Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 16:4 (Winter 1973)
Article: Old Testament Indications Of Life After Death
Author: Joy Paul Schwenke

CenQ 16:4 (Winter 1973) p. 31

Old Testament Indications Of Life After Death

Joy Paul Schwenke

There are numerous indications of belief in life after death in the Old Testament. In God’s plan of self-revelation the doctrine should not be expected to be as clear as would be possible following the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of this survey is to collect various indications and direct statements in divine revelation which to a believing Israelite would assure him of life after death.

It is difficult to imagine that the Hebrew did not think much about life after death. Other tribes and nations believed in immortality. The Egyptians were probably the most noted ones to believe the doctrine. They built great tombs called pyramids to preserve their dead in the next life. Stewart Salmond says of their belief: “The Egyptians believed from first to last with an intense belief in the continuance of life. The persistence of life, the exchange between death and life, the thought that life must live, and that personal life here means a personal survival hereafter—these were the primary and most constant elements in the Egyptian faith.”

In light of this development in other nations, it might seem strange that the Old Testament Scriptures place little emphasis on immortality. Indeed the Penteteuch is nearly void of any statement at all. Moses, the author of the Penteteuch, had been raised among the Egyptians but he did not incorporate clear teaching in his writing, even though he was instrumental in the establishment of the basic principles of Jewish belief.

Although the Old Testament does not dwell on this subject, there are many references to it and even a few clear statements of it. The purpose of this study is to examine various possible indications of immortality in the Old Testament.

Indications Of Immortality

Several phrases employed and events related in the Old Testament give evidence of a belief in life beyond this life.

CenQ 16:4 (Winter 1973) p. 32

Gathered to their People. The phrase, “gathered to their people,” is a common expression speaking of going to the grave. It is used at least fifteen times in the Old Testament and thirteen times in the Penteteuch alone. This shows that the doctrine of immortality did not arise following the Patriarchal period, as some have said, because it is used concerning them, for example, of Abraham (Gen. 25:8), Ishmael (Gen. 25:17), Isaac (Gen. 35:29), and Jacob (Gen. 49:33).

This phrase does not just refer...