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Did Jesus Go to Hell Between Friday and Sunday? What the Bible Actually Says
It might be the most unsettling question you can type into a search engine as a Christian.
Did Jesus go to hell?
Half the Christian world says yes. The Apostles’ Creed — recited by more than a billion people every week — says he “descended into hell.” Half the Christian world says no, that’s a translation error, he went to paradise. He said so himself.
Both sides are reading the same Bible.
So who’s right? And what was actually happening in those three days?
The answer turns out to depend on a word. More specifically, on which word — because the Bible doesn’t have one word for “hell.” It has four. And they don’t all mean the same thing.
The Word Problem Nobody Talks About
When most people hear the word hell, they picture the same thing: fire, punishment, the place the unrighteous go after death.
But that’s only one of the four.
Here’s what the original languages actually give us:
Sheol (Hebrew, Old Testament) — The realm of the dead. All the dead — righteous and unrighteous alike — went here in Old Testament understanding. It’s not a place of punishment. It’s more like a waiting room. Psalm 16:10 — the verse Peter quotes directly about Jesus — uses this word: “you will not abandon my soul to Sheol.”
Hades (Greek, New Testament) — The Greek equivalent of Sheol. Same meaning: the realm of the dead. When Peter quotes Psalm 16 in Acts 2:31 and applies it to Jesus, he uses hades: Jesus was not abandoned to hades. His soul did not stay there.
Gehenna — This is the word Jesus uses when he talks about the place of final punishment. The name comes from the Valley of Hinnom (ge-hinnom) outside Jerusalem, where fires burned constantly to consume the city’s garbage. Jesus uses gehenna eleven times — and every time, it’s about judgment, not about where the dead wait. This is the “hell” most people imagine. Jesus never says he’s going here.
Paradise — Not technically a word for hell, but critical to the story. In Luke 23:43 — hanging on the cross — Jesus turns to the thief beside him and says: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Early Jewish understanding placed paradise inside hades, as the righteous side of the realm of the dead. Also called Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:22). It’s where the righteous waited — not in punishment, but at rest.
Once you see the distinction, the question shifts.
What the Bible Actually Says Happened
Jesus gave us the answer while he was still on the cross.
“Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Whatever Jesus was going to after death, paradise was going to be there. The thief — dying beside him that same afternoon — was going with him.
Then there are the passages that give us more:
1 Peter 3:18-20 — “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits.” This is one of the most debated passages in the New Testament. Who were these imprisoned spirits? Why was Jesus making a proclamation to them? The most common understanding: Jesus went to hades — the realm of the dead — and announced something. Not as prisoner. As victor.
Acts 2:27, 31 — Peter, at Pentecost, quotes Psalm 16:10 directly: “you will not abandon my soul to hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption.” He applies it explicitly to Jesus: “he was not abandoned to hades, and his flesh did not see corruption.” The point isn’t that Jesus avoided hades — it’s that hades couldn’t hold him.
Ephesians 4:9 — “Now that he ascended, what does it mean but that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?” The ascension presupposes a descent. He went down before he came up.
Matthew 12:40 — Jesus himself makes a comparison: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He was in the heart of the earth. Not floating above it.
The Turn: He Didn’t Go as a Prisoner
Here’s what changes when you understand the word distinction.
The Apostles’ Creed says Jesus “descended into hell” — descendit ad inferos in Latin, which means “descended to the lower regions.” This is hades, not gehenna. It is not the place of punishment. It is the realm of the dead.
The historic Christian understanding — from the earliest church — is that Jesus went to hades not as a prisoner but as a conqueror. He had just declared “It is finished” (John 19:30). He went to announce that completion to the realm of the dead. He brought the thief into paradise. He made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits. And then on Sunday, he walked out.
Hades couldn’t hold him. That was the point.
The grave thought it had the final word. But Jesus had already told his disciples: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) The gates of hades are mentioned because gates are defensive. They hold things in. And yet — they couldn’t hold this.
Between Friday and Sunday, Jesus wasn’t absent. He wasn’t waiting. The early church believed he was moving through the realm of the dead the same way he moved through everything else: not as victim, but as king.
What This Changes
This reframes the three days.
Most people imagine the period between the cross and resurrection as silence — God withdrawing, creation holding its breath, nothing happening. And from the outside, from the disciples’ perspective, that’s exactly what it looked like. They went home. They locked the doors. They grieved.
But the silence wasn’t emptiness.
Something was happening on the other side of death while the disciples wept. A proclamation was being made. A thief was waking up in paradise. Gates were cracking.
If you’ve ever been in a waiting room that felt like the end — a diagnosis, a grief, a silence where you expected an answer and got nothing — this is worth holding. What looks like God going quiet might be God going deeper. Into a place you cannot see. Doing something you cannot yet measure.
The three days looked like defeat. They were the opposite.
Actions to Take
1. Read Luke 23:39-43 today. Just those five verses. Pay attention to what Jesus promises the thief and when — “today” is the word. He doesn’t say “someday.” He says today. Sit with what that means.
2. Look up Psalm 16:8-11. This is the psalm Peter quoted about Jesus at Pentecost. Read it as David wrote it — and then read it again knowing Peter said Jesus fulfilled it. The words take on a different weight the second time.
3. Consider the Apostles’ Creed line: “He descended into hell.” If your tradition recites this, say it this week with what you now know: this is hades, not gehenna. He descended as victor, not victim.
Journaling Prompts
– When has a season of silence in your own life turned out to be something important happening beneath the surface? What did that period feel like while you were in it?
– The disciples locked their doors and grieved while Jesus was, according to the early church, moving through hades. What does it mean for you personally that God is often active in the places you can’t see?
– Jesus said “today you will be with me in paradise” hours before he died. What does the certainty in that statement — “today” — say to you about the nature of his authority over death?
A Prayer
God, I don’t always understand the places I can’t see — the silences, the three-day stretches where it looks like nothing is happening. Help me remember that what looks like an ending from where I’m standing might be a doorway from where you’re standing. Thank you that the grave could not hold what you sent into it. And that even in the waiting, something was being won. Amen.
Discussion Question
Does the distinction between hades (the realm of the dead) and gehenna (the place of punishment) change how you read the Apostles’ Creed line “he descended into hell”? Share your thoughts below.
Share This
“Most people don’t know the Bible has four different words for the underworld — and they don’t all mean the same thing. This changes the entire ‘did Jesus go to hell?’ debate.” [BGodInspired]
“Jesus told the thief beside him: ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ Wherever Jesus went between Friday and Sunday — paradise was there. That’s the answer hiding in plain sight.”
“He went to the realm of the dead. Not as prisoner. As victor. The gates of hades are mentioned in Matthew 16 because gates hold things in — and they couldn’t hold this.”
Questions and Answers
Did Jesus actually go to hell after he died?
It depends on which word you mean by “hell.” The Bible uses four different words for the underworld: sheol (Hebrew), hades (Greek), gehenna (place of final punishment), and tartarus (where fallen angels are held). Jesus went to hades — the realm of the dead — not gehenna, the place of punishment. The Apostles’ Creed’s phrase “descended into hell” translates the Latin ad inferos, meaning “to the lower regions,” which refers to hades.
What does the Apostles’ Creed mean by “descended into hell”?
The Latin original says descendit ad inferos — “descended to the lower regions.” This refers to hades, the realm of the dead, not gehenna (the place of fiery punishment). The early church understood this as Jesus entering the realm of the dead as victor and making proclamation there, not as Jesus being punished in hell.
What did Jesus mean when he said “Today you will be with me in paradise” to the thief on the cross?
In Luke 23:43, Jesus promises the thief that today — not eventually, not after judgment — they will be together in paradise. In early Jewish understanding, paradise was the righteous section of hades (also called Abraham’s Bosom in Luke 16). Jesus was going to hades — but to its place of rest, not punishment.
What is the difference between hades and gehenna in the Bible?
Hades (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew sheol) is the general realm of the dead — a waiting place for all who have died. Gehenna is the place of final punishment, named after the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem. Jesus uses the word gehenna eleven times, always in the context of final judgment. He never applies gehenna to himself or his time between death and resurrection.
Where was Jesus between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?
The Bible gives several clues: Jesus promised the thief he’d be in paradise “today” (Luke 23:43); 1 Peter 3:19 says he made proclamation to imprisoned spirits; Acts 2:31 says his soul was not abandoned to hades; Ephesians 4:9 references his descent before his ascension. The historic Christian understanding is that Jesus entered hades — the realm of the dead — as victor and conqueror, not as prisoner, and rose three days later.
Internal Links
– [What Happens When You Die? The Bible’s Surprising Answer in Luke 23:43](https://bgodinspired.com/index.php/what-jesus-teaches/what-happens-when-you-die-bible-luke-23-43-semeron/) — direct companion piece on the thief’s promise and what it means
– [The Greek Word for Eternal Life Doesn’t Mean What You Were Taught](https://bgodinspired.com/index.php/what-jesus-teaches/eternal-life-meaning-aionios-greek-word-bible/) — related word study on what Jesus actually meant by eternal life
– [What Jesus Actually Said About Once Saved Always Saved](https://bgodinspired.com/index.php/what-jesus-teaches/what-jesus-actually-said-about-once-saved-always-saved-the-greek-verb-in-john-1028-changes-the-question-entirely/) — connects to the broader question of salvation and security
Related Reading
- What Happens When You Die? The Bible’s Surprising Answer in Luke 23:43
- The Greek Word for Eternal Life Doesn’t Mean What You Were Taught
- What Jesus Actually Said About Once Saved Always Saved
