If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What does Hell look like, according to the Bible?”, you’re not alone. Whether triggered by a sermon, a meme on Instagram, or just late-night curiosity, this is one of those big, unsettling questions that troubles most of us.

As someone who studied the Bible for two years during my Master’s degree, I can tell you: this question comes up a lot. And it usually sparks a deeper conversation about who God is, what justice looks like, and what we’re meant to do with our lives while we’re still breathing.

If you’ve only ever heard about Hell as a place of eternal torture, you might be surprised at the range of imagery that shows up in the Bible. And if you skip this article, you might miss a much more layered (and maybe more hopeful) view than you expected.

So, what does the Bible say? It does paint a picture of Hell as a place (or state) of separation, destruction, and judgment, often wrapped in intense imagery. But that picture is more complex and less cartoonish than many of us were taught.

In this article, I’ll walk through the actual words the Bible uses (like Sheol and Gehenna), the fire-and-darkness metaphors, the different theological takes Christians have held over the centuries, and why it all matters for us now.