Customer Reviews

Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament

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The author organises this encyclopaedic study under four parts: Death, the Underworld, the Dead, and the Afterlife. An introductory apology for the study confronts the reader with a paradox: death and the underworld are fascinating topics for Judaism, Christianity, and modern scholarship, yet 'Israel's religious writers were not particularly concerned with the underworld or with the dead. The related to Yahweh in this life, and were relatively uninterested in the life hereafter.'

In Part A, the manifold figures under which death appears in the Old Testament are exhaustively surveyed, noting that death is sometimes seen as natural while at other moments is viewed as a contradiction and adversary of the life which Yahweh has created. A second chapter reviews practices surrounding death and burial in ancient Israel, concluding that 'religious rites either did not occur or were of such minimal importance that they have left no trace in any of the varied literary strands of the Old Testament. Little continued interest in the remains of the dead is evident.
In his consideration of the underworld (Part B), Johnston finds an Israelite distinctive in its relative disregard for Sheol, which when it is mentioned is an unwelcome fate, sparsely described, and always in first-person accounts rather than reportage. The argument for late editorial extraction of the theme is discussed, then dismissed.

Arguing that most underworld language is metaphorical, Johnston criticizes studies by Pedersen and Barth that suggested that the Israelite sufferer actually experienced Sheol in this life. Under the questioning heading 'The Pervasive Underworld?', Johnston examines uses of earth, water, and similar words which the Dahood school has understood as references to the underworld. He answers the title's query in the negative, concluding that water and earth are physically associated with the underworld, but never used as names for it. The probability of accidental or intentional minimization of a pervasive underworld by the tradents of the biblical text is dismissed.

In Part C, Johnston turns to the dead themselves, noting biblical texts that show people naming, consulting, and honouring them. Again, his emphasis falls on how unimportant the dead were to living Israelites. Part of his effort is dedicated to deconstructing scholarly reconstructions of practices that involved the dead, usually by observing their tenuous basis.

Unlike related ANE literatures, the Old Testament is largely uninterested in the consultation of the dead. There exist a few prohibitions of necromancy and scattered references to the practice, but just one account. Johnston claims that all literary layers of the witch of Endor story at 1 Sam 28 show the practice to be both effective and illegal.

Johnston find reconstructions of a cult of the dead textually dubious and methodologically spurious. Further, the paucity of censure of such cult speaks for its scarcity or absence. The biblical record and, Johnston judges, Israelites themselves were largely unconcerned with rites that honoured the dead.

In Part D, Johnston discusses the afterlife under the headings of 'Communion Beyond Death' (ch. 9, pp. 199-217) and 'Resurrection from Death' (ch. 10., pp. 218-239). Some biblical characters escaped death, but they did not become paradigms of subsequent experience. Johnston cautiously analyses possible intimations of hope beyond death in the Psalms, Proverbs, and the crux at Job 19.25-27. While the Proverbs and the Job passage are found not to affirm communion after death, the psalmists do. However, they provide no details beyond the hope of further communion with God. Johnston's final chapter argues that a `distinctively Israelite' notion of individual resurrection was not significantly influenced by other faiths.

Rather, this idea-absent in Old Testament witness but present in Second Temple speculation and New Testament assumptions-emerged from 'Yahweh's proclaimed power to renew life, its occasional experience in life and in vision, his authority over the underworld, and the desire for unending communion with (Yahweh).'

This book takes its place as an indispensable-because encyclopaedic-guide to the Old Testament discussion of the themes it treats, a feature that is complemented by a welcome layer of sober interpretation.

This is an excellent reference book in that it covers many a Hebrew bible text that scholars have suggested are even remotely related to the topic. The author outlines each text, giving the literal Hebrew translation, or admitting where the texts have difficulty in translation and reviews scholarly approach to arguments suggesting the texts are related to the concept of the state of the dead and the possibility of afterlife. This method I found establishes well his argument that the subject matter of the state of the dead and an afterlife is hardly referred to at all in the Hebrew bible. He reviews apparent contradictions between texts which basically state there is no existence beyond this one, and the handful that hold out the hope of a physical resurrection. Likewise he reviews the chronologic development of Israel's belief system concerning the subject. By the time of the New Testament, he states "the perspectives between the Old and New Testaments on human fate after death are significantly different. Indeed for many scholars they are not just distinctive, but actually contradictory." I recommend this as an excellent book on the subject for those not afraid to investigate.

I recently wrote a research paper on Sheol for a class I had, and was astonished to find that there were so few books available on the subject. I believe this was the only book I could find (after searching diligently on the internet) about Sheol written in the last 50 years or so. Sure a few books about the afterlife in general had sections about Sheol, but this was the only one which was dedicated entirely to Sheol. Other than this book the only recent (written in the last 50 years) texts about Sheol were some M.A. theses (not published) and individual journal articles. This book was by far the best source I found on the topic.

Johnson goes through, in great detail, the Hebrew beliefs about death, burial, the underworld, and the prospects of future life. It was a little difficult to read straight through because he went off into so much detail about specific relevant texts in other near-eastern cultures contemporary to the Old Testament texts, but it was definitely very readable as long as you skimmed over some sections instead of getting bogged down in them. As a reference tool, this would be of extraordinary benefit, as he has an index in the back of all the relevant scripture verses and what pages he discusse them on.

If I were to describe this book in one word, it would be thorough. I was astonished at the level of research he put into this book. He interacted with just about every scholarly source there is on Sheol, including those written in German and other languages which are inaccessable to most english speaking people. His book is very systematic and easy to follow, and he leaves very few stones unturned in his quest to determine what the Hebrews believed about Sheol.

His conclusions, in a nutshell, are that the Hebrews believed that (1) Sheol was a literal, underground abode of the dead which was (2) where the wicked go and (3) where they are cut off from God and exist in something resembling an unconscious state. I agree with one and three, but his evidence that they did not believe that everyone goes to Sheol was a bit scant and seemed to be something he wanted to believe rather than something he thought the evidence merited. He took the position that the Hebrew saints hoped for something other than Sheol upon their death, but they just didn't know what that would be. At this point I will have to politely disagree with him, as I think he has gone beyond the evidence on this point.

Overall, however, I found myself agreeing with the majority of his conclusions. He stands in the middle ground between very conservative Christians who want to interpret Sheol simply as the grave (or else they have the embarassing problem of affirming a strict view of inerrancy and yet have the Scriptures affirming a literal underground abode of the dead) and liberal scholars who want to equate it with other near-eastern underworld beliefs. No matter where you find yourself on that spectrum, this books needs to be encountered in any study of Sheol, as it seems likely to emerge as THE definitive study on it. My one critique of the book is that it really needs an index by suject. He has an index by scripture references, and one by authors, but there is no subject index. There were quite a few times I wanted to go back and re-read his secion on, say, Sheol's relationship to the literal grave and was unable to find it because there was no subject index. That is definitely something that needs to be added to future editions.

Overall grade: A+

Johnson has done an excellent job of reviewing the Old Testament view on death and the afterlife. I have often been puzzled at what seem to be contradictions in the scripture's view of Sheol, and this works seems to prove that my bewilderment was quite appropriate. It seems that the author's conclusion is that writers of the Old Testament weren't all that concerned with death and the afterlife, focusing on their relationship with Yahweh in the current life. It seems that much of the focus on death and the afterlife occurred in the inter-testamental period and quite possibly reflected the Hebrew exposure to Persian and Greek cultures.
Although dry and academic in parts, overall this is a well done and well written work. If you are interested in Sheol, or "The Pit", this is a great place to start.

I originally wanted to give this book 4 stars (which I will explain later), but Philip Johnston did such a thorough job covering all available views on pre-Christ afterlife in the Bible that I had to give it 5. Much of this book covers Israelite views, reflections and responses to death, while only part of it probes into what Sheol was actually like in terms of practical existence there. Though somewhat disappointing, the Bible itself gives very little information about what Sheol was actually like either. Were the righteous in comfort? Were the wicked in punishment? Or were they equally in silent darkness? We will return back to this thought. In the meantime, Johnston refutes all outlandish arguments that scholars have made about Israelite death and Sheol. And mind you, these "scholars" have some pretty far-fetched ideas. For example, Loretz (1993) argues on p. 186 that Psalm 23:5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...my cup overflows" is an allusion to an ancestor cult gathering called a marzeah (even though a marzeah wasn't really an ancestor cult at all according to the Bible). Johnston spends time at length throughout the book refuting arguments such as this, in every single chapter and subchapter.

Now, the only disappointment to me about this book is Johnston's hesitation to address the central question we all want to know: were people tormented in Sheol? Is Sheol the same thing as Hell whose fires the OT disbelievers couldn't escape, OT believers in Yahweh could, and Christians currently find deliverance from in heaven? Johnston devotes a half-sentence in the whole book to this, and then addresses it in a small paragraph in the book's conclusion. On whether the wicked dead were punished post-mortem, Johnston states on p. 208 "And again this is possible, but..." That's it. In the conclusion, in response to the "shame and everlasting contempt" which people resurrect to in Daniel 12:2, Johnston says on p. 237 that it "remains unexplained and underdeveloped". Come on! Considering that Johnston is a Christian (reveals it at book's end), and eternal punishment for those who reject the Great I Am is a core belief in Christian faith, I find it unsatisfactory for Johnston to take such a reluctant stand on this important issue which the reader spends the entire book getting to.

In his defense, it is possible that the wicked dead were not tormented in Sheol. Johnston accurately states on p. 237 that "Old Testament eschatology has no concept of judgment after death." It is true that neither individual judgment nor national/collective judgment occurs after death in OT writings. Judgment occurs in this current life alone. However, three passages in Job (26:6, 28:22, and 31:12 especially) as well as three other passages (Psalm 88:11-12, Proverbs 15:11 and 27:20) attribute Sheol to "Destruction". While it is plausible that Sheol is named this because bodily destruction is what gets OT people to Sheol, the context implies that destruction is happening IN Sheol, particularly in Job 31:12.

Furthermore, Johnston missed an important verse in the Bible which could reveal that OT people who rejected Yahweh were subject to burning in flames when they died. Addressed to the Israelites who continued to sin during Assyria's conquest of the land, Isaiah 33:14 states "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless. 'Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?'" This verse is both unique and piercing. Eternal punishment with fire, which obviously includes after death, is clearly given as a response to sin here. This one OT passage is the lone support of the wicked possibly burning in Sheol. So while this Isaiah verse is clear about eternal hell-fire, it is not clear about when it will occur. It is thus fitting that such a reference of everlasting punishment is found in the prophetic book of Isaiah.

In light of what the Old Testament suggests, people who died before Christ made atonement for sin neither burned in flames nor found bliss in the afterlife. They experienced absolutely nothing; a grim, dark silence, sleeping in the dust awaiting resurrection. Sheol was equivalent to the modern phrase of "rotting in the grave". While hopeful glimpses of getting out of Sheol are found in Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49:15, Proverbs 12:28, Ecclesiastes 12:7 and Isaiah 26:19, no specification of how that resurrection will be provided for is given. Jesus alone provided access to the afterlife, particularly the good one, but also the bad one (see next paragraph).

John 5:28-29 gives us the answer to what happened to everyone in Sheol the instant Jesus made atonement on the cross. It says, "...a time is coming and has now come when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." There we have it. Jesus fulfilled his destiny on the cross and the OT believers came out of their graves, appearing to people in their resurrected body (Matthew 27:52-53) before entering paradise like the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43). As for the OT disbelievers, well, scripture implies they were "condemned", so whatever that means will remain open to future investigation, but suggests they went to a place of everlasting torment.

One thing that still bothers me though, is the account of the rich man and Lazarus given in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man is agonizing in fire in hell (denoted "Hades" in Greek), which not only supports the notion above that people in Sheol did experience torment (considering that Christ had not made atonement yet and someone was being tormented post-mortem), but also poses another problem. In response to the rich man begging Abraham to warn his family about Sheol so they don't end up there too, Abraham replies, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them." That's intriguing, because the Prophets never definitively state that Sheol is a place of torment from which they need Yahweh's refuge from, and Moses definitely never does. Johnston made that clear in his well-researched book, Shades of Sheol.

This book is an excelent book. Johnson explores almost everything the Old Testament says about death and Sheol. He even brings points that go against the common thought of the day which cause one to think. I recomend this book to anyone wanting to more about death in the Old Testament. It is a great resource for papers too.