Why Did Jesus Preach To The Dead?

[Daniel Marsh]

4 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said:

I have study the ancient Greek religion...and their beliefs about after life...and how it prepares them to be ready...fertile soil for the seed of the Gospel...

The main frame was that even thought they had the choice to worship and dedicate them selves to the God of their choice, usually the God  their city was dedicated to...or and at the same time the God of their trade... 

In all those circumstances they all had one thing in common, the were separated from their Gods at the time of their death...

Their Gods were only their Gods while they were alive....

At the time of their death they all descended to the place of the dead by default....

Jesus correctly call it Hades...the same as the Greeks and the same as the Romans...

Hades was the strongest God of all the other Gods...and he choose the Kingdom of the underworld...

Everyone on earth was his by default...

The other Gods did not have a right to have a place in the place of the dead ...in Hades...for their devotees...

In Hades the good and the violent were separated just like in our prisons....

Mind you...no one was judge by God...only by the powers who ruled the place...as how the dead were sorted out...

This is very important because God had chosen before the foundation of the earth that the Gospel should be preach to the Greeks and Romans because of their knowledge of the life after death...

These Nations were ready to welcome the good news of the Gospel which came with the promise of the new Heavenly Inheritance...the ascending one...and also came with the good news that their ancestors were given the opportunity to hear the Gospel by Christ Jesus the author of Life the Redeemer...

The good news it was that their ancestors had the opportunity to hear the Gospel before them, and believe and be saved and be given the remission of their sins and the eternal life when Jesus preach the Gospel to them right after the Cross...to the Bossom of Abraham which was set apart from all the other Nations of the world, and then to the rest of the world...Jesus died for all, everyone has the God-given right to hear that his sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus...

Jesus had not died yet when they were alive and or they did not had the chance to hear the Gospel when they were in the body, therefore their only opportunity is to hear the Gospel while out of the body...

They were saved by faith the same for us and everyone else who is saved by faith, by grace through the redemptive work of the Cross...

The Greeks and the Romans they did not want to separate from their families in their after life...that could be an obstacle in believing the Gospel...or a grievance, but when they hear that their ancestors had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe and taken by Jesus out of Hades in his Heavenly dwelling place...they are given the chance to be with them in the after life if they believe...

I will follow up with scriptures and events that took place...in the prophets, Psalms, the other books in the Bible...and the Gospels in the New Testament...

Hades in Greek mythology.

https://www.theoi.com/articles/who-was-the-strongest-greek-god-and-why/

https://www.ancient.eu/Hades/

https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece/hades.php

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SHEOL (V11p282002.jpg):

(Redirected from HADES.)

 

Table of Contents

• Position and Form.
• —Biblical Data:
• God Its Ruler.
• Etymology.
• —Critical View:
• Origin of Biblical Concept.

Position and Form.

Hebrew word of uncertain etymology (see Sheol, Critical View), synonym of "bor" (pit), "abaddon" and "shaḥat" (pit or destruction), and perhaps also of "tehom" (abyss).

—Biblical Data:

It connotes the place where those that had died were believed to be congregated. Jacob, refusing to be comforted at the supposed death of Joseph, exclaims: "I shall go down to my son a mourner unto Sheol" (Gen. xxxvii. 36, Hebr.; comp. ib. xlii. 38; xliv. 29, 31). Sheol is underneath the earth (Isa. vii. 11, lvii. 9; Ezek. xxxi. 14; Ps. lxxxvi. 13; Ecclus. [Sirach] li. 6; comp. Enoch, xvii. 6, "toward the setting of the sun"); hence it is designated as V11p282003.jpg (Deut. xxxii. 22; Ps. lxxxvi. 13) or V11p282004.jpg (Ps. lxxxviii. 7; Lam. iii. 55; Ezek. xxvi. 20, xxxii. 24). It is very deep (Prov. ix. 18; Isa. lvii. 9); and it marks the point at the greatest possible distance from heaven (Job xi. 8; Amos ix. 2; Ps. cxxxix. 8). The dead descend or are made to go down into it; the revived ascend or are brought and lifted up from it (I Sam. ii. 6; Job vii. 9; Ps. xxx. 4; Isa. xiv. 11, 15). Sometimes the living are hurled into Sheol before they would naturally have been claimed by it (Prov. i. 12; Num. xvi. 33; Ps. lv. 16, lxiii. 10), in which cases the earth is described as "opening her mouth" (Num. xvi. 30). Sheol is spoken of as a land (Job x. 21, 22); but ordinarily it is a place with gates (ib. xvii. 16, xxxviii. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 10; Ps. ix. 14), and seems to have been viewed as divided into compartments (Prov. vii. 27), with "farthest corners" (Isa. xiv. 15; Ezek. xxxii. 23, Hebr.; R. V. "uttermost parts of the pit"), one beneath the other (see Jew. Encyc. v. 217, s. v. Eschatology). Here the dead meet (Ezek. xxxii.; Isa. xiv.; Job xxx. 23) without distinction of rank or condition—the rich and the poor, the pious and the wicked, the old and the young, the master and the slave—if the description in Job iii. refers, as most likely it does, to Sheol. The dead continue after a fashion their earthly life. Jacob would mourn there (Gen. xxxvii. 35, xlii. 38); David abides there in peace (I Kings ii. 6); the warriors have their weapons with them (Ezek. xxxii. 27), yet they are mere shadows ("rephaim"; Isa. xiv. 9, xxvi. 14; Ps. lxxxviii. 5, A. V. "a man that hath no strength"). The dead merely exist without knowledge or feeling (Job xiv. 13; Eccl. ix. 5). Silence reigns supreme; and oblivion is the lot of them that enter therein (Ps. lxxxviii. 13, xciv. 17; Eccl. ix. 10). Hence it is known also as "Dumah," the abode of silence (Ps. vi. 6, xxx. 10, xciv. 17, cxv. 17); and there God is not praised (ib. cxv. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 15). Still, on certain extraordinary occasions the dwellers in Sheol are credited with the gift of making knowntheir feelings of rejoicing at the downfall of the enemy (Isa. xiv. 9, 10). Sleep is their usual lot (Jer. li. 39; Isa. xxvi. 14; Job xiv. 12). Sheol is a horrible, dreary, dark, disorderly land (Job x. 21, 22); yet it is the appointed house for all the living (ib. xxx. 23). Return from Sheol is not expected (II Sam. xii. 23; Job vii. 9, 10; x. 21; xiv. 7 et seq.; xvi. 22; Ecclus. [Sirach] xxxviii. 21); it is described as man's eternal house (Eccl. xii. 5). It is "dust" (Ps. xxx. 10; hence in the Shemoneh 'Esreh, in benediction No. ii., the dead are described as "sleepers in the dust").

God Its Ruler.

God's rulership over it is recognized (Amos ix. 2; Hos. xiii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 22; I Sam. ii. 6 [Isa. vii. 11?]; Prov. xv. 11). Hence He has the power to save the pious therefrom (Ps. xvi. 10, xlix. 16, the text of which latter passage, however, is recognized as corrupt). Yet Sheol is never satiated (Prov. xxx. 20); she "makes wide her soul," i.e., increases her desire (Isa. v. 14) and capacity. In these passages Sheol is personified; it is described also as a pasture for sheep with death as the shepherd (Ps. xlix. 15). From Sheol Samuel is cited by the witch of En-dor (I Sam. xxviii. 3 et seq.). As a rule Sheol will not give up its own. They are held captive with ropes. This seems to be the original idea underlying the phrase V11p283001.jpg (II Sam. xxii. 6; Ps. xviii. 6; R. V., verse 5, "the cords of Sheol") and of the other expression, V11p283002.jpg (Ps. cxvi. 3; R. V. "and the pains of Sheol"); for they certainly imply restraint or capture. Sheol is used as a simile for "jealousy" (Cant. viii. 7). For the post-Biblical development of the ideas involved see Eschatology.

Etymology.—Critical View:

The word "Sheol" was for some time regarded as an Assyro-Babylonian loan-word, "Shu'alu," having the assumed meaning "the place whither the dead are cited or bidden," or "the place where the dead are ingathered." Delitzsch, who in his earlier works advanced this view, has now abandoned it; at least in his dictionary the word is not given. The non-existence of "Shu'alu" has been all along maintained by Jensen ("Kosmologie," p. 223), and recently again by Zimmern (in Schrader," K. A. T." 3d ed., p. 636, note 4) even against Jastrow's explanation (in "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xiv. 165-170) that "sha'al" = "to consult an oracle," or "to cite the dead" for this purpose, whence the name of the place where the dead are. The connection between the Hebrew "Sheol" and the Assyro - Babylonian "shillan" (west), which Jensen proposed instead (in "Zeitschrift für Assyriologie," v. 131, xv. 243), does not appear to be acceptable. Zimmern (l.c.) suggests "shilu" (= "a sort of chamber") as the proper Assyrian source of the Hebrew word. On the other hand, it is certain that most of the ideas covered by the Hebrew "Sheol" are expressed also in the Assyro-Babylonian descriptions of the state of the dead, found in the myths concerning Ishtar's descent into Hades, concerning Nergal and Ereshkigal (see Jensen in Schrader, "K. B." vi., part 1, pp. 74-79) and in the Gilgamesh epic (tablets ii. and xii.; comp. also Craig, "Religious Texts," i. 79; King, Magic," No. 53).

This realm of the dead is in the earth ("erẓitu" = V11p283003.jpg; comp. Job, x. 21, 22), the gateway being in the west. It is the "land without return." It is a dark place filled with dust (see Sheol, Biblical Data); but it contains a palace for the divine ruler of this shadow-realm (comp. Job xviii. 13, 14). Seven gates guard successively the approach to this land, at the first of which is a watchman. A stream of water flows through Sheol (comp. Enoch, xvii. 6, xxii. 9; Luke xvi. 24; Ps. xviii. 5; II Sam. xxii. 5).

Origin of Biblical Concept.

The question arises whether the Biblical concept is borrowed from the Assyrians or is an independent development from elements common to both and found in many primitive religions. Though most of the passages in which mention is made of Sheol or its synonyms are of exilic or post-exilic times, the latter view, according to which the Biblical concept of Sheol represents an independent evolution, is the more probable. It reverts to primitive animistic conceits. With the body in the grave remains connected the soul (as in dreams): the dead buried in family graves continue to have communion (comp. Jer. xxxi. 15). Sheol is practically a family grave on a large scale. Graves were protected by gates and bolts; therefore Sheol was likewise similarly guarded. The separate compartments are devised for the separate clans, septs, and families, national and blood distinctions continuing in effect after death. That Sheol is described as subterranean is but an application of the custom of hewing out of the rocks passages, leading downward, for burial purposes."  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7008-hades

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PARADISE (Hebrew, ; Greek, παράδεισος).

 

 

 

By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board., George A. Barton, Judah David Eisenstein, Mary W. Montgomery

Table of Contents

• —Biblical Data:
• Description in Genesis.
• Ezekiel's Conception of Eden.
• Definition.
• —In Rabbinical Literature:
• Description in Midrash Konen.
• Female Souls.
• Joshua b. Levi's Description of Paradise.
• Banquet for the Righteous in Paradise.
• Symbolic Significance.
• —Critical View:
• Babylonian Elements of Narrative.
• Divergent Views Respecting the Rivers.
• Ezekiel's Picture of Eden.
• Evolution of the Ideal Jerusalem.
• —In Arabic Literature:
• Description of the Mohammedan Paradise.
• Flowing Water a Principal Feature.

—Biblical Data:

The word "paradise" is probably of Persian origin. It occurs but three times in the Old Testament, namely, in Cant. iv. 13, Eccl. ii. 5, and Neh. ii. 8. In the first of these passages it means "garden"; in the second and third, "park." In the apocalypses and in the Talmud the word is used of the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype (comp. references in Weber's "Jüdische Theologie," 2d ed., 1897, pp. 344 et seq.). From this usage it came to denote, as in the New Testament, the abode of the blessed (comp. Luke xxiii. 43; II Cor. xii. 4; Rev. ii. 7).

Description in Genesis.

In the Old Testament, however, one has to do with the earthly Garden of Eden, of which there are two representations: one in Gen. ii., iii., and the other in Ezek. xxviii. 13-17. According to the first of these passages Yhwh planted a garden "eastward in Eden," in which were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge; and He gave it to Adam to keep. There "went out" from this garden a river which was divided and became "four heads." The names of these were Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel (Tigris), and Euphrates. Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of all the trees of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In this garden were created and placed all sorts of animals; but none of these proved a suitable companion for man. Accordingly a woman was created. Adam and Eve then lived in the garden without clothing.

The most subtle of the creatures in the garden was the serpent. He questioned the woman concerning the trees of which she and Adam might eat, and was told that they were prohibited from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that death would result from such an act. The serpent declared that, so far from this being the case, if Adam and Eve were to eat of it they would become like gods. Eve was tempted and ate; then she persuaded Adam to eat. The result of this act was that the primitive pair realized their nakedness and began to make clothing. It was declared that the ground would bring forth to man thorns and thistles, that he should with difficulty wrest from it his sustenance, and that woman should bring forth children in pain. The pair were then expelled from Eden, lest they should eat of the tree of life. To prevent their return cherubim were placed at the entrance of the garden. It is probable that this account intended to locate the garden in Mesopotamia. The mention of the Tigris and Euphrates indicate this, though the allusion to the lands of Havilah and Cush, around which the Pison and the Gihon flowed, is not so clear.

Ezekiel's Conception of Eden.

Ezekiel's allusion to Eden occurs in a highly rhetorical passage in which he arraigns the King of Tyre. This king, he declares, was in the garden of God, clothed with many kinds of precious stones. According to the Masoretic text this king was the cherub, but the Septuagint reads more correctly "stood with the cherub." This garden was in "the mountain of God," where the king moved in the midst of the stones of fire. To form a complete picture of Ezekiel's conception of paradise one should add the reference to the cedar as the supreme tree of Eden (Ezek. xxxi.), and his description of the Temple at Jerusalem as a holy mountain from which flowed a river (ib. xlvii.). It is evident that Ezekiel had in mind a picture of Eden kindred in many ways to the account in Genesis, but which also differed in many points (comp. Paradise, Critical View).

Ezekiel's conception of Eden is not unlike that of the heavenly paradise in Enoch xxiii.-xxviii. The happy destination of the righteous is pictured in this work (which dates from 200 to 170 B.C.) as a great mountain in the midst of the earth from under which streams of water flow. At the center of its sacred enclosure a palm-tree grows. Similar views find expression in other apocalypses (comp. Apoc. Baruch, iv.; II Esd. viii. 52; Rev. ii. 7, xxii. 2 et seq.). These passages form the transition from the earlier ideas of paradise as man's primitive home to the Talmudic and New Testament conceptions of paradise as the final abode of the blessed.

Definition.—In Rabbinical Literature:

The word  is used metaphorically for the veil surrounding the mystic philosophy (Ḥag. 14b), but not as a synonym for the Garden of Eden or paradise to identify a blissful heavenly abode for the righteous after death. The popular conception of paradise is expressedby the term "Gan 'Eden," in contradistinction to "Gehinnom" = "hell." Jewish authorities are almost unanimous in maintaining that there is a terrestrial as well as a celestial Gan 'Eden; that the Garden of Eden in Genesis is a model in miniature of the higher Gan 'Eden called paradise (see Eden, Garden of). Paradise is occasionally referred to as "'Olam ha-Ba" (= "the world to come"); but generally this term is used for the post-millennial time, after the Messianic and resurrection periods. Sometimes the terms "Gan 'Eden" and "'Olam ha-Ba" are erroneously interchanged. Gan 'Eden is recognized by Naḥmanides as "'Olam ha-Neshamot" (= "the world of the souls"), which the departed souls of the righteous enter immediately after death (see Sem. i. 5b; Tem. 16a).

The Midrash Agada gives, with cabalistic coloring and vivid imagination, a detailed description of paradise. Dimensions of the chambers, etc., are furnished; and the particulars contained are graphically stated in various forms of legendary narratives. These accounts are supposed to have been communicated by the very few individuals who, it is claimed, visited paradise while alive. The Haggadah credits nine mortals with entrance to heaven while alive: Enoch, Eliezer, Abraham's servant, Serah, the daughter of Asher (Soṭah 13a), Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh (I Chron. iv. 18), Hiram, King of Tyre, Elijah, Messiah, Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Jer. xxxviii. 12), and Jabez b. Judah ha-Nasi (probably an error; should be Jabez the Judahite, mentioned ib. iv. 10). Others substitute Joshua b. Levi for Hiram, King of Tyre (Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa i., end; Yalḳ., Gen. 42). Joshua thus became the hero of nearly all the paradise legends. He often met Elijah before the gates of paradise (Sanh. 98a; see "'En Ya'aḳob" ad loc.); and he obtained permission from the angel of death to visit paradise before his death and to inspect his assigned place. He reported the result of his investigation to Rabban Gamaliel ("Seder ha-Dorot," ed. Warsaw, 1893, ii. 191). Probably the original accounts are in the Zohar, which contains all the elements in fragmentary documents (Zohar, Bereshit, 38a-39b, 41a, and Leka 81a, b). One of these accounts is credited to Enoch. Midrash Konen is probably the first compilation and elaboration of these fragments; it reads as follows:

"The Gan 'Eden at the east measures 800,000 years (at ten miles per day or 3,650 miles per year). There are five chambers for various classes of the righteous. The first is built of cedar, with a ceiling of transparent crystal. This is the habitation of non-Jews who become true and devoted converts to Judaism. They are headed by Obadiah the prophet and Onḳelos the proselyte, who teach them the Law. The second is built of cedar, with a ceiling of fine silver. This is the habitation of the penitents, headed by Manasseh, King of Israel, who teaches them the Law.

Description in Midrash Konen.

(Midr. Konen, in "Arze Lebanon," 3a, b, Venice, 1601; comp. Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 28, 29).

"The third chamber is built of silver and gold, ornamented with pearls. It is very spacious, and contains the best of heaven and of earth, with spices, fragrance, and sweet odors. In the center of this chamber stands the Tree of Life, 500 years high. Under its shadow rest Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the tribes, those of the Egyptian exodus and those who died in the wilderness, headed by Moses and Aaron. There also are David and Solomon, crowned, and Chileab (II Sam. iii. 3; Shab. 55b), as if living, attending on his father, David. Every generation of Israel is represented except that of Absalom and his confederates. Moses teaches them the Law, and Aaron gives instruction to the priests. The Tree of Life is like a ladder on which the souls of the righteous may ascend and descend. In a conclave above are seated the Patriarchs, the Ten Martyrs, and those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of His Sacred Name. These souls descend daily to the Gan 'Eden, to join their families and tribes, where they lounge on soft cathedras studded with jewels. Everyone, according to his excellence, is received in audience to praise and thank the Ever-living God; and all enjoy the brilliant light of the Shekinah. The flaming sword, changing from intense heat to icy cold and from ice to glowing coals, guards the entrance against living mortals. The size of the sword is ten years. The souls on entering paradise are bathed in the 248 rivulets of balsam and attar.

"The fourth chamber is made of olive-wood and is inhabited by those who have suffered for the sake of their religion. Olives typify bitterness in taste and brilliancy in light [olive-oil], symbolizing persecution and its reward.

"The fifth chamber is built of precious stones, gold, and silver, surrounded by myrrh and aloes. In front of the chamber runs the River Gihon, on whose banks are planted shrubs affording perfume and aromatic incense. There are couches of gold and silver and fine drapery. This chamber is inhabited by the Messiah of David, Elijah, and the Messiah of Ephraim. In the center are a canopy made of the cedars of Lebanon, in the style of the Tabernacle, with posts and vessels of silver; and a settee of Lebanon wood with pillars of silver and a seat of gold, the covering thereof of purple. Within rests the Messiah, son of David, 'a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief' (Isa. liii. 3), suffering, and waiting to release Israel from the Exile. Elijah comforts and encourages him to be patient. Every Monday and Thursday, and Sabbath and on holy days the Patriarchs, Moses, Aaron, and others, call on the Messiah and condole with him, in the hope of the fast-approaching end"

Female Souls.

In other versions the sections of paradise are increased to seven. Another midrash, apparently composed of fragments of ancient versions, describes the three fire-walls of different colors around paradise, and places the section of the pious among the heathen nations outside the outer wall. This description is remarkable for the diminutive dimensions which it gives, e.g., 600 ells between the walls, and 120 ells' space between the entrances; also for the fact that it antedates paradise to the creation of heaven and earth by just 1,361 years, 3 hours, and 2 minutes. This paradise has a tall music pillar which plays beautiful songs automatically. There are seven sections for the pious souls, and a separate division of seven sections for the souls of pious women, headed, in the order named, by Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, a proselyte; Jochebed, wife of Amram; Miriam; Huldah the prophetess; Abigail; (sixth and seventh sections, the highest) the Matriarchs ("Gan 'Eden," second recension in Jellinek, l.c. iii. 131-140). In another version the sections are seven, but the grades of the souls number twelve, as follows: "those (1) who feared God, (2) who were charitable, (3) who buried the dead, (4) who visited the sick, (5) who dealt honestly, (6) who lent to the poor, (7) who cared for the orphans, (8) who were peacemakers, (9) who instructed the poor, (10) who were martyrs, (11) who learned the Law, (12) David, Solomon, and other righteous kings, such as Josiah and Hezekiah" (Jellinek, l.c. v. 41-48).

Joshua b. Levi's Description of Paradise.

The following midrashic narrative is attributed to R. Joshua b. Levi, though the style of the midrash appears to be much later, perhaps of the ninth century: "Paradise has two diamond gates, and there are 600,000 attending angels with shining faces. Immediately on the arrival of the righteous, they divest him of his shroud and clothe him witheight garments made of clouds of honor. They put a double crown of fine gold and jewels on his head, and place eight myrtles in his hand. The angels salute him, saying, 'Go eat thy bread with joy,' and lead him along valleys of water in which grow 800 species of roses and myrtles. Each of the righteous has a canopy as is befitting his excellence. Connected with each canopy are four rivulets of milk, wine, balsam, and honey. Over each canopy grows a golden vine studded with thirty pearls, each glittering like Venus. Under the canopy is a table of onyx set with diamonds and pearls. Sixty angels guard every righteous one and ask him to partake of the honey as compensation for his study of the Law, which is likened to honey (Ps. xix. 10), and to drink the wine, which has been preserved in its grapes ever since the six days of Creation, the Law being likened to spiced wine (Cant. viii. 2). The most uncomely of the righteous becomes as beautiful as Joseph and as R. Johanan. Exiguous silver pomegranates reflect the sun, which is always shining; for 'the path of the just is as the shining light' (Prov. iv. 18). There are three stages through which the newcomer has to pass: (1) the section of the children, which he enters as at child; (2) the section of the young; and (3) the section of the old. In each section he enjoys himself as befits his state and age" (Yalḳ., Gen. 20; comp. "Seder Gan 'Eden," in Jellinek, l.c. iii. 52-53).

Banquet for the Righteous in Paradise.

Regarding the feast that is prepared for the righteous in paradise, the Leviathan and "the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation" are the main courses to be served at the banquet (B. B. 75a). The order of the banquet follows: "The Almighty invites the righteous into paradise. King David requests God to join the company. The angel Gabriel brings two thrones, one for God and one for David, as the Scriptures say, 'his throne as the sun before me' (Ps. lxxxix. 36). They feast and drink three goblets of wine. The toast (grace before meals) is offered, to Abraham, 'the father of the world,' but he declines because he had a son (Ishmael) who antagonized God. Isaac, in turn, declines because one of his descendants (an Edomite) destroyed the Holy Temple. Jacob declines because he married two sisters (against the Law). Moses declines because he did not cross the Jordan into Palestine. Joshua declines because he left no issue. Finally, King David accepts the toast, saying: 'I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord' (Ps. cxvi. 13). After grace the Law is produced, and God, through the interpreter, Zerubbabel ben Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2), reveals the secrets and reasons of the commandments. David preaches from the Haggadah, and the righteous say: 'Let His great Name be hallowed forevermore in paradise!' The wicked in Gehinnom, on hearing the doxology, take courage and answer 'Amen!' Whereupon the Almighty orders the attending angels to open the gates of paradise and to permit the wicked to enter, as the Scriptures say, 'Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth [] may enter in' (Isa. xxvi. 2), the word 'emunim' being interpreted 'who observe to answer "Amen"' [; plural, ]" (Tanna debe-Eliyahu Zuṭa xx.).

There are a nether Gehinnom and an upper one, over against the nether and the upper Gan 'Eden. Curiously enough, hell and paradise join each other. R. Johanan claims that a partition of only a hand-breadth, or four inches wide, separates them. The Rabbis say the width is but two fingers (= inches; Midr. Ḳohelet; Yalḳ., 976). R. Akiba said: "Every man born has two places reserved for him: one in paradise, and one in Gehinnom. If he be righteous he gets his own place and that of his wicked neighbor in paradise; if he be wicked he gets his own place and that of his righteous neighbor in Gehinnom" (Hag. 16a; see "Sefer Ḥasidim," §§ 609, 610). The question "Who may be a candidate for either Gehinnom or paradise?" is solved by the majority rule. If the majority of the acts of the individual are meritorious, he enters paradise; if wicked, he goes to Gehinnom; and if they are equal, God mercifully removes one wicked act and places it in the scale of good deeds. R. Jose b. Ḥanina quotes, "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity" ( = "lifts a sin"; Mic. vii. 18; Yer. Peah. i. 1, end).

Symbolic Significance.

The Talmud deduces the immortality of the soul from the Scriptures. "The spirit shall return to God who gave it" (Eccl. xii. 7); the body of the righteous "shall enter into peace" (Isa. lvii. 2); and the soul "shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord" (I Sam. xxv. 29), which is under God's "throne of honor" (Shab. 152b). The haggadic dimensions of paradise and names of the attendants, as well as the materials and articles described, have their cabalistic value and symbolic meaning. The feasting and enjoyment are spiritual, for which figures of speech were invented. Rab distinctly says: "In paradise there is no eating, no drinking, no cohabitation, no business, no envy, no hatred or ambition; but the righteous sit with crowned heads and enjoy the luster of the Shekinah, as it is written: 'They saw God and did eat and drink'" (Ex. xxiv. 11—the sight of God being considered the equivalent of food and drink; Ber. 18a).

In the Middle Ages, however, most of the people and many rabbis failed to grasp the spiritual meaning of paradise, and accepted all haggadic references in a literal sense. Maimonides was probably the first authority to strike a blow at this literalness, by asserting in unmistakable terms the fallacy of such a belief. "To believe so," he says, "is to be a schoolboy who expects nuts and sweetmeats as compensation for his studies. Celestial pleasures can be neither measured nor comprehended by a mortal being, any more than the blind can distinguish colors or the deaf appreciate music." Maimonides maintains that the Gan 'Eden is terrestrial, and will be discovered at the millennium (Maimonides, Commentary on Sanh. x.). This view evoked considerable opposition from the contemporary French rabbis; but the Spanish rabbis, especially Naḥmanides, defended Maimonides except as regards his theory of punishment after death. SeeEschatology; Immortality of the Soul; Judgment, Divine; Resurrection.

Bibliography:

• Naḥmanides, Sefer Sha'ar ha-Gemul;
• Aldabi, Shebile 'Emunah, ix.;
• Albo, Ha-'Iḳḳarim, article IV., xxx.-xxxiv.;
• Aramar, 'Aḳedat, x.;
• Delacrut, Ẓel ha-'Olam, xvii.;
• Berechiah, Ma'abar Yaboḳ, article III., xxxiii.-xxxviii.;
• Mëir ben Gabai, 'Abodat ha-Ḳodesh, 'Abodah, xxvii., xxix.;
• Moses Romi, Sefer Sha'are Gan 'Eden, Venice, 1589;
• Weber, Jüdische Theologie, § 74, Leipsic, 1897;
• Bousset, Die Religion des Judenthums, p. 270, Berlin, 1903.

—Critical View:

The paradise narrative of Gen. ii.-iii. is a part of the J stratum of the Pentateuch; but it has long been recognized that it is not all from one hand. Dillmann regarded ii. 10-14 as supplementary (comp. his Commentary on Genesis); and the view is now generally accepted. Budde ("Urgeschichte," pp. 46 et seq.) showed that ii. 9b and iii. 22b, relating to the tree of life, are also later additions, a view which Toy rightly confirms ("Jour. Bib. Lit." x. 1 et seq.). In the original story but one tree appeared.

Babylonian Elements of Narrative.

As already noted, this garden seems to be placed by the writer in Babylonia, and presumably the Hebrew writer's knowledge of it came from Babylonian sources. Although no such narrative has yet been found in Babylonian sources, all the elements of it appear in Babylonian literature in one form or another. From Eridu, where there was a sacred garden containing a palm (comp. Barton, "Semitic Origins," p. 197), comes the Adapa legend (comp. Schrader, "K. B." vi. 92 et seq., and "Assyrian and Babylonian Literature," Aldine ed., pp. 314 et seq.), in which it appears that there are a food and a water of life, of which, if a man partake, he may become like the gods—a thought also prominent in the story of Genesis. In the Gilgamesh epic there is a story of a wild man, Eabani, who lived with animals and had intercourse with them, and who through intercourse with a woman was enticed to leave them and cling to her. One of the enticements which she held out to him was that he would become like a god. Jastrow ("Adam and Eve in Babylonian Literature," in "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xv. 193 et seq.) claims that the parallelism of this to the Biblical story has been obscured by changes of the Biblical text, and that originally in Genesis also man consorted with the animals, which were created before woman, that the fruit by which he was tempted was intercourse with her, and that originally Gen. ii. 24 read "a man shall leave [] the animals and cleave unto his wife." All this, as Barton has shown (l.c. pp. 93 et seq.), is in thorough harmony with primitive Semitic belief as to the origin of civilization, and is probably true.

The cherubim as the guardians of gates are identical with the lion and bull deities that performed similar offices in Babylonia and Assyria. The sacred tree also is an emblem which appears often on the Assyrian monuments. Frequently cherubim of a different character are represented as fertilizing it, thus showing it to be a palm-tree. On an old Babylonian cylinder a man and a woman are pictured sitting on either side of such a tree on which clusters of dates are seen hanging, and behind the woman a serpent stands on tail to whisper in her ear (see illustration in Jew. Encyc. i. 175, s.v. Adam; and for representations of cherubim comp. ib. iv. 15). The flaming sword associated with the cherubim is probably the "exalted lightning," which Tiglathpileser (Col. vi. 15) mentions as an implement of punishment.

Divergent Views Respecting the Rivers.

The serpent as the author of evil has also a parallel in the dragon Tiamat in the Babylonian story of the Creation, though the two really belong to different spheres. The name "Eden" is found also in the Babylonian "edennu" = "field" or "plain." There can, therefore, be little doubt that the account came to the Hebrews from Babylonia; but scholars differ as to the location of the rivers Pison and Gihon. Delitzsch ("Wo Lag das Paradies?" 1881) identified these with two canals, of which one is not known, but the other, Gihon, was near Babylon. Cush, in this view, is the Kassite country east of the Persian Gulf. Haupt (in "Ueber Land und Meer," 1894-95, No. 15) regards the Hebrew writer's knowledge of geography as so defective that he identified the Pison with the Red Sea, which was supposed to flow as a river about Arabia (Havilah), and the Gihon with the Nile, which was supposed to flow through unknown countries until it appeared in Cush (Nubia). Hommel ("Aufsätze und Abhandlungen," pp. 326-340) identifies all the rivers except the Euphrates with Wadi Dawasir, Wadi al-Rumma, and Wadi Ṣirḥan in Arabia. Gunkel ("Genesis," in Nowack's "Kommentar," p. 33) regards the rivers as heavenly rivers, suggested by the Milky Way, to which the Tigris and Euphrates corresponded upon earth, and thinks paradise was situated at the north pole.

Barton has shown (l.c. pp. 93 et seq., especially p. 96, note) that in the Semitic conception paradise was one of those fertile oases that are found in Arabia and North Africa (comp. W. R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., pp. 102, et seq.), and that in Babylonia it became a garden because of changed economic conditions. Indefiniteness is, therefore, to be expected in its Babylonian location—such indefiniteness as is incident to mythology.

Ezekiel's Picture of Eden.

In Ezekiel's picture of Eden the outline of the primitive oasis is still further modified. In this the shrine is on a mountain, and the sacred tree is no longer a palm, but a cedar. In the Gilgamesh epic (Tablet V.) there is a parallel to Ezekiel's picture in the description of the beautiful shrine of Humbaba, god of Elam, in the midst of a forest of cedars. Recent discovery confirms the existence of a sacred cedar forest in Elam (comp. Scheil in De Morgan's "Délégation en Perse," ii. 58, 59, 63, 69). Out of this sacred mountain a sacred river ran; and here divine voices were heard (comp. Jensen in Schrader, "K. B." vi. 437, 441, 573). It is this picture which has indirectly influenced Ezekiel. Probably because of Tyrian influence in building Solomon's Temple, and the consequent impress of Tyrian ideas on Israel, the representation of paradise came to Ezekiel from Tyre (comp. Bevan in "Jour. of Theological Studies," iv. 500 et seq.); and Ezekiel speaks of this mountain as though it were identicalwith the hill of the temple in Tyre. Its cedars are for him cedars of Lebanon. The precious stones of Ezekiel's paradise were probably, as Bevan suggests, a reference to the two pillars of the temple at Tyre which shone brightly at night (Herodotus, ii. 44), and to the stones of the high priest's breastplate worn by the Tyrian king. The spring of the primitive oasis has here become a mountain stream, as in Babylonia it became rivers, because the paradise tradition has here come by way of a mountainous country.

Evolution of the Ideal Jerusalem.

These traditions of a primitive paradise from which man had been expelled for transgression made it natural that the goal of national prosperity, or of human life, should be represented as a regaining of these primitive conditions. It was this that led Ezekiel (Ezek. xlvii.) to portray the ideal Jerusalem in colors taken from the traditions of paradise as they were known to him. A trace of this appears also in Zech. xiv. 8 and Joel iv. 18. This method is taken up in greater detail in Enoch and in the apocalypses cited above, where the pictures of paradise are modified to suit each writer's fancy. As time went on and Jerusalem was more and more idealized, elements from the city were introduced into the picture of paradise and blended with the elements taken from the garden and the oasis. Thus in Rev. xxii. 2 et seq. paradise is a city, down the street of which a river, rising under the throne of God, flows; and on either side of the river the tree of life grows, bearing a fruit every month (comp. Barton, l.c. p. 96, note). See Eden, Garden of.

Bibliography:"  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11900-paradise

 

"

ABRAHAM'S BOSOM:
 
By: Kaufmann Kohler
In the New Testament and in Jewish writings a term signifying the abodeof bliss in the other world. According to IV Macc. xiii. 17, the righteous who die for their faith are received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in paradise (compare Matt. viii. 11: "Many shall come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven"). In Ḳid. 72b, Adda bar Ahaba, a rabbi of the third century, is said to be "sitting in the bosom of Abraham," which means that he has entered paradise. With this should be compared the statement of R. Levi (Gen. R. xlviii.): "In the world to come Abraham sits at the gate of Gehenna, permitting none to enter who bears the seal of the covenant" (see Circumcision).

In the Hellenistic Testament of Abraham it is Adam, the representative of humanity, who sits at the gate of hell and paradise; the Jewish view of later times placed Abraham, the progenitor of Israel, in Adam's place. This was also the view of the New Testament writers as presented in Luke, xvi. 19-31, the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, the beggar, died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's Bosom; the rich man died and was put into Gehenna, where he saw Lazarus in the Bosom of Abraham, full of joy, whereas he suffered great torment. Thereat he cried: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me!" and finally he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house to admonish his five brothers to lead lives characterized by repentance, in order not to meet the same fate as his own. Whereupon Abraham said: "They have the law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets; let them be mindful of these, and they will enter paradise as well as Lazarus." On Lazarus (Eliezer) and Abraham see Geiger's "Jüdische Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Leben," vii. 200. It is plain that Abraham is here viewed as the warden of paradise, like Michael in Jewish and St. Peter in Christian folk-lore ("Texts and Studies," v. 55, 69, Cambridge). Of Abraham as attorney pleading for Israel, R. Jonathan also speaks (Shab. 89b)."  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/362-abraham-s-bosom

 

The above is informational only.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daniel Marsh]

The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.14
Flavius Josephus  translated by William Whiston
« J. AJ 18.13 | J. AJ 18.14 | J. AJ 18.15 | About This Work »

14They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again;

[Daniel Marsh]

https://www.bible.ca/su-hades.htm   worth a read

 

[missmuffet]

9 hours ago, Justin Adams said:

"in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were unbelieving, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah," AKA the watchers or 'angels that sinned' and are in Tartarus according to Peter.

The LXX is pretty clear. Your protestant canon may be not so clear...  it is hard to study when Luther and the pastor say you will go to hell for reading the LXX or apocrypha. Some of the early church fathers were quite firm about it all like Peter. But then, you will probably go to hell for reading them and the inter-testament books of which there are hundreds. So we are stuck and your question is well meaning and tongue in cheek... Such are the wiles of the fallen sons of God.

Jesus went to Hades not hell to speak to them. Hades is different than hell Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3: 18-20.

[Justin Adams]

27 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

Jesus went to Hades not hell to speak to them. Hades is different than hell Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3: 18-20.

Nope. Just depends on translation, transliteration and your own private bias. The spirits that were confined by God are in the realm of the underworld where some can roam free. But Tartarus, that Peter mentions, is Greek for the holding place as far below Hell or whatever as the heavens are above the earth. They are all SPIRITUAL REALMS and have no lat. and long. geographically. They are 'other'.

The deceiver, the Nacash was confined to erets, which in Hebrew means earth, or UNDER the earth. But not a geographical place. haSatan is THE DECEIVER, the Nacash, probably a serpentine throne guardian that was cast down to the erets. After all, he was one of the highest created of the sons of God.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Justin Adams

[Jostler]

20 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

Nope. Just depends on translation, transliteration and your own private bias. The spirits that were confined by God are in the realm of the underworld where some can roam free. But Tartarus, that Peter mentions, is Greek for the holding place as far below Hell or whatever as the heavens are above the earth. They are all SPIRITUAL REALMS and have no lat. and long. geographically. They are 'other'.

The deceiver, the Nacash was confined to erets, which in Hebrew means earth, or UNDER the earth. But not a geographical place. haSatan is THE DECEIVER, the Nacash, probably a serpentine throne guardian that was cast down to the erets. After all, he was one of the highest created of the sons of God.

Justin can we establish from Scripture whether or not that Rev 12 battle has already culminated in satan being cast to earth?  Or is that a yet future result of that battle?  I don't know the answer for certain, but is suspect that final result of that  battle is still to come.  It appears to me the saints have a role to play in that final casting down, and I don't think we've stepped up and done our part yet.  But I think it might be close to time now....

[missmuffet]

30 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

Nope. Just depends on translation, transliteration and your own private bias. The spirits that were confined by God are in the realm of the underworld where some can roam free. But Tartarus, that Peter mentions, is Greek for the holding place as far below Hell or whatever as the heavens are above the earth. They are all SPIRITUAL REALMS and have no lat. and long. geographically. They are 'other'.

The deceiver, the Nacash was confined to erets, which in Hebrew means earth, or UNDER the earth. But not a geographical place. haSatan is THE DECEIVER, the Nacash, probably a serpentine throne guardian that was cast down to the erets. After all, he was one of the highest created of the sons of God.

Suit yourself. Hades is the temporary holding place for the unbelieving souls right now. After the 1000 year millenium Hades will give up those souls and they will be judged in the Great White throne judgment. Hell will then be opened up. 

Revelation 20:13 

¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

[JustPassingThru]

@missmuffet

Dear sister, the word "Hell" in our English, is translated "Hades" in the Greek language and "Sheol" in the Hebrew language, they all have the same meaning, ...the "place" of the dead.

Have a joyous Resurrection Sunday as we celebrate our Lord and Savior's victory for us over, Hell, Hades and Sheol.

Lord bless  

[*Zion*]

1 Peter 3:18-20

¹⁸ For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;

 ¹⁹ in which He also went and preached to the spirits now in prison, 

²⁰ who once were disobedient, when the great patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons [Noah’s family], were brought safely through the water.

 

This is a passage of scripture of interest to me.

If they were disobedient they were not in heaven, nor in Abraham's bosom.  So where is this prison?  In a part of hell?  The word hell, or hades, or sheol is not mentioned here.

It's a head scratcher, isn't it?

[Daniel Marsh]

1 hour ago, missmuffet said:

Jesus went to Hades not hell to speak to them. Hades is different than hell Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3: 18-20.

Hell does not exist until after Matthew 25:46 and what is known as the Second Death in Revelation book.

The Greek word Hades (in LXX) is translated from the Hebrew word Sheol in the OT.     The concept of Sheol has two compartments, one side for the Righteous the other side for the wicked.   This is reflected in the story of Lazarus.    Note:  Luke does not say that was a parable.   Scholars do not think the word Hades is about the Greek god named Hades,  even the Hellenistic Commentary on the NT does not make such a claim.   

"

Dictionaries - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Paradise

Paradise [N] [E] 

Persian loanword for "an area enclosed by a wall" or "garden." Its three uses in the Hebrew Bible ( Neh 2:8 ; Eccl 2:5 ; Sol 4:13 ) retain this meaning. The Septuagint uses the Greek paradeisos [paravdeiso"] for the garden of Eden in Genesis (called the "garden of God" in Isa 51:3 ; and Ezek 28:13 ).

The intertestamental literature completes the transition of the word to a religious term. Human history will culminate in a divine paradise. Since Israel had no immediate access to the garden at history's origin or conclusion, paradise, sometimes called Abraham's Bosom, was associated with the realm of the righteous dead awaiting the resurrection of the body.

The New Testament understands paradise in terms of its Jewish heritage. In Luke 23:43 Jesus promises the penitent thief: "Today you will be with me in paradise." The intermediate state was transformed by Jesus' emphasis on being with him "today." No longer is paradise just an anticipatory condition awaiting the messianic presence at the end of the age. Those who die in faith will "be with Christ" ( Php 1:23 ). The dead in Christ will not experience life diminished, but life enhanced, as Jesus' words to Martha in John 11:23-26 imply.

According to Revelation 2:7, the overcoming church will eat from the tree of life in the eschatological garden. Sin and death through redemption are now cast out of human experience. The way is open for the faithful to return to the garden of God. Paradise is the Christian's final home.

Paul's glimpse of paradise ( 2 Cor 12:4 ) likely refers to the intermediate state. If so, it is one source of Paul's confidence that Christ is present among the righteous dead, even though he does not relish the unnatural state of death ( 2 Cor 5:1-10 ). Yet it is quite possible that the dead in Christ more clearly see the paradise at history's conclusion than do earth-bound believers. Thus, Paul tells the Thessalonians that it is a matter of small consequence if one dies in the Lord or is still alive at the second coming ( 1 Thess 4:13-18 ). Christ's presence pervades both the intermediate state and the final kingdom."  https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/paradise/

"Abraham's Bosom

Unique phrase found in a parable of Jesus describing the place where Lazarus went after death ( Luke 16:19-31 ). It is a figurative phrase that appears to have been drawn from a popular belief that the righteous would rest by Abraham's side in the world to come, an opinion described in Jewish literature at the time of Christ. The word kolpos [kovlpo"] literally refers to the side or lap of a person. Figuratively, as in this case, it refers to a place of honor reserved for a special guest, similar to its usage in John 13:23. In the case of Lazarus, the reserved place is special because it is beside Abraham, the father of all the righteous. The phrase may be synonymous to the paradise promised to the thief on the cross ( Luke 23:43 ). Together these passages support the conviction that a believer enjoys immediate bliss at the moment of physical death."  https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/abrahams-bosom.html