Did the pre-Christian just people suffer in hell before Christ rescued them?

[HomeschoolDad]

This would probably fall into the “to the extent we can even know” category, but…

Did the just men and women who sojourned in hell (Hades/limbo/whatever) before Christ descended to take them to heaven — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, Adam and Eve, and any other just people (possibly even Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Confucius, and so on) — suffer in any way? Did they have pain of sense, or put another way, did they experience what we call hellfire? Were they sad? Were they in despair? Were they able to commune with and console each other?

Has Our Lord ever revealed any of this to us, or can it be found in Scripture? Can it be known or hinted at through reason?

Thoughts?

 

[Kei]

It has been understood that this was the Limbo of the patriarchs…it was like a reward of sorts (I would think), not so much a pain. I dunno if there was no pain whatsoever…but it wasn’t a place of terrible torment but a paradise of sorts, but without the Beatific Vision from what I can gather.

I know this is wikipedia, but it’s not too bad:

Limbo - Wikipedia

 

[Dan_Defender]

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Lazarus did not have any suffering at Abraham’s bosom, which is where the just souls went.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

It has been understood that this was the Limbo of the patriarchs…it was like a reward of sorts (I would think), not so much a pain. I dunno if there was no pain whatsoever…but it wasn’t a place of terrible torment but a paradise of sorts, but without the Beatific Vision from what I can gather.

I know this is wikipedia, but it’s not too bad:

en.m.wikipedia.org

Limbo | Limbo of the Patriarchs​

The “Limbo of the Patriarchs” or “Limbo of the Fathers” (Latin limbus patrum) is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term “Limbo of the Fathers” was a medieval name for the part of the underworld (Hades) where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ’s soul descended into it by his death through crucifix Th…

Very good. In retrospect, I suppose I could have searched this online. Thanks so much.