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Update: 2017.12.11
The notion of "hell" arose out of the Biblical principle of tzëdꞋëq: "an eye for an eye" (interpreted and applied by the Bât•eiꞋ-Din as monetary compensation), implying that punishment should fit the a•veir•âhꞋ against Tōr•âhꞋ. Therefore, one would reason, just as some crimes and evil is worse than other crimes and evil, so some punishment should, accordingly, be worse than other punishment; there must be degrees of punishment. The rabbis (as well as Christian and Muslim clerics) reasoned (mistakenly, as you'll see below) that the same principle must apply in hâ-Ō•lâmꞋ ha-Bâ. Hence, death must not be the end for evil people who never suffered appropriate punishment in this life. Such people die deserving more punishment. That's the human view of tzëdꞋëq. Therefore, they reasoned, there must be a "hell" where such punishment is meted out to evil people in the same degree as the evil they perpetrated.
However, this reasoning is not found anywhere in the Bible; nor is there any direct support for this reasoning.
The notion of "the fires of hell" may, perversely, derive from the description in Dân•iy•eilꞋ
of the "Fourth çÅéåÈä", which éÀäÄéáÇú to the holy (by definition) ðÀäÇø ãÌÄé-ðåÌø emanating from the ëÌÈøÀñÅà of the òÇúÌÄé÷ éåÉîÄéï.
Appended to this reasoning was the human instinct that fire is probably the most painful and torturous—punishing—death possible; hence (?), burning alive forever in eternal fire must be the punishment for the worst crimes and evil.
All of this, however, is humanities philosophy; not Biblical instruction. If it were such a key principle, it could not have been entirely omitted from the Bible. It's even more suspicious that it's found only in Hellenist doctrines.
Its absence in the Bible suggests that, contrary to human reasoning based on a deterrent (sometimes vengeful) perception of tzëdꞋëq necessary in this world, é‑‑ä appears to deem degrees of punishment unnecessary in His incorporeal hâ-Ō•lâmꞋ ha-Bâ.
The Compassionate é‑‑ä, being Perfect, cannot commune with imperfection. To mingle with imperfection would render Him imperfect, which negates the definition.
Thus, a Perfect Singularity could only admit perfection to His eternal, incorporeal hâ-Ō•lâmꞋ ha-Bâ.
While we cannot attain perfection on our own, Tōr•âhꞋ provides that those who do their utmost to keep Tōr•âhꞋ (which includes making tᵊshuv•âhꞋ when appropriate) obtain ki•purꞋ, resulting in perfection by the çÅï of é‑‑ä.
This describes a binary state: 1=Perfect; 0=Not Perfect. The linear, analog "eye for an eye" of this world, where we need training, appears to give way, in the incorporeal realm beyond this life, to an absolute "yes or no", {0,1}, binary outcome. 
Contrary to the linear analog paradigm of degrees of punishment in payment for degrees of transgression of Tōr•âhꞋ, necessary as long as we're in training in this life, every indication in the Bible implies that the operative system in the design of the incorporeal realm after this world is discrete and binary: 1=life continuing after death for Tōr•âhꞋ-keepers, or 0=not, for all others (goy•imꞋ).
Life in the incorporeal world is solely for those who are compatible with é‑‑ä without need of punishment. Why, then, would punishment exist? The rest seems to be scare tactics of Christian clerics (the teaching of "hell" is virtually absent outside of Hellenist Christianity) trying to motivate people into following their teaching.
There is no Biblical instruction concerning those who are not transitioned to spiritual life in the incorporeal hâ-Ō•lâmꞋ ha-Bâ. However, we may conjecture that it may be like chronologically before our own birth: simply "not"!
Hellenized in LXX as γέεννα, the symbolism of the "fires" of "gehenna" became associated with "hell" based on interpretations of Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu, Mᵊnōr•atꞋ ha-Mâ•ōrꞋ and The Nᵊtzârim Reconstruction of Hebrew Matitᵊyâhu (5:22, 29, 30; et al.). Scholars have shown, however, that the "burning" of children was only a symbolic marriage ritual—dedicating boys to be priests, or girls to be hierodules, of îÉìÆê Hadad, aka Mithra aka Helios, aka the sun God, ShëmꞋësh, whose consort was Ashtart (aka Ishtar, aka Easter), aka Ζεύς, aka Iæsous.
The Book of Yo•veilꞋ demonstrates that the phrase, "burning of children to [îÉìÆê]", refers to ritual marriage; namely, out-marriage – then a parental decision imposed on children. "The common denominator of all these traditions is the understanding of [îÉìÆê] worship as the assimilation of Jewish children to a•vōd•âhꞋ zâr•âhꞋ, either by delivering them directly to pagan priests or by procreation through intercourse with a pagan woman… This is supported by the fact that in some cases it is explicitly specified that the offender will dedicate his sons as priests to Hadad and his daughters as hierodules to Ishtar".
úÉôÆú was the site of the worship of îÉìÆê — a deliberate dysphemism of îÆìÆê, "the original vowels being changed and patterned after the vocalization of [áÌÉùÑÆú], which was often used as an intentional substitute for BaꞋal". consisting of "passing one's tweenager through fire to îÉìÆê.".
In the ancient Middle East, child sacrifice was a rare act of desperation – only 2 (almost 3) instances in the Bible: almost one (the A•qeid•âhꞋ; bᵊ-Reish•itꞋ 22.1-19), Par•ohꞋ in the 10th Mak•âhꞋ, leading to the Yᵊtzi•âhꞋ, and King Meisha. Chilld sacrifice was never routine practice; nor by fire, anywhere even unequivocally documented!
Some scholars view àÅùÑ as used figuratively, e.g., incurring the (spurious, it turns out) "fires of hell", or "hell-fire", for intermarriage and assimilation.
Millennia before electric lights, evening weddings involved campfires and torches. It was therefore likely that the bride and groom families each had their campfire and the joining in matrimony was symbolized in their procession together between the fires and lines of torches.
The pedestrian explanation is always preferred rather than an extreme interpretation – like ascribing child sacrifice in fire to widespread ancient religious practice."
In ancient times, below the southern-most tip of Yᵊru•shâ•laꞋyim, in the valley called âÅéà áÌÆï-äÄðÌÉí, was a place called úÉôÆú, where tō•imꞋ adopted idolatrous rites of passage to adulthood, dedicating them to BaꞋal. Scholars conjecture that this was accomplished by requiring their sons and their daughters to walk between fires, or jump through hoops of fire or, perhaps, walk on fiery coals. Contrary to popular misconceptions, based on their "interpretations" of Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu 7.31-32; 19.2, 6 & 32.35, they were dedicated—perhaps (inter)married—and only in that sense sacrificed to BaꞋal.
In the Bible, intermarriage is called "pass[ing] their sons and their daughters to îÉìÆê". This is how these terms became associated with "hell."
Thus, the "sin of îÉìÆê" is intermarriage (out-marriage – i.e. prohibited by Tōr•âhꞋ) and/or assimilation!
(Today, in this valley, the last I knew, merchants were selling T-shirts reading "My parents went to hell and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" or "I've been to hell and back".)
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