Honestly, this question is more about semantics than anything else. In the O.T. life post mortem (after death) was not fully worked out. It was not completely understood what occurred once a person had died in regards to the soul. However, it was accepted that a person went down to “sheol” (Num. 16:30, 33; Ezekiel 31:15-17) Sheol was the place for spirits without a body or the dead both wicked and good (Wicked- Numbers. 16:33; Job 24:19; Psalms 9:17; 31:17: Good- Psalm 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; 86:13). Whenever the LXX (Greek Version of the O.T.) was translated the word “Hades” was seen as a near equivalent to “sheol”. “It is a prison (1 Pet. 3:19), with gates and bars and locks (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 1:18), and it is downward (Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15).” (Easton’s Bible) Finally, Gehenna was more readily identified as “hell” due to the graphic/figurative expressions given by Jesus as the final place of torment. (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 16:24, etc.) It is believed that Hades contained two compartments for the dead “paradise and torment”. Paradise is spoken of by Jesus in at least two places in the Scriptures: Luke 23: 40-43 and Luke 16:27-28 (Abraham's Bosom = Paradise). While he doesn't mention "tartura" which is the location for the wicked, he does refer to a place of torment in death. The belief is that Jesus had gone to Hades, specifically “paradise” to share with the faithful saints of the O.T. the message of grace. After sharing with the faithful, Jesus carried those saints to heaven with Him. A reference might be found in Ephesians 4:8-10, where it is stated that "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people". Some scholarship see this a reference to his descending into "hades" to lead the captives out. It must be stated that this argument is conjecture and based almost completely in silence. It has managed to maintain a sense of authority based on tradition. My opinion-and that is all that it can be- is that His descension into Hades is at best a discussion topic, but cannot be verified either through Scripture or even tradition as a whole. I don't have any difficulty with the idea, but am really unwilling to demand its acceptance.
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