portion for that night have included the words, "Though I make my bed in hell", for it would have been

but speaking in his own tongue. Hell, however, is not a proper translation of either sheol or hades now,

for it is too deeply tinged with the modern conception of the word to be anything but misleading.

Perhaps the reader would appreciate some modern authority on the subject, and we accordingly refer to

the Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter W. Skeat, Lit.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Ph.D.,

F.B.A., whose letters ought at least to place him on a level with any reader of this little work so far as the

meaning of English is concerned.

"Hell. (E.) M.E. helle. A.S. hel., orig. "that which hides", allied to cell, conceal".

So much for the English word. We are more concerned, however, about the words that God has used, and

accordingly turn to the Scriptures to seek the truth. Job cried:

"O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave (sheol)" (Job 14:13).

The context supplies a valuable commentary:

"But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? So man lieth

down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their

sleep" (Job 14:10,12).

We are in the happy position of being able to believe all that is here written without the slightest mental

reservation, without needing to add, "of course that was Job's idea" or "Job did not know what we know

about the intermediate state", etc. Some orthodox writers get angry when we quote Job; will the Psalms

have more weight?

"For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave (sheol) who shall give Thee thanks?"

(Psa. 6:5).

The only answer to the Psalmist's question given by Scripture is that "The dead know not any thing", and

that "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" (Eccles. 9:5,10). But

modern orthodoxy 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 subject:

"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.

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