HADES . The Lat. term for the Heb. Sheol , the abode of departed spirits. It was conceived of as a great cavern or pit under the earth, in which the shades lived. Just what degree of activity the shades possessed seems to have been somewhat doubtful. According to the Greeks, they were engaged in the occupations in which they had been employed on earth. The Hebrews, however, seem rather to have thought of their condition as one of inactivity. (See Sheol and Gehenna.) RV [Note: Revised Version.] has ‘Hades’ for AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘ hell ’ when the latter = ‘realm of the dead.’
Shailer Mathews.