Quote:
Originally Posted by manna-man
Sheol/Hades is the grave it's as simple as that
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I disagree. Sheol is the grave but Hades is a realm of dead. In Greek mythology its lord is Hades himself. Lost souls wander in the area just outside it. Hades himself is ruler, a cold and stern ruler whose main job is to keep the dead souls in. This is not Sheol which is simply the grave.
Jesus gave Hades as a real place credence telling Peter "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against [the church]." It is possible He was merely appropriating Greek/Roman imagery but that is unlikely. I have read that when Jesus spoke these words in Caesaurea/Phillip, He was actually quite close to a place where locals believed the mouth of Hades was. (I just confirmed that with a quick google search.)
The Rich man/Lazarus story also shows Hades to be a place of activity, definitely not the dark emptiness of Sheol.