The Extraordinary Meaning of Sheol

The Heart of the Earth

In Jesus’s famous story of the greedy rich man and Lazarus, both men go to the same place: the underworld. In Hebrew, this place is called Sheol שְׁאוֹל - the abode of all the dead, both righteous and evil. There’s no good English word for this because it encompasses both heaven and hell. It’s crucial to know that this is a temporary place, an antechamber before the real afterlife.

The Sign of Jonah

Jesus was very familiar with the idea of Sheol. When the crowds teased him, asking him for a sign to prove his divinity, Jesus refused, telling them that he was no magician. Instead, he gave them the Sign of Jonah: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). 

The Place of Asking

The “heart of the earth” refers to the temporary death he would experience between the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus did not go to hell, but rather to Sheol, the land of all the dead. The word Sheol comes from the Hebrew root ŠAL שאל meaning “to question.” It is here that the souls of all humanity undergo a process of questioning, inquiry and judgement before they can be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven.