Is it true what they say about Hell? l: Hebrew and Greek Lexicon entries

Hell: Appendix 4

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Lexicon Entries

   Hebrew and Greek

The following Lexicon entries, exactly as they appear in the Strong's Lexicons, are for root words that are often cited in relation to the topics of death, Hell, and the Afterlife. They are provided as a central reference source so that articles on this website can link to them to save the reader time, rather than having to look them up individually in a reference work such as Strong's. Brief sample Bible passages are given for each, to show some ways that they are used in the KJV.

The words below are alphabetically ordered according to their English transliteration. Click here for a list ordered by Strong's Hebrew and Greek numbers.

Old Testament

Abaddon: destruction

H11
אבדּון
'ăbaddôn
ab-ad-done'
Intensively from H6; abstractly a perishing; concretely Hades: - destruction.

Proverbs 15:11

Hell [Sheol] and destruction [abaddon] are before [NIV: "lie open before"] the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

Bor:: a pit, particularly one used as a cistern; sometimes implying the grave

H953
בּור
bôr
bore
From H952 (in the sense of H877); a pit hole (especially one used as a cistern or prison): - cistern, dungeon, fountain, pit, well.

Psalm 28:1

Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit [bor].

Chay, Chai : Life, alive, living thing

H2416
חי
chay
khah'ee
From H2421; alive; hence raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively: - + age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life (-time), live (-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, + merry, multitude, + (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.

Isaiah 38:20

The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life [chai] in the house of the LORD.

Geviyah : a physical body, dead or alive

H1472
גּויּה
gevîyâh
ghev-ee-yaw'
Prolonged for H1465; a body, whether alive or dead: - (dead) body, carcase, corpse.

1 Samuel 31:12

All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body [geviyah] of Saul and the bodies [geviyah] of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Kabah: to extinguish

H3518
כּבה
kâbâh
kaw-baw'
A primitive root; to expire or (causatively) to extinguish (fire, light, anger): - go (put) out, quench.

Isaiah 66:24

"And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched [kabah], and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

Kalah: to cease, to perish, end

H3615
כּלה
kâlâh
kaw-law'
A primitive root; to end, whether intransitively (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitively (to complete, prepare, consume): - accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when . . . were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, X fully, X have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance, spend, quite take away, waste.

Psalm 37:20

But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume [kalah]; into smoke shall they consume away.

Muth: dead (adj), death

H4191
מוּת
mûth
mooth
A primitive root; to die (literally or figuratively); causatively to kill: - X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy (-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro [-mancer], X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in [no] wise.

Psalm 18:5

The sorrows of hell [Sheol] compassed me about: the snares of death [muth] prevented me [old English usage meaning "confronted me"] .

Maveth: the dead (noun), death

H4194
מות
mâveth
maw'-veth
From H4191; death (natural or violent); concretely the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively pestilence, ruin: - (be) dead ([-ly]), death, die (-d).

Psalm 6:5

For in death [maveth] there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave [Sheol[ who shall give thee thanks?

Nephesh: a living creature, used sometimes of man, sometimes of animals; comparable to Greek psuche

H5315
נפשׁ
nephesh
neh'-fesh
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): - any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.

Genesis 1:24

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature [nephesh] after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Genesis 2:7

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [nephesh].

Qeburah: physical grave: Where a physical dead body is placed

H6900
קברה קבוּרה
qebûrâh qebûrâh
keb-oo-raw', keb-oo-raw'
Feminine passive participle of H6912; sepulture; (concretely) a sepulchre: - burial, burying place, grave, sepulchre.

Psalm 88:5

I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave [qeburah], whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

Qodesh: holy

H6944
קדשׁ
qôdesh
ko'-desh
From H6942; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstractly sanctity: - consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (X most) holy (X day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.

Isaiah 63:11

But they rebelled, and vexed his holy [qodesh] Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Ruach: breath, or, figuratively, "life"

H7307
רוּח
rûach
roo'-akh
From H7306; wind; by resemblance breath, that is, a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions): - air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit ([-ual]), tempest, X vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y).

Genesis 7:15

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath [ruach] of life.

Genesis 41:8

And it came to pass in the morning that his [Pharaoh] spirit [ruach] was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Psalm 51:11

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit [quodosh, ruach] from me.

Schchath: a pit, particularly one dug for a trap

H7845
שׁחת
shachath
shakh'-ath
From H7743; a pit (especially as a trap); figuratively destruction: - corruption, destruction, ditch, grave, pit.

Job 33:22

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave [schchath], and his life to the destroyers.

Sheol: usually viewed as the realm of the "souls of the dead"

H7585
שׁאל שׁאול
she'ôl she'ôl
sheh-ole', sheh-ole'
From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.

Genesis 37:35

And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him [Jacob]; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [Sheol] unto my son [Joseph] mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Numbers 16:30 (regarding the rebellion of Korah)

But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick [old English word meaning "alive"] into the pit [Sheol] ; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

Deuteronomy 32:22

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell [Sheol], and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Jonah 2:2

And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell [Sheol] cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

Proverbs 7:25-27

Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell [Sheol], going down to the chambers of death.

New Testament

Abaddon: destruction, destroyer

G3
Ἀβαδδών
Abaddōn
ab-ad-dohn'
Of Hebrew origin [H11]; a destroying angel: - Abaddon

Revelation 9:11

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Abussos: a depth having no bottom, sometimes added to phrear (pit) as "bottomless pit"

G12
ἄβυσσος
abussos
ab'-us-sos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: - deep, (bottomless) pit.

Luke 8:31

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep [abussos].

Revelation 20:1

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [abussos] and a great chain in his hand.

Aphthartos: not subject to decay

G862
ἄφθαρτος
aphthartos
af'-thar-tos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of G5351; undecaying (in essence or continuance): - not (in-, un-) corruptible, immortal.

1 Timothy 1:17

Now unto the King eternal, immortal [ahthartos], invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.

Anastasis: raised to life again

G386
ἀνάστασις
anastasis
an-as'-tas-is
From G450; a standing up again, that is, (literally) a resurrection from death (individual, general or by implication (its author)), or (figuratively) a (moral) recovery (of spiritual truth): - raised to life again, resurrection, rise from the dead, that should rise, rising again.

Apokteino: kill outright, destroy

G615
ἀποκτείνω
apokteinō
ap-ok-ti'-no
From G575 and κτείνω kteinō (to slay); to kill outright; figuratively to destroy: - put to death, kill, slay.

Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill [apokteino] the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy [apollumi] both soul and body in hell.

Apolluon: destroyer

G623
Ἀπολλύων
Apolluōn
ap-ol-loo'-ohn
Active participle of G622; a destroyer (that is, Satan): - Apollyon.

Revelation 9:11

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [Apolluon].

Apollumi: destroy

G622
ἀπόλλυμι
apollumi
ap-ol'-loo-mee
From G575 and the base of G3639; to destroy fully (reflexively to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively: - destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.

Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy [apollumi] both soul and body in hell.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish [apollumi], but have everlasting life.

Asbestos: not quenched or "put out," unquenchable, speaking of fire

G762
ἄσβεστος
asbestos
as'-bes-tos
From G1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of G4570; not extinguished, that is, (by implication) perpetual: - not to be quenched, unquenchable.

Matthew 3:12

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable [asbestos] fire.

Athanasia: not subject to death

G110
ἀθανασία
athanasia
ath-an-as-ee'-ah
From a compound of G1 (as a negative particle) and G2288; deathlessness: - immortality.

I Timothy 6:15-16

Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality [athanasia], dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.

Bathos: extremely deep, sometimes used to indicate the sea

G899
βάθος
bathos
bath'-os
From the same as G901; profundity, that is, (by implication) extent; (figuratively) mystery: - deep (-ness, things), depth.

Luke 5:4

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep [bathos], and let down your nets for a draught.

Buthos: extremely deep, sometimes used to indicate the sea

G1037
βυθός
buthos
boo-thos'
A variation of G899; depth, that is, (by implication) the sea: - deep.

2 Corinthians 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep [buthos];

Dianoia: deep thought, the mind

G1271
διάνοια
dianoia
dee-an'-oy-ah
From G1223 and G3563; deep thought, properly the faculty (mind or its disposition), by implication its exercise: - imagination, mind, understanding.

Luke 10:27

... Love the Lord your God with all your heart [kardia] and with all your soul [psuche] and with all your strength and with all your mind [dianoia] ...

Geenna: Gehenna; place of punishment in the afterlife

G1067
γέεννα
geenna
gheh'-en-nah
Of Hebrew origin ([H1516] and [H2011]); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment: - hell.

Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [geena].

Hades: realm of the "souls" of the dead, translation of Sheol

G86
ᾅδης
hadēs
hah'-dace
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell.

1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?

Revelation 20:14

And death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Kardia: the heart, figuratively the thoughts, feelings, or mind

G2588
καρδία
kardia
kar-dee'-ah
Prolonged from a primary κάρ kar (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind); also (by analogy) the middle: - (+ broken-) heart (-ed).

Luke 10:27

... Love the Lord your God with all your heart [kardia] and with all your soul [psuche] and with all your strength and with all your mind [dianoia] ...

Katakaio: consume totally

G2618
κατακαίω
katakaiō
kat-ak-ah'ee-o
From G2596 and G2545; to burn down (to the ground), that is, consume wholly: - burn (up, utterly).

Matthew 3:12

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up [katakaio] the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Limne: lake; with pur, "lake of fire"

G3041
λίμνη
limnē
lim'-nay
Probably from G3040 (through the idea of the nearness of shore); a pond (large or small): - lake.

Revelation 19:20

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire [limne, pur] burning with brimstone.

Mnemeion: physical grave, where the physical dead body was placed

G3419
μνημεῖον
mnēmeion
mnay-mi'-on
From G3420; a remembrance, that is, cenotaph (place of interment): - grave, sepulchre, tomb.

John 11:17

Then when Jesus came, he found that he [Lazarus] had lain in the grave [mnemeion] four days already.

Nekros: dead (adj) or "the dead" (noun)

G3498
νεκρός
nekros
nek-ros'
From an apparently primary word νέκυς nekus (a corpse); dead (literally or figuratively; also as noun): - dead.

Matthew 8:22

But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead [nekros] bury their dead [nekros].

Phrear: pit, usually dug as a cistern or well

G5421
φρέαρ
phrear
freh'-ar
Of uncertain derivation; a hole in the ground (dug for obtaining or holding water or other purposes), that is, a cistern or well; figuratively an abyss (as a prison): - well, pit.

Luke 14:5

And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit [phrear], and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Revelation 9:1

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless [abussos] pit [phrear].

Phthartos: subject to decay

G5349
φθαρτός
phthartos
fthar-tos'
From G5351; decayed, that is, (by implication) perishable: - corruptible.

Romans 1:23

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible [aphthartos] God into an image made like to corruptible [phthartos] man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Pneuma: wind or breath, figuratively, the essence of a rational being, "spirit"

G4151
πνεῦμα
pneuma
pnyoo'-mah
From G4154; a current of air, that is, breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively a spirit, that is, (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, daemon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind. Compare G5590.

Matthew 3:16

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit [pneuma] of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Matthew 12:43

When the unclean spirit [pneuma] is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

I Corinthians 2:11

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit [pneuma] of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit [pneuma] of God.

Psuche: breath, abstractly, that which defines a living being from a non-living being; directly comparable to the Hebrew nephesh

G5590
ψυχή
psuchē
psoo-khay'
From G5594; breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from G4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from G2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew [H5315], [H7307] and [H2416]: - heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

Romans 13:1

Let every soul [psuche] be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

I Corinthians 15:45

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [psuche]; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Pur: fire

G4442
πῦρ
pur
poor
A primary word; “fire” (literally or figuratively, specifically lightning): - fiery, fire.

I Corinthians 3:15

If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire [pur].

Sbennumi: extinguish

G4570
σβέννυμι
sbennumi
sben'-noo-mee
A prolonged form of an apparently primary verb; to extinguish (literally or figuratively): - go out, quench.

Ephesians 6:16

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench [sbennumi] all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Soma: the body

G4983
σῶμα
sōma
so'-mah
From G4982; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively: - bodily, body, slave.

Matthew 5:29

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body [soma] should be cast into hell [geena].

Tartaroo: Greek mythological place of imprisonment of supernatural beings

G5020
ταρταρόω
tartaroō
tar-tar-o'-o
From Τάρταρος Tartaros̄ (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment: - cast down to hell.

2 Peter 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [tartaroo], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Thanatos : death

G2288
θάνατος
thanatos
than'-at-os
From G2348; (properly an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively): - X deadly, (be . . .) death

Romans 5:12

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death [thanatos] by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Zao: alive, used as opposite of nekros, dead

G2198
ζάω
zaō
dzah'-o
A primary verb; to live (literally or figuratively): - life (-time), (a-) live (-ly), quick.

Matthew 27:63

Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive [zao], After three days I will rise again.

Zoe: life, whether of plant or animal, as opposed to non-living things

G2222
ζωή
zōē
dzo-ay'
From G2198; life (literally or figuratively): - life (-time). Compare G5590.

1 John 5:12

He that hath the Son hath life [zoe]; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Strong's Lexicon Numbers

Below are links to the Hebrew and Greek words and definitions on this page ordered by Strong's Lexicon numbers. Click on number to go to the definition.

H11
H953
H1472
H2416
H3518
H3615
H4191
H4194
H5315
H6900
H6944
H7307
H7585
H7845

G3
G12
G86
G110
G615
G622
G623
G762
G862
G899
G1037
G1067
G1271
G2198
G2222
G2288
G2618
G3041
G3419
G3498
G4151
G4442
G4570
G5020
G2588
G5349
G5421
G5590

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