Places & biblical world
Gehenna
A term linked to the name of the Valley of Hinnom, used in Jesus’ warnings about sin and judgment.
Also called · Valley of Hinnom
What it means
2 Kings 23 records the king defiling Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom to stop offerings of children to Molech. Jeremiah 7 condemns the burning of children there as something God never commanded.
In Matthew 5, Jesus warns about insulting a brother and the fire of Gehenna. He also calls for reconciliation before presenting a gift at the altar; the warning concerns human conduct, not simply a place name.
How it appears in the Bible
Mark 9 warns against causing believers to stumble. With forceful language about removing a hand, foot, or eye that causes stumbling, it contrasts entering life and God’s Kingdom with Gehenna’s unquenchable fire.
Translation note
The selected World English Bible retains Gehenna in these warnings. Read its valley background and judgment language without treating every use of Sheol or Hades as identical.