Afterlife & Hell

My intent here is to provide an overview of verses which deal with the subjects in the title. I offer minimal commentary, except where additional information draws out nuance within the text.

Existence of the dead

Does the Bible teach that the dead have existence (i.e. a soul or spirit which persists in death)?

Romans 14:9
For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

John 5:25
Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Deuteronomy 18:11
There shall not be found among you ... or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 Corinthians 5:8
We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

These verses, as well as a number of those mentioned below, indicate that something of a person exists even in death, besides a mere corpse (material body).

Sheol/Grave/Hades

In the Hebrew Bible, Sheol is the place of the dead. It can be synonymous with the literal grave, or "the place below the surface of the earth", but also refers to the quiet resting place of dead souls (“You will not abandon my soul to Sheol” - Psalms 16:10). The metaphysical place implied in certain verses is symbolically represented by the physical underground itself - dark and quiet, unless otherwise interrupted (1 Samuel 28:3-20, Isaiah 14:9-10). In death, the spirit departs from man (returns to God?), while the body returns to dust, and the soul rests and awaits final judgement/reward.

Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Job 34:14-15
If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath, all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

Revelation14:13
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom

The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) translates Sheol into the Greek as "Hades". The New Testament continues with this translation. Hades is often translated as hell in English Bibles. While Hades has its own Greek mythology, it is the closest word in the target language that would convey a meaning understood by Greek speakers. It may be worthwhile to note that "hades" literally means "unseen" (i.e., the unseen realm of the dead).

The place where angels are bound:

There is also a place where certain fallen angels are bound, also translated "hell" in English Bibles. 2 Peter 2:4 uses the word Tartarus to refer to this place. Whereas Jude refers to "eternal chains under darkness". Tartarus, like Hades, has its own mythology within Greek literature as "the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans, [where] souls are judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment.".

2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell (Tartarus), placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

Which angels?

Genesis 6:1-4
Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, / the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. / So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

Job 4:18
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,

1 Peter 3:19 (? *See next section)
He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

Judgement

There are at least two instances, or at least types, of judgement.

One form of judgement is an examination of our works. Everyone, even believers, will be subject to this judgement. However, Romans 8:1 states, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Therefore, this judgement determines the kind of reward (for the believer) or severity of punishment (for the unbeliever). For an overview of how judgement is specific to each individual, see: Judgement & Rewards.

The second form of judgement determines the eternal state of the individual. It is based on whether their name is written in the Book of Life through faith in Christ, resulting in eternal life, or else absence from this book, resulting in eternal condemnation (which we will discuss later).

There is also a period of judgement when the saints judge the angels.

1 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Romans 14:10-12
Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ... So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

2 Timothy 4:1-2
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom

Acts 17:31
For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.

1 Peter 4:6
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

(It is questionable whether these are the same spirits in 3:19, human spirits of those who were at that time deceased, or merely "those who are (now) dead" but were alive at the time of preaching.

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

1 Corinthians 6:3
Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

Reward & Punishment

Reward

Matthew 25:46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

2 Timothy 4:8
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

1 Peter 5:4
and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Revelation 20:4
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15
It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

Eternal Punishment

The final judgement of the wicked is generally described as eternal burning, death, and/or destruction. Jesus refers to a place called Gehenna (topical study). Unlike Hades and Tartarus, this word does not have a mythological Greek origin and is instead a direct transliteration from the Hebrew, meaning "the valley of Hinnom". Thayer's Greek Lexicon describes it as a place where waste and carcasses (animal or human) were burned, and explains how it came to be such. The word is frequently used by Jesus to describe a place of judgement for the wicked where burning occurs. He also refers to such a place called "the fiery furnace". Similarly, Jude uses the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as an analogy for this kind of judgement. Revelation describes a lake of fire where death and Hades are thrown into, along with the Devil, the beast, the false prophet, and anyone who is not found in the Book of Life. This differentiates the references of "hell" in most places in the Bible from the lake of fire, or final judgement.

There are a couple of ideas regarding the final destination of the wicked. The traditional view is eternal conscious torment. Another view that seems somewhat common is the idea of total annihilation. Which ever it is, both sides will no doubt believe that Scripture clearly indicates what they believe, so I will let it speak for itself.

One notable caveat is that it may be difficult to differentiate between the fire which slays the wicked which are present at Christ's coming and the fire of final judgement after their works are judged. It's also plausible that the two are not separate but, chronologically, the idea of a millennial reign prior to the final judgment seems to separate the two.

Matthew3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).

Matthew 13:41-42
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. / And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(O.T. hyperlink)
Psalm 21:8-10
You will place [your enemies] in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them. You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men.
Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

Mark 9:43-48
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell (Gehenna), into the unquenchable fire. / where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’ / If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

(O.T. hyperlink)
Isaiah 66:23-24
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD. “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
"Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from^[1] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."

Jude 1:7
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

Revelation 19:20
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Revelation 20:13-15 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death— the lake of fire. And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
(See also 1 Corinthians 15:26)

Revelation 14:10-11
he [who worships and receives the mark of the beast] too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. / And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

(O.T. hyperlink)
Isaiah 34:8-10
For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
Its (Edom's) streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
It will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will be desolate;
None will pass through it forever and ever.

See also: Revelation 19:3
Again they said, “Alleluia! Her (Babylon's) smoke rises up forever and ever!”

Lazarus and the Rich Man

This parable is found in Luke 16:19-31 and describes an interaction between dead individuals. It suggests a number of insights that don't seem to be found elsewhere in the Bible. When Lazarus the beggar dies, he is carried by angels to a place called Abraham's bosom, while the rich man is instead torment in Hades. These individuals have not received resurrection or their final judgement/reward, since the ploy is for Lazarus to be raised from the dead. We can conclude that within the context of this parable, the place of the dead is divided into compartments (this also seems to be suggested by Ezekiel 32:17-32).

There are at least a few possible interpretations for this parable. One is that this event is something which actually took place in the supernatural realm, and Jesus is using it as a lesson. The second is that Jesus is using the language and mythology of the day to simply teach a lesson, but that it doesn't reflect any reality of the hidden realm of the deceased. The third is a blend of the two, which is that Jesus is referring to an actual supernatural reality, but that the individuals and/or conversation presented here are invented for the purpose of the parable.

It is difficult to see how Jesus would speak in such a way as to suggest misleading details about something that we as hearers and readers would expect that He alone would have insight into. In other words, He seems to be affirming a view of the "afterlife," with or without a literal interpretation. If our understanding of the place of the dead, the state of our spirit or soul after death, judgement, etc. are at all important, why would the Messiah speak in such a way as to give a false impression of those things?