'In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave (sheol) who

shall give Thee thanks?' (Psa. 6:5).

only answer to the Psalmist's question, given by Scripture, is that

'The dead

know not any thing', and there is no wisdom, device or knowledge in

the grave

(Eccles. 9:5,10).  (See the booklet Ecclesiastes).  But modern

knows better than Solomon or David.  Other Psalms say:

'Man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish ...

like sheep they are laid in the grave' (sheol) (Psa. 49:12 -14).

'The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence'

(Psa. 115:17).

'O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave (sheol): Thou hast

kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit' (Psa. 30:3).

But we must come back to Job again, for he has said more on this

'If I wait, the grave (sheol) is mine house: I have made my bed in the

darkness.  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm,

Thou art my mother, and my sister.  And where is now my hope? as for my

hope, who shall see it?  They shall go down to the bars of the pit

(sheol), when our rest together is in the dust' (Job 17:13 -16).

What have darkness, corruption, the worm and the dust to do with the

'spirit' of Job?  It is most patent that he believed sheol was the grave, and

connected with the body, certainly not a place for disembodied souls or

spirits.  Allied with the subject of Hell is the question of the true meaning

of the terms, For Ever, Everlasting, Eternal.

The underlying idea of olam is something secret or hidden, as in Psalm

90:8, 'secret sins'.  Used of time it indicates a period, the end of which is

undefined or hidden from man, but this does not warrant any man saying,

'Because I cannot see the end, there is none', neither does it warrant our

translating an age, the end of which is hidden from us, by the words 'for

ever'.  To do so is but an assumption.

No discussion on the nature of hell is complete, that does not deal

with the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  Luke 16:19 -31 is in very

strong contrast with the teaching of the Old Testament  on the subject of

sheol or hades, yet by the closing words of the passage it is very evident

that the Lord held to all that the Law and the Prophets taught on the

subject.  The true interpretation of the parable is therefore one of great

importance, touching as it does so many vital issues.

No part of Scripture is isolated, every part being related to its

context, and no interpretation can be thoroughly reliable which avoids the

illumination that comes from observing the setting, atmosphere, and relation

of any one part with other parts of the same book.

In Luke, chapter 16, two related sayings occur, both introduced by the

words, 'There was a certain rich man'.  Now some have regarded these words in

'The rich man and Lazarus' as proving that the Lord was not speaking in

parable, but actually recording a literal fact.  This, however, would be