Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 178:709 (Jan 2021)
Article: “Not Abandoned To Sheol”: The Psalms And Hope For The Righteous After Death
Author: Kyle C. Dunham

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“Not Abandoned To Sheol”: The Psalms And Hope For The Righteous After Death

Kyle C. Dunham

Kyle C. Dunham is Associate Professor of Old Testament, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, Allen Park, Michigan.

Abstract

In the past half-century few detailed studies of Sheol have appeared. Among these, most have concluded that ancient Israel perceived all the dead as descending to Sheol, a miry communal tomb where the shades languish in darkness and weakness. In contrast, several biblical passages appear to hold hope for deliverance of the godly. I argue that the depiction of Sheol in Psalms 16, 49, and 73 supports this distinction between the destinies of the righteous and the wicked. Here the righteous are delivered from Sheol and ascend to God for beatific afterlife with continued fellowship and joy. The ungodly by implication descend to Sheol to await future judgment. These texts provide a foundation in the Old Testament for discerning distinct destinies in the afterlife.

The view that conscious life continued after death was pervasive not only in ancient Israel but throughout the ancient Near East, where questions pertained only to the conditions of the afterlife and how one might achieve optimal conditions.1 In spite of the many references to the afterlife, however, defining

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and conceptualizing Sheol in the Old Testament remains a notorious crux. In the past half-century few detailed studies of Sheol have appeared. Among these, most scholars, such as Pearson, Rosenberg, Spronk, Tromp, Alexander, Pinker, and more recently Williamson and Bar, have reflected the longstanding consensus that ancient Israel perceived the dead universally as descending to Sheol.2 This view posits in general that the Old Testament shows little interest in the afterlife, that it depicts all the dead as descending to the shadowy and undesirable underworld, and that the doctrine of the resurrection, as expounded in Daniel 12:1–3, was a late innovation with few Old Testament antecedents.3 In contrast to this understanding, a number of biblical passages appear to hold hope for deliverance of the godly from the unwelcome fate of Sheol (Gen 5:24; 2 Kgs 2:3–10; You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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