In some ways, "death" and "hell" are interchangeable for they are similar but yet they are different. In French, a difference is made in the way the word "hell" is used. The damned go to hell - "l'enfer" - in the singular while Christ descended - "aux enfers" - hell, in the plural.
The gates of hell (les enfers) were opened by Christ to release those held captive, while they are closed forever for the damned who go to hell (l'enfer). It's an interesting differentiation, still using the same word. Both refer to death but without Christ, there would be only one death, one eternal death.
In the Old Testament, all the living descended to Sheol, the nether world or underworld, that is, the abode of the dead. There are a variety of descriptions of Sheol. Sometimes, it means simply death or the grave while at other times, the grave is only the entrance to Sheol.
Sheol is a place of darkness, worms and dust. It represents utter inactivity, the complete opposite of a busy and active life. Sheol is a shadow of existence without value, without joy, without thought, knowledge or wisdom. God does not remember the dead for they lie in dark and distant regions of the earth. It is to Sheol that all those who die descend and from there they cannot rise.
Although it is, like death, an existence without God nor hope, hell cannot be equated with death. Christ did not open the gates of hell where the damned descend. But obviously, a hell of eternal punishment could not be the lot of the just who died before Christ's coming since they had remained faithful to God. Therefore, the word "hell" had two shades of meaning.
The New Testament depiction of hell borrows much from the Old Testament. However, Jesus attaches more importance to hell as the separation from God but he does not hesitate to refer to some of the terrible seemingly physical aspects of hell: "weeping and gnashing of teeth in the burning furnace" (Matthew 13:42), fire and many others.
As part of his common lot with humanity, Jesus descended to the nether world or Sheol. But by his death and resurrection, Christ has broken death's reign and opened the gates of Sheol. Peter, in Acts, speaks to the crowd applying David's words to Jesus: "He was not abandoned to Hades (Sheol), nor did his flesh experience corruption" (Acts 2:31).
As Paul says: this was the rendezvous of all flesh, the meeting place of a humanity exiled from God and one could not get out of it before Christ, the "first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23) did. Christ was "the first born from among the dead" (Revelation 1:5).
Apart from its meaning as simply death, this Sheol seems to have been thought of as a holding place for all, including those who had remained faithful. Christ, by his death and resurrection opened the gates and took his faithful ones to heaven.
Therefore it seems there would be no further need of this holding place. Those who die in Christ go with him to heaven while the wicked go into hell for eternity. At the end of time, there will be no more dying so Hades or Sheol as it is spoken of in the Bible, will be no longer for there will remain only heaven and hell.
QI've always been afraid of death because I've always thought that to die meant to go to hell because in the Apostles' Creed, we used to say that Jesus died and descended into hell. Now we say that that he descended into the dead. Are these words interchangeable?