Mapping the Afterlife: The Locations of the Entrances to Gehenna and the Garden of Eden, and the Names of Gehenna (Eruvin 19a)

Outline

1. The locations of the entrances to Gehenna

2. The Names of Gehenna

3. The location of the entrance to the Garden of Eden

Appendix - Gehenna’s attributes (Menachot 99b-100a)

1. God “allures” people from the “death’s path” to “life’s path” (Job 36:16)

2. Gehenna is deep; even kings go to Gehenna; avoiding Gehenna isn’t the only reward for Torah study (Isaiah 30:33; Job 36:16)

The passage

Eruvin.19a.12-20

The locations of the entrances to Gehenna

R' Yirmeya ben Elazar teaches that there are three entrances to Gehenna: in the wilderness, the sea, and Jerusalem. 

This claim is questioned in the Talmud, which brings up an additional possible entrance mentioned by R' Maryon (רבי מריון) or Rabba bar Maryon (רבה בר מריון), citing the school of R' Yoḥanan ben Zakkai (בי רבי יוחנן בן זכאי). They describe two date trees (תמרות) in the valley of ben Hinnom,¹ from between which smoke rises. A tannaitic source is quoted  that the palms of Har HaBarzel (הר הברזל) are suitable for the mitzvah of using palm branches (lulav) during Sukkot, and is the entrance to Gehenna. 

The Talmud reconciles this by suggesting that this entrance might be the same one referred to in Jerusalem, thus aligning it with one of the three original entrances mentioned.

ואמר רבי ירמיה (בר) אלעזר: 

שלשה פתחים יש לגיהנם, 

1. אחד במדבר 

2. ואחד בים 

3. ואחד בירושלים. 

[...]

ותו ליכא? 

והאמר רבי מריון אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, ואמרי לה תנא רבה בר מריון בדבי רבי יוחנן בן זכאי: 

שתי תמרות יש בגי בן הנום, 

ועולה עשן מביניהן, 

וזו היא ששנינו: ציני הר הברזל כשירות, וזו היא פתחה של גיהנם! — 

דילמא היינו דירושלים.

And R' Yirmeya ben Elazar also said: There are three entrances to Gehenna,

1. one in the wilderness,

2. one in the sea,

3. and one in Jerusalem. 

[...]

The Gemara asks: Are there no more entrances?

 Didn’t R' Maryon say in the name of R' Yehoshua ben Levi, and some say it was Rabba bar Maryon who taught in the name of the school of R' Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: 

There are two date trees in the valley of ben Hinnom, and smoke rises from between them, 

and with regard to this statement about date trees that differ from other palms we learned: The palms of Har HaBarzel are fit for the mitzva of palm branches [lulav], and this is the entrance to Gehenna. 

The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, for perhaps this is the entrance in Jerusalem.

The Names of Gehenna

R' Yehoshua ben Levi enumerates seven names for Gehenna, each illustrating a different aspect of this concept of the netherworld or hell, with biblical references to support their meanings: She'ol (שאול), Avadon (אבדון), Be'er Shaḥat, Bor Shaon, Tit HaYaven, Tzalmavet,² and Eretz HaTaḥtit. (I skip the biblical prooftexts cited.)

The Talmud then discusses whether the name “Gehinom” (גיהנם) itself is a place name or merely a descriptive term, concluding it is a descriptive term.

 Additionally, the Talmud considers the Biblical term "Tofte" (תפתה) as another descriptive term for Gehenna, and not a place name.

אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: שבעה שמות יש לגיהנם, ואלו הן: 

1. שאול, 

2. ואבדון, 

3. ובאר שחת, 

4. ובור שאון, 

5. וטיט היון, 

6. וצלמות, 

7. וארץ התחתית.

[...]

ותו ליכא? והאיכא ״גיהנם״! — 

גיא שעמוקה (בגיהנם), שהכל יורד לה על עסקי הנם.

והאיכא ״תפתה״, דכתיב: ״כי ערוך מאתמול תפתה״, 

ההוא, שכל המתפתה ביצרו, יפול שם.

R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: Gehenna has seven names, and they are as follows: 

1. She’ol, 

2. Avadon, 

3. Be’er Shaḥat, 

4. Bor Shaon, 

5. Tit HaYaven, 

6. Tzalmavet, 

7. and Eretz HaTaḥtit.

[...]

The Gemara poses a question: Are there no more names? Isn’t there the name Gehenna? 

The Gemara answers that this is not a name rather a description: A valley that is as deep as the valley [gei] of ben Hinnom. An alternative explanation is: Into which all descend for vain [hinnam] and wasteful acts, understanding the word hinnam as if it were written ḥinnam, meaning for naught.

The Gemara asks: Isn’t there also the name Tofte, as it is written: “For its hearth [tofte] is ordained of old” (Isaiah 30:33).

 The Gemara answers: That name too is a description, meaning that anyone who allows himself to be seduced [mitpateh] by his evil inclination will fall there.

The location of the entrance to the Garden of Eden

The Talmud, after discussing the entrances to Gehenna, shifts to the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Reish Lakish proposes different locations for this entrance depending on the region: Beit She’an if it is in Eretz Yisrael; Beit Garem,³ if in Arabia;⁴ and Dumsekanin (דומסקנין) if “between the rivers”.⁵ 

Each location is noted for its lush vegetation and fertile land. 

As an aside, by association, the Talmud mentions that Abaye praised the fruits from the right (=southern) bank of the Euphrates River, and Rava praised the fruits of Harpanya (הרפניא), highlighting the fertility and abundance of these regions.

גן עדן, 

אמר ריש לקיש: 

1. אם בארץ ישראל הוא — בית שאן פתחו, 

2. ואם בערביא — בית גרם פתחו, 

3. ואם בין הנהרות הוא — דומסקנין פתחו. 

בבבל — 

אביי משתבח בפירי דמעבר ימינא, 

רבא משתבח בפירי דהרפניא.

Having discussed the entrances to Gehenna, the Gemara also mentions the entrance to the Garden of Eden. 

Reish Lakish said: 

1. If it is in Eretz Yisrael, its entrance is Beit She’an, 

2. and if it is in Arabia, its entrance is Beit Garem,

3.  and if it is between the rivers of Babylonia, its entrance is Dumsekanin, for all these places feature a great abundance of vegetation and fertile land. 

The Gemara relates that Abaye would praise the fruits of the right bank of the Euphrates River, 

and Rava would praise the fruits of Harpanya.

Appendix - Gehenna’s attributes (Menachot 99b-100a)

Menachot.99b.21-100a.2

God “allures” people from the “death’s path” to “life’s path” (Job 36:16)

אמר חזקיה:

מאי דכתיב (איוב לו, טז):

"ואף הסיתך מפי צר

רחב לא מוצק תחתיה"

בוא וראה שלא כמדת הקדוש ברוך הוא מדת בשר ודם:

• מדת בשר ודם --

  • אדם מסית את חבירו

    • מדרכי חיים

    • לדרכי מיתה

• והקדוש ברוך הוא --

  • מסית את האדם

    • מדרכי מיתה

    • לדרכי חיים

שנאמר: "ואף הסיתך מפי צר"

מגיהנם

שפיה צר

שעשנה צבור בתוכה

Ḥizkiyya said:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“He delivers the afflicted due to His affliction, and opens their ear by tribulation; and also He has allured you out of a narrow opening

to a broad place without confines below it, and that which is set on your table is full of fatness” (Job 36:15–16)?

Come and see that the attribute of flesh and blood is unlike the attribute of God:

• The attribute of flesh and blood --

  • is that a person allures another

    • from the paths of life

    • to the paths of death,

• but God --

  • allures the person

    • from the paths of death

    • to the paths of life,

as it is stated: “And also He has allured you out of a narrow opening,”

i.e., from Gehenna,

the opening of which is narrow

so that its smoke is collected within it.

Gehenna is deep; even kings go to Gehenna; avoiding Gehenna isn’t the only reward for Torah study (Isaiah 30:33; Job 36:16)

1. ושמא תאמר:

   1. כשם שפיה צר, כך כולה צרה

   2. תלמוד לומר (ישעיהו ל, לג) העמיק הרחיב.

2. ושמא תאמר:

   1. למלך לא הוכנה

   2. תלמוד לאמר (ישעיהו ל, לג) גם היא למלך הוכן

3. ושמא תאמר:

   1. אין בה עצים

   2. תלמוד לאמר (ישעיהו ל, לג) מדורתה אש ועצים הרבה

4. ושמא תאמר:

   1. זה הוא שכרה

   2. תלמוד לומר (איוב לו, טז) ונחת שולחנך מלא דשן

1. And lest you say:

   1. Just as the opening of Gehenna is narrow, so too, all of Gehenna is narrow,

   2. the verse states: “For Gehenna has been arranged of old, it has been prepared even for the king, deep and large, its pile is fire and much wood, the breath of YHWH kindles it like a stream of brimstone” (Isaiah 30:33).

2. And lest you say

   1. that Gehenna is prepared only for ordinary people, but it is not prepared for important individuals such as a king,

   2. the verse states: “It has been prepared even for the king.”

3. And lest you say

   1. there is no wood in Gehenna,

   2. the verse states: “Its pile is fire and much wood.”

4. And lest you say that

   1. this, i.e., escaping Gehenna, is the only reward for Torah study,

   2. the verse states: “And that which is set on your table is full of fatness” (Job 36:16).

This indicates that one who obeys God and turns from the paths of death to the paths of life is not only saved from Gehenna, he also attains tranquility and prosperity.

1. גי בן הנום - Wikipedia: “ a historic valley surrounding Jerusalem from the west and southwest [...] The place is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible [...] ”.

2. צלמות - literally: “shade/shadow of death”; compare: Shade (mythology) - Wikipedia.

3. בית גרם - on the identity of this town, see here, see there that it may be modern-day Jerash, known as Gerasa in the Roman period.

4. ערביא - Wikipedia:

“Arabia [...] was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century. It consisted of the former Nabataean Kingdom in the southern Levant, the Sinai Peninsula, and the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. Its capital was Petra. It was bordered on the north by Syria, on the west by Judaea (merged with Syria from AD 135) and Egypt, and on the south and east by the rest of Arabia, known as Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix.”

For another mention of Arabia in the Talmud, in the context of a Talmudic linguistic discussion, see my previous piece here).

5. בין הנהרות - meaning, all or a specific part of Mesopotamia, which literally means “between the rivers”, usually referred to in the Talmud as “Babylonia”.

See also Wikipedia, “Aram-Naharaim”:

Aram-Naharaim (Hebrew: אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם ʾĂram Nahărayīm; Classical Syriac: ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, romanized: ʾĀrām Nahrīn; "Aram between (the) rivers") is the biblical term for the ancient land of the Arameans in Mesopotamia, specifically the great bend of the Euphrates River […]

Both the Septuagint (early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and Flavius Josephus translate the name as Mesopotamia. Ancient writers later used the name "Mesopotamia" for all of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. However, the usage of the Hebrew name "Aram-Naharaim" does not match this later usage of "Mesopotamia", the Hebrew term referring to a northern region within Mesopotamia.

In this case, it’s likely that דומסקנין refers to Damascus. While technically Damascus isn’t “between the rivers”, it was considered part of the broader "Aram between [the] rivers".