had been devoured by a wild beast, declared, in the anguish of his heart, "I will go down to sheol" that is, to give it the common rendering, "I will go down to hell to my son mourning." And when they urged him to send his youngest son Benjamin into Egypt with them, he told them, "if mischief should befall him in the way, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to hell"—that is, to sheol,—here translated grave, though more frequently rendered hell. But if it had been so rendered here, as it is in other places, it would have represented Joseph as being in hell, and that his father Jacob expected soon to follow him to the same place. It would also represent Job as praying-" O that thou wouldst hide me in hell ;" and David as saying, "My life draweth nigh unto hell." "Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in hell;" and again, "Our bones," says he "are scattered at hell's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood." Now, does any one believe (as Balfour asks in reference to this text) that people's bones are scattered at the mouth of hell, meaning a place of eternal misery?

Again, we may observe further, in relation to this point, that the same word, sheol, is, in a number of places, translated hell, in our English bible, in a connection which shows its meaning to be very different from what is now understood by it. We will name but an instance or two. David says, in the language of gratitude to God, "for great is thy mercy towards me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." Was David in the place of eternal misery? Certainly not, for he was delivered from the lowest. hell. Jonah says,-"Out of the belly of hell cried I,

and thou hearedst my voice." Are prayers thought to be of any avail in hell? We are told they are not, and never will be. But Jonah was in hell, and there he prayed, there he was heard, and he was delivered from it. And when David prayed in reference to certain persons, that they might "go down quick into hell," are we to understand that he desired they might be quickly sent into a place of endless torment? Surely, no one will claim that such was the prayer of the man after God's own heart.

But it is unnecessary to dwell upon the usage or meaning of the word sheol, or hell, as it is found in the Old Testament; for there is not a single instance of its occurrence there, in which, even an orthodox preacher or writer, who has ever taken pains to examine the subject, and who regards his reputation for correctness, will claim that it means a place of future misery beyond this world.

But what is the derivation, and the meaning of the word hell, as it occurs in the New Testament, and particularly in the passage under examination ?

There are four words in the original languages of the bible, which are all translated hell, in our common English version. These are sheol, hades, tartarus, and gehenna. The first of these is the Hebrew word, which we have just been considering. The second is the Greek word corresponding to it. And this is the word which is translated hell in the parable, or story," we are illustrating. The word hades, in the Greek of the New Testament, answers to sheol of the Hebrew, in the Old Testament; and it is universally agreed that their original meaning is the same. Hades is found in eleven places in the New Testa

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ment, and no more; and it is translated in English, by the word hell, in all those places but one, where it is rendered grave.

Do you wish to know what passage it is in the New Testament in which this word is rendered grave? It is the noted text in 1 Cor. 15th, 55th. "O grave, where is thy victory." Now let it be particularly remarked, that grave, in this passage, is a translation from the very same original word, which, in every other place in the New Testament, is rendered hell. Why was it not so rendered in this passage? ? We can imagine no other reason, than that the translators might think it would seem like a contradiction of the doctrine of future endless punishment. To have given the word the same translation in the present case, would make the passage read as follows-"O death! where is thy sting? O hell! where is thy victory!" It should be noted that this is a quotation by St. Paul, from the book of Hosea, 13th chapter, and 14th verse, where the word sheol occurs twice, and is translated by the English word grave, but might, with equal propriety, have been rendered hell; and then the original passage, quoted in substance by St. Paul, would have read thus—“ I will ransom them from the power of hell; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O hell, I will be thy destruction." In reference to this prophetic declaration, the Apostle, putting it in the form of an interrogation, triumphantly asks-O death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is thy victory? The answer is, It will be no where, for it is to be destroyed; consequently, it is not a place of everlasting punishment and misery.

I have before quoted Dr. Campbell, and given his

Concerning the

opinion of the Hebrew word sheol. Greek word hades, he says, "It occurs in eleven places in the New Testament. In my judgment, it ought never in scripture to be rendered hell, at least in the sense wherein that word is now universally understood by Christians." Dr. Whitby says of hades,-" It is the place to which the good as well as the bad go;" that it signifies, "not the place of punishment, but the grave, or the place of death." These are two of the most celebrated writers and critics, one a Scotch Presbyterian, the other an English Episcopalian; and they both agree that hades, rendered hell, in the New Testament, does not mean a place of punishment or suffering, but the place or state of the dead in general, without regard to the goodness or badness of their characters.

Doctor Adam Clarke, the learned Methodist commentator, in his remarks upon Matthew ii. 23, says"The word hell, used in the common translation, conveys now an improper meaning of the original word, because hell is only (now) used to signify the place of the damned."

To be sure, these writers and others have attempted to make out that this hades or hell, is divided into two separate apartments; one called tartarus, or a place of punishment for the wicked, and the other elysium, or a place of happiness for the righteous. But of this division of hades, or hell, into two apart. ments, called tartarus and elysium, the scriptures give no account, and furnish no authority for it; and the opinion has no other foundation than that of heathen fable.

Now, before we proceed any further in relation to

the case of the rich man in the passage under examination, there are some things which I wish may be particularly noted.

In the first place, we remark that the original Greek word, which is rendered hell in the passage, and in which the rich man is said to have lifted up his eyes, being in torments, is hades. There is another word which occurs just twelve times in the New Testament, and is always translated hell in our English version. It is gehenna. This word, orthodox writers and commentators contend, always designates the place of endless punishment and suffering in a future state; and they admit that it is the only word which does describe, or refer to such a place. This word we shall not at present attempt to define or illustrate. Our business is with the meaning of the word hell, as derived from the original Greek word hades. For, let it be borne in mind, that the rich man is not represented as being in gehenna, but in hades. Not in a place of punishment in a future state, for hades, it is admitted, did not, in its original signification, mean such a place; but the place or state of the dead in general, without regard to their characters, whether good or bad. Christ went into hades, or hell; yet no one supposes he went to a place of punishment or suffering. The Psalmist says,-and it is quoted in the New Testament, in reference to Christ-" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption."

You would doubtless think that preacher very uncharitable and presumptuous, who should, from the pulpit, declare to his congregation, that he verily believed they would every one of them go to hell; and,