Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament. (original) (raw)

Death as a theological problem in the old testament

Pastoral Psychology, 1971

Death as a Theological Problem in the Old Testament gg]-T cannot be that I ought to die. .tt_ That would be too terrible," says Tolstoy's Ivan Ilych. 1 And so it is for most of us, and hence we devise elaborate means of convincing ourselves that it is not so. 2 Our first question upon learning o$ a recent death is, "What killed him?" as if by naming the specific cause we somehow reduce death from the inevitable lot of all men to the accidental or the unfortunate/ We increasingly invent new euphemisms for death and related matters. ~ In a wide 1. The Death of Ivan Ilych (New York: The New American Library, Signet paperback, 1960), p. 132. 2, An adequate review of man's attitudes toward death can be found in Man's Concern with Death (Arnold Toynbee, et al.), part two: "Attitudes towards Death"

Review Article: How Many Histories of Death Does the Hebrew Bible Contain?

The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

The publication of Matthew Suriano's A History of Death in the Hebrew Bible was bound to be a significant event for scholars who study the Bible and death in antiquity. 1 Suriano brings expertise in biblical studies and Semitic inscriptions and has ample experience in field archaeology in Israel. The question was never whether the book would be worthwhile, but what it would contribute. The book argues forcefully for the distinctiveness and coherence of Judahite beliefs about death and afterlife. As such, it invites conversation about some fundamental issues of comparative method and our understanding of ancient Judahite religion and culture. Basically, these questions fall under the rubric of unity and diversity: To what extent does it make sense to speak of norms in Israelite and Judahite religions, and to what extent should one instead emphasize their diversity and plurality? The question is also a comparative one, insofar as data from other cultural spheres of the ancient Near East often bring into focus details of the biblical text and Judahite burials that are incongruous with the overarching biblical portrayals of the religion, which most scholars agree were heavily shaped by Priestly and Deuteronomistic scribes. Any number of topics could offer a way into the study of those issues, but death is particularly well suited-partly because the data from burials are ample and complex, and partly because the topic itself is so central to the human experience that it proves inexhaustible. Some years ago, when I was writing a book on I am a research associate at the

Death and Its Beyond in Early Judaism and Medieval Jewish Philosophy

2011

Afterlife and the concept of soul in Judaism is one of the main subjects that are discussed in the academia. There are some misassumptions related to hereafter and the fate of the soul after departing the body in Judaism. Since the Hebrew Bible does not talk about the death and afterlife clearly, some average people and some scholars claim that there is nothing relevant to the hereafter. However, in this study I put the Hebrew Bible to conversation with ancient cult of the dead and Medieval Jewish philosophers Saadya Gaon and Yehuda Halevi to proof the existence of afterlife and immortality of the soul in Judaism; even though Judaism is defined as the religion of this world and present time by some Jews and described by some scholars as the religion that does not have an afterlife

A Comparative Study of Death and the Afterlife in the Abrahamic Faiths

Life after death is as mysterious as it is frightening. This paper is an overview of the beliefs of the three Abrahamic faiths, namely: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, about death and what comes after it. There are many similarities between these traditions but there are quite a few differences also. This is with regards to what has been mentioned in the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Mostly however, we find that Islam offers details that are not found in the earlier traditions and hence no comparison can be made. The dearth of information about the afterlife in the Jewish and Christian teachings has led to many scholars coming up with hypotheses and speculations about what to expect after death. Islam, on the other hand, gives us all the details about what will transpire and this is, after everything is said and done, the greatest difference between the three religious traditions

A Look at Biblical and Ancient Extra-Biblical Perspectives on Death

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 2005

The issue of whether or not there was death before the entrance of sin on earth is actually a very large topic with many fascinating facets, all of which have potentially significant theological implications for us as Seventh-day Adventists. This study will focus briefly on the following inter-related questions: Was there death on earth before the Fall? Was death part of God’s original plan for creation before sin entered the world, or was it introduced as a punishment for wickedness after the Fall? Was animal death included in the death sentence at the Fall, or did animals die before the Fall? I will conclude with a few comments on two “problem” texts—Psalm 104 and Isa 65.

Out of the Depths: The Development of Jewish Views of the Afterlife in Second Temple Judaism

2016

The concept of an afterlife was not present in the time of Ancient Israel. As understood primarily from their biblical literature, all the dead descend to Sheol—a place quite difficult to define due to the lack of primary documentation, but at the very least can be simply described as the place where all the dead are located. Nothing is known whether the Israelites believed if the souls of the dead remained intact and continued to exist, if they retained consciousness, or if they “lived” there forever. However, as the empires of the Ancient Near East began their conquests of Palestine and the eventual development of early Jewish faith took form, it is primarily Israel’s desire for deliverance from oppression that made its way to the evolution of their credence and understanding of life after death. This paper proposes a three-stage model in mapping out the development of Jewish thought on the afterlife: Restorative, Apocalyptic, and Resurrection. Various issues such as the Jewish hope of liberation from captivity, developing prophetic literature oriented towards a better future, revolt against external cultures incompatible with Jewish practice, and the anticipation of reward for righteousness will be addressed here and will be argued for as strong factors for the development of the Jewish understanding of life after death. This study will concentrate on the Second Temple Period of Judaism (515 BCE-70 CE) while also carefully considering the setting and circumstances before the period. It hopes to provide a definitive guide in future studies that will delve deeper into the history of Jewish afterlife. Highly Commended in the Social Sciences: Anthropology and Cultural Studies Category The Undergraduate Awards 2016 Dublin, Ireland

Good death and bad death in ancient Israel according to biblical lore

Social science & medicine (1982), 2004

In the view of the ancient Israelites, as expressed in the Hebrew Bible, death is good or at least acceptable (1) after a long life, (2) when a person dies in peace, (3) when there is continuity in the relation with the ancestors and the heirs, and (4) when one will be buried in one's own land. Death is experienced as bad when (1) it is premature, (2) violent, especially when it is shameful (e.g., when a man is killed by a woman), (3) when a person does not have an heir, and (4) when one does not receive a proper burial. It is remarkable that in the literature of ancient Israel common elements like the cult of the dead and the belief in retribution after death, are not explicitly mentioned and therefore do not function as a comfort for death. Also, from a theological point of view emphasis is placed on this life. A positive attitude towards martyrdom is missing. This results in a way of coping with death which has many 'modern' elements or which may help modern people to...