Definition
Hades (Greek: ᾅδης) and Sheol (Hebrew: שְׁאוֹל) are the biblical terms for the realm of the dead — the abode of the departed between death and resurrection. In the OT Sheol is the place where all the dead descend, righteous and unrighteous alike (Ps. 89:49; Eccl. 9:10). In the NT Hades is the domain of death, personified as an adversary overcome by Christ (Rev. 1:18; 20:14). In Luke 16:23 Hades has a compartment where the rich man suffers torment — interpreted literally by some, parabolically by others.
Hades and Sheol are distinguished in the NT from Gehenna (the valley of Hinnom) as the final destination of the wicked, though the boundaries are often blurred in popular usage.
Usage in the Corpus
Stephen Jones
Jones carefully distinguishes Hades from Gehenna and the lake of fire. In his eschatology Hades is the intermediate state — the holding place of the unsaved dead before the Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). After the judgment both Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire (“the second death”), which for Jones means Hades is a temporary intermediate state, not an eternal abode. This grounds his apokatastasis doctrine: the purpose of Hades and the ultimate judgment is purification and restoration, not endless punishment — consistent with his broader teaching on corrective divine judgment.