Did Jesus go to hell after he died?

The Apostles' Creed says Jesus "descended into hell," but that phrase is genuinely more confusing in modern English than it was in the original language—the underlying term more precisely meant "the realm of the dead" generally, not specifically a place of torment or punishment.

A notoriously difficult passage, 1 Peter 3:18–20, describes Jesus, after his death, going and making "proclamation to the spirits in prison"—a text Martin Luther himself called "a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament." Interpretations vary widely: some see Jesus proclaiming victory to fallen spirits, others see him addressing the generation who ignored Noah's warnings, others read it differently still.

Some Reformed traditions have reinterpreted "descended into hell" altogether, understanding it as describing Christ's suffering through death and burial rather than a literal journey anywhere—a real difference in how this specific creedal phrase is understood across Christian traditions today.