Gehenna
Situated in the innermost parts
of the earth (Midr Qoh 3:21/2a),<sup>78</sup> Gehenna constitutes a
deep cavern that is opened daily to receive the wicked (Pesiq R 41/173b). Its
entrance is narrow (Midr Bum R 10/157b, 49) and it has two gates (Pesiq R
24/124), or, according to some, seven gates (Pir dR. Eliezer 53). Inside are
different compartments, as in Sheol and Abaddon (Derech Eretz 2/19b, 12), or
seven abodes (Midr Tehil 11:5/50b).
In Gehenna, the souls of the
impious are enchained, while two angels throw them from one end of the earth to
the other (Sifre Num 27:16, 139/185) ‘with the sling’ (cf. I Sam 25:29) (BT
Shab 152b). Their bodies also suffer similar torment of unrest (ibid.). The
chief torments are a terrifying darkness (Tanh א 73b, 14; cf. BT Yebam 109b,
24) and a fierce fire (BT Berak 57b, 24), for all Gehenna is fire (Tanh פקודי 128a,
30). The flames alternate with cold (Tanh ב בראשית 25/9b), for half of Gehenna
is fire and half is ice (cf. Ps 66:12) (Midr Exod R 51/103d, 44). To these main
punishments others are added, such as smoke, worms, and all kinds of bodily
afflictions.
Punishment in Gehenna, in view of
the fact that Gehenna is a ‘temporary’ state, plays an important role as a
means of atonement.
The school of Shammai had
acknowledged this purgative power of Gehenna, although purgation was here
considered to be strictly eschatological. Those who belonged to the ‘middle
class’ of sinners (see above, p. 120) had the possibility of leaving once they
had been purified by fire. The text quotes Zech 13:9, and evokes I Sam 2:6: The
Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up’ (BT Rosh
Hashanah 16b, 34). As for Hillel’s followers, their opinion was, as we have
seen, that the ‘middle’ group of sinners immediately receive their reward in
the coming Age. But ‘those among the Jews and the nations of the entire world
who have sinned in their own bodies (to distinguish them from those who induced
others to sin) go down to Gehenna, where they are tried for 12 months; after 12
months their body is destroyed and their soul burned with fire, and the wind
scatters them under the feet of the righteous’ (Tos Sanh 13:4; this text is
followed by quotation of Mal 3:21).
From the beginning of the II
cent, there was widespread recognition of a temporary Gehenna as a place of
atonement, a kind of Purgatory. The process of atonement lasts 12 months (BT
31b), during which time the soul is punished for its sins. R. Akiba, the main
proponent of this idea, attempted to prove it by giving various examples of
divine judgment: the flood, the book of Job, the plagues upon Egypt and the
future punishment of Gog and Magog. ‘Thus, he stated, the judgment of the
wicked (רשעים) in Gehenna lasts 12 months’, quoting Isa 66:23 (M ‘Eduyot 2:10).
This theory prevailed in the following centuries also (see above, and Tanh בראשית
33/12a). Before Akiba, R. Yohanan B. Nuri had taught that judgment in Gehenna
took only seven weeks (M ‘Eduyot 2:10).
The possibility of liberation
from Gehenna is not only due to the atoning power of the punishment itself (BT
Shab 152b, 9), but also to the alms and prayers of relatives (Tanh הִפְקִיד
27b, 33; cf. BT Qiddush 31b, 29). But this is a privilege only enjoyed by the
‘middle group’ of sinners. The rest, namely heretics (מינים), traitors,
freethinkers and those who deny the Torah and the resurrection, have no hope
for salvation; for them, Gehenna is eternal (M Sanh 10:1ff).
The everlasting punishment,
similar in all respects to the intermediate one, is preceded by a final and
definite judgment, carried out by God (Tanh קדשים 1/136a, quoting Isa 5:6), by
the Messiah (BT Hagigah 14a, 18), or by the Israelites themselves. The Gentiles
are thrown into Gehenna (BT ‘Erubin 101a, 15, quoting Mic 4:13), and in some
texts Gentiles and Israelites are judged together (Midr Tehl 31:5 and 6/119b,
29), the impious of Israel descending together with the nations to Gehenna
forever (BT Sanh 105a, 35). Both groups shall arise and suffer judgment (Pesiq
R first rec. 192b, 10), such judgment and eternal condemnation being called
‘the second death’ (מות שני) (Pir dR Eliezer 34/18a). Judgments of individuals,
such as Pharaoh, also receive mention (Midr Tehil 75:4/170a). (Pau Figueras, Death
and Afterlife in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature [Piscataway, N.J.:
Gorgias Press, 2019], 129-31)
Further Reading:
1
Corinthians 3:15: A very un-Protestant Biblical Verse
