SPECIAL TOPIC: ETERNAL PUNISHMENT (hell, from Matt. 25:46)

New Testament
The same term (aiōnios; see SPECIAL TOPIC: ETERNAL) that describes heaven as everlasting is applied to hell as everlasting (cf. Matt. 18:8; 19:16; Mark 3:29; 9:48; 10:17; Luke 18:18; Jude v. 7; Rev. 20:10; also with "eternal judgment" in 2 Thess. 1:9 and Heb. 6:2).
Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; and Acts 24:15 describe a resurrection of both the righteous and wicked. Josephus states that the Pharisees believed in the immortality of all "souls" (cf. Antiq. 18.1,3), but only the resurrection of the righteous into a new body, while the wicked have eternal punishment (cf. Jewish Wars 2.8,14).
The eternality and finality of the lostness of those without Christ is the impetus and urgency of gospel preaching, teaching, and witnessing! Hell was not created for humanity but for a holding place for Satan and his angels (cf. Matt. 25:41).
An eternal hell is not only a tragedy for rebellious mankind, but also for God! God created humans as the apex of His creative event. We were made in His image and likeness for fellowship with Him (cf. Gen. 1:26-27; 3:8). God's choice to allow mankind a choice resulted in a significant percentage of God's creation being separated from Himself! Hell is an open, bleeding sore in the heart of God that will never be healed. Surprisingly it is Jesus, Himself, who speaks of hell (i.e., Gehenna). Jesus's usages of Gehenna:
1. fire, Matt. 5:22; 18:9; Mark 9:43
2. permanent, Mark 9:48 (Matt. 25:46)
3. place of destruction (both soul and body), Matt. 10:28
4. paralleled to Sheol, Matt. 5:29-30; 18:9
5. characterizes the wicked as "son of hell," Matt. 23:15
6. result of judicial sentence, Matt. 23:33; Luke 12:5
7. the concept of Gehenna is parallel to the second death (cf. Rev. 2:11; 20:6,14) or the lake of fire (cf. Matt. 13:42,50; Rev. 19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:8). It is possible the lake of fire becomes the permanent dwelling place of humans (from Sheol) and evil angels (from Tartarus, 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6 or the abyss, cf. Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1-11; 20:1,3).
8. it was not designed for humans, but for Satan and his angels, Matt. 25:41
  
  The word is used only one other time in the NT, in James 3:6 (i.e., human tongue set on fire by Hell). God will finally isolate intransigent evil and unbelief and reestablish the world He intended it to be. The biblical imagery is:
  1. a new garden (cf. Genesis 1-2, i.e., paradise restored, cf. Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:14; Rev. 2:7)
  2. a new city (i.e., "new Jerusalem," cf. Rev. 3:12; 21:1-4)
  3. a house with many rooms (cf. John 14:2-3)
Old Testament
1. Sheol
  1. All humans go to Sheol (there are no cognate roots and the etymology is uncertain, BDB 982, KB 1368), which was a way of referring to the place where the dead live or the grave, mostly in Wisdom Literature and Isaiah. In the OT it was a shadowy, conscious, but joyless existence (cf. Job 10:21-22; 38:17).
  2. Sheol characterized
    1. associated with God's judgment (fire), Deut. 32:22; Job 20:26; Isa. 34:8-10; 66:24
    2. a prison with gates, Job 38:17; Ps. 9:13; 107:18
    3. a land of no return, Job 7:9 (an Akkadian title for death)
    4. a land/realm of darkness, Job 10:21-22; 17:13; 18:18; 20:26
    5. a place of silence, Ps. 28:1; 31:17; 94:17; 115:17; Isa. 47:5
    6. associated with punishment even before Judgment Day, Ps. 18:4-5
    7. associated with abaddon (destruction; see SPECIAL TOPIC: ABADDON. . .APOLLYON), in which God is also present, Job 26:6; Ps. 139:8; Amos 9:2
    8. associated with "the Pit" (grave), Ps.16:10; 88:3; Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 31:15-17
    9. wicked descend alive into Sheol, Num. 16:30,33; Job 7:9; Ps. 55:15
    10. personified often as an animal with a large mouth, Num. 16:30; Pro. 1:12; Isa. 5:14; Hab. 2:5
    11. people there called Repha'im (i.e., "spirits of the dead"), Job 26:5; Pro. 2:18; 21:16; 26:14 Isa. 14:9-11)
    12. however, YHWH is present even here, Job 26:6; Ps. 139:8; Pro. 15:11
2. Gehenna
  1. Reflects the OT phrase, "the valley of the sons of Hinnom," (south of Jerusalem). It was the place where the Phoenician fire god, Molech (BDB 574, KB 591), was worshiped by child sacrifice (cf. 2 Kgs. 16:3; 21:6; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6), which was forbidden in Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5.
  2. Jeremiah changed it from a place of pagan worship into a site of YHWH's judgment (cf. Jer. 7:32; 19:6-7). It became the place of fiery, eternal judgment in I Enoch 90:26-27 and Sib. 1:103.
3. Rabbinical Midrash
  Possibly divided (rabbis)
  1. righteous part called Paradise (really another name for heaven, cf. 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7), Luke 23:43
  2. wicked part called Tartarus, a holding place far below Hades, 2 Peter 2:4, where it is a holding place for evil angels (cf. Genesis 6; I Enoch). It is associated with the "Abyss," Luke 8:31; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 9:1-2,11; 11:7; 17:18; 20:1,3
  3. The Jews of Jesus' day were so appalled by their ancestors' participation in pagan worship by child sacrifice, that they turned this area into the garbage dump for Jerusalem. Many of Jesus' metaphors for eternal judgment came from this landfill (fire, smoke, worms, stench, cf. Mark 9:44,46). The term Gehenna is used only by Jesus (except in James 3:6).
Helpful resources
1. William Hendriksen, The Bible On the Life Hereafter
2. Maurice Rawlings, Beyond Death's Door
3. Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 105, 426, 489, 493, 626, 637, 686, 723, 768
4. several good videos on YouTube on the views of Hell which developed in the early church
  1. Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of Hell
  2. Edward Fudge, Rethinking Hell
  3. Edward Fudge, Conditional Immortality
  4. Edward Fudge, Proof Texts for Eternal Punishment
  5. Steve Gregg, Hell ‒ Three Christian Views
  6. Steve Gregg, Discussion on Hell

These videos have been very interesting to me. I can certainly see the biblical texts that have generated the other views. I am grateful to God that as a believer in Jesus, I will never experience this terrible reality.