The Harrowing of Hell

Published on Updated on Hell, Soteriology

Tradition holds that after Jesus Christ died, he triumphantly descended into Hell and freed the captives. This is called the “Harrowing of Hell.”

 

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

Psalm 68:18. You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among people, yes, among the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell there.

Isaiah 24:22. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.

 

Matthew 12:40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 27:52. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

Acts 2:31. he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay.

Ephesians 4:8. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.”

Ephesians 4:9. Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

Ephesians 4:10. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

Colossians 1:18. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

1 Peter 3:19. in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,

1 Peter 4:6. For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.

 

SEE ALSO

Eternal life in the Old Testament. The New Testament describes heaven and eternal life. But what does the Old Testament say about life after death?

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.