I was reading Psalm 6 and came across the place Sheol. I realized I wasn’t exactly sure what that word/place meant so I went hunting for an explanation. Below is a brief and simple explanation. For further detail and to dive much deeper head to Desiring God’s post.
Sheol is an Old Testament term. It’s actually very complex and used in multiple ways to describe a place where both the righteous and unrighteous go after death. It’s not a forever status and will come to an end. It’s essentially a dwelling place for the dead before Jesus.
Sheol is a place of darkness, but it is also a place where God still remembers his people; a place where he is still king. The OT doesn’t go into much detail but it’s pictured as dark, dusky and gloomy. Sheol is typically viewed under the rule of God’s enemy Satan and is a place outside the land. Or a place below. But it’s not like Hell as we know it today.
There are many different ways Sheol is used in the OT to describe things, and as always, context is King.
Sheol is used symbolically. It’s used as a way to describe a place of deep abyss or chaos. Used to describe a wilderness. A place or feeling opposite the Promise Land.
Sheol is often used as a place where the righteous are saved from.
It’s a place or punishment for the wicked.
Sheol is also a spiritual reference for the unseen realm of the dead or a grave where bodies are buried, a physical reference.
Fun fact:
You can find the word Sheol most often in Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah. Also, if I’m correct the NIV and NLT do not use the term Sheol. The ESV and NKJV however do.
Sheol Bible Verses:
Job 11:8 - It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
Job 14:13 - Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Psalms 6:5 - For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
Psalms 9:17 - The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
Psalms 16:10 - For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, let your holy one see corruption.
Psalms 49:15 -But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.
Psalms 86:13 - For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
Psalms 88:3 - For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
Psalms 141:7 - As when one plows and breaks up the earth, so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Proverbs 1:12 - like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
Proverbs 15:24 - The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.
Proverbs 23:14 - If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.
Proverbs 30:16 - Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”
Isaiah 7:11 – “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
Isaiah 14:9 - Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.Isaiah 28:18 - Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.
Isaiah 38:18 - For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.
If you enjoy diving deeper, might we suggest these posts:
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