Was Jesus in Hell for three days?

From Bible Questions with Andrew Farley by Dunham+Company Podcast Network

March 3, 2026 · 3 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19 regarding whether Jesus went to Hell for three days and clarifies the message of Noah's day.

Some believe 1 Peter 3:19 teaches that Jesus went to Hell for three days to preach to demons or the unsaved before His resurrection. Some even claim this trip to Hell was necessary to complete Christ’s work on our behalf. However, Peter was simply saying that Jesus (long ago, through Noah) had preached to the people of Noah’s day (in that day!). The people of Noah’s generation heard Jesus’s message through Noah and rejected it. As a result, they died in the flood and are now in a spiritual prison (Hell). Jesus did not go to Hell for three days nor was it necessary for Him to do so in order to complete His finished work on our behalf. Perhaps the clearest indication of where Jesus was after He died is given to us in His words to the thief on the cross: “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Farley

Topics covered

Jesus in Hell
1 Peter 3:19
Noah's message
spiritual prison
Christ's work
paradise

Keywords

Jesus
Hell
Noah
1 Peter 3:19
spiritual prison
paradise
thief on the cross
Christ's work

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: 1 Peter 3:19, Luke 23:43