10 Key Bible Verses on Hell

This article is part of the Key Bible Verses series.

All commentary notes adapted from the ESV Study Bible and the ESV Expository Commentary.

1. Numbers 16:30–33

”But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.” And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. Read More

Sheol is the proper name in Hebrew for the place where people go after death; sometimes it serves as a poetic name for the grave, to which all go (e.g., 141:7), and other times it names the dim destination to which the wicked go but not the faithful (e.g., 49:14–15).

and the earth closed over them. The judgment from God was swift and absolute. The form in which the judgment occurred also may have given a symbolic hint of their future condition, away from the presence of the Lord.

2. Psalm 16:10

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption. Read More

Sheol. See note above. Here it is likely the abode of the wicked. Likewise, corruption probably describes the experience of being far from God forever. These are not likely terms for the grave, since everyone singing these words would know that his body would one day die and rot.

3. Psalm 49:13–15

This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah. Read More

The unfaithful are like sheep . . . appointed for Sheol, while God will ransom the faithful person’s soul from the power of Sheol (Ps. 49:14–15). Since the impious go to Sheol, and the pious do not, here it represents the grim place of destruction for the wicked, and not simply the grave (see note on Ps. 6:5).

Quite often in the Bible, “soul” describes the life principle that animates the body, or the person’s inner self, and can simply be another way of saying “the self.” At other times, however, it can describe that inner self as something that survives the death of the body, as it does here, where my soul is parallel to me, the self that after death will not go to Sheol. In the larger picture of the Bible, the separation of body and soul is unnatural, a product of sin (Gen. 3:19), and will be healed with their reunion at the resurrection (Dan. 12:2–3; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1–4).

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4. Hosea 13:14

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Read More

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol. In the OT, “Sheol” is a proper name and can be a poetic personification of the grave (e.g., 1 Kings 2:6; Ps. 141:7). But it can also designate the grim destination of the wicked after death (e.g., Ps. 49:14–15). The parallel wording with Ps. 49:15 suggests that Hosea sees Ephraim’s “death” as leading to Sheol in the second sense, i.e., as damnation. Yet God promises to rescue Ephraim from such consequences. O Death, where are your plagues? If the Lord is their strong deliverer, then not even death will be able to terrify them or harm them. In 1 Cor. 15:55 Paul cites part of Hos. 13:14. In that context, he is viewing the general resurrection as God’s triumph over not only bodily death but also eternal judgment, for the faithful. Sadly, in Hosea’s time Israel is rejecting the only power that can save her. Thus compassion is hidden from God’s eyes, and Israel will perish miserably (Hos. 13:15–16).

5. Matthew 13:40–42

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Read More

fiery furnace . . . weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus’ typical description of eternal judgment in Matthew’s Gospel. The identical phrase appears in Matt. 8:12; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51; and Matt. 25:30, always with the definite article before “weeping” and “gnashing.” Wailing is grief forcefully expressed, and the definite article—“the weeping”—indicates the greatest tears and cries, an anguish caused by the final separation from God.

6. Mark 9:43–45

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. Read More

Jesus uses hyperbole (intentional overstatement) to show the seriousness of sin and the fact that nothing, even things of greatest importance to humans such as a hand, foot, or eye, can be more important than God. “Hand,” “foot,” and “eye” probably also serve as metonymies (where one thing stands for something related to it) for sins that can be committed with these body parts. (E.g., the “hand” may represent theft or murder done by the hand; the “foot” may represent going somewhere to undertake a sinful act; the “eye” may represent coveting, lust, or adultery, as in Matt. 5:27–30.) Of course, Jesus does not mean that people should literally cut off those body parts, for the literal removal of them cannot remove the root of sin in the heart (see Mark 7:20–23; 9:45). Jesus’ words serve as a sober warning concerning the severity of sin, which can lead to hell (Gk. gehenna; see Isa. 66:24) and fire that is not quenched (Mark 8:35–37; 9:47–48).

7. Luke 12:5

But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Read More

The second fear refers to God (him), who at the final judgment has authority to cast into hell. Repetition (fear him) gives this command additional emphasis.

One should fear eternal death rather than physical death since the latter is temporary whereas the former is forever. The verse functions as an argument against annihilationism as well (the view that those consigned to hell will eventually cease entirely to exist), for if the final judgment simply ended existence, then it would be of the same nature as physical death. Jesus calls upon disciples to live authentically before God because eternal life and eternal death are at stake, and it is far better to be killed by human beings than to suffer loss eternally in hell.

8. James 3:6

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. Read More

a world of unrighteousness. The tongue represents and puts into expression all the wickedness of the world. The entire course of life (lit., “the cycle of existence”) likely means the “ups and downs” of life. The tongue turns upside down every aspect of life in the community as well as in the individual. set on fire by hell. Evil speech destroys because it comes from Satan himself.

We should probably understand the reference to “the world of unrighteousness” as James’s metaphorical assertion that all of the various dimensions of sinfulness we find in this rebellious world (all of which deserve the judgment of hell) find expression in the human tongue.

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9. 2 Peter 2:4–10a

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Read More

False prophets have been active throughout redemptive history, so it should come as no surprise that in these last days false teachers will arise to lead people astray through their greed and sexual immorality (2 Pet. 2:1–3a). But OT history makes it abundantly clear that God will both judge those who transgress his appointed boundaries and rescue the godly from their trials (2:3b–10a).

Peter makes a detailed argument proving God’s certain judgment on the false teachers. He uses a rabbinic form of proof that moves from minor premise to major premise (if A is true, how much more is B also true), and his analogies in vv. 4–8 amount to minor premises leading to the major premise of vv. 9–10a.

First minor premise: if God did not spare angels. If (A) God has eternally condemned the sinful angels, then (B) how much more certainly will he condemn the false teachers and their followers (major premise, vv. 9b–10a).

Second minor premise: if (A) he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah . . . with seven others, then (B) will he not even more certainly judge the false teachers (major premise, vv. 9b–10a) while at the same time preserving the godly (major premise, v. 9a). Christians may be a small minority, but God will protect them.

Third minor premise: Peter sees the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as a “type” (a divine foreshadowing) of judgment by fire on the last day (3:10–12), an event that will be denied by false teachers (2:4). If (A) God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah, then (B) how much more certain it is that the same thing will happen to the ungodly who reject the gospel.

Fourth minor premise: if (A) God rescued righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed and even tormented by the conduct of the wicked in Sodom (v. 6), then (B) how much more will he “rescue the godly” (major premise, v. 9a).

Having stated his minor premises, Peter moves now to his major premise (see note on vv. 4–10a): “If” vv. 4–8 are true, then how much more true are vv. 9–10a. God indeed knows how to rescue the godly from trials. In the case of Peter’s audience, this would have evoked hope of divine deliverance from the false teachers and their influence. God also will certainly keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. He will punish them in a partial, preliminary way before the final day of judgment (cf. Luke 16:23–24; Heb. 9:27). This applies especially to those who engage in defiling passion and who despise authority—probably a reference to false teachers (cf. 2 Pet. 2:12, 18; 3:3; Jude 8, 16, 18).

10. Revelation 20:13–15

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Read More

The sea, Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead, cf. Rev. 6:8) will give up their dead as all people return to bodily existence to be judged (2 Cor. 5:10) by Jesus (Matt. 16:27; John 5:28–29; Acts 17:31). they were judged . . . according to what they had done. Unbelievers will be rightly condemned for their sins (cf. Rom. 3:23; Rev. 20:15). Believers, whose names are in the “book of life” (vv. Rev. 20:12, 15), will enter into “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1) because the names in that book are of those who have been redeemed by “the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 13:8; cf. Rev. 21:27) for their sins (Rev. 1:5). Their recorded deeds attest to their trust in Christ and are also the basis for determining their rewards (cf. notes on 1 Cor. 3:14–15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12–16).

Death, the last enemy, will be destroyed when Christ returns and raises believers (1 Cor. 15:23–26). Therefore Death and Hades will be the last to be thrown into the lake of fire, the second death, where they will join the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 19:20) and the devil (Rev. 20:10).

All whose names are not found written in the book of life will be condemned for the record of their deeds and thrown into the lake of fire. Those enrolled in the Lamb’s book of life enter the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:27).