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"Heaven and Hades are commonly set in opposition to one another; the one is conceived to be the highest object, the other the lowest. From what is literally or locally so, the transition is very natural to what is figuratively so; that is, what expresses a glorious and happy state on the one hand, or a humble and miserable one on the other. In this way it is used by our Lord. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to Hades, "ews "adov. As this city was never literally raised to heaven, we have no reason to believe it was literally brought down to Hades, but only that from a flourishing one it should be brought to the lowest degree of wretchedness.

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"Keber, the Hebrew word for Grave or sepulchre, is never rendered in the ancient relation Hades, but taphos, mnema, or some equivalent term. Sheol, on the contrary, is never rendered taphos or mnema, but always Hades; nor is it ever construed with thapto or any verb which signifies to bury, a thing almost inevitable in words so frequently occurring, if it had ever properly signified a grave. This itself might suffice to show that the ideas which the Jews had of these were never confounded. I observe further, that Hades, as well as the corresponding Hebrew word, is always singular in meaning as well as in form. The word for grave is often plural.

"When mention is made of the spirit after death, its abode is Hades. When notice is taken of one's making or visiting a grave, or touching it, mourning at it, and the like, the word is always Keber. In Hades, all the dead are represented as present without exception. The case is quite different with the graves or sepulchres. In the song of triumph on the fall of the King of Babylon, it is said, 'Hell (Hades) from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming, it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth,' &c. Yet their sepulchres are all distant from each other as the nations they governed, and those are represented as in Hades, whose bodies were denied the honour of sepulchre. It is by death, and by it only, that the spirit enters into Hades. The gate of Hades

is therefore a natural mode of expressing death, in as much as without any positive evidence, we should naturally conclude this to be the meaning of the phrase. But we have sufficient evidence, both sacred and profane, that this is the meaning of the phrase when it occurs in Scripture. Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell (as in our translation) shall not prevail against it.' In the original, the words are uλa "adou (pulai hadou.) Hezekiah, in his thanksgiving after his miraculous recovery from what was thought a mortal disease, tells us: 'I said I shall go to the gates of the grave,' ev muλais "adov; nothing can be plainer than that pulais hadou here means death. Our translators have not liked, as in the former example, to translate them Hell, as Hezekiah, who was a good man, could not be supposed to speak as if he thought himself going to Hell, and they have translated hadou the grave.

"I shall subjoin a few words on the manner wherein the distinction has been preserved between Hades and Gehenna by the translators of the New Testament; for Gehenna, as a name for the place of future punishment, does not occur in the Old. All the Latin translations I have seen, observe the distinction. All, without exception, adopt the word Gehenna, although they do not all universally translate Hades. The English translators have rendered both the Greek names by the word hell, except in one single place,† where Hades is translated grave. The common method, hitherto observed, has been to retain the word Gehenna, and translate Hades either Hell or grave, as appeared most to suit the context." Dr. Campbell, in his translation of the Gospels, reverses this method, and renders Gehenna always Hell, retaining Hades, which gives a much greater degree of perspicuity to the meaning of the original. The reasons given by him, are, “1st, Though English ears are not entirely fa

* Matt. xvi. 18.

It should be noticed that Dr. C. is here speaking merely of the best method of distinguishing these two words to the English reader, not that there are differences of opinion between him and other translators as to their respective meanings.

miliarized to either term, they are much more so to the latter than to the former, in consequence of the greater use made of the latter in Theological writings; 2dly, The import of the English word hell, when we speak as Christians, answers exactly to Gehenna not to Hades; whereas, to this last word, we have no term in the language corresponding."* "From a passage in St. Paul's 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, xii. 1-4. it may seem to some, at first sight, that he gives some reason to conclude paradise and heaven to be the same (1.) I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. (2.) I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth ;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. (3.) And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth.) -(4.) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."+

"The Jews make mention of three heavens. The first is properly the atmosphere, where the birds fly, and the clouds are suspended. The second is above the first, and is what we call the visible firmament, wherein the sun, moon, and stars appear. The third, to us invisible, is conceived to be above the second, and therefore sometimes stiled the heaven of heavens. This they considered as the place of the throne of the Father Almighty, and the habitation of the holy angels. Now, it is evident, that, if in the 2d and 4th verses, the Apostle speaks of one vision or revelation only, paradise and heaven are the same; not so, if, in these, he speaks of two different revelations. My opinion,' says Dr. C. 'is, that there are two. 1st, St. Paul speaks of them as more than one, and that not only in introducing them, I will come to visions and revelations; 2dly, They are related as two distinct events. 3dly, There is a repetition of his doubts in regard to the reality of this transaction, which, if the whole

See preceding note.

↑ Or rather according to Dr. Macknight's translation-which it is not possible for man to utter.

relate to a single event, was not only superfluous but improper. This repetition, however, was one necessary, if what is related in the 3d and 4th verses be a different fact from what is told in the second, and if he was equally uncertain whether it passed in vision or reality. 4thly, If all the three verses regard only one revelation, there is, in the manner of relating it, a repetition unexampled in the Apostle's writings.'"*

Not only, therefore, does an investigation of the meaning which the Jews annexed to the word Hades, establish that they by it referred to a Middle State for disembodied souls, but the same result may thus be made manifest from an inquiry into the understanding they had with regard to Paradise, the Garden of Eden, or Abraham's bosom, all as naming one place. The Jews evidently considered all these in the same light as the primitive Christians did. The heavenly paradise was the appointed residence of the souls of the faithful during the whole time of their absence from their bodies, and the Jews prayed that the dead might be received there, and finally obtain acceptance at the resurrection. It

Dr. Campbell is another expositor of great authority, besides those formerly mentioned, who thinks there is no doubt that St. Paul is alluding in this passage to what happened to himself; but I have already suggested that we have some cause for being uncertain of this, and for believing that it is possible he may have referred to another person who had communicated these revelations to the Apostle. In either way, the scriptural relation may, however, be fairly considered as showing that paradise and heaven are distinct places, and that St. Paul refers to two different events by the repetitions he uses. Were the relation more doubtful than it is with regard to the distinction between them, still, the proof that heaven and paradise are two places, does not depend on this passage, which is cited merely to show that although in it they might at first appear to be the same, yet that it agrees with others where they are more clearly represented as distinct. In addition to what I formerly observed on this head, I may notice, that the "fourteen years" evidently apply to the time when the Apostle knew the man he was referring to,—not to the time of the vision. Now, if it be insisted that he meant to speak of a vision of his own, we must understand him to say that he knew himself fourteen years ago; an extraordinary mode of expression, and very unnecessary information.

was natural to take the name of what had once been a happy but temporal residence for man, in order to designate a blessed one for his soul, where it was to remain also but for a time; and, since they considered their patriarch Abraham as at the head of their church, and his soul in paradise, that they should also call this place by his name. Beyond these names they had no other designation for it by itself. That they ever so termed what they called the Third or Highest Heaven-the place of eternal delight and reward—the holy residence of God and his angels-the Holy of Holies, where, at least, the Almighty manifests his presence and his power in the most open and direct manner,―must appear to any one who considers it for a moment, extremely improbable, while to those who will search into the question, such an idea will be seen to be impossible.

Dr. Adam Clarke observes in his commentary, that "the Garden of Eden mentioned Gen. ii. 8. is also called in the Septuagint the garden of Paradise. Hence the word has been translated into the New Testament, and is used to signify a place of exquisite delight. The word paradise is not Greek, but of Arabic origin. In Arabic and Persian, it signifies a garden, a vineyard, the place of the blessed. Our Lord's words intimate that the penitent thief should be immediately taken to the abode of the spirits of the just."

Dr. Whitby considers paradise as "the place into which pious souls, separated from the body, were immediately received."

Dr. Doddridge also speaks of paradise as the abode of happy spirits when separated from the body, "that garden of God which is the seat of happy spirits in the intermediate state."+

"Now, as in heaven, happy spirits are united with their glorified bodies, the place where they abide, when separated from their bodies, is not heaven, but a region of the place of the departed styled paradise."‡

* Whitby on Luke xxiii. 43.

↑ Hobart.

† Doddridge on Luke.

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