If we look at the translation of the Hebrew word sheol as hell, this is only an issue in the Statenvertaling (State Translation). There, sheol is rendered as grave or hell. And that is, of course, strange, because these are two completely different concepts.
etymology
The science that studies the origins of words is called etymology. If we look at the origin of the word ‘hell’ in the etymology database, it might be traced back to the underworld, a hidden world, burial, etc. But that remains unclear. While these are concepts that do not directly imply a place of eternal torment, the modern Bible reader will rarely associate the word ‘hell’ with anything other than a place of unending punishment and torture.
two examples
We will look at two examples of how sheol is translated in the Statenvertaling (State Translation). The first time the word appears is in Genesis, when Jacob receives Joseph’s blood-soaked cloak and concludes that Joseph is dead.
Genesis 37 (KJV)
35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “For I will go down to the grave to mourn for my son.” So his father wept for him.
Joseph not in hell
This is about Joseph and Jacob, whom we know as believers. That is probably why the translators did not choose the word “hell,” because otherwise it would say that Jacob says he will go down to Joseph in hell.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
In the book of Numbers, when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against Moses, the earth split open and swallowed them up.
Numbers 16 (KJV)
33 And they went down, they and all that belonged to them alive, into hell; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the congregation.
Because this concerns the punishment of these men, the Statentranslators will have chosen the word “hell.” But the translation “grave” would have been a good fit. They were swallowed up by the earth and died.
sheol
Sheol is consistently rendered as “the realm of the dead” in the NBG translation. This is a fine translation in itself, but when we think of “the realm of the dead,” we shouldn’t think of a physical place, and we might readily associate that with a “realm”.
unknowing and unobservable
The word sheol is derived from a word meaning “question.” In death, there is no knowledge (Eccl. 9:10). In Acts 2:31, we find the Greek word hades, which Peter uses in a speech quoting Psalm 16:10, and there it says sheol. This tells us that the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades are synonymous terms.
Hades means the unseen, or: the unobserved. Death is not a place that can be observed, nor is there observation or knowledge in death. Death is the absence of life and a state of “not being.”
It is unfortunate that the Statentranslators translated sheol as “hell” dozens of times. While the other half of the occurrences of the word “sheol” are translated as “grave,” a completely different concept. So, they should have known that “hell” is an incorrect translation. Rendering “sheol” as “hell” is not a translation, but rather a projection of one’s own theological ideas onto God’s Word.