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The Metaphysics of Jewish Afterlife:
A historical, psychological, and philosophical account of death’s realm,
from biblical times through the Second Temple's destruction
Steve Killen
25 May 05
The afterlife represents our ideas of what happens to our consciousnesses after we die. It
may seem to be an obvious statement, but philosophically the concept of consciousness is even now
a tenuous and difficult-to-explain phenomenon, and simply viewing death as the end of
consciousness is not very useful. We find it impossible to imagine a world without involving our
own subjective awareness in the effort. So, it is natural to speculate about what that world might be
like.
Humanity’s view of death has a long and storied history, viewed by countless civilizations
in countless different ways. The roots of the views common in the Ancient Near East were shaped
by three of the earliest civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece), which surrounded it and
informed its religious development1. Most prominent in early Biblical writings is a great similarity
to the Greek conception of Hades2, an underworld to which all who died would go; in the Hebrew
scripture, this realm of the dead is called Sheol. This realm had no discrimination between its
inhabitants; it represents the grave and the unknowable beyond it.
The conception of the afterlife that has dominated Christian thought since at least the
Middle Ages, however, is one of duality, with the righteous residing in Heaven and those who have
been judged evil sent to eternal punishment in Hell. But Christianity most certainly did not come
about in a vacuum. My intent in this paper is to discuss the background of Jewish thought, and its
historical context, that formed the seed of the modern Christian conceptions of Hell.
I. Some background
Before beginning, it will be useful to outline the dates that are associated with the time
periods under examination. The scope of history being talked about reaches as far back as 1200
BCE, the approximate date the Canaan Valley is thought to have seen the entrance of Moses’
people; the timeframe encompassing this period until the destruction of the First Temple in 586
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BCE is referred to as the Biblical Period.3 Much of Hebrew scripture (and consequently the roots
of the Christian Old Testament) was created in this period. The cataclysm of Assyrian and
Babylonian invasions during the late Biblical period resulted in the destruction of the Temple,
which had to this point served as the center of orthodox Jewish practice, and most of the inhabitants
(including those in Jerusalem) were killed, enslaved, or exiled to Babylonia, Egypt, or other parts
of the ancient Near East.
This blow to the Jewish faith uprooted their long-standing social and religious traditions,
and it was not until 539 BCE, when the Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire, that the Jewish
people would be able to attempt to restore their practice of sacrificial worship. In 334 BCE,
Alexander the Great brought the Greek ways of life to the known world in his conquest of the
Persian Empire; this is known as the Hellenistic Era. Aspects of Judaism began to change in this
time period even as Temple worship was maintained, and it is here that the most dramatic shifts
begin. After the Maccabean Revolt (168 BCE), the Jewish people regained their independence
under the Hasmonean Dynasty until the Roman general Pompey conquered the area and made it a
province of Rome (63 BCE). The final period important to this discussion is the time between
Pompey’s conquest and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
From the Hellenistic Era onward, a shift in the practices of Jews both in Judea and abroad
led towards the development of many different Jewish sects, of which Christianity and Rabbinic
Judaism were to become the main survivors in the Common Era. This time period of universal
debate and re-interpretation of the Laws handed down to Moses provides the backdrop against
which we may consider the differing conceptions of the afterlife that had become available.
II. Basic differences in viewing the afterlife
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Returning to the Biblical period, an examination of the Hebrew Bible reveals that one
conception of death was a general “storehouse of the dead”4, individuals who would never again
experience any sensation or think any thought—a sleep from which the dead would never awaken.
References to punishment or reward after death are notably lacking. The main belief appears to
have been one of a senseless, inert spiritual existence in a world completely beyond our experience,
inaccessible to us by natural means.
Following the turmoil of destruction, texts dating from the Exilic period show signs of a
different idea taking root. The Book of Job highlights this new concept as a reaction to the idea of
equality after death for evildoers and good people alike; seeing the consequences of his piousness
in abject suffering, Bernstein says that Job “demands an end to the moral neutrality of the grave.”5
It is clear that the moral outrage the Jewish people must have experienced after their exile served to
change their attitude towards punishment—not having the ability to hold their oppressors
accountable in the short term, a longer-term option seems to have become necessary. With later
prophets there occurs a more explicit account. Ezekiel describes the subdivision of Sheol,
indicating that Israel’s enemies (the Assyrians, in this instance) would be in a different place than
the rest of the dead, away in “the farthest recesses of the Pit.”6 There they “bear their shame,” and
as Bernstein writes, “Shame in death is the beginning of hell.”7
Distinguished from the void or pit of Sheol is the realm of Gehenna, a place of punishment
for the wicked. Historically, Gehenna is an actual place, a ravine outside of Jerusalem called GeHinnom, or the Valley of Hinnom. Its symbolism as a place of “burning, shame, and wickedness”
stems from its use as a place of pagan ritual and child sacrifice, which was repudiated by Josiah,
who reinstituted the practices of worshipping the Jewish God and defiled the altar which had been
used.8 The prophet Jeremiah took this event and used it to frighten the Jewish people into piety,
predicting retribution for their sins; thereafter it was used as a dumping ground for the bodies of
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criminals and others not properly cared for.9 These bodies were burned, which gave rise to its later
association with fiery destruction. It eventually became a metaphor for the place of punishment of
the wicked, who were cast into the inferno immediately upon judgement.10 The Christian
conception of Hell stems directly from this punishment.
The developing role of punishment in the afterlife indicates a developing sense of right and
wrong practices and lifestyles. The Scriptures are full of references to Israel’s wickedness and the
difficulties its various rulers have had in keeping the nations on track in the worship of the One
God. However, monotheism was not the basis from which Israel began its role in history, despite
the claims in the Bible. Archaeological evidence indicates that at best, Israel’s worship of its God
was in its beginning stages merely monolatrous*, and that even this was a later development which
grew out of the common practice of polytheism prevalent in the Ancient Near East11. As
polytheism gave way to monolatry, and monolatry to monotheism, it is inevitable that ideas of right
and wrong practice would become further refined, and the addition of moral qualities to the afterlife
are a reflection of that.
III. A critical junction
By the end of the Biblical period, Judaism as a religion was very firmly monotheistic12. In
the Persian period the Temple was rebuilt, and the Diaspora of exiled Jews began to re-weave the
fabric of their practice. The influx of highly-polytheistic Greek culture came with the advent of the
Hellenistic world. Not only was Judaism different in the character of its beliefs, but its practices of
dietary restrictions and other purity laws conflicted with and excluded the Greek way of life that
had become the universal norm. Jews living abroad attempted to reconcile these differences, but in
Jerusalem the reaction was to keep the practice unadulterated by external forces. The Hellenistic
*
i.e., worshipping one god, but recognizing the existence of others.
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period of Judaism culminated in an intense and bloody struggle for power, as conservative elements
resisted the attempts of modernists to incorporate Greek gods and practices into the tradition. The
rulers of the surrounding Seleucid and Egyptian empires (remnants of Alexander's conquest) used
this struggle to gain control of the territory, and utilized the power structure of the Jewish religion
to do so13.
The vagaries of political strife brewed a population ready for revolt, and after the
Maccabean revolt, the Hasmonean family regained control of Judea and declared it independent.
They also took advantage of the confusion to usurp the high priesthood. Up to the time of
Antiochus III, the priesthood had been a hereditary position given to the Zadokite clan14, but during
the lead-up to the revolt, it became a bartering chip which changed hands through bribery. After
the Hasmonean ascent to power, this position fell into their control, and the ousted Zadokite
priesthood took refuge at the caves of Qumran. The group that settled there left behind an
enormous amount of written material in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and from these we learn that they
held themselves to have the only correct interpretation of the Torah.15 Other sects of the time also
believed that they held the correct beliefs, so the notion of right and wrong laid out in the Exilic
period only intensified, as different sects developed their own views about what would happen to
their enemies.*
The character of the differing accounts of the afterlife in this period varies from sect to sect.
Some of them held the belief in an immortal soul, most notably the Pharisees, while others
(including Sadducees) continued to believe that death was the permanent end of consciousness16.
In addition to these, there was growing belief in a coming judgement of the good and the evil, and a
*
The War Scroll is a very telling description, essentially putting forth a prediction that the believers would
clash with the forces of evil (read: the other sects) and vanquish them, ushering in a new age. This language is very
similar to the words of the Exilic prophets, but the character of these newer predictions involves not only a physical
battle but a spiritual one. The extension into the spiritual realm ensured total victory for the Qumran sect, and total,
eternal destruction for their enemies.
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subsequent restructuring of the natural order. The tumult of the revolt, rather than segueing into
peaceful rule, was perpetuated by the divisions among the sects, and the resulting violence only
served to heighten the apocalyptic fervor.
IV. Differences after the revolt
The views of the afterlife held by the different sects begin to focus on a more personal
reckoning of the experience. The concept of judgement comes heavily into play in accounts of
Sheol, and with the increase in apocalyptic beliefs came a new understanding of the afterlife, one of
a Final Judgement at the end of time, and a sorting of the good and the evil into places which they
would remain for the rest of eternity. Not only would the evil be physically destroyed, but the
notion developed that their spiritual punishment would be eternal.
The violence increased as these ideas took root, and by the end of the millennium the ideas
laid forth by Qumran and other sects had developed into full-fledged Messianic fever, the
proponents of which expected this judgement to occur within their lifetimes. Most prominent
among those thought to be the Messiah was Jesus the Nazarene. His group of followers maintained
that he had been resurrected, and that Jesus was the judge of whom had been spoken. It is
important to note that until Paul, these followers still considered themselves bound by Jewish
practices such as observation of dietary and purity laws. But the main body of Jews who did not
share the belief in Jesus’ Messiahship or in his resurrection began to craft their notions of the
afterlife to exclude believers of incorrect ideas17. At that point there was a clear idea of the division
of the dead into those who would remain in the presence of God, and those who would be excluded
from it.
However, it was not until after the destruction of the Second Temple that this exclusion took
on the kind of eternal suffering that modern Christianity describes. Even Paul in his description of
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the afterlife portrays only the believers as being in the presence of God; in his letters he does not
detail the suffering of those who reject the message of Jesus.18 The Gospels were written between
70 CE and 100 CE--generations after Jesus’ death--and as the distance between his life and the
present grew, the accounts of Hell and Heaven became more vivid. So, too, do Jewish descriptions
of Gehenna turn from a prophetic warning about the price of turning to paganism into a metaphor
of Gehenna itself as the punishment to be faced.19
Other sources apart from those involved in Messianic movements also give us an account of
the growing belief in an eternal afterlife of punishment or reward. The Jewish historian Josephus*
reflects some measure of the popular Jewish beliefs (he was a Pharisee) in his writings. In his
“Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades,” he lays out a structure of Hades that is in keeping
with the view of the times, a place of judgement followed by exaltation or damnation20.
V. Some conclusions
Looking at the historical development of the ideas explained above, it is clear that the
notions of Heaven and Hell, even in their most basic forms, have not always been around. What
stimulated their growth seems to be a response to a kind of anger, a moral reaction that must find its
expression in a deeper form than mere retribution in the here and now. The wide range of beliefs in
what the afterlife is like indicate that it served more as a psychological aid to dealing with the
problems of living than an approach towards an increasing refinement of any metaphysical truths.
As it stands, the only resources we have to examine these beliefs are the texts that we
currently have and any new archaeological finds. I have only covered the main points, and it is
important to note that further examination of sources will reveal a better picture of the role that
*
He lived from 38 CE to 100 CE, and was caught up in the events of the time to a great degree: he served as a
commander in the Jewish rebellion against Rome, and was witness to the destruction of the Temple by the Roman
general Titus. His writings are preserved because he surrendered to Roman forces, and it is after the war that he was
commissioned to write about it for the Romans.
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the afterlife played in Jewish beliefs and practices in antiquity; this, in turn, will shape how we
can understand the development of Christianity. This study cannot be limited to Scriptural
developments, but instead requires an approach from as many different avenues as are available,
for without having a correct understanding of the contexts in which the beliefs flourished, it is
impossible to grasp their meaning.
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End Notes:
1
Bernstein, 3.
Ibid., 139.
3 Schiffman, 17-18.
4 Bernstein, 172.
5 Ibid., 161.
6 Ezekiel 32.23.
7 Bernstein, 167.
8 Ibid., 168.
9 Ibid., 169.
10 Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2.927.
11 Smith, Chapters 2-4.
12 Ibid, 191.
13 Schiffman, 105. This excerpt from 2 Maccabees can also be read as an entirely internal struggle, but I find it
doubtful that their complicity was complelely lacking.
14 Schiffman, 160. Similar to the the original Aaronite priesthood in place before the destruction of the first Temple, in
Ezekiel the custody of the priesthood fell to the sons of Zadok.
15 Ibid., 166.
16 Ibid., 156-57.
17 Ibid., 253
18Bernstein, 205-224.
19 Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2.927.
20 Discourse, sections 5-6.
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