Deuteronomy 32:22

(Cf. Jeremiah 15:14 ; Jeremiah 17:4 ; Lamentations 4:11 .) The lowest hell; the lowest sheol , the uttermost depth of the under-world. The Hebrew sheol ( שְׁאוֹל ) answering to the Greek ἅδης , by which it is usually rendered by the LXX ; is a general designation of the unseen state, the place of the dead. By some the word is derived from שָׁאַל , to ask, because sheol is ever asking, is insatiable ( Proverbs 30:16 ); but more probably it is from a root signifying to excavate, to hollow, and, like the German holle , means primarily a hollow place or cavern. The Divine wrath kindles a consuming fire, that burns down to the lowest depths—to the deepest part of sheol —consumes the earth's produce, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. This does not refer to any particular judgment that was to befall the national Israel, but is a general description of the effects of the Divine wrath when that is poured forth in judgments on men.