3 - The First Temple Period in Israel

This chapter is prefaced by Bible verses that reflect the fatalistic view of life and afterlife of the Mesopotamians and Canaanites, Psalms 90:10-12:

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Like the Epic of Gilgamesh, and like the biblical story of Adam and Eve, wisdom and death are associated in these verses. The author points out that it is difficult to fully comprehend the text of the Hebrew Bible without being aware of the historical context in which it was created. During the First Israelite Commonwealth period (circa 1200 – 586 BCE) this context was dominated by Mesopotamian, Canaanite, and Egyptian culture. Knowledge about the religions of these cultures enables a reader to determine similarities and differences between Israelite beliefs and those of their neighbors and spiritual predecessors. The Hebrew Bible was produced for various purposes, including the condemnation of the sinfulness of the Canaanite culture that the Israelites were continually exposed to. The Bible unfolds the story of the making (and breaking) of God’s covenant with the Hebrews.

Contemporary scholars are amazed that the Hebrew Bible does not contain any narratives describing the afterlife. This contrasts with the plentitude of narratives provided by the cultures that enveloped the Israelites. Additionally, creation is not explained as an iterative process involving a multitude of deities. Only one deity created the world and everything in it. The multitude of frequently contradictory mythologies of the Mesopotamians, Canaanites, and Egyptians is condensed into a single cohesive narrative that describes how a handful of chosen individuals interact with their single, morally proper God.

Explanations for natural phenomena that are the subject of many ancient myths are not part of the Hebrew Bible. Instead, YHWH guides these events, without necessarily being a part of them. YHWH is also, unprecedentedly, a God of history who not only controls the affairs of Israel, but those of every other nation on earth. 

The covenant YHWH made with Israel offers oversight and protection for them if they obey his laws. These laws, or commandments, principally demand that YHWH alone be worshiped. The first of the ten commandments recorded in the 20th chapter of the Book of Exodus declares:

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Other laws are provided for the religious, moral, and social benefit of the people. Conformance to these covenant laws was a matter of personal choice. When the Israelites as a nation failed to conform, it would forfeit YHWH’s oversight and protection. The Bible reveals that pre-captivity Israelites experienced difficulties in their acceptance of a demanding, monotheistic God. The text of the Old Testament was not completely edited and compiled until the Hebrews returned to Canaan from Babylon. Prior to this, Israelites shared many of the beliefs of the aboriginal Canaanites. Chapter 3 emphasizes similarities, rather than differences between the religious practices of the Canaanites and the Israelites. In comparison to the entire content of the Bible, these parallels are relatively scarce, but their existence verifies that Israelites and their holy writings were influenced by the Canaanites. The lasting influence of Judaism and Christianity on the world, however, is based on their differences from preceding belief systems. Chapter 3 provides examples of exceptions to the general theological consistency of the Judeo-Christian (Old and New Testament) Bible 

Both the biblical record and archeology reveal that the Israelites did not, at first, enthusiastically embrace worship of YHWH. After the return of many (but not all) Hebrews to Canaan from Babylon, acceptance of a monotheistic God became more widespread. In this era biblical scholars believe that the scriptures assumed their present form. Archeological evidence of competing deities becomes scarcer. The newly defined holy writings were unique among ancient cultures because they barely mentioned an afterlife, a major focus of the pagan religions that the Hebrew Bible opposed. During the First Temple period, however, Canaanite conceptions of the role of the spirits of the dead remained as an influence. The Book of Isaiah refers to these in positive terms such as divine ones, healers, and holy ones. Some archaeological evidence exists that suggests that YHWH was believed by some to have a female consort, just like the principal gods of surrounding cultures. The Bible itself dismisses such notions, but it does infer the existence of presumably allegorical female deities like Wisdom. The first four verses of the 8th chapter of Proverbs proclaim::

Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

Here are the opening six verses of the 9th chapter of Proverbs:

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

The salient Old Testament passages that exhibits Mesopotamian/Canaanite ancestor invocation and consultation has been explained by some scholars as the work of demons, rather than of genuine ancestral spirits. Debunkers of 19th and 20th century Spiritualism discovered that a beleivable summoning and materialization of ghosts, friendly or otherwie, can be accomplished through stagecraft and illusion. First Samuel, Chapter 28 is such a doctrinal “fish out of water” that all 25 verses will be replicated below:

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.  And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.

And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?  And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:  Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me 

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way. But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof: And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

Chapter 3 contains a detailed analysis of this scriptural exception to the rule. King Saul is anxious to discover why the spirit of the LORD has departed him. Having previously proscribed all witchcraft in his kingdom, his last-ditch resort of consulting with familiar spirits is described as the exceedingly sinful final act of a desperate man. The author regards the witch of Endor’s successful conjuring of the ghost of Samuel as fact, rather than a case of deception. The witch’s offering of food to Saul is tied to commemorative meals held by Canaanites to honor the dead called marzeah or marzih. Textual analysis reveals that longstanding proscriptions against witchcraft in Hebrew scripture were expanded to include female practitioners due to reforms instituted by King Josiah in 621 BCE. Second Kings 23:24 describes Josiah’s elimination of mediums and personal idols  (terafim), images of ancestral spirits venerated by many families:

Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

When after twenty years of servitude Jacob has fled his father-in-law Laban’s household with his wives, Laban catches up with him and levels this accusation found in Genesis 31:30:

Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?

Jacob is innocent, and offended, but unbeknownst to him his wife Rachel has stolen her father’s tutelary gods. Her father’s search for his idols fails, as described in verses 33-35:

And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.  Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.

Avoidance of matters pertaining to death and the dead was especially important for the Hebrew priesthood. Leviticus 21:1-4 states:

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: "A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean. He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.”

Practically every taint of the cultic veneration of the dead, Saul’s encounter with the witch of Endor being a notable exception, was purged from the Hebrew Bible in the aftermath of the Babylonian captivity. Other exceptions are two instances where pre-exilic prophets mention the marzeah, the Canaanite-style banquet held to commemorate the dead. Amos 6:3-7 describes not only the self-indulgent practices of Canaanites and their Israelite imitators, but the banquets of subsequent Greeks [symposia] and Romans:

Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet [marzeah] of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

Jeremiah 16:5-9 issues this warning::

For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies. Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting [marzeah], to sit with them to eat and to drink. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

A stricter conformance to local Canaanite customs by the northern tribes of Israel is theorized as the reason why they fell to Syrian invaders a century in advance of the fall of the southern tribes of Judah to Babylonia in 537 BCE. The author associates the golden calf Aaron formed in the Book of Exodus with the northern kingdom’s use of a calf to symbolize God. Yet, both kingdoms were ultimately conquered and sent into exile.

First Temple period descriptions of the state of the dead are more like the gloomy conceptions of the Mesopotamians and Canaanites than the optimistic portrayals contained in Rabbinic and Christian writings. No heaven. No hell. No judgement. No punishments, and no rewards. A principal term used on the Hebrew Bible to describe hell, or the afterlife is Gehenna, which refers to a specific place. The Valley of Hinnom is a large ravine located at the southwestern corner of Jerusalem. Its contemporary Israeli designation is Ge Ben Hinnom. In ancient times it served as both a garbage dump and as center of a cult which caused children to be “passed through the fire.”  Chapter 23 of Second Kings lists the anti-Canaanite reforms of King Josiah. Verse 10 says:

And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

Hellenistic Era associations of Gehenna with a fiery hell were not evident in the Bible during the First Temple period.

The Semitic word Sheol is most frequently employed (66 times) in the Hebrew Bible to describe the state of the dead, along with terms like Abaddon (forgetfulness or perdition), the pit, and the ditch. The story of the rebellion of Korah is described in Numbers 16:30-33:

And it came to pass, as he [Moses] had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit [Sheol], and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

Sheol excepted, these various terms all imply a region proximate to the primal waters beneath the earth that is similar to Mesopotamian beliefs and to Greek conception of Hades. The Septuagint routinely translates Sheol as Hades, a dark, disordered, but nonjudgemental locale far removed from God. Canaanite personifications of the underworld as an insatiable demon with a wide-open mouth are mirrored in the Hebrew Bible in a few places. Proverbs 1:12 reads:

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit.

Isaiah 5:14 is similar:

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Despite this fearsome personification, the Hebrew Bible does not describe the afterlife as a place of punishment. This concept was introduced later due to Persian influences. Psalm 115:7 is representative of Old Testament Hebrew teachings about the dead:

The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.

Isaiah 38:18-19 reveals that the dead became separated both from God and the living:

For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Some biblical passages infer that the realm of the dead does not lie beyond the reach of God. Job 26:6 declares that:

Hell is naked before him [God], and destruction hath no covering.

Psalm 139:8 similarly describes the omnipresence of God:

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

In general, the Hebrew Bible describes a God in control of both the living and the dead, in marked contrast to Mesopotamian and Canaanite pantheons which allocated these powers to seperate heavenly and underworld deities.

The author notes the biblical distinction between good deaths (“full of years”) and bad (untimely or premature) deaths. Descriptions of the death of some patriarchs note that they were “gathered unto their ancestors,” a phrase that depicts hell as a type of family reunion. These are good deaths. Evil, meaning untimely deaths, invariably contain references to Sheol. Jacob, informed by his sons returned from Egypt that his beloved son Benjamin must accompany them back by command of the ruler of that fruitful land (Jacob’s presumably deceased other beloved son, Joseph), Genesis 42:36-38 records Jacob’s reaction:

And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [Sheol].

Ultimately Jacob is reunited not only with youngest son Bejamin, but with his presumably deceased son Joseph, master of the realm of the Pharaohs. Later, Jacob experiences a good death in a distant land. Genesis 49:33 records his end:

And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

Whether the good deaths of Abraham, Jacob, and later “good” kings such ad Josiah were believed to elevate them to semi-divine status depends on what degree of Canaanite influence on Israelite conceptions of the afterlife a reader detects and accepts in the text of the Hebrew Bible. Burial patterns among the Israelites differed between the highland strongholds of the Hebrews and lowlands more subject to the influence of the Canaanites. Burials were more sophisticated in the cities of the plains. Later, in the Iron Age, Jewish cemeteries became located outside of city walls. Multiple remains were compacted within a horizontal or vertical shaft. After decomposition was complete, the bones of the dead would be removed and collected in ossuaries. This practice became increasingly common in the Second Temple period (539 BCE-70 CE). Some were interred under the floorboards of a house. Surprisingly. a fifth of First Temple period dead were buried in rural, isolated single graves, possibly community leaders whose remains would serve as guardians of the croplands.

Hebrew terms for the soul (nefesh) and spirit (ruah) are described as pertaining to living persons, but the author notes that some scholars question the consensus that the Hebrew Bible contains no references to the afterlife.

Theologian Dr. John W. Cooper believes that the existence of Sheol in biblical thought demonstrates not only that the Old Testament writers believed that a person is distinct from her physical body but also that they believed that she can be separated from it and continue to exist. Cooper states that this dualistic conception of body and soul did not originate with Plato and his following but is commonly believed by “average persons” (including First Temple period Israelites). Scottish Old Testament scholar James Barr similarly believes that the Hebrew soul, or nefesh, survives death, and questions the notion that the vocabulary and structure of the Hebrew language may reflect a particular theological mindset. The author disagrees with both Cooper and Barr, firmly attributing belief in an immortal soul by Jews to the influence of Plato on influential Hellenistic era writers. First Temple period Israelite conceptions of nefesh are analogous to those of the Canaanites, who used an identical term.

The life principal of breath (ruah, or spirit) is possessed by both God and human beings. It can be regarded as loosely synonymous with nefesh, since both ruah and nefesh are derived from the same root word which means breath or breathing. It first appears in Genesis 2:7:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Soul, or nefesh in this context refers to a living or breathing creature and can designate either humans or animals in Genesis. It can secondarily indicate a soul, but the author writes, “…that we use the term differently from the Hebrews: We think we have a soul; the Hebrews thought they were a soul.” Body and soul together defined a person, but a few verses describe the departure or return of a soul, or nefesh, from a person. Gensis 35:18 describes the death, while giving birth, of Jacob’s wife Rachel:

And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Nefesh can be regarded as synonymous with “person” or “personality.” In Hebraic thought it can become diminished, with death being the ultimate diminisher of a soul. Psalms 42:15 asks:

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Conversely, a strengthened soul can surpass normal human limitations. A person who receives “the spirit of the LORD” is granted a divine, rather than human quality which can result in extraordinary strength, charisma, or skill. Examples of these impartations of the spirit are rare in the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah 61:1-2 (later quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18) is an example:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.

The Old Testament contains several accounts of people being raised from the dead. In First Kings 17:17-24 Elijah resuscitates the son of the widow of Zarephath. Verses 21-22 read:

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

In Second Kings 4:18-37 Elisha restores the life of the son of a Shunamite woman, Second Kings 13:20-21 record how a corpse that was thrown into Elisha’s grave came back to life:

And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Other miraculous resurrections are recorded in Deuteronomy 32:39 and First Samuel 2:6, but none are described a reward for a life well lived, nor indicate a pending resurrection for any other human beings. They display the power that God possesses over death and are marks of God’s favor toward the prophets.

The Hebrew Bible reveals that rewards and punishments are administered in the context of life, rather than in an afterlife. A long life, the production of offspring, and accumulation of land and chattel, and peace and happiness are the reward for obedience to God’s commandments, for honoring God’s covenant. Amos 3:2 describes the condition of disobedient covenant breakers:

You [Israel] only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Retribution by God upon faithless Israel can be compared to penalties for breach of contract, for failure to abide by the terms of a covenant. The Book of Job, in contrast, inverts this by accusing God of failing to honor the covenant. Were a beatific afterlife promised to suffering humanity, Job would not have been able to make a good case since potential future rewards in an afterlife remained unknown. Sheol is used in this book only to designate the ultimate disposition of the dead, a condition free from rewards or punishments. The Satan of this book is not the individual described in the New Testament, but rather a generalized “adversary” or “antagonist” analogous to a courtroom prosecuting attorney. Chapters 9 and 13 emphasize this courtroom drama analogy. Verses 2-5 record Job’s sense of inadequacy for the task of hauling an all-powerful God into court:

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?

In Job 13:17-24 the complainant proclaims that he is being punished without benefit of trial:

Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost. Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me. How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

In true Mesopotamian style, Job ultimately receives wisdom as a consolation for his suffering. In Chater 14:1-2 he fatalistically dismisses any possibility of an afterlife:

Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

The Satan character is one of many members of God’s divine council. Job expresses his desire for his own heavenly counselor, even if he only becomes justified posthumously. A well-known passage, Job 19:22-27 clarifies the courtroom setting and has been interpreted as being prophetic by Christians. It also infers the existence of an afterlife, but the author warns that the original text is “garbled.” Despite this, the terminology is that of a legal proceeding.

Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

The counselor, or attorney Job desires is referred to as a type of umpire in Job 9:33:

Neither is there any daysman [translated as “mediator” in the NKJV] betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

He is a witness in Job 16:19:

Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

He is an interpreter in Job 33:23:

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness.

This variety of descriptions indicate that Job’s defense attorney is a generic figure, just like his prosecuting attorney (“Satan,” or more correctly translated, “the satan”). Job despairs that he will ever obtain a hearing, but readers of the book know at the outset that Job is an innocent man. Events unfold to test Job’s righteousness, as well as to demonstrate that virtuous individuals are not always rewarded for their virtue. This concept is later restated by Jesus in Matthew 5:45:

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Job 31:35 is Job’s written indictment against God:

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

Job exceeds the limits of ancient Mesopotamian decorum when he demands that God personally appear before him to respond to his accusations. In a section of Chapter 3 titled GOD WAIVES HIS “EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE” AND APPEARS God mercifully does appear, even though any self-respecting ancient Near Eastern monarch would regard such an appearance as being far below their dignity. Mythical Near Easterners journeyed to the heavenly realms of their Gods, but in the Book of Job God (in the guise of a whirlwind) journeys to earth. Although Job is overawed by God’s presence and power, he leaves the courtroom vindicated. The universality of this outcome is emphasized because Job is not an Israelite, but rather a native of Uz. He is an ancient Near Eastern everyman.

Two men in the Hebrew Bible, Enoch and Elijah, are described as sole exceptions to the general rule that everyone must die. The brief story of Enoch is recorded in Genesis 5:18-24:

And Jared [son of Mahalaleel, grandson of Cainan, great-grandson of Enos, great-great-grandson of Seth, and the great-great-great-grandson of Adam] lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

The two references that Enoch “walked with God” are elsewhere only used to describe Noah, a tenth-generation direct descendant of Adam. Adam himself is described as walking with God in Genesis 3:8:

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

The Bible does not refer to Enoch’s death, but only states that he was “taken.” This term is also used to describe the departure of Elijah via fiery chariot bound for heaven in Second Kings 2:11:

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

It is presumed that both Enoch and Elijah, like Utnapishtim of Mesopotamia, do not die but are instead granted eternal life in heaven. Jewish tradition asserts that Noah was similarly “translated.” Even though the biblical record of Enoch is short, an enormous body of commentary and embellishments later served to flesh out his story. The story of Elijah is more dramatic, and more detailed than that of Enoch. The author claims that these passages exist principally to validate the ”double portion” of the LORD’s anointing that falls upon Elijah’s apprentice and successor Elisha. Second Kings 2:9-10 stipulates the conditions for Elisha’s reception of a double portion:

And it came to pass, when they were gone over [the Jordan River], that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so 

Elisha witnesses Elijah being taken, thus securing his double portion. Jewish tradition asserts that since Elijah did not actually die, he is free to travel from heaven to earth to visit living Jews at Passover.

A well-known passage in Song of Songs casually references the prevailing Hebrew conception of the afterlife or the absence thereof, Songs 8:6:

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Marvin Pope translated and provided commentary for the Song of Songs in 1982 for the Anchor Bible Series. The book cover notes that:

Pope suggests that the book is what it seems, an unabashed celebration of sexual love, both human and divine, rooted in the fertility religions of the ancient Near East, the sacred marriage rite, and the funeral feast. A distinctive feature of his translation is the correlation between Love and Death.

The author believes that Song of Songs reveals that Death is much stronger than Love. While Western traditions later developed which proclaim that “love conquers all” (even death), this sentiment is absent in Hebrew thought. Sexual love serves only as partial compensation for the brevity and painfulness of human life, however wise we may become whenever we are not engaginging in sex. Afterlife in ancient Canaan, and in ancient Israel, was almost completely reserved for the gods, or God. Life was reserved for the living, who could only hope to make the best of an imperfect and transitory lifespan.

The author describes accounts of Creation in the Book of Genesis as mythology reconfigured into history. The Garden of Eden is especially significant for Western conceptions of life, death, immortality, and sexuality. Associations of Satan with the serpent and apples with the forbidden fruit are not found in the text itself, and neither is the concept of “original sin.” The subtle, original meanings of the text have been eclipsed by the addenda of broader theological constructs. Two separate creation stories exist.in the Book of Genesis.

The first creation story is related in the first chapter and the beginning of the second chapter.of Genesis. Compared to and contrasted with Egyptian and Mesopotamian creation myths, the central role that the sun plays in most Near Eastern creation myths is absent in the Hebrew Bible; it is not a demigod, but rather one of many created objects in the sky. The same can be said of the sea, the earth, and every other celestial object. Nature is not the battleground of competing deities, but an ordered realm entirely subordinates to God. A hierarchy is established by the days of the week. God is at the top, followed by the Sabbath, and, thirdly, male and female human beings (in the likeness of God) created just prior to the Sabbath. Despite the importance of sunshine, rain, soil, crops, and the fertility of hers to human survival, Genesis demythologizes these attributes of nature. The world is the unified creation of a single God. Nature is amoral, but humanity gains its capacity for moral discernment at the expense of its innocence.

The transition between the two accounts of creation in Genesis occurs at Genesis 2:4, which introduces Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:1-4 contains these words:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

In the first story man and woman are created simultaneously. In the second story they are created sequentially. In the first story the precreation cosmos is a watery chaos. In the second story it is a dry desert awaiting life-giving moisture. The author believes that the first story was formalized after the Babylonian captivity because Mesopotamian civilization was established due to the successful separation, through canals, of fresh and salt waters. The more arid setting of the second story reflects the climate of the land of Canaan. The first story ends peacefully upon a Sabbath, but the second story ends with curses and ejection from paradise. The first story is well structured, and matters progress from good to very good, with humanity serving as the capstone of creation. In the second story man and woman are characterized as individuals whose interactions advance the plot. And, whereas the second story may be one of the oldest contained in scripture, the first story may be one of the newest, the work of priestly redactors who incorporated information gleaned during their captivity in in the great cities of Mesopotamis.

The influence of Eve upon Adam, and its lasting consequences for their descendants is described by the author. Subjection of women to men is justified because, otherwise, women would continually lead men astray due to their intelligence and desirability. This story is compared to the Mesopotamian account of Adapa, who followed Ea’s unsound advice about eating the bread of immortality. The author wonders whether immortality was the natural condition of humanity in the Garden of Eden, or was immortality only attained from regularly eating from the tree of life, the fruit of which was not forbidden to them until after their disobedience. Genesis 3:22 records this significant turn of events:

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

The author next questions whether the serpent can be identified with Satan, writing, “The one thing that the identification with Satan does is to clarify all the motivations in the story: Satan’s presence would say right from the beginning that we live in an eternal struggle between good and evil, present even in these childlike people. And it would say that Satan is stronger than God because he forces God to make people mortal, evidently opening up the rich possibility for a hell. That is the predominate interpretation of Western Christianity.” The author does not discern any basis for this interpretation in the text, and references later Bible verses that describe “lying” prophecies. God permitted the serpent to speak falsehoods in the garden to accomplish a higher purpose, just as Satan was accommodated in the Book of Job in order to unveil a higher order of truth. Ahab was similarly led to his destruction by “lying prophets,” as described by true prophet Micaiah the son of Imlah in First Kings 22:19-23: 

And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Ahab dismissed Micaiah the son of Imlah’s insights, preferring to act in accordance with most of the sweet-sounding prophetic lies spoken to him. The sexual enticement of Eve toward Adam is compared to the enticement by false prophets pandering to Ahab’s foolish ambitions. The author notes that “…the God of our Bible is quite capable of using both forms of enticement to refer to the foolishness of those that ignore His commandments.” Ahab’s fatal decision to engage the enemy is not a moral one. The only moral of his story is that vengeance belongs to God, for Ahab and his consort Jezebel richly merited divine retribution. Adam and Eve had obtained, at great cost, a spirit of moral discernment. They had been told what to do, freely chose not to do it, and were punished for their disobedience.

The covenant relationship between God and humanity requires that people possess a knowledge of good and evil. Freedom to choose between the two enables one to honor this covenant voluntarily, not under compulsion. First Temple period conceptions of the rewards for keeping faith with God, for honoring His covenant and for obeying his commandments were restricted to the earthy lifespans of believers. This view later became modified by postexilic Jews and their Christian successors. Before the Babylonian captivity, however, the primary beneficiaries of this approach were the Hebrew priesthood, but redactions of scripture created in the Second Temple period blamed the difficulties confronting the Hebrews on imperfect compliance with the will of God. Canaanite influences continually polluted the land. Ironically, the incorporation of Mesopotamian concepts of life and the afterlife learned in Babylon would invigorate Hebraic thought without reconciling Israel to the polytheistic belief systems of the peoples that their monotheistic God considered as an abomination.