"hell" vs. "Hell"

[TheManeki]

Hiya, folks. This may be a better question for GA, but I'm particularly interested in the opinions of the people who post in E&M for this question.

I've seen a lot of people talking about hell in posts on the E&M forum, so I did a little searching through the Bible and noticed an interesting fact. Although a lot of people write "Hell" when they post, most English translations of the Bible do not recognize it as a proper noun -- it's written "hell" unless the word begins a sentence.

Some examples:

KJV Bible -- The only time hell is accorded proper noun status is in Rev. 6:8, where it is personified.
NIV Bible -- All lowercase.

And the same goes for most other English translations. Give it a shot here if you'd like.

This leads me to ask, why do some people go against Biblical conventions and write "Hell" instead of "hell"?

 

[selfinflikted]

capitalizing it makes the threat seem more menacing?

 

[happydance]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but it seems to follow the rules of grammar.

Hell is a place (kinda-maybe). When used in this manner, it should have a capital 'H'.

If I said, "I feel like h...!", this should be lower case. State of being?

I don't know. Just guessing. Do I get a prize anyway?

 

[TheFathersDaughter]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but it seems to follow the rules of grammar.

Hell is a place (kinda-maybe). When used in this manner, it should have a capital 'H'.

If I said, "I feel like h...!", this should be lower case. State of being?

I don't know. Just guessing. Do I get a prize anyway?

Here ya go.

 

[TheManeki]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but it seems to follow the rules of grammar.

Hell is a place (kinda-maybe). When used in this manner, it should have a capital 'H'.

If I said, "I feel like h...!", this should be lower case. State of being?

I don't know. Just guessing. Do I get a prize anyway?

Unfortunately, your hypothesis does not seem to fit the writing. For example,

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

According to your hypothesis, at least one of those usages should be capitalized.

 

[happydance]

Unfortunately, your hypothesis does not seem to fit the writing. For example,




According to your hypothesis, at least one of those usages should be capitalized.

Yeah, I know. I just wanted to be included. I got my prize. So, I am happy.

 

[TheFathersDaughter]

Grammatically it should be (assuming it's used as a place and not a feeling).

Spiritually is shouldn't, meaning when you're referring to the actual hell.

I don't see the harm in capitalizing it though.

 

[SaintInChicago]

Unfortunately, your hypothesis does not seem to fit the writing. For example,




According to your hypothesis, at least one of those usages should be capitalized.

Mine is totally different. In the Ernest P Warhol translation it reads:

Matthew 23:33 (EPW)
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to ache ee double hockey sticks?

 

[Fin1234]

capitalizing it makes the threat seem more menacing?

hahahaha!! fantastic I got that straight away!



edit:happy birthday fathersdaughters!!!

 

[TheManeki]

Grammatically it should be (assuming it's used as a place and not a feeling).

Spiritually is shouldn't, meaning when you're referring to the actual hell.

I don't see the harm in capitalizing it though.

Interesting idea. How does one tell when it's used grammatically or spiritually? Does spiritual usage trump grammatical usage? I dunno...that kind of rule sounds like it would be more than a little clunky.

 

[craigerNY]

Perhaps the non-capitolized "hell" was the translators way of debasing it.

 

[GrannieAnnie]

Half the time I'm lucky if I can understand what is written in these forums....the SPELLING of some...quite a lot....of people is terrible. I would think the spelling of....hell...with a capital or in lower case is a minor matter compared to some of the things I've read.

 

[TheManeki]

Perhaps the non-capitolized "hell" was the translators way of debasing it.

How *dare* you blaspheme the anointed translators of the King James Version, the only Bible to actually use the language God speaks!



It's kinda funny... a lot of the KJV-only crowd seems to make hell into a proper noun, despite the fact their translation of choice doesn't. Weird.

 

[TheManeki]

Half the time I'm lucky if I can understand what is written in these forums....the SPELLING of some...quite a lot....of people is terrible. I would think the spelling of....hell...with a capital or in lower case is a minor matter compared to some of the things I've read.

I was wondering if there was some theological significance behind treating it as a proper noun.

I did some searching on Amazon of some books written by some of the more prominent fundamentalist Christian writers -- John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Jerry Jenkins, and Tim LaHaye -- and they all seem to favor the lowercase. I was a little disappointed, because at least when Robertson and Hagee say "hell," it comes across as "Hell" if not "HELL!!!1!!!one!"

 

[I Just Believe In Me]

Half the time I'm lucky if I can understand what is written in these forums....the SPELLING of some...quite a lot....of people is terrible. I would think the spelling of....hell...with a capital or in lower case is a minor matter compared to some of the things I've read.

Considering all the other problems with the bible, grammer should be the least of your concerns.

 

[TheFathersDaughter]

Interesting idea. How does one tell when it's used grammatically or spiritually? Does spiritual usage trump grammatical usage? I dunno...that kind of rule sounds like it would be more than a little clunky.

Probably depends on personal beliefs. Some may believe capitalizing it is a symbol of honor. Obviously, hell isn't something to be honored, so they chose not to. I mean, if you want to get SUPER technical, it's the same as capitalizing He, Him and His when referring to God. It's not grammatically correct because you don't capitalize pronouns, but it's a sign of reverence for God. Only opposite.

But on that note, I don't know why translators didn't also type "satan" in all lower case. It's always written as "Satan".