The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
The word rendered hell is the Hebrew sheol, the same term rendered grave or pit elsewhere, corresponding in meaning to the Greek hades of the New Testament. In this verse sheol means the grave, the realm or state of the dead, located down rather than up. It does not mean a place of torment.
The verse contrasts the wise person's way of life above with sheol beneath, and that upward way leads away from and departs from sheol and the grave. The same contrast places sheol below in opposition to the way of life above. Because sheol is placed beneath, if departed spirits go to sheol they go down rather than upward to God.
The contrast expresses the great divergence between virtue and vice and the need to seek deliverance from the downward way of danger and death that can draw a person toward evil. The wise follow the upward path to eternal life and turn away from perdition beneath. The upward way is set before a person when Christ's recreative power, accepted by faith, changes the heart and sets the feet on the path to life, away from destruction beneath.
The wise follow a path leading to life and away from death, and words can determine which path a tempted person takes. Loving, encouraging words can turn someone toward the way of life, while harsh, condemning words can send someone toward eternal death, so even a brief word can have lasting consequences. People close at hand may be going down to perdition because no one points them to saving truth, so concern for distant places should not keep anyone from seeing and helping those nearby.
The word rendered hell is the Hebrew sheol, the same term rendered grave or pit elsewhere, corresponding in meaning to the Greek hades of the New Testament. In this verse sheol means the grave, the realm or state of the dead, located down rather than up. It does not mean a place of torment.
The verse contrasts the wise person's way of life above with sheol beneath, and that upward way leads away from and departs from sheol and the grave. The same contrast places sheol below in opposition to the way of life above. Because sheol is placed beneath, if departed spirits go to sheol they go down rather than upward to God.
The contrast expresses the great divergence between virtue and vice and the need to seek deliverance from the downward way of danger and death that can draw a person toward evil. The wise follow the upward path to eternal life and turn away from perdition beneath. The upward way is set before a person when Christ's recreative power, accepted by faith, changes the heart and sets the feet on the path to life, away from destruction beneath.
The wise follow a path leading to life and away from death, and words can determine which path a tempted person takes. Loving, encouraging words can turn someone toward the way of life, while harsh, condemning words can send someone toward eternal death, so even a brief word can have lasting consequences. People close at hand may be going down to perdition because no one points them to saving truth, so concern for distant places should not keep anyone from seeing and helping those nearby.