Hades is the NT equivalent to the OT Sheol (see SHEOL). In the NT Hades is used much more limitedly than the term Sheol in the OT. Sheol is used for the dwelling place of all dead (e.g., Acts 2:27, 31; (cf. Revelation 6:8; 20:13), and all the dead can be viewed as in the underworld (Luke 16:23, 26). But only the wicked dead are said to be in Hades (cf. Luke 16:23), and it is now more explicitly a place of punishment. Because of the resurrection of Christ, the righteous are in "Paradise" (Luke 23:43), with Christ (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8), and in the "heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:23).

This topic is from the Lockman Foundation.