Jesus came to take them out of that drab and dull place. It says there is no knowledge-that is, of what goes on on earth. Qoheleth 9:10 says there is no work in Sheol-of course not. Those in Sheol cannot appeal to the covenant.

In Isaiah 38:19 we read that 'those who go down to the pit cannot hope for God's fidelity.' The 'fidelity' means God's faithful keeping of His covenant promises. That liturgical praise of course is not found in Sheol. The Psalmist is thinking of the grand liturgical praise of God, which the Hebrews really loved. Psalm 6:6 asks 'who in Sheol can praise you?' Sheol is the realm of the dead. 9-10 says that the dead one 'does not return to his house.' Of course not, the resurrection will be not a return to the present mode of life. So we can understand some otherwise strange texts in the Old Testament. Of course, then, the afterlife was very different then from what it is now. But without that vision, it would not know any of these things, unless God might decide to give a special revelation. When a soul reaches the vision of God, by that vision, it knows all that pertains to it on earth. For the just, who had died in the state of grace, and had paid all the debt of their sins, were still not admitted to the vision of God until Jesus had died. He visited what is called the Limbo of the Fathers. It does not mean at all the hell of the damned. After His death, the soul of Jesus, still united to the divinity, descended into the realm of the dead, which the Creed calls 'hell', in the old English usage.

Limbo hell