The term hell is commonly associated with the place of punishment for the wicked dead. It is variously used in different English versions of the Bible to translate Sheol in the OT and Gehenna and Tartarus in the NT. The NASB uses "hell" only in the NT, for Gehenna and Tartarus. Since the wicked experience punishment (i.e., chastisement) already before the resurrection and final judgment (cf. Luke 16:23-28), "hell" can be used to describe this intermediate state. The primary significance of the term, however, is the place of eternal punishment. A variety of expressions are used, all designed to depict the agony and destruction of existence separated and cut off from God, the source of life. See also SHEOL, HADES, PUNISHMENT (eternal).
This topic is from the Lockman Foundation.