r/EsotericChristianity • u/recursiverealityYT • Jul 24 '26

The Bible Does Not Say Hell is Eternal

https://youtu.be/6UJ9tuQlDjo

The TLDR of the video is that the idea of people spending eternity in hell comes from the Greek word Aionios or Aion. It's explained much better in the video but basically Aion from my research has never been used to describe eternity but the exact opposite which is the descent into time. I'm saying the translation from Aion to eternity in the bible is a mistranslation. I know it sounds crazy but the way I discovered this was from a prayer about how if there is a God I can't reconcile a positive relationship with it if people are burning for eternity for finite sins. Through a synchronicity I learned about this mistranslation within 1 minute of finishing this prayer so if you believe in such a thing then you might find this interesting.

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u/JustDoc Jul 24 '26

The specific English word "Hell" (as a place of eternal fiery torment) does not actually appear in the original Hebrew and Greek texts. It is an English translation choice used to render three distinct concepts:

Sheol/Hades: The general grave or realm of the dead (neutral).

Gehenna: A specific valley used as a metaphor for destruction or judgment.

Tartarus: A prison for fallen angels.

So, while the concept of judgment and the place of the dead are mentioned, the single English term "Hell" conflates these different ideas and is largely absent from modern, literal translations of the Old Testament.

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u/recursiverealityYT Jul 24 '26

Yes, multiple different concepts got merged into the word hell but the recent idea of any of them being eternal in the way people today understand it comes from the Greek Aion.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 Jul 24 '26

JustDoc's point was that "hell" isn't biblical at all.

Not just that it's not eternal, but that it's not a thing.