 and Psalm 16
In his great speech at Pentecost, Peter quotes David from Psalm 16:
“God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him:
‘I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.’
Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.” -Acts 2:24-31
Peter interprets David’s hope to be fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus died and went to Hades, but didn’t stay.
1st Peter 3:18-22
For those unfamiliar with Jesus’ descent, 1st Peter 3:19 can be a very confusing verse:
“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
Michael Heiser has given significant attention to this passage, connecting Peter’s words with 1st Enoch. Giving a divine council perspective of Genesis 6 and the Nephilim, 1st Enoch details Enoch becoming a messenger for God to the rebellious sons of God who were awaiting punishment for their great sin:
“...1 Enoch 6-15 describes how the sons of God (called ‘Watchers’ in that ancient book) who committed the offense in Genesis 6:1-4 were imprisoned under the earth for what they had done. That imprisonment is behind the reference to the ‘spirits in prison’ in 1 Peter 3:19...
Just as Jesus was the second Adam for Paul, Jesus is the second Enoch for Peter. Enoch descended to the imprisoned fallen angels to announce their doom. First Peter 3:14-22 has Jesus descending to these same ‘spirits in prison’ to tell them they were still defeated, despite his crucifixion...
This victory declaration is why 1 Peter 3:14-22 ends with Jesus risen from the dead and set at the right hand of God—above all angels, authorities, and powers.”
It’s worth pointing out that Peter similarly ends his Pentecost speech in Acts 2 with the triumph of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, quoting Psalm 110. This is what makes Christ’s descension an important factor to the Gospel. By lowering to the unholy realm of the dead, being raised back to life, and ascending to Heaven, Christ has done what no natural or supernatural power has been able to do, conquering death and all obstacles.
The Gates of Hell Hades
When Peter professes Jesus to be the Messiah, Jesus famously declares he will build his Church, and it is commonly translated that “the gates of hell will not prevail”. (Matthew 16:17-19) But, once again, this isn’t actually what Jesus said. He actually said the gates of Hades will not prevail, which is a term mentioned in the Book of Wisdom:
“For you have authority over life and death, and you lead down to the gate of Hades and you bring up. But in his evil, a person kills, but he cannot return the departed spirit or release the soul that was taken.” -Wisdom 16:13-14 (Lexham English Septuagint, 2019)
The Keys of Death and Hades
The last passage we’ll examine is a brief but significant statement made by Jesus in the beginning of Revelation:
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” -Revelation 1:17-18
Recalling Wisdom’s words about the dark kingdom of Hades, and the universal consequence of death coming to mankind due to our sin, Jesus is clearing any misunderstanding about his resurrection. He didn’t just die and narrowly escape the realm of death, he defeated the realm and stripped away its authority!
Holding the keys of death and Hades, Christ shows a victory no human or divine power can achieve. When he said in Matthew that the gates of Hades will not prevail, he meant it by literally taking away its power and holding its existence in his hand. And as Revelation says towards the end, when Jesus brings final judgment, death and Hades will go into the fire, permanently gone, no longer able to hurt anyone ever again.
So when we recite the Apostles’ Creed, or discuss the Gospel, let us remember all that Jesus accomplished on that fateful Passover. He died on the cross for our sins, descended to the dead, defeated both the penalty of death and the realm of the dead, and is forever alive. He ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father, conquering all obstacles and being exalted as Lord of all.
Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals. I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or even to look in it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne. -Revelation 5:1-7
Bibliography
Penner, K. (2019). The Lexham English Septuagint. Bellingham, WA. Lexham Press.
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada.
Heiser, M. (2015). The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Bellingham, WA. Lexham Press.
Heiser, M. (2021). The Old Testament in Revelation: Notes from the Naked Bible Podcast. Naked Bible Press.
Bercot, D. (1998). A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, MA. Hendrickson Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Thumbnail Image: “Gold Glass Medallion with Jonah” -Musee du Louvre, Department des Antiquites Grecques, Etrusques et Romaines, Paris (1732); from the Durand collection.