πύλαι ᾅδου.
ᾅδης = שְׁאוֹל is still strictly differentiated in the NT
from γέεννα = גֵּיהִנֹּם, Aramaic גֵּיהִנָּם: the former designates the kingdom of the dead, the latter
hell. Only in rabbinic literature has Sheol been completely superseded by
gehenna: for rabbinic Judaism both entities signify hell, that is, α. the interim and β. the ultimate place of punishment for the
godless; see the excursus “Sheol, Gehenna, and the Garden of Eden,” I and II. ‖
πύλαι ᾅδου = gates or doors of the underworld. The
expression derives from Isa 38:10: שַׁעֲרֵי שְׁאוֹל; Tg. Isa. 38:10: תַּרְעֵי שְׁאוֹל, LXX: πύλαι ᾅδου. Wisdom 16:13: σὺ γὰρ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου ἐξουσίαν ἔχεις, καὶ κατάγεις εἰς πύλας ᾅδου καὶ ἀνάγεις.—3 Maccabees 5:51: ἀνεβόησαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ σφόδρα τὸν τῆς ἁπάσης δυνάμεως δυνάστην ἱκετεύοντες, οἰκτεῖραι μετὰ ἐπιφανείας αὐτοὺς ἤδη πρὸς πύλαις ᾅδου καθεστῶτας.—Psalms of Solomon 16:2: σύνεγγυς (near) πυλῶν ᾅδου.—See the rabbinic passages in the
excursus “Sheol, Gehenna, and the Garden of Eden,” II, #9, notes h and i. ‖ Rabbinic literature distinguishes the gates or doors שִׁעָרִים of gehenna from the entrances פְתָהִים of gehenna; 2 Bar. 59:9 also mentions os gehennae = “opening or entrance of
gehenna”; see the excursus “Sheol, Gehenna, and the Garden of Eden,” II, #9,
notes e-g. (Hermann L.
Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the
Talmud and Midrash, ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and
Joseph Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2022], 1:837-38)
