Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Bible Dictionaries
Hell, Harrowing of

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Hell in the Apostles' Creed
Next Entry
Hell, Maximilian
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

An Old English and Middle English term for the triumphant descent of Christ into hell between the time of His Crucifixion and Resurrection. The word first occurs in AElfric's homilies (1000), and is used by the Old English poets, Caedmon and Cynewulf, also in the Old English homilies and lives of the saints. It is the subject of the earliest extant specimen of English religious drama and is given a separate scene in the four cycles of the English mystery plays. It is also found in ancient Cornish plays. Its origin is traced to the well-known apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus (Latin) of the 2nd or 3century, which was familiar to English writers, e.g., Bede, and translated into English in the Middle Ages.

Bibliography Information
Entry for 'Hell, Harrowing of'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ncd/​h/hell-harrowing-of.html. 1910.
adsFree icon
Ads FreeProfile