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Hell and Hades – what do we actually know?

In the Brit Chadashah, which is otherwise called the New Testament, we find a very interesting word in the Greek, righteously destroyed by New Testament interpreters, and this word is the word ᾅδς. We are told this is the word Hades. Let’s look.

The Greek letters found here are 𝛼 alpha 𝛿 delta 𝜂 eta and 𝜍 final sigma (or stigma), pronounced ah-dees. In the English this would become Hades, but is there a further understanding?

Strong's Greek Dictionary tells us that the word ᾅδης (háidēs) (Strong’s G86) is from G1 (as negative particle) and G1492.  Thereafter, we are told that the word means properly, unseen, and therefore it means "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls, such as the grave, or hell. However, that reasoning is circular given the context.  Let’s look further at this construct of G1 and G1492.

G1 is of course Α, i.e., al'-fah (Alpha).  Strong’s claims that Alpha is of Hebrew origin! It is of course the first letter of the Greek linguistic orchestration called the alphabet (as compared with the Ivriyt Aleph-Beyt. However, figuratively, only from its use as a numeral, the first. However, the letter Alpha is often used in composition as a contraction from G427, which is the Greek word ἄνευ (áneu), meaning without.  So, when we find the letter Aleph written as ἄ, it is a contraction (at least in this instance) meaning “without.”

But, as we often find in the Greek, there is another possibility which would render any particular read ambiguous, because there is another contraction which could be delivered with the ἅ as a leader.  This would combine the word ἅμα (háma) with the second syllable, meaning at the same time, or with. See Strong’s G260.

Now it is incumbent upon us to review the second syllable in the Hades, which is εἴδω (eídō) (Strong's G1492). This word is a primary verb and is used only in certain past tenses, which means properly, to see (literally or figuratively); by implication, (in the perfect tense only) to know: to be aware, to behold, to consider, to have knowledge, look (on), to perceive, to see, to be sure, to be able to tell, to understand.

Strong’s compares this word with the Greek word ὀπτάνομαι (optánomai) (G3700) which means to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable; and thus signifies an earnest but more continued inspection; and

Differs from G991, which denotes simply voluntary observation; and

Differs from G1492, which expresses merely mechanical, passive or casual vision;  

When we ignore the casual construction of the word ᾅδης to mean simply “hell” we ignore the full content of this word, which is a’dees, which means without something. We see this in many modern words.  For instance, the word atheist does not mean anti-God, but rather a person (ist) without (a) theism (i.e., theist) – without a faith. The word agnostic (pronounced correctly as ah-knowstic) means a condition (stic) without (a) knowledge (gnosis). An amoral person is a person without morals, compared to a person who is immoral, who is acting contrary to morals. 

Understanding this construct now, let us look at the actual meaning of the word ᾅδης:

Without knowledge

Without awareness

Without the ability to behold

Without the ability to consider

Without perception

Without vision

Without certainty

Without cognition

Without understanding

What is Hades? It is the utter darkness. That which is unseen, unknown and without consciousness.