γέεννα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the Biblical Hebrew גֵּיהִנּוֹם (gēhinnṓm, “the valley of Hinnom”), from גַּיְא (gáyʾ, “valley”) and הִנֹּם (hinnṓm, “Hinnom”). The Hinnom Valley was a valley on the southern border of Jerusalem where refuse and the bodies of people denied a proper burial were burned. According to tradition, child sacrifices also took place in this valley. In most usages, this is an allegorical reference to hell.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

γέεννᾰ • (géenna) f (genitive γεέννης); first declension

1. Gehenna
2. hell
   • 70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 23:33:

     ὄφεις! γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν! πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης?

     ópheis! gennḗmata ekhidnôn! pôs phúgēte apò tês kríseōs tês geénnēs?

     Snakes! Offspring of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of Hell?

Declension

Descendants

• → Aghwan: 𐔲𐔴𐕆𐔴𐕎𐔰 (gehena)
• → Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰 (gaiainna)
• → Latin: gehenna
  • → English: Gehenna
• → Old Armenian: գեհեն (gehen)
• → Old Church Slavonic: г҄еона (gʹeona)
  • → Russian: гее́нна (gejénna)
• → Old Georgian: გეჰენია (gehenia), გეჰჱნია (gehēnia)

Further reading

• “γέεννα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γέεννα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• γέεννα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• γέεννα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G1067 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Greek

Noun

γέεννα • (géenna) f (uncountable)

1. hell, gehenna (one of various hells in Abrahamic religions)

Declension

Synonyms

• Κόλαση f (Kólasi)
• Τάρταρα n pl (Tártara)
• Άδης n pl (Ádis)