When one looks at the concept of hell in the Bible, it seems somewhat difficult to find a congruous theology throughout. The Sheol of the Old Testament documents is very different from the concept of hell we find in the New Testament books. Many Christian scholars look at Sheol and hell within their contexts and describe them well, but do not emphasize any of the theological consequences that arise due to the contradictions between the two. There are others who take the New Testament concept of hell and place it upon Sheol in the Old Testament resulting in a theologically consistent idea with poor exegetical procedures. I will attempt to examine the idea of Sheol in particular (as the New Testament is far outside my area of expertise as I don't know Greek or Latin which makes me very uncomfortable trying to draw any definitive conclusions) through a comparison study of the surrounding cultures and from the biblical text itself.
I will look first at the Mesopotamian idea of the underworld (this includes the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures). They believed in another world where all of the dead are together with no moral precepts attached. All the dead went to the same place; murderer, philanthropist, or liar. It has many names in Sumerian such as arali, irkalla, kukku, ekur, kigal, ganzir. All of these were then borrowed into the Akkadian language as well. Many times it was referred to simply as the earth or ground. In one text it is referred to as the land of no return (erset la tari) and the lower world. This last description makes it quite clear as to the location of the abode of the dead.
If you read
my very first post on creation, you will have seen a diagram which depicts the Ancient Near Eastern idea of the world which shows the
abzu or primordial ocean which lies below and above the ground. It is below this
abzu that the underworld lies. We will see from some sources that it was possible to open up a hole to the underworld to gain access to it. There is even the idea that there was a stairway leading down to its gate. In the Assyrian poem, "A Vision of the Underworld", there is a river of the underworld ferried by a demon Humut-Tabal. This idea of a river of the underworld is also shared by the Egyptians. Nearly all of the descriptions of the underworld are rather bleak. We will look at a few.
The first example will be the Sumerian text called Ninĝišzida's journey to the nether world. Ninĝišzida is considered to be a deity of the underworld along with Dumuzi. In this first text we find a description (of sorts) of the underworld.
The river of the nether world produces no water, no water is drunk from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} The fields of the nether world produce no grain, no flour is eaten from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} The sheep of the nether world produce no wool, no cloth is woven from it. {(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?} As for me, even if my mother digs as if for a canal, I shall not be able to drink the water meant for me. The waters of springtime will not be poured for me as they are for the tamarisks; I shall not sit in the shade intended for me. The dates I should bear like a date palm will not reveal (?) their beauty for me. I am a field threshed by my demon -- you would scream at it. He has put manacles on my hands -- you would scream at it. He has put a neck-stock on my neck -- you would scream at it."
We don't find any geographical or topographical description of the underworld, but we do find a description of the conditions in which one would find themselves. There is no grain, no wool (I'm not sure why the sheep in the underworld are hairless, perhaps because its warmer near the earth's core?), no water to drink, or dates to eat. It seems that it is not very pleasant (although it seems better than burning alive for all of eternity). It also does not make any distinction between those of moral character and those who are wicked. It would seem that all end up in the same place.
The next text is called Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld. This is a Sumerian text about Gilgamesh (whom you likely remember from the Neo-Assyrian version we have been studying) and Enkidu (as the title suggests). Gilgamesh loses a ball and mallet which he crafted from the roots of a special tree planted by a woman with her feet (I've always wanted a tree planted by some woman's feet). The ball and mallet then fall into the netherworld.
But early in the morning as he …… the place marked, the widows' accusation and the young girls' complaint caused his ball (?) and his mallet (?) to fall down to the bottom of the nether world. {(1 ms. adds:) He could not reach them by …….} He tried with his hand but could not {reach} {(1 ms. has instead:) touch} them, tried with his foot but could not {reach} {(1 ms. has instead:) touch} them.
166-175. At the gate of Ganzer, in front of the nether world, he sat down. Gilgameš wept, crying bitterly: "O my ball (?)! O my mallet (?)! O my ball (?), I am still not satiated with its charms, the game with it has not yet palled for me! If only my ball (?) waited still in the carpenter's house for me! I would treat the carpenter's wife like my own mother -- if only it waited still there for me! I would treat the carpenter's child like my little sister -- if only it waited still there for me! {My ball (?) has fallen down to the nether world -- who will retrieve it for me?} {(1 ms. has instead:) Who will retrieve my ball (?) from the nether world?} {My mallet (?) has fallen down to Ganzer -- who will retrieve it for me?} {(1 ms. has instead:) Who will retrieve my mallet (?) from Ganzer?}" Just how old is Gilgamesh anyways? I know my 2 year old son would be this upset about his ball falling into the netherworld, but this is the great warrior Gilgamesh! Apparently his friend Enkidu takes pity on him and offers to help.
His servant Enkidu {answered} {(1 ms. has instead:) said to} {him} {(1 ms. has instead:) Gilgameš}: "My king, you weep; why does your heart worry? Today I shall retrieve your ball (?) from the nether world, I shall retrieve your mallet (?) from Ganzer." Gilgameš answered Enkidu: " {If today} {(1 ms. has instead:) If} you are going to go down to the nether world, let me advise you! My instructions should be followed. Let me talk to you! {Pay attention to my words} {(1 ms. has instead:) My words should be followed}!"
184-198. "You should not put on your clean garments: they would recognise immediately that you are alien. You should not anoint yourself with fine oil from a bowl: they would surround you at {its} {(1 ms. has instead:) your} scent. You should not hurl throw-sticks in the nether world: those struck down by the throw-sticks would surround you. You should not not hold a cornel-wood stick in your hand: the spirits would feel insulted by you. You should not put sandals on your feet. You should not shout in the nether world. You should not kiss your beloved wife. You should not hit your wife even if you are annoyed with her. You should not kiss your beloved child. You should not hit your son even if you are annoyed with him. The outcry aroused would detain you in the nether world."
199-204. "She who lies there, she who lies there, Ninazu's mother who lies there -- her pure shoulders are not covered with a garment, and no linen is spread over her pure breast. She has fingers like a pickaxe, she plucks her hair out like leeks."
Unfortunately for Enkidu, he does not follow Gilgamesh's advice and does the exact opposite of the list above. As for me, if I went into the netherworld, I doubt I'd be throwing sticks at the dead people to provoke them. Seems like a bad idea. As a result of Enkidu's actions, he is detained in the Netherworld. Gilgamesh then seeks out a god who will free Enkidu. The God Enki decides to help him.
238-242. He said to the young warrior Utu, the son born by Ningal: "Open a hole in the nether world immediately, and then bring up his servant from the nether world!" He opened a hole in the nether world and brought up his servant with his breeze (?) from the nether world.
243-253. They hugged and kissed. They wearied each other with questions: "Did you see the order of the nether world? -- If only you would tell me, my friend, if only you would tell me!" "If I tell you the order of the nether world, sit down and weep! I shall sit down and weep! ……, which your heart rejoiced to touch, is ……, worms infest it like an old garment (?); like …… of (?) a crevice, it is full of dust." "Alas!" he said and sat down in the dust.
Gilgamesh then proceeds to ask Enkidu about a variety of people who had differing circumstances here on the earth and how they fare in the Netherworld. Almost all of the people live a bleak existence in the Netherworld although somewhat differing due to their lives on earth. It is a very long portion, but here is a small excerpt.
"Did you see him who was eaten by a lion?" "He cries bitterly "O my hands! O my legs!"" "Did you see him who fell down from the roof?" "They cannot …… his bones."} "Did you see the leprous man?" "He twitches like an ox as the worms eat at him." "Did you see him who fell in battle?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "His father and mother are not there to hold his head, and his wife weeps." "Did you see the spirit of him who has no funerary offerings?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "He eats the scraps and the crumbs …… tossed out in the street." "Did you see him hit by a ship's board {(1 ms. adds:) when diving (?)}? How does he fare?" " "Alas, my mother!" the man cries to her, as he pulls out the ship's board ……, he …… cross beam …… crumbs." "Did you see my little stillborn children who never knew existence?" "I saw them." "How do they fare?" "They play at a table of gold and silver, laden with honey and ghee." "Did you see him who died ……?" "I saw him." "How does he fare?" "He lies on a bed of the gods." "Did you see him who was set on fire?" "I did not see him. His spirit is not about. His smoke went up to the sky."
It doesn't seem that the morality of the person determines their fate. It is interesting to see that the stillborn children lives a good life in the netherworld, but the poor chap who was eaten by lions is having a bit of a troublesome time. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the outcome of people's fate in the netherworld. What we do see is that everyone goes there when they die. We also see that it is possible to open up a hole into the netherworld as Utu does to retrieve Enkidu. We also see that it was possible for Enkidu to descend to the netherworld via Ganzer, which is believed to be a palace which is the entrance to the Netherworld.
The Assyrian document, 'The Descent of Ishtar,' gives us a pretty good description of the netherworld. Here, it is described as the land of no return ruled over by Ereshkigal. Ishtar, for some reason, decides to go down to the netherworld and thus we are blessed with a description of that most unpleasant of places.
To the land of no return, the land of darkness,Ishtar, the daughter of Sin directed her thought,Directed her thought, Ishtar, the daughter of Sin,To the house of shadows, the dwelling, of Irkalla,To the house without exit for him who enters therein,To the road, whence there is no turning,To the house without light for him who enters therein,The place where dust is their nourishment, clay their food.'They have no light, in darkness they dwell.Clothed like birds, with wings as garments,Over door and bolt, dust has gathered.
Ishtar is then forced to follow the code as she enters through each of the 7 gates at the entrance of the land of no return. At each gate she is required to remove one piece of her clothing until she is naked at the end of her sojourn. Ishtar's sister, Ereshkigal then proceeds to imprison her and she is afflicted with all sorts of disease. Unfortunately for the people back on the surface, Ishtar was the goddess of fertility, love, and war. Thus, things aren't going so good on the mating front.
After the lady Ishtar had gone down into the land of no return,The bull did not mount the cow, the ass approached not the she-ass,To the maid in the street, no man drew near. The man slept in his apartment,The maid slept by herself.
Naturally, the gods are not pleased with the situation and force Ereshkigal to free Ishtar. What we can learn from this is very consistent with the other texts we have read regarding the underworld. It is a very bleak place where all the dead end up. There is no light, dust and clay is their food, they are clothed with wings (which is probably not meant as a nice thing), and there is dust on the doors and bolts (which suggests that the doors have not been opened and will not be opened). With such a bleak view of the afterlife, it is not surprising that the Mesopotamians put a lot of stock in the life they lived on the surface, for it is here that they can have a life of freedom and joy. The afterlife was nothing to be desired.
There is an Egyptian work called "The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness" which dates somewhere between 1200 and 1300 B.C. It is the story of Ra, who is associated with the Sun as it travels overhead (in fact he was the sun, he travelled in a boat through the sky). At night, Ra travels through the underworld, through the 12 countries, guided by goddesses. It is interesting to note that Ra dies every night, descends into the netherworld, and is then resurrected on the other side to go through the sky again. That in itself is very interesting for obvious Christological reasons, but we will leave that for now as it is beyond the scope of this already overly long post. As Ra passes through the netherworld (Duat), we are treated to a very robust description of all that goes on there.
"Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their habitations, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra."
We find out from this section, that the dead lie in the Duat. Again, this is where all the dead reside. This is consistent with the Mesopotamian idea of the underworld. However the Egyptians do have some provisos and conditions set up under which your fate in the Duat is determined. In the third country we find the kingdom of Osiris.
Great is Osiris, god of the dead, for all who die come before him for judgement, and their hearts are weighed in the balance against the feather of Truth. His throne is set upon a running stream, clear and deep, and form the waters rises a single lotus-blossom, the colour of the sky at morning. Upon the blossom stand the four Children of Horus, they who assist Osiris at the Judgement, who protect the bodies of the dead. To them belong the South and the North, the West and the East, and the four great goddesses are their protectors. They stand upon the lotus-blossom and their faces are toward Osiris; the first has the face of a man, the second the face of an ape, the third the face of a jackal, and the fourth the face of a bird of prey. This is the hour which evil-doers fear; by their own actions are they judged, and naught can avail them. Heavy is the heart of the evil-doer and drags down the scale; lower and lower it sinks till it reaches the jaws of Amemt, the Devourer of Hearts. Then is the evil-doer driven forth into the thick darkness of the Duat, to dwell with the abominable Apep and to fall at last into the Pits of Fire."
"But some there are who have wrought righteousness upon earth; who have hurt no man by fraud or violence; who have succoured the widow, the orphan, and the shipwrecked mariner; who have given food to the hungry and clothes to the naked; who have not stirred up strife, nor caused the shedding of tears. When these come to the Judgment of Osiris, and their hearts are put in the balance, then is the feather of Truth the heavier. The scale with the feather sinks down, and the scale with the heart rises up. Then does Thoth, the twice-great, take the heart and place it again in the breast of the man, and Horus takes him by the hand and leads him to the foot of the throne of Osiris that he may dwell in the kingdom of Osiris for ever and for evermore.
Here we can see that one's fate depends upon their morality in this life. This is very consistent with the concept of Heaven and Hell that we know of, right down to the pit of fire. We have a description of the pit of fire later on in this text. It is in the eleventh country called the Mouth of the cavern.
"This is the region feared by evil-doers, for their punishment awaits them here. Far and near are pits of fire; goddesses, whose breath is flame, guard the pits, holding in their hands gleaming swords of fire. With their knives do they torment the wicked and cast them into the pits of flame till they perish utterly. Horus stand by and beholds their torments, for these are the enemies of Osiris and of Ra, doers of evil upon the earth and blasphemers of the gods. No help can come to them, no escape is possible; doomed are they by their own actions to the sword and fire. And the smoke and flame of their torment rise up in the Duat."
It is interesting that the Egyptians and their Mesopotamian neighbours differed in regard to the Netherworld. Both agree that it lies below the earth (keeping in mind that their vision of the world is that seen in the diagram of my first post), but the Mesopotamian concept places all the dead in the same place, regardless of any morality issues whereas the Egyptians have a definite judgment upon evildoers and reward for the righteous. Why would they differ? One theory is as follows. In Egypt, the Nile provided a constant source of water every year with its consistent inundations. This could be predicted and taken advantage of. Through this, agriculture flourished and the Egyptians wanted for nothing in regard to food. Their lives were very stable, and (depending on your status) enjoyable. As such, their view of the afterlife reflected somewhat their view of their current world. Since the world they lived in was not so bleak, they imagined that this would only continue on into the afterlife. Thus, their idea of the afterlife is one of optimism for those who are righteous, and punishment for those who were immoral on earth.
On the other hand, in Mesopotamia life was never easy. They lived in constant fear of natural disasters such as flash floods which could destroy crops in an instant. The Tigris and Euphrates were not nearly as predictable as the Nile, and thus life was not as easy for the Mesopotamians as it was for the Egyptians. They had little time for erecting great monuments like the Egyptians did, as they had to spend their time just trying to survive and scrape a living. We can see that the Mesopotamians were very much on the search for a reason for why life was so hard. We can see from their literature that they give many reasons for their suffering, all of which eventually lead back to the gods. What we do know is that life was not easy. Thus, their idea of the afterlife is consistent with their current lives. If life is hard now, that continues into the afterlife, if not worse. Thus, perhaps their view of the netherworld being a place of bleakness and horror was a way for them to appreciate the world that they were in.
Having looked at the Mesopotamian and Egyptian views of the Netherworld and the afterlife, we will now turn to the Israelites and Sheol. Did their views coincide with those of their neighbours? Do we see a consistency with the idea of heaven and hell spoken of in the New Testament? We will seek to answer these questions in the following section.
The first mention of Sheol in the Bible is in Genesis 37:35. It is when Jacob believes that his son Joseph has died. "Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him." This does not tell us anything about Sheol in particular, other than he will go down to Sheol in mourning. Perhaps he is suggesting that he will mourn for his son until he dies and joins him in Sheol. From this we are led to believe that the location of Sheol, like the rest of the Ancient Near Eastern beliefs, is below the earth.
In Numbers 16:30, 33 we find that it is possible for God to open up a hole to Sheol in the same manner that Utu did to retrieve Enkidu. However, in this case it is a punishment and people are sent to Sheol, rather than a rescue mission. "But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly." This again affirms the location of Sheol, and also that the dead go there. In this case, it is noted in the text that this was a special occasion as they descended alive into Sheol. Also, Sheol must not have been a very nice place as this is depicted as a punishment to be going there, not a reward.
In 1 Samuel 2:6, God is depicted as having the power to send people to Sheol, and to raise them out of Sheol. So, as he sent the assembly into Sheol, he also has the power and authority to raise them out. " The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up." This is consistant again with Enki and Utu bringing Enkidu out of Sheol. However Job 7:9 contradicts this idea. "When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up." Thus it would seem that there is somewhat contradictory ideas about whether or not someone can be raised from Sheol. Granted, Job is feeling somewhat down in the dumps here and is not remembering God's power.
The book of Job actually gives us some of the greatest descriptors of Sheol which seem to be consistant with the Mesopotamian version of the underworld.
Job 17:13"If I look for Sheol as my home,I make my bed in the darkness;
Job 17:16"Will it go down with me to Sheol?Shall we together go down into the dust?"
Here the description of Sheol is the same that we would find in the Descent of Ishtar. Darkness and dust make up Sheol. There is no mention of pits of flame as in the Egyptian version either. However, in some references, the morality issue is the same as the Egyptians.
Job 24:19"Drought and heat consume the snow waters,So does Sheol those who have sinned.
Psalm 9:17The wicked will return to Sheol,Even all the nations who forget God
There are many more references like this. However, there seems to be some conflicting messages as there are other references which denote that every person's destiny is Sheol. An example of this is the first reference in the Bible where Jacob says that he will go down to Sheol and there is no mention of a moral precept. Here are some more.
Psalm 89:48What man can live and not see death?Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Ecclesiastes 9:10[ Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do ] Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
One very obvious example of how even a moral man who has lived an upright life goes down to Sheol is found in Isaiah 38. Here, Hezekiah becomes mortally ill and cries out to God.
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3and said, "(D)Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have (E)walked before You in truth and with a (F)whole heart, and (G)have done what is good in Your sight " And Hezekiah (H)wept bitterly.
God then changes his mind and adds 15 years on to his life. However, we find this that was written by Hezekiah after he was cured of his illness.
A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:10I said, "(N)In the middle of my life I am to enter the (O)gates of Sheol; I am to be (P)deprived of the rest of my years."11I said, "I will not see the LORD, The LORD (Q)in the land of the living; I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
So we find that even a moral man believed that if he died he would enter Sheol. It is also interesting that the entrance to Sheol is described as having Gates, the same as the Mesopotamian and Egyptian versions.
If one looks to 1 Enoch for an explanation, there Sheol is described as being divided into 4 sections according to the varying degree of morality within the particular human. The first section being where the righteous are kept, the last where the wicked are tormented who do not even warrant a resurrection. The rest are kept there until the day of judgement.
Another interesting component of Sheol that seperates it from the idea of Hell in the New Testament is that God's presence can still be seen in Sheol. Psalm 139:7,9 "(A)Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?8(B)If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (C)You are there." Thus it would seem that this is not the hell of the New Testament.
The Old Testament documents do not give us any detailed description of Sheol the way we see in the other Ancient Near Eastern texts. There are obscure references to it here and there throughout the Old Testament, often in disagreement with one another. Either everyone knew about Sheol, or the Israelites did not consider it important. It is my opinion that they borrowed their ideas of the underworld from their neighbours of Egypt and Mesopotamia (and had some original ideas such as with Enoch, although one could find that parallel in the Egyptian tradition as well) at the whim of the author. Sometimes Sheol seems very much like the Mesopotamian version of the underworld, and other times like the Egyptian version. Likely, the Israelites did not have a fleshed out idea of Sheol but used the concept to suit their purposes of the time. One thing we can know for certain is that Sheol is nothing like the hell described in the New Testament.
What sort of theological consequences will arise from this? If one looks at the concept of Sheol, it certainly does not resemble the idea of hell that is talked about in the New Testament documents. How does one resolve this? I am not going to talk in detail about hell as Jesus spoke about it (as it is not within my circle of knowledge where I am comfortable). However, I will mention a few things (and if those reading this who know more about this than I do could please comment and enlighten the rest of us, that would be great). I will do my best to give an overview of some of the problems as I know them.
From what I know, the term for hell in greek (like I have time to learn greek) is gehenna. Gehenna was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. Why Jesus used this term to describe the fiery inferno to which the wicked are damned is unknown to me. There are a couple of options here. Option one: Jesus used the term gehenna which was the garbage dump to describe the very real place where the wicked are damned and tortured for all eternity. Option number two: Jesus was speaking metaphorically about the afterlife, and in reality, hell is merely death, and not obtaining eternal life. If any of you can think of more options, please post them in the comments. It is not all that crazy to think that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. We find Jesus almost always speaking in parables and not talking straight about anything. Would it be so strange that he is doing the same thing here?
We have strayed slightly from our topic of Sheol, but I felt it important to talk a little bit about hell in the New Testament. If Sheol and hell are not the same thing as most fundamentalists would believe, what would that mean theologically? It would mean that the concept of hell was not known to the Ancient Israelite as it was known to the one listening to Jesus, or for that matter us as we read the Bible. Thus, it would seem, that the theology of hell and the afterlife is both progressive in nature and not consistent throughout the Bible. From this, it is my opinion that a belief in the literal existance of hell is not a necessary component to Christianity. If you do believe in a literal hell I would not argue with you. If you didn't believe in hell, I would not argue with you. From the evidence presented to us from the Biblical texts as well as the surrounding neighbours literary history, we can see that the concept of the afterlife and hell is not consistent and thus cannot be proved. If you do want to believe in hell, you will have to do so on faith, not on biblical textual evidence. I would also cut a little bit of slack to the Jehovah's Witnesses who come to your door and explain that they don't believe in hell, but only in death (clarification: this statement is not a proponent of all of their beliefs, just this one issue).
Do I think there is a hell? I don't not believe it, but I also leave room for the fact that it may not exist. Really, how could I know for sure? This issue is not important for me. After researching the evidence, it seems that one can believe either way and be just fine. Let's just not make a fuss about it with each other and embarass ourselves in front of the rest of the world.
Seeing as how this is the Halloween season, I thought it appropriate to talk about the topic of Necromancy, or the ability to contact the dead. Naturally, most Christians' response to this is that it is impossible, and that the act of contacting the dead is demonic, and that the dead being spoken to are just demons.
