TR: showl → haides (Sheol / Hades — Realm of the Dead)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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שְׁאוֹל (shᵉʼôwl) → ᾅδης (háidēs) → ᾅδης (háidēs)
H7585, 64x in OT 58x as LXX translation 11x in NT
"realm of the dead" PMI score: 33.87 "hades / hell"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7585 | שְׁאוֹל (shᵉʼôwl) | 64 | The realm of the dead; the underworld |
Key OT passages: - Gen 37:35 — "I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning" — first occurrence; sheol as destination of the grieving dead - Ps 16:10 — "thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption" — directly quoted in NT - Hos 13:14 — "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" — directly quoted in NT
Canonical word study: H7585-showl.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| shᵉʼôwl (H7585) | ᾅδης (G86) | 58x | Primary equivalent; overwhelmingly dominant |
| shᵉʼôwl (H7585) | θάνατος (G2288) | 14x | When in parallelism with māvet |
| shᵉʼôwl (H7585) | καταβαίνω (G2597) | 17x | Descent expressed as verbal phrase |
Semantic continuity in translation: The LXX translators chose ᾅδης with exceptional consistency (PMI 33.87). Hades in Greek mythology denoted the unseen realm of the dead — semantically parallel to Hebrew sheol as the underworld destination for all who die. The LXX renders sheol's directional descent idioms (yārad + sheol) with καταβαίνω / κατάγω (to go/lead down), preserving the spatial metaphor.
Other Hebrew words mapping to ᾅδης (háidēs) in LXX:
| Hebrew | Strong's | Co-occ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yārad (יָרַד) | H3381 | 27x | Verb "go down" — LXX renders descent to sheol this way |
| māvet (מָוֶת) | H4194 | 17x | Death — when in sheol parallelism |
| sêybâh (שֵׂיבָה) | H7872 | 5x | Gray hairs / old age — "go down to hades in old age" |
| bôr (בּוֹר) | H953 | 6x | Pit — synonymous with sheol |
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G86 | ᾅδης (háidēs) | 11 | Hades; the realm of the dead |
Key NT passages: - Acts 2:27 — "thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption" — Peter quotes Ps 16:10 (LXX) directly, applying sheol/hades to Christ's death and resurrection - Rev 1:18 — "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" - 1 Cor 15:55 — "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" — Paul quotes Hos 13:14 (LXX háidēs = sheol) - Rev 20:13–14 — "death and hell delivered up the dead...death and hell were cast into the lake of fire"
[Canonical word study: TODO(need G86 study)]
Direct OT → NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Quotes OT | Chain | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 2:27 | Ps 16:10 | שְׁאוֹל → ᾅδης → ᾅδης | Peter's Pentecost sermon: LXX ᾅδης preserves the Hebrew sheol exactly; Christ's resurrection is proof God did not leave him in sheol/hades |
| 1 Cor 15:55 | Hos 13:14 | שְׁאוֹל → ᾅδης → ᾅδης | Paul's resurrection chapter; taunt-song against death uses both sheol and māvet in Hebrew, both ᾅδης and θάνατος in LXX — NT inherits both |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Hades/sheol is the realm of the dead — not a place of torment specifically but the domain where the dead exist - The pairing with death (māvet / θάνατος) persists: Hebrew "sheol and death," LXX "hades and thanatos," NT "death and hades" (Rev 6:8; 20:13–14) - Directional language: people go down to hades/sheol (Mat 11:23; Luke 10:15 echo OT descent idiom) - God has authority over it: Ps 16:10 → Acts 2:27; Rev 1:18 ("keys of hell and of death")
What shifts: - OT sheol receives all the dead (righteous and wicked); NT háidēs appears to distinguish more sharply as a realm contrasted with resurrection (Rev 20:13–14: hades gives up its dead for judgment) - NT introduces the concept of Christ descending into hades and holding its keys (Rev 1:18) — active authority over the realm, not just passive entry - The final fate of háidēs itself appears in Rev 20:14: "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire" — sheol/hades ends at the last judgment, replaced by the lake of fire
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, gather_trace_data.py Last updated: 2026-04-02