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It is just an illustration or parable. If we take Jesus’ words literally, we would have to draw conclusions that would make the illustration strange indeed. These include: ·  That those enjoying celestial happiness are in position to see and speak to those suffering torment in Hades. ·  That the water adhering to one’s fingertip is not evaporated by the fire of Hades. ·  And, that, although the torment of Hades is great, a mere drop of water would bring relief to the sufferer. Since Jesus spoke in the hearing of the Pharisees, was he relating an actual case or was he simply using an illustration? Concerning Jesus’ method of teaching the crowds, we read: "Indeed, without an illustration he would not speak to them." (Matthew 13:34) Accordingly, the account about the rich man and Lazarus must be an illustration. There is little reason for Christendom’s clergymen not to be familiar with this understanding of Jesus’ parable. A leading Protestant commentary, The Interpreter’s Bible, calls attention to a similar explanation. It points out that many interpreters believe Jesus’ words to be "an allegorical appendix that presupposes the conflict between early Christianity and orthodox Judaism. The rich man and his brothers represent the unbelieving Jews. Jesus is made to assert that they have stubbornly refused to repent in spite of the obvious testimony to himself in Scripture and to predict that they will fail to be impressed by his resurrection. It is conceivable that Luke and his readers imposed some such interpretation on these verses." And, in a footnote on Luke chapter 16, the Catholic Jerusalem Bible acknowledges that this is a "parable in story form without reference to any historical personage." Source: Is This Life All There Is? chap. 12 p. 110  A Rich Man in Hades

Hell in the Bible The word “hell” is used 54 times in the Bible. It is translated from several different words with various meanings, as indicated below: In the Old Testament: 31 times from the Hebrew “Sheol,” which means “the grave” In the New Testament: 10 times from the Greek “Hades,” which means “the grave” 12 times from the Greek “Gehenna,” which means “a place of burning” 1 time from the Greek “Tartarus,” which means “a place of darkness”