Bible Readings — Bible Questions Answered

Where Are the Dead?

Are not the righteous dead in heaven praising God? BR-ASI9 349.4

“For David is not ascended into the heavens.” Acts 2:34. BR-ASI9 349.5

“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. BR-ASI9 349.6

Where did Job say he would await his final change? BR-ASI9 349.7

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” Job 14:21. “If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.” Job 17:13. BR-ASI9 349.8

Note.—The Hebrew original for “grave” in this verse is sheol, meaning among other things a dark, hollow, subterranean place, used simply in reference to the abode of the dead in general, without distinguishing between the good and the bad. (Young’s Analytical Concordance.) BR-ASI9 349.9

The same word is also translated “pit” 3 times (Numbers 16:30, 33; Job 17:16), and “hell” 31 times (every occurrence of the word “hell” in the King James Version of the Old Testament). The translation of sheol as “grave” 31 times bears witness to the unsuitability of the present English word hell to the idea of sheol, especially in reference to Jacob (Genesis 37:35; 42:38), Job (Job 14:13), David (Psalm 30:3), and even Christ (Psalm 16:10; cf. Acts 2:27, 31). The American Revised Version avoids choosing between “hell” and “grave” by retaining sheol as an untranslated place name, just as it does the corresponding Greek word Hades in the New Testament. It should be remembered that “hell” in the Old Testament always means sheol, a place of darkness and silence, not a place of fiery torment. BR-ASI9 349.10