The Inhabitants Of Gehenna

"Who knows the spirit of the children of men" and so forth (Ecclesiastes 3:21). It was taught: Both the souls of the righteous and the souls of the wicked all ascend on high, except that the souls of the righteous are placed in a treasury, while the souls of the wicked are flung about upon the earth. For Abigail said to David through the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 25:29): "And the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living." One might think this applies even to the souls of the wicked; therefore the verse states: "And the souls of your enemies, them shall He sling out, as from the hollow of a sling." A noble matron asked Rabbi Yose ben Halafta. She said to him: What is the meaning of that which is written, "And who knows the spirit of the children of men, whether it goes upward"? He said to her: These are the souls of the righteous, which are placed in a treasury, for thus Abigail said to David through the Holy Spirit: "And the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living," and so forth. One might think this applies even to the souls of the wicked; therefore the verse states: "And the souls of your enemies, them shall He sling out, as from the hollow of a sling." She said to him: And what is the meaning of that which is written, "and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth"? He said to her: These are the souls of the wicked, which descend to Gehenna below, as it is said (Ezekiel 31:15): "On the day when he went down to the grave I caused mourning; I covered the deep over him," and so forth.