The word 'torment' is found only in the New Testament, and in modern translations it is sometimes changed to 'torture' or, in the case of illnesses, 'suffering severe pain'. In normal life people are 'tormented' [NIV: "punished"] in that they receive the just reward for wrongdoing (see Matthew 18:34) and Christians are sometimes persecuted for their faith (see Hebrews 11:37). The Book of Revelation has several references to the torment to come on the earth (see Revelation 9:5; 14:10; 18:7,9-10,15; 20:10) which all refer to the final destruction of organised evil among human beings on this earth.

The only reference to 'eternal torment' (in Revelation 20:10) is not for men and women, but for the symbolic representations of evil-the devil, the beast and the false prophet, meaning that human wrong doing will be finally and eternally banished from the earth.

Torment in the 'fiery lake of burning sulphur' (see Revelation 19:20; 20:10) may be a reference to the similar destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was in fact not a long lasting 'torment', but an immediate and complete destruction. It may also contain the idea of the fires of Gehenna (q.v.), which will burn continually as long as there is any need for them. (See also Jude :7).