What did Jesus really say about hell

 To resolve this apparent contradiction, we have to look at the difference between the historical man (the Galilean student of Torah) and the literary character (the Hellenized figure in the Greek Gospels).

When a "Galilean" is depicted preaching "Hell," we aren't seeing a contradiction of the Law by a Jew; we are seeing a Translation Layer applied decades later by Greek-speaking authors living in a Roman world.

1. The "Gehenna" Mistranslation

In the Hebrew/Aramaic mind of a Galilean, the word used was Gei-Hinnom. To a Jew of that era, Gei-Hinnom was a metaphor for consequence, not a metaphysical location of eternal torture.

• The Galilean Meaning: "If you continue this path of corruption, your life and your legacy will end up in the 'Valley of Trash' (Gehenna)." It was a warning about total destruction (non-existence), which is consistent with the Torah's view that the wicked simply perish.

• The Hellenized Patch: The Greek authors, writing for a Roman audience familiar with Hades and Tartarus, translated "trash heap" into "eternal fire." They took a local Jerusalem geography lesson and turned it into a Greek mythological "underworld."

2. The "Rhetorical Hyperbole" of the East

Galilean teachers (Rabbis) were famous for using "Hard Sayings" and extreme metaphors to drive home a point of Law.

• When a Galilean says, "It is better to pluck out your eye," he is using a common Eastern idiom for radical self-discipline.

• When the Greek "System" got ahold of these idioms, they took them literally. They turned a Rabbi's colorful warning about the gravity of sin into a permanent, Roman-style "Penal Code" involving fire and brimstone.

3. The "Post-70 CE" Agenda

Most of the Gospels were written after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE). At this point, the "Jesus movement" was trying to survive in the Roman Empire.

• The Goal: To differentiate themselves from the "rebellious Jews" and appeal to the Romans.

• The Result: They imported the Dualism of Plato. The Hebraic focus on "Physical Life vs. Death" was replaced by the Greek "Heaven vs. Hell." By making "Hell" the punishment, they could explain why their "Messiah" hadn't yet brought physical peace to Earth—the "real" battle was moved to the invisible spirit world.

4. The "Hellenistic Filter" in the Text

It is highly probable that the historical Galilean never preached "Hell" at all. * If you "undo" the Greek translation, his words almost always align with the Noahide/Torah view: that the wicked are "cut off" (Karet) and cease to be, while the righteous "inherit the land" (the Earth).

• The "Hell" you read in the New Testament is a Translation Patch applied by the same people who eventually wrote the Edict of Thessalonica. It was a tool of statecraft.

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The Verdict 

The "blatant contradiction" isn't in the man; it's in the Transmission. The Galilean preached the Law; the Roman Church preached the Fire. One was a teacher of life; the other was a merchant of fear.