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Matthew 5:22 — What Changed in the Bible Text

Translation choice · documented · Afterlife

What the source readsGehenna — the Valley of Hinnom, a real ravine outside Jerusalem where refuse and bodies burned

What this version reads'hell fire' — a place on the map becomes the fire of the afterlife

Gehenna was a literal place — the Hinnom valley south of Jerusalem, a smouldering dump with a grim history. Jesus uses it as a vivid image; the KJV renders it 'hell fire', turning a rubbish-fire outside the walls into the eternal furnace of the damned. Four different words — Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus — all flattened into one 'hell'.

Read this chapter side by side — Matthew 5:22 →

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