Dictionary entry
גֵּי־הִנֹּם
Gehenna
gê-hinnom
The valley south of Jerusalem that became an image of the final judgement.
The Valley of Hinnom, where children were sacrificed to Moloch and which later served as a rubbish dump kept perpetually in flames. Jesus uses it as a metaphor for the final destiny of the unrepentant. Modern translations tend to render Gehenna simply as “hell”, which erases the original geographical image.
Where it appears
- Jeremiah 7:31
- Matthew 5:22
- Mark 9:43