GeHinnom

Gehinnom, also Gehenna, is a term rooted in Hebrew as Gei Ben-Hinom, meaning the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. It designates a real valley located to the south of ancient Jerusalem, adjacent to the Hinnom Brook. In antiquity the site became associated with certain cultic practices, including the historical Tophet, where ancient readers understood child sacrifice may have occurred. Over time the valley acquired a negative reputation in Jewish and later Christian thought, partly because of these associations and its location outside the city walls.

In the Hebrew Bible Gehenna is used as a real place name, referring to the Valley of Hinnom and its desecration. The term appears in passages condemning the practices once carried out there and serves as a geographic reference rather than a moral category in the earliest texts. In later Jewish writings Gehenna came to symbolize a realm of punishment after death, often conceived as a temporary state of purification rather than eternal damnation, with varying ideas about duration and exact mechanism.

In the New Testament, Gehenna is used metaphorically by Jesus and other writers to describe the final destination of the wicked, commonly rendered as hell. The term marks a shift from a geographic location to a symbolic representation of judgment, with fire and destruction as common motifs. Christian theological traditions have developed diverse doctrines about the nature, duration, and purpose of Gehenna or hell.

Archaeological and historical scholarship notes debates about the Tophet and the precise historical practices at the site. The geographical term Gehenna persists in religious discourse as a symbol of judgment and punishment, while its meanings continue to evolve across Jewish, Christian, and secular contexts.