Hell on Earth? How King James' Scribes Mistranslated Terms for the Underworld
“Honey, let’s take the kids down to hell this afternoon. It’s a beautiful day at the park there.”
Today, many young families in Jerusalem may say something similar to the above statement. Of course, instead of "hell," they usually say "Gey Ben Hinnom Park."
- Pictured is Gey Ben Hinnom Park in Jerusalem, a part of the Valley of Hinnom (aka Gehenna's Valley or Gehenna), wrongly mistranslated in the King James and other Bibles as "hell."
Yet according to some badly translated Bibles and corrupt Western traditions, both "hell" and Gehenna refer to the same place—thus rendering hell an actual place on top of (and not beneath) the earth, and a destination one can visit in this life.
In 1611, English scribes used the word 'hell' in their mistake-prone King James version of the Bible, in place of the actual words used by the original writers of Scripture: Hades (Hebrew Sheol), Tartarus, and Gehenna (Gey Hinnom).
Hades, Sheol, and Tartarus are locations we have no access to in this world. But Gehenna is a place in Jerusalem. It's been there for thousands of years—and many folks visit it often!
According to the translators of the King James Bible, though, Gehenna is as much 'hell' as Hades, Sheol, and Tartarus. And that makes no sense—especially to frequent visitors of the peaceful and serene Gey Ben Hinnom Park, a valley The City of David says looks more like heaven than hell.
This mistranslation by Middle-English scribes in 1611 had profound consequences on how people think about the afterlife. By lumping Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and Gehenna all together as 'hell,' the King James translators created one big scary place of punishment that the Bible's original authors never intended. Modern scholars increasingly recognize this oversimplification has distorted Western Christianity's understanding of afterlife teachings for centuries.
This mistranslation has led millions of Bible readers to envision 'hell' exclusively as an otherworldly place of eternal torment. Yet Gehenna's physical presence in Jerusalem—as a pleasant park where children play today—challenges this understanding. If one 'hell' in the Bible is actually a green valley where families leisurely stroll, maybe we should think twice about other biblical terms too. Many contemporary biblical scholars now argue that the concepts of Sheol and Hades align more closely with 'the grave' or 'the realm of the dead' rather than a place of eternal conscious torment.
The original New Testament authors mentioned Gehenna 11 times in the synoptic gospels and once in James. Some believe its use in the gospels refers to foretellings regarding the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.
These authors were well aware that, in Old Testament times, the worship of Molech took place in the Valley of Hinnom, which involved child sacrifice and led to the area gaining a notoriously negative reputation. The prophet Jeremiah opposed this practice and foretold that those responsible for this sin would be put to death at that very location (Jeremiah 7:31-34).
Jewish rabbis have long taught that no one can suffer in underworld Gehenna for more than 12 months. The concept that persons are sent there forever is found nowhere in the original Hebrew or Greek texts of the Bible.
The meaning of 'hell' has transformed dramatically across the English-speaking world since 1611. Originally derived from Old English terms referring to covering or concealing——a somewhat debatable translation for Sheol or Hades—the word underwent a significant shift. As denominations spread their human-crafted doctrines over generations, 'hell' gradually took on more extreme imagery of flames, endless suffering, and perpetual punishment—ideas far removed from its original meaning.
Newer Bible versions are starting to address this change in meaning. Some just keep the word 'Gehenna' as is or add notes explaining it's a real place in Jerusalem. Young's Literal Translation, for example, calls it 'valley of Hinnom' instead of 'hell.' This helps readers tell the difference between the Jerusalem valley and other afterlife ideas, giving a more honest picture of what the original Bible actually says.
Understanding this difference between the fires of hell and The Valley of Hinnom invites us to reconsider not just biblical translation but our entire concept of divine judgment. A God who allowed a former place of child sacrifice to be transformed into a beautiful park suggests redemption rather than eternal punishment. Perhaps an overlooked message about Gehenna isn't about everlasting torment but about how even the darkest places can, over the ages, eventually be reformed into something beautiful.
If nothing else, if someone today tells you to go to hell, at least you now know where it is. Perhaps you can load up the kids (or grandkids) and hopefully have a delightful time there.
MORE INFORMATION:
Gey Ben Hinnom Park
5 things to know about the Valley of Hinnom
Gehenna Wikipedia
author: Jerry Dan Deutschendorf