Alright, I feel I may have identified a thing. In the Bible it says:
For a fire will be burn by my anger,
the one that burns right down to the underworld below.
Nevertheless the second lines are better interpreted: one that burns all the way down to deepest underworld (Hell). The reason I say same with that the two words of the fact that NIV means the hell is Otherworld. is more literally translated low, lower, lowest . And, not surprisingly, Otherworld is more preferable interpreted as underworld. This may not mean a whole lot in its original context, for the reason that the text is using figurative language, but it surely may just be the explanation why afterwards we notice people dividing underworld into various parts. Partitions for the upright, the bad, along with the wicked. So maybe this perception of even hell having to deal with a lowest part gave rise with the belief that hell may have a ranking system. It would only make sense. Since we come across degrees of good and bad here on this earth, it would seem sensible how the same would exist inside afterlife. The only real question could be if the ancient Hebrews advocated almost any punishment in Otherworld. That would really be the sole need for separation down there. Since separation based upon morality would imply different levels of punishment. And if there are different levels of punishment, then punishment would run from the mild towards the extreme. But we see no explicit implication of that inside the Hebrew Bible, we only see hints of that from the New Testament. Hopefully, we can find more evidence of the what the ancient Hebrews believed inside coming verses. I think by the time we are done, we will have a good idea.
