Despite all the certainty and focus put into the afterlife in modern Judaism and Christianity, the Old Testament’s (aka Hebrew Bible’s) literature does not seem all that interested in matters regarding death and the afterlife. It seemed like an afterthought. Though, the early texts’ abdication of the right to define the theology’s afterlife left the opportunity wide open for any other later interpreters and theologians to insert their own interpretations. The result of this was a splendidly diverse and ever-evolving view of death and the afterlife across the history of Judaism and Christianity. By observing ancient sources, it is clear that the concept of the Afterlife in Judaism changed dramatically from its ancient roots until modern eschatology due to political, social, and foreign influences.

These developments seem to be frustratingly non-linear. As one expert put it, “There is also no progress from a basic to a more complex death-and-resurrection view, as differing levels of complexity are represented throughout the period. Thus, there is no linear development of the resurrection belief, but rather, multiple views coexisted, although an eschatological bodily resurrection belief became the central tenet for both Rabbinic Judaism and the Early Christian Church.” (Sigvartsen 362). However, this paper will attempt to structure such emergent beliefs as chronologically as possible.

The interesting thing about Jewish views of the Afterlife is that at first, there didn’t seem to be any.^[1] Genesis 3:19 says “…for dust you are and to dust you will return.”. The third-century BCE book of Ecclesiastes goes even further. In Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 the author posing as King Solomon clearly says, “The fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.  All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”. In these statements on the fate of the dead, no afterlife is mentioned at all, so at least in the theology of those books, the writers seem either disinterested in or do not believe in any afterlife that comes after bodily death. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes 9:10 adds: “…there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going”. Sheol is a Jewish word that meant the grave, though the specific connotations related to what type of grave, be it literal or some sort of afterlife, is debated. Either way, Sheol will become a mainstay in our tour of Jewish views on the afterlife for a while. Ecclesiastes later talks about final judgment from God, however, this may not be a contradiction. Scholar James Crenshaw suggests that “Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) himself probably equates divine judgment with death”.^[2]

The author of Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife explains, “I do not want to insist that every ancient Israelite author thought of Sheol simply as the burial place for a corpse. Some may well have extended the idea into a broader metaphor as the “place” that people go. …It is certainly possible that some of these authors were imagining Sheol as an actual holding pen for the dead, a pen never to be escaped. On the other hand, perhaps these uses were also meant to be metaphorical, simply to refer to the fact that people die and are buried: hence they ‘go down’.” (Ehrman 77)

While this dichotomy was not a linear development, it seems as though at first Sheol was predominantly seen as a metaphor for the total nothingness that came for all after the end of life. This belief in death being the end seems to have persisted in some sects of Judaism as late as the first century CE. By this time, Hellenization had such strong influences on Jewish culture that within the Septuagint and New Testament, Sheol was referred to by the Greek underworld name Hades.

In the essay Motifs of Death and Hell in the Teachings of Jesus Part 1, the scholars lay out this view of the symbolic and non-literal Hades, “As such, Hades could refer to a place of torment, especially in later writings, to a place of marginal, shadowy, non-bodily existence, or it could be just another name for the tomb. …There is no memory in Hades; and there is no longer any communion with God. It is a place of silence, darkness, and oblivion. Thus, a person who dies, in effect, ceases to exist.” (Papaioannou 105).  As seen above, Hades was the total and final physical reality of death rather than anything involving a soul. Instead when it says that the dead goes into the grave… it literally means that. That sounds an awful lot like the bleak Sheol of the Hebrew Bible. It seems that, in some form or another, this view of the nonexistent afterlife persisted until the times of Jesus. Even though there was a change in names and use of the language of Greek Eschatology, it does not seem like the core ideas of that worldview had yet influenced Jewish and Christian ideas of the afterlife.

Nonetheless, from this point of not believing in life after death, Second Temple Judaism branched off into three distinct beliefs of what came after death. There was a belief in a shared afterlife for good and bad alike. Competing was the view of different afterlives for the righteous and wicked. Third was the idea of bodily resurrection after death for the righteous alone. The subject of what happened after death was a contentious topic among the three major sects of Judaism during the end of the Second Temple Period. To quote Josephus on the division in Jewish eschatology in the Second Temple Period, “Now for the Pharisees… They also believe that souls have an immortal vigor in them: and that under the earth there will be rewards, or punishments; according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life… But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this; that souls die with the bodies… the doctrine of the Essens is this… They teach the immortality of souls.”^[3]

An alternative to Sheol, reserved only for the righteous developed. But instead of a better afterlife destination, this period of Second Temple Judaism seemed to favor “the resurrection”. The paper The Afterlife Views and the Use of the Tanakh in the Development of the Resurrection Concept in the Literature of Second Temple Period: The Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha argue that interest in what happens after death increased significantly during the Second Temple Period as a result of the persecution of Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes. Evidence points to the mass adoption of afterlife theology as a sort of coping mechanism in Jewish theodicy. If people suffered and died for their faith in life, then surely God would reward them in some way. “You may kill us, but the King of the universe will raise us from the dead and give us eternal life, because we have obeyed his laws.” says 2 Maccabees 7:9. This new, resurrection narrative that is evident in Daniel 12, 2 Maccabees 7 was mainstream by the time of the New Testament. In resurrection theology, the idea was that the dead simply ceased to be, but the righteous would be granted a new, eternal body in the kingdom of heaven.^[4] Eternal life would be physical and on earth. Likewise, the kingdom of heaven was not the heavenly abode of God but instead an earthly kingdom where the righteous would live.

Past the resurrection, there were more common afterlife beliefs.  Over time, Sheol moved from being a metaphor for the grave to a mythical realm, not unlike in the foreign pagan religions of the people that surrounded Israel. Imagine a bleak underground realm that served as a common afterlife for all souls after death. All were destined for this fate no matter how righteous or wicked they were in life. They have no further reward and even their name is forgotten! This description was actually inspired by the realm of Aralu from Babylonian mythology. Biblical scholar James Alan Montgomery hypothesized that the oldest versions of the afterlife in Yahwism (aka proto-Judaism) may have mixed with foreign afterlives to form the modern Sheol that we all know and barely understand.^[5] Things became even more complicated when one considers the effects of Greek, Persian and other Indo-European influences on the proto-Jewish concepts of the afterlife. As such, it may be impossible for this paper to see what exactly the original, pure view of Sheol was before integrating foreign syncretistic elements. However, after accepting that it was likely influenced by many foreign underworlds, there are some things that can be known about the literal Sheol.

“Many ancient Israelites viewed Sheol as a place of darkness and gloom (e.g. Ps 88:4-13; 115:17; cf. Homer, Odyssey 10.495). Although the dead have some kind of existence, they lack strength and awareness. Israelites reckoned that there is no conscious existence in Sheol, because death finishes all meaningful contact with the world, and even with God. Thus, Ps 6:5 declares before God: In death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?”  (Corley 3). Here, the language of utter non-existence could be reinterpreted with the eschatology of the surrounding peoples to be a more traditional underworld.

When taking the afterlife literally, as the Pharisees did, Sheol became a realm, not unlike the Mesopotamian Aralu, Zoroastrian Duzakh or Hellenistic Hades (especially Hades). The similarities to Aralu have already been noted. This influence from Babylon can likely be traced back to the Babylonian exile. The influence of Persian Zoroastrianism was likely integrated into Israelite afterlife beliefs as a result of the land’s time as a Persian client state, inundated with Zoroastrianism cultural influence. Duzakh could be described as a deep, dark pit where horrible punishments await the damned. Similar to Aralu, the emphasis on darkness and misery in Duzakh could have had equal parts to play in the literal conception of Sheol. But perhaps the strongest influence comes from the Hellenistic realm of Hades. Hades, continuing its role as a Hellenized equivalent to Sheol would at times be understood to be literal among first-century Jews and Christians.^[6] In these cases, there was much more syncretism than merely interchangeable names. Hellenistic culture had such a strong influence on Jewish eschatology that there is historical evidence of some Jews placing coins over the eyes of the dead so that the underworld ferryman Charon could take them to the afterlife just like in Greek mythology. This very Greek custom would seem blasphemous to many but is undeniably a sign of the two views of the afterlife mixing.

Early on, Sheol a place of common misery.^[7] But why should the righteous be forced to share the same fate as the wicked? This perceived unfairness in traditional theology forced yet another innovation. The common doom of Sheol was to be divided into two: Upper Sheol and Lower Sheol. This is where the Pharisees’ belief in different rewards for the righteous and wicked come from.

The idea of Sheol underwent extensive modification and became widely diversified due to increased interest. As antisemitic persecution led Jewish people to codify traditions for the sake of cultural preservation in documents such as the Talmud, some of the most popular eschatologies became set in stone. This shows that at the time of such codification, the concept of a single afterlife in Sheol was largely abandoned. Instead, the realm formerly known as Sheol became Ge Hinnom (Gehenna in Greek) or Lower Sheol. They were no longer just realms of gloom and silence, but increasingly became associated with afterlife punishments for the wicked.

At first, the punishment awaiting the wicked was being left out of the resurrection. Christian doctrine teaches that the wages of sin is death, not eternal suffering. Only the righteous would have any form of eternal existence. However, in the Realm of Lower Sheol, eternal misery was the order of the day, not unlike the Greek realm of Hades.

As Gehenna, the interpretations of the fate for the wicked became harsher, prescribing eternal torment not just of loneliness but now by punishments by fire. This sounds a lot more like the modern view of Hell. However, it is notable that in Gehenna the flames were not forever. Gehenna was named after a geographic location near Jerusalem, that was a valley of destruction, not eternal torment as many modern depictions of Hell would indicate. Though the elemental association with fire was there, this fire (more in line with earthly fire) destroys rather than lingers forever.^[8] To the keen observer, it turns out that all that changed in the afterlife was the method of disposal for the wicked. This was where the misnomer that Gehenna was the sight of an ancient garbage dump comes from.

Gehenna beliefs can further be subdivided (and differentiated from modern Hell) by revealing that in many ancient prophecies Gehenna was the physical valley where instead of being a place of afterlife punishment, was the sight where God would physically destroy the wicked with fire. Only through later interpretations and combination with Lower Sheol and the Lake of Fire discussed in the Book of Revelations did the belief in a fiery afterlife of punishment emerge. Thus came the prototype of a realm of torment that was both fiery and eternal: Hell. Humorously, while this view of the afterlife morphed into the Christian concept of Hell, most modern sects of Judaism have completely abandoned this concept.

However, just as the bad afterlife for the wicked became harsher, the better afterlife for the righteous became better and better. Rather than mere bodily resurrection, Christianity and some very minor sects of Judaism innovated Upper Sheol. At first, the righteous would await resurrection or the end times in the underground realm of Upper Sheol. When taken literally, Upper Sheol was still under the ground like Lower Sheol. This view of upper and lower Sheol (the afterlife for the righteous and wicked both being underground) seems to also have persisted in Christianity in some form up until the 4th century CE (and possibly beyond) as seen in the “descent clause” of the Apostle’s creed. Upper Sheol was reserved for Old Testament Saints and Martyrs who would be spared the misery of lower Sheol as they awaited their ultimate fate from God. In the eyes of some early Christians, this was being liberated from their underground waiting room by Jesus as he “descended” after his death (possibly to bring them to the newly accessible heaven).^[9]

To modern readers, this sort of eschatology makes sense. Surely those who were close to God in life should be close to Him in the hereafter. Speaking of which, it may seem obvious, but over time the development of Upper Sheol eventually became associated with the views of a proper afterlife in Heaven. But where did belief in heaven as an afterlife destination come from? God’s realm in heaven is referred to repeatedly across the Hebrew Bible, but nowhere is it implied that humans will have a place in it. That is with the exception of some key passages attributed to the Levites.

The idea of the righteous going to Heaven after death was ancient, surprisingly even older than Upper Sheol. Though obscure, the original belief in a heavenly afterlife can be attributed to the Levites.^[10] The sectarian group believed that Levites and only Levites would have an eternally blissful afterlife with God in Heaven. Meanwhile, the rest of their contemporary Israelites believed that if there was an afterlife it was in the comparably bleak and distant Sheol. The Levites however synthesized these two beliefs to say that Sheol was for most people meanwhile Heaven was for pastoralists like them (reserving a better afterlife for their own members).

Remember, when Jesus spoke about the “Kingdom of Heaven” it appears to originally have been an end-time physical place for the resurrection. Perhaps, since it did have the word “heaven” in the name, many Christians even today associate the kingdom of heaven with being heaven itself, despite them being previously separate concepts. With a little bit of misinterpretation and combination with Upper Sheol, modern views of a better afterlife for the righteous began to resemble modern views of a heavenly afterlife.

Thus, at the end of a long road, with bits and pieces of all the different afterlives along the way, finally the origins of modern eschatologies of the Abrahamic religions can be approximately mapped out. This composite character of taking and leaving different views from the past is an admirable attempt to square the circle of the Holy Bible’s numerous and contradictory fates for humans after death. This paper is hardly exhaustive enough to cover every era’s deviations and additions. However, this hopefully can help give some insight into what the Hell is going on.

Note: This piece was originally written in December 1, 2022, in a paper for my third year sociology class Jews and Jesus

Works Cited

1. Lang, Bernhard. New Light on the Levites : The Biblical Group That Invented Belief in
2. Life after Death in Heaven. 2017: 65–85.
3. Snoeberger, Mark A. “If Jesus Descended to Sheol, Then Old Testament Saints Also
4. Descended to Sheol.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal, vol. 26, 2021: 35–56.
5. Corley, Jeremy. “Afterlife Hope before the New Testament: A Descriptive Survey.”
6. Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association, vol. 41, 2020: 1–24.
7. Sigvartsen, Jan Åge. “The Afterlife Views and the Use of the Tanakh in the
8. Development of the Resurrection Concept in the Literature of Second Temple
9. Period: The Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha.” Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 54, no. 2, Fall 2016: 362–63.
10. Burnett, Clint. “Going Through Hell: Τάρταρος in Greco-Roman Culture, Second Temple
11. Judaism, and Philo of Alexandria.” Journal of Ancient Judaism, vol. 4, no. 3,
12. 2013: 352–78.
13. Routledge, Robin L. “Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament.” Journal of European
14. Baptist Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, Sept. 2008: 22–39.
15. Lusthaus, Jonathan. “A History of Hell: The Jewish Origins of the Idea of Gehenna in the
16. Gospels of Matthew and Mark.” Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, vol. 21, no.
17. 2, 2008: 175–87.
18. Montgomery, James A.(James Alan). “The Holy City and Gehenna.” Journal of Biblical
19. Literature, vol. 27, no. 1, 1908: 24–47.
20. Papaioannou, Kim. “Motifs of Death and Hell in the Teaching of Jesus: An Examination of
21. Hades Part 1.” Melanesian Journal of Theology, vol. 32, no. 2, 2016: 103–33.
22. Papaioannou, Kim. “Motifs of Death and Hell in the Teaching of Jesus: Part 2: An Examination
23. of Gehenna.” Melanesian Journal of Theology, vol. 33, no. 1–2, 2017: 7–32.
24. Josephus, Flavius. “The Antiquities of the Jews”. 93.
25. T.W. Manson. “Sadducee and Pharisee-The Origin and Significance of the Names”. University of
26. Manchester Press, 1938: 144-59
27. Alan Segal, “Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion”. New York:
28. Doubleday, 2004: 264.
29. Sigvartsen, Jan. “Afterlife and Resurrection Beliefs in the Second Temple Period.”  The Bible and Interpretation, 2020
30. Ehrman, Bart D. “Heaven and Hell a History of the Afterlife.” Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2021

 

Footnotes

^[1] Bart D. Ehrman – Heaven and Hell_ A History of the Afterlife-Simon & Schuster (2020)

^[2] James L. Crenshaw, ECCLESIASTES: A COMMENTARY. Old Testament Library

^[3]Flavius Josephus, “The Antiquities of the Jews”

^[4] Jeremy Corley, Afterlife Hope Before the New Testament

^[5] Montgomery, James A.(James Alan), “The Holy City and Gehenna.”

^[6] Kim Papaioannou, Motifs of Death and Hell in the Teachings of Jesus Part 1

^[7] Jeremy Corley, Afterlife Hope Before the New Testament

^[8] Jonathan Lusthaus, “A History of Hell”

^[9] Mark A Snoeberger, “If Jesus Descended to Sheol, Then Old Testament Saints Also  Descended to Sheol.”

^[10] Bernhard Lang, New Light on the Levites