One aspect of this most important subject has been presented in the

article entitled Hell6, but a more positive approach is in mind now.

As we are all aware, the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, from

which the various translations have been made.  It is utter folly to bolster

up arguments and doctrines by words occurring in a translation; our only

appeal and absolute authority must be the words of the original Scriptures.

We therefore propose to bring under review the various words used in the

Scriptures, seeking to explain their meaning not merely from dictionaries or

lexicons, but from the usage of the words themselves within the bounds of the

written Word.

Abad.  For the sake of clearness we shall use English letters as

equivalents for the Hebrew and Greek, believing that those who desire a

fuller acquaintance with the originals will be able to discover the words

quite easily.  The first word which we will consider is the word abad.  It is

translated 'perish' 79 times in the Old Testament (A.V.); other renderings

are as follows, 'be perished' 12 times; 'be ready to perish' 4 times; 'cause

to perish' 3 times; 'make to perish' twice; 'destroy, be destroyed,

destruction' 63 times; 'be lost' 8 times.  Other translations of only one or

two occurrences are 'be broken'; 'be undone'; 'be void of'; 'fail'; 'lose'

and 'spend'.

Let us now consider some of the passages wherein this word occurs.  'Ye

shall perish among the heathen' (Lev. 26:38).  The context speaks of 'they

that are left'.  The word may not mean utter extinction here, but for the

purposes for which Israel were chosen and placed in their land, they are as

good as dead, perished.  The next reference, however, is quite clear in its

usage of the word.  'They ... went down alive into the pit, and the earth

closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation' (Num.

16:33).  This doom is spoken of by Moses in verse 29, 'If these die the

common death of all men'.  They went down alive into the pit, but not to live

therein, for they died an uncommon death, and thereby perished from among the

Again in Numbers 17:12,13 the word 'perish' is used synonymously with

dying, 'Behold we die, we perish ... shall we be consumed with dying?' The

words are used with full unequivocal meaning by Esther, before she dared,

unbidden, to enter the presence of the king, 'If I perish, I perish' (Esther

4:16).  The perishing here is again explained by the words of verse 11, 'All

the king's servants ... do know that whosoever ... shall come unto the king

into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him

to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre,

that he may live'.  Esther dared the death penalty, and expressed her

feelings by the words quoted, 'If I perish, I perish'.  The multiplication of

terms in Esther 7:4 is striking, 'For we are sold, I and my people, to be

destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.  But if we had been sold for bondmen

and bondwomen, I had held my tongue'.  Here it is evident that perishing is

much more than the horrors of eastern slavery; it is used in connection with

destruction and death, not life in misery.