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At the close of my second lecture on the Creation, I alluded but briefly to the creation of the human species, yet even the little that has been advanced, is quite sufficient to shew, that as a created being, man was endowed with such distinctive characteristics, which not only raise him iinniea- surably above the level of the other created creatures, but likewise utterly i)recludes the supposition of generic affinity with anv other genus But whilst there are but few, if indeed any, who deny the great superiority of man over the most r.oble of the liriite creation, there ap[)oar to be still some wlio seem to have a doubt as to the full msaning of the sacred writer's language, "Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness," '• And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, and man became a livino: soul ;" and hence whilst some raerelv entertain a doubt whether the immortality of the soul is tauglit in the Old Testament, there are again others who boldly deny that such a doctrine has a place in those writings at all. Now this o[)inion is by no means a novel one : it is but a shoot from the roots of an old trunk still retaining a little vitality. The Sadducees, one of the three sects of the ancient Jews, who, although they did not deny that man possessed a reasonable soul, still held that this soul was not immortal, and cons-equently denied likewise the future reward and punishment in another life. And yet, strange as it may 8 LECTURE III. appear, of all the books of the Old Testament Sci'iptures, the Books of Moses were regarded by them as the most sacred ; indeed, many writers accuse them of rejecting all the books of the Jewish canon except the Pentateuch : an accusation which I think is altogether groundless. Nor can it be said that this sect had no eminent and learned men among its 1 ranks, for not only was this sect largely represented in the Sanhedrim or Jewish ])arliament, but some of its adherents even attained to the office of high priest. The views of the Sadducees, seem now and then to have cropjjed out in the Christian Church as is evident from the following ])apal edict : ' ' Some have dared to assert concerning the nature of the reasonable soul, that it is mortal ; we, with the approbation of the sacred council, do condemn and reprobate all such ; since according to the canon of Pope Clement the Fifth, the soul is immortal ; and we strictly inhibit all from dogmatizing otherwise ; and we decree that all who adhere to the like erroneous assertions shall be shunned and i)unished as heretics." — Fnpe Leo X, in Council oj Lateran {Caranza p. 412 ed. 1G81). Evei\ to this day there are some found among tlie Jews — though they are certainly not very numerous —who still hold the views of the Sadducees ; but of course they are looked upon as heretics. It appears then from what we have just stated, that in the opinion of some the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is not distinctly enough set forth in the Old Testament Scrii>tare, at least to satisfy their minds, whilst in the opinion of others it is not tjiuglit at all. I purpose, therefore, in the following pages to examine carefully the various passages occurring in the Hebrew Scriptures bearing upon this all important subject. The dotrine of the immortality of the soul must necessarily . have its foundation in the creation of man. If Adam, our |[ A I * 1 i i I LECTURE III. 9 .1 . * ( * first parent, was created an immortal being, tlien the immor- tality of the soul can no longer be questioned. Now, a mere glance at the language which the sacred writer employs in introducing the narrative of the creation of man. Gen, i. 2Q, not merely shews at the very outset the superior dignity and pre-eminence of man above all other :)reatures, but likewise the great solemnity and importance which Scrii)tuve attaches to this creative act, All other creatures were called into existence by the fiat of God, '' Let the earth bring forth grass," '' Let the earth bring forth the living creatures ;" but here, God is first represented as taking solemn counsel with himself. '' Let us make Q'lJ^ (Adum) man, in our image, after our likeness." Here, then, it may be asked. If man was to be merely a creature that was to live and die like any other of the created beings, why should his creation be ushered in with such great solemnity ? In what does his superiority consist? If man, \i\)on earth, is merely such a transient being as the Psalmist describes hiui : " Behold Thou hast made my days as a handbreath ; and mine age is as nothing before Thee : verily, man at his best estate is alto- gether '^iQli (hevel) a bre:ith or vapour. (Ps. xxxiv. C, J'Jng. vers. V. 0.) Or if, as far as his body is concerned, he is, after all, only such a miserable and despicable being, that he is oompared to a worm 1 " How much less man, that is a worm, and the son of man, which is a worm." (Job xxv. 5.) Hap- pily the sacred record does not leave us to mere conjecture on tliis important point, but informs us distinctly, and in language that cannot possibly be mistaken, what constitutes man altogether a superior order of being, in that he bears the impress of Deity, he being created in the very image and likeness of God. The Hebrew terms Q^^C (^^'^/em) "image," and f^T^'^ (demuth) ''likeness," here employed, do not •essentially differ in meaning : they are only used together in mssa^ 10 LECTURE III. accordance with a common Hebrew usage of using two synony- mous terms to give emi)hasi8 to the expression. The term Q^j^ (Jldam) is here emiik^yed as a generic name of mankind, and was, according to Gen. v. 2, given by God himself. " Male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name '[]^;»^ (Adam) man, in the day when they were created." The word is never found with a plural form, but the singular, as in the })ass;ige before us, is, throughout Scripture, frequently used in a collective sense to denote the whole human race. If the sacred writer's design to ex- press mfiM distributively, they employ either the expi'cssion uli^ "1^^ (benei Adam) sons of man, or they use the])lural of "t^i^ (^•'^^0 <^^' uJ^iji^ (onosh), which are other terms denoting man As regards the derivation of the term Q'^js^ (Adam) there prevail three o))inions. Some derive the word from Jl^^lU^ (adamah) ilie ground, in reference to Adam being formed of the dust of the ground. To this derivation it may, however, be justly objected, that in this case the term IQ'^^ (Adam) would be as applicable to the ''beast of the field " and the "fowl of the air," which were likewise formed from the ground, according to Gen. ii 19, and would therefore form no distinctive appellation of the humm species. Further, in the account of the creation of man, his earthly ^rigin is not so much dwelt upon as his heavenly origin. In Gen. i. 27, where the creation of man is first spoken of, his earthly origin is not as much as alluded to, " So God created t]'^;5^rj (Haiidam), the man, in His image, in the image of God He created him." And so again in Gen. v. 1,2, where this crea- tion is again referred to. It is only in ch. ii. 7, where the creation of man is more fully described, that his earthly origin is mentioned. To this may be added that it is quite against the genius of the Hebrew language to derive masculine > J . LECTURE III. 11 . J . from feminine nouns. Tn the Hebrew language the masculine nouns are of the simplest form, and from them the corre- sponding feminine nouns are derived, as '^gi^j^ (ish) a man, niTli^ (ishshah) a vjonian, ^^5 (niiar) a hoy, n"l5'5 (naarah) a girl, but not vice versa, a peculiarity which seems to intimate the fact of the priority of man's creation. Now as H^OTli^ (adamah) the ground, is a feminine noun ; it would be altogether against this rule to derive the term Q'^j^ (Adam), which is masculine, from it. By far the more numerous writers, however, derive the term 'Q^^ (Adam) from the verb QT>^ (adam) to be red or ruddy, in i-eference to the ruddy or Jle^^li tint of the countenance peculiar fo the Caucasian race. Now, whilst there can not be the slightest objection to sueli a derivation on a i>hilological groutid, still, there is this great objection, as the term is a genei-ic term of the human species, honce it would not be an a[)propriate one as to a very large portion of the human family. Indeed, the Chinese represent man as being formed from yellow earthy whilst tlu^ red Indians to suit their colour, say that he was formed from rei] earth. It ai)pears to me, therefore, that the Nvord tjlJj^ (Adam) would be more suitably derived from the verb X\y^ (damah) to resemble, to he (dike, because he was created l^^nbi^ i1T3lIl (bidmuth Eluhim) "in the likeness of God," ("Gen. v. 1 .) the Hebrew word for '* likeness^' being also derived from the verb n73T (damah) to he cdike- The letter ^ (aleph) in the word Q^;*^ (Adam) must be taken as a furmative letter employed sometimes in forming nouns from the verb, as niH'^i^ (arbeh) a locust, from nH'l (ravah) to midti/ply, mzi^ (ekdach) a ^'parUimj gem, from nip (kadach) to kindle. In verse 27, where the sacred writer records the creation of man, although the Iginguage slightly differs from that em- 12 LECTURE III, ployed in the preceding verse, is, nevertheless, no less em- phjitic : " So God created Q^^n (Haadam) the man in his own image, in the image of God created He him." The term which, in the preceding verse was used to designate the human species, is here given to its tyjye, the first man. The translators have rendered, " So God created man," omitting the article wliicli, in H(;brew, is sometimes used with a common appellative noun, in order to restrict its ap])lication to a particular object which is pre-eminent over all others of its class. Thus ^TX^ (Nahar) a river, but '^n^;^ (Hannahar) tJie river, i.e., the Eu()hrates — Gen. xxxi. 21. \l2'i^ (Satan) an adversary, but 'l'[^'jj;jn (Hassatan) tJie adversary, i.e., Satan — Job i. G. *|in3n (Hakkohen) the iwiest, i.e., the high priest — Exod. xxix. 30. So, in the passage before us, the article is employed by way of pre-eminence to indicate that Adam was the man who was created by the immediate act of God Himself. In a similar and most unaccountable manner the translators have omitted the article in Isa. vii. 14, and rendered, "Behold a virgin shall conceive," instead of " 5-;>355?il (Hrudmah) the virgin." The omission of the article is a great mistake, as it especially points out " the virgin" of whom Immanuel was to be born. But it may be asked, as God is a Spirit, in what can it be said that man bears the image and likeness of God ] Certainly not as far as his bodily form is concerned. The answer to this question is found in Gen. ii. 7, where the creation of man is more fully described; "And the Lord God formed Q'^jj^J^ (Haadam) the man, (or the Adam) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils Q*''^n in)3125D (Nishmath Chayyim) the spirit of life, and D^U^ri (Haadam), the man, became a living creature." We have here two distinct acts mentioned : first, the forming of the body " of the dust of the ground ;" hence, so far as the > « i" LECTURE III. 13 ♦ • ♦ «' . * body is concerned, it is merely dnat ; and, therefore, it is said, ch. iii. 19, " For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." The other direct act is the breathing "into his nostrils the spirit of life," which is immediately followed by the words, " And man became a living creature," thereby indicating not only that it was the spirit of life which animated the lifeless dust, but also that it has nothing what- ever in common with the body, the two being quite distinct ; and hence Solomon says, that when "the silver cord is loosed," i.e., the nervous system made of silver threads, " and the golden bowl be broken, i.e., the lamp of life, which is here represented to fall to the ground when the cord by which it hangs is loosed, and is then broken in pieces. " And the bucket be broken at the fountain, and broken the wheel at the cistern." The same idea is here repeated under a differ- ent figure. When such mishaps befall the water apparatus, no more water is to be had ; so, likewise, when tlu; ii])par;itus for breathing is broken, the breath must necessarily cease. "Tlien sluill the dust return to the earth as it was ; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." — Eccl. xii. It is also worthy of notice here, that man did not become "a living creature " by God merely breathing upon him, but he having '' the spirit of life " breathed "into his nostrils,"^ hence Daniel speaks of his body as " the sheath of his spirit.^^ " I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my n!Dl5 (Nidneh) sheath," (Eng. vers. <'body;" but in the margin the literal rendering, "sheath," is given,) Dan. vii., 15. Hence, too, St. Paul says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,* and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you]" — 1 Cor. iii. 16. The body is the temple, the spirit the dweller. It is related of an ancient philosopher, who was slighted Viy Alexander the Great, on account of his ugly face, to have i«MH«M«i*M^fi«^Mi 14 LECTUllE III. answered tliat inonarcli, " The body of man is nothing but a scabbard of a sword in which the soul is put up." See de Uerhelot, Biblioth, Oi'tentale, p. G42. But what I would here particularly wish to draw the readers' attention to is, that the English word, " breath," employed in the passage under consideration in the English version does not convey the true meaning of the Hebrew word, }l^''i2J5 (nt^- shaniah), which, according to Scripture usage, denotes God's own spirit. In order to make this point more clear to the reader, it is necessary to observe that there are two other words in Hebrew, namely, '[JJg^ (nephesh) and )-;r)-| (ruach), which are, in the authorized version, sometimes rendered by breath, spirit, or soul, so that from our authorized version it would be impossible to know which of these words are era- ployed in the original in any given passage, But those two words liav(i, in common with most other Hebrew words, various other shades of meanings, and are tsven applied to animals, which is not the case with the word ^^''iJS (*^^" shumah), which is only ap[)lied to God, and to man as pos- sessing a soul which is the spirit of God. As this is a very imi)ortant point, I will adduce a few examples. And first, the word, '^jg^ (nephesh), is applied to all kinds of animals, as Gen. i. 24, " And God said : Let the earth bring forth (nephesh chayyah) living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind." So also ch. ii. 19, "and whatsoever Adam called every (nephesh chayyah) living creature that was the name thereof" Sometimes the w^ord is employed to denote li/e, as Exod. xxi., 23. '' And if any mischief follo;^, then shalt thou give (nephesh tachatli nephesh) life for life'* It is further used to express the personal pronouns, as Numb, xxiii., 10 : •' Let (naphshi) me die the death of the righteous.'' So Job xxxii. 2, " Against Job was his wrath kindled, because he I '( * I I* 1 LECTURE HI. 15 • * ^' -4 justified (naphshu) himself rather than God." It is even used to denote the dead, or dead body, as Lev. xxi., 1 : *' Then shall none be defiled (iSnepl'i^sh) for the death among his people.' So verse 11 : "Neither shall he go to any (nejihCsh meith) dead hodyy The word is, however, un- questionably sometimes used to denote tlie spirit or soid, as for instance. Gen. xxxv. 15 : " And it came to pass that when (naph..hah) her soul was in departing." So 1 Kings, xvii. 21 : "Let now (nephesh) the soul of this child return into him again." In like manner the word pj?|*| (riiach) has various shades of meanings. Thus, it denotes the S/drit of God, as Gen. i. 2, ''And (ruach) the Spirit of God moved u})on the face of the waters." Again it is used to denote t!ie laind, as Gen. viii. 1, " And God made (ruach) a ivind to })ass over the earth." In Eccles. iii. 19, it is api)lied to inau and beasts, *' For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth the beasts ; even one thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dietli the other ; yea, they have all one (rujich) hreath.'^ So again v. 21, "Who knoweth (ruach) the spirit oi man that goeth u})v/ard, and (rmich) /he s])irit of the beast that goetli downward to the earth." The word H/^'lSD (weshamah) on the conti-ary, as we have stated, is only applied to God and man. Let us examine a few passages where it occurs. In Deut. xx. IG, we read, "But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God hath given thee for an inheritance, thou shalt not save alive any (ncshamah) human bcitv/,'^ i. e., any one that has (neshamah) the soul or spirit of God within him. The ren- dering of the English version "nothing that breathed" is a free rendering, and might lead to the supposition that it included also the animals ; but the following verse distinctly shews that the term (neshamah) only refei*s to human brings : " But 1 16 LECTURE III. thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely the Hittites, and the Amorites,^^ iVc. In accordance with this conunand we read Josh, X. 40, that Joshua *' left none emaininr,', hut utterly destroyed every (nesl.aniah) Jmman being,'' (English veraion again, "all that breathed.") See also 1 Kings xv. 29, xxvii. 17. It will thus be seen, that in these ])assages human brings are designated by the very term which is employed in Gen. ii. 7, as having been breathed into the nostrils of Adam by ■which he became " a living creature.'''' But further, Isaiah speaks of man as having this (noshamah) spirit within him ; "Cease ye from man whose (nCshamah) ,«;;>>/< is in his nostrils : Is. ii, 22. So again ch. xlii. o. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it ; he that giveth (neshamah) spirit unto the people upon it, and (ruach) life to them that dwell therein." And the book of Psalms closes with the beautiful exhortation, '' Let every (hanneshamah) human being praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." (English version, " Let every thing that hath breath.")— Ps. cl. G. In Job xxxiii. 4, the term (noshamah) is spoken of as the spirit of the Almighty that giveth life ; " The spirit of God (j'uach eil) hath made me, and (uishraath shaddai) the S2nrit of the Almighty hath given me life." Besides the passages above quoted, the term {neshamah) occurs only in the following places in the Old Testament : namely, Gen. vii. 22, 2 Sam. xxii. 15, Job iv. 9, xxvi. 4, xxvii. 3, xxxii. 8, xxxiv. 14, xxxvii. 10, Ps. xviii. 16 (Eng. vers.v. 15), Prov.xx. 27, Is. Ivii. IG, Dan. v. 23, x. 17.t The reader, on referring to these passages, will find that the term in question, in every instance, is either applied to God or man. t The above quotations are taken from Furst's Hebrew Concordance, the most perfect Concordance ever published. LECTURE III. 17 In Gen. vii. 22, the term seems, at first sight, as if a]>par- entlv also extended to the animals ; but on a closer examina- tion of the passage, and when taken in connection wil Ii the preceding verse, it will be found that snch is not the case. The passage, beginning at verse 21, reads, ** And all flesh died that raoveth upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth npon the earth ; and every man." Then verse 22, *' All in whose nostrils was Q'lin H^"! tT'SlUD (ji'^shimdh runch chciyyim) the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was in the dry land, died." The expression, " /n lohose nostrils iras the breath of the s'pirit of life,'' evidently is only explanatory of "every man," at the end of verse 21 ; for the destmction of the animals has already been described in the foriDsM' part of verse 21. The sacred writer, having stated that all inferior animals had perished, then goes on to say, " And every man, every one in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life ;" and in order to make the declaration more emj)hatic, he adds, " of all that was in the dry land died." In the original we may remark also the phrase, " and every man," at the end of verse 21, is separated from what precedes by one of the two chief pause accents in the language, which shows that this phrase forms an independent sentence : in the English version it is punctuated by a comma, instead of a semicolon or colon, which are the proper equivalent to the Hebrew accent. I have rendered also the term I^Vjrrj^ (nSshamah) by human beings to show that it refers exclusively to man, as the rendering '■Hiving creature,'' or ^Hiving bein<^," given in the Lexicons, or " every thing that hath breath" given in the Engliali version, might be taken as including the animals also. From the foregoing remarks it is evident that f^)^';^^ (neshamah) is a special term reserved to designate the Spirit 18 LECTURE III. of God^ and the spirit of man, wliich jit once indicates the close affinity of man with his Creator ; and it is the possession of this spirit which so immeasurahly exalts man above all other creatures, hence the Psalmist exclaimed ; " For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with honour and glory," Ps. viii. G, (English version, v. 5.) And here it is proper to state, that the word rendered "angels" in the original is, Qip;^;}^ (^/oZt/wi) God, one of the ajipellations of the Deity, and is j)recisely the same which is employed in Gen. i. 2G : " And (Elohim) God said, let ns make man." The rendering " angels " is, how- ever, autliorized by St. I'aul who, in quoting this [lassage in his Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. ii. ", has given that nunniing. And, indeed, the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Syriac versions, have likewise rendered Elohim in Ps viii. G, by anyeh, from whicli it is quite evident that the term was sometimes used in this accessary signification. Most motlern critics and commentators, and among them Gesenius, Ewald, De Wette, howevei-, still persist in translating, "Thou hast made him a little lower than God." It is also evident, thatby tlie receiv- ing of this [neshmnaJh) spirit, man not only became a rational being, but likewise also a responsible being, '' Surely," says Elihu, " there is {ruadt) a spirit in man ; and (nlshmath shaddai) the spirit of the Almighty givith him understand- ing ;" Job xxxii. 8. It is the possession of the (nCshamah) spirit which God breathed in the nostrils of Adam, that constitutes man but a little inferior to the angels, and it is this neshamah which gives him the understanding to know his relationship to God. Dr. T upper seems to have been fully impressed with the force and importance of the words of the sacred writer recorded in Gen. ii. 7, " and he breathed into his nostrils % ♦ f fi > N ' ( ♦ LECTURE III. 19 the spirit of life," when he penned the following graphic and beautiful lines on the immortality of the soul : — " Gird up thy mind to contemplation, trembling habitant of the earth : Tenant of a hovel for a day, thou art heir of the universe for over ! For neither the congealing of the grave, nor gulfing waters of tho firmament, NorcxpanHivo airs of Heaven, nor dissipative fires of Gehenna, Nor rust of rest, nor wear, nor waste, nor loss, nor chance, nor change, Shall avail to quench or overwhelm the spark of soul within thee ! Thou art an imperishable leaf on tho evergreen bay-tree of existence ; A word from Wisdom's mouth, that cannot be unspoken ; A ray of Love's own light ; a drop in Mercy's sea ; A creation, marvellous and fearful, begotten by the fiatofOmnipo- I that speak in weakness, and ye, that hear in charity, [tence. Shall not cease to live and feel, though flosh may see corruption ; For the prison gates of matter shall be broken, and the shackled soul go free." Ziegler, an eminent German writer, has also very per- tinently remarked on the passage in Gen. ii. 7, "The breath of God became the soul of man ; the soul of man, there- fore, is nothing but the breath of God. The rest of the world exists through the word of God ; man, through this peculiar breath. His breath is the seal and pledge of our relation to God." That Adam was created an immortal being is further distinctly implied in the sentence pronounced upon our first parents for their disobedience, otherwise the words, " in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," would be altogether meaningless. Dr. Kalisch, in treating on Gen. ii. 17, remarks, *' It frequently has been asserted that the Pen- tateuch never alludes to the question of immortality. It treats it, in its innermost bearing, at the very beginning 20 LECTUllE III. of GeucHis. It seems, tlierofore^ perfectly erroneous to main- tain that man was born mortal and slioulJ remain mortal. If this were the intention of the text, the threat of God, *♦ when thou eatest tlicreof thou ahalt surely die," would have no meaning. For these words do not contain a menace of instantaneous death ; nor was the punishment Liter ''miti- gated" by the Divine mercy : the first pair lived a very great number of years after the fall ; if they were, therefore, originally mortal, it would have been idle and superfluous to threaten them that they would become so."— Commetitary on Genesis, page 112. Dr. Kalisch is a very able Hebrew scholar, and his o})inion on this point is ])articularly signifi- cant, inasmuch as he frequently advocates views on other essential doctrin . which are by no means orthodox. In the translation of Enoch recorded in Gen. v. 24, who was the first of the human race who ])assed from earth into heaven without tasting death or seeing corruption, we have the strongest proof we can i)Ossibly have of the immor- tality of the soul. Enoch is said to have " walked with God," an expression which implies the closest and most con- fidential intercourse, and indicates a much higher degree of piety than the expression '* to walk before God," Gen. xvii. 1, xiv. 40, or ''to walk after God," Deut. xviii. 9. Indeed, the expression, " to walk with God," occurs only in two other places in the Old Testament, viz.. Gen. vi. 9, where it is said, *'Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." And in Mai. ii. 6, it is said of the priests, vvho by virtue of their sacred office stood in close relation to God, they only being permitted to enter the Holy Place, and have direct intercourse with Jehovah. Now, it must be remembered that Enoch, at the time of his translation, was only three hundred and sixty-five years ' * » I < % » I 1. LECTURE U. 21 old, which in those clays was not tho half of the ordinary life allotted to man. Ilis father, Jarod, for oxainplo, lived " nine hnndrod and sixty and two years." whilst his son Methu- selah reached the age of nine hundred and sixty and nine years," Tho ** taking away " of Enoch, therefore, from this temporal life at so early an age, as a reward for his great piety, can only find its explanation in God, as a loving fatlier, having taken him to his eternal home, tliere to enjoy greater and never-ending hliss : he and Elijah being exempted by God from the common lot of man of seeing death and corrup- tion. To ex})lain the ])assMge, '' for God took him," as merely meaning the removing from earth by the common process of disease and death, as some writers have most absurdly done, would rather have been a jmnishment than a reward for his gi'eat piety, and is altogether inconsistent with the represen- tations which pervade the whole of the Old Testament, where *' length of days " and *' numerous offspring" are constantly spoken of as the rewards in this life. The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, ch. xi 5, distinctly asserts that, *' By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him." In the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom, ch. xliv. IG, and in the Targum of Onkelos, which is a Chaldee translation of the Pentateuch, and which, according to the generally received opinion, was executed about the beginning of the Christian era, the opinion that Enoch was translated to Heaven is likewise distinctly set forth, and so likewise both ancient and modern Jewish commentators have, without an exception, always explained the passage under consideration. Dr. Kalisch has jusly remarked, " We are convinced that the "taking away " of Enoch is one of the strongest proofs of the belief in a future state prevailing among the Hebrews ; with- out this belief, the history of Enoch is a perfect mystery, a -—T 22 LECTURE III. '[ hieroglyph without a due, a commencement without an end." Com. on Ge7i.,p, 185. Kitto is equally explicit ; he observes, " As a reward, therefore, of his extraordinary sanctity he was translated into Heaven without the experience of death. Elijah was, in a like manner, translated, and thus was the doctrine of immortality ^)a?;;a6/?/ taught under the ancient dispensation." JSncydopcedia ; article, A'noch. Delitzsch says, " Enoch and Elijah were translated into eternal life with God without disease, death, and corruption, for a consolation of believers, -^ and to awaken the hope of a life after death." Com. on Gen. Again we find the immortality of the soul distinctly indi- cated in the prediction of the death of Abraham, — Gen. xv. 15, " But thou shalb come to thy fathers in peace ; thou ahalt be buried in a good old age," Here it may be asked, what else can the words, '• thou shalt come to thy fathers," mean, than that he should meet his fathers in the blessed abode of the departed spirits? If the existence of his fathers had ceased with their returning into dust in the grave, the words most assuredly would altogether be meaningless. It will be observed that the return of tlie soul to the abode of the spirits of his fathers, is altogether separated from the burying of the body. We have here two distinct statements. Then, when we turn to ch. xxv. 8, where tlie death of Abra- ham is recorded, we find tlie language there employed still more explicit, '' And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, and full of years; and he was gathered to his people," this surely implies that his people existed, or else how could he possibly be gathered to them 1 But where did they exist ? Surely not in the grave 1 The only place then where this reunion could possibly take place was in ^"^^j^'jj) sheol, i. e., the abode of departed spirits. It is quite evident that the expression, "he was gathered to his people," cannot mean 1* 1 • ] „ LECTURE III. 23 " • » A I * e I « he was buried with his people, for, in verse 9, it is stated that his sons buried him " in the cave of Machpelah, in the tield of Ephron," which was in in the land of Canaan, (compare oh. xlix, 30,) whilst all his fathers died and were buried in Mesopotamia. The patriach Jacob, when overwhelmed with grief at the bereavement of his beloved son Joseph, still found comfort in the hope of meeting him in a future life : "I will go down into sheol unto my son mourning." Gen. xxxvii. 35. In the English version the passage is rendered, '• into tliegrave," but the word in the original is ^li^oj ^^^^^^i which means the abode of departed spirits after death, as I shall hereafter more fully shew, and is an entirely different word from that which strictly denotes the grave, wliich is "nlQp hever. In connection with the evidence above adduced from the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, we may give tliat which is afforded in the Book of Job ; for although we have no direct information as to the time when Job lived; still, from various passages in the book itself, it seems evident tliat Job must have lived before the exodus of the Israelite's froai Egypt. In ch. xlii. IG, it is recorded that Job lived after his trial one hundred and forty years ; and assuming tliat he was about forty years old at the commencement of his trial, seeing that he had seven sons and three daughters already grown up, and the Ibrmer having already se})arate estal)lish- aients, this would give us the age of Job, at his death, to be about one hundred and ninety years, which would certainly j>lace him in the j)atriarchal times ; for Abraliam lived one hundred and seventy-five years, Isaac one hundred and eighty, Jacob one hundred and forty-seven, Joseph one hundred and ten, Moses one hundred and tv/enty-three, Joshua one hundred and ten, thus gradually coming down to the ordinary age allotted to man. Again, the sacrifices which f 24 LECTURE III. Job offers, according to oh. i. 5, are })atriarclial. Job acts as the priest of liis family, the same as the other patriarchs did, which was no longer permissible after the regular institution of tlie priesthood under the Mosaic law. Further, through- out the whole of the book of Job there is no direct reference to any j)ortion of the writings of the great Lawgiver, of which writings Job or his three friends would no doubt have availed themselves in their disputations had they then been in existence. Other arguments might be adduced in support of the great antiquity of the Book of Job, but these will suffice, and I will now proceed to direct the reader's attention to that truly important passage recoixled in ch. xix. 25, 20, 27 : " For I, I know, that my redeemer is living, And at last (or hereafter) he will stand upon the dust. And though after my skin tvorms destroy this body. Yet from my flesh shall I see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not a stranger, Although my reins be consumed within me," The above is a literal traTi^:lation, and it will be seen from the words in italics that the passage is very elliptical. Elliptical expressions are, however, quite common in all the poetical writings of the Old Testament, but especially in the more strictly poetical books, viz., the Book of Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon; and as they usnally arise from the desire to obtain a pointed brevity in the mode of expression, they are, therefore, of frequent occurrence in animated declarations. In most cases, however, the context easily suggests the word which has been omitted There are in the above quotations, also, some expressions which may not appear quite clear to the English reader, and a few remarks upon them may not be altogether unacceptable* *l * (I 4 LECTURE III. 25 The expression, "I, I know," according to the Hebrew idiom is equivalent to, 1 indeed know. " Upon the dust," "Ijg^ b!P {'•"'^ aphar), here employed for upon the earth. Job uses the same expression again ch. xli. 25 (Eng. vers. 33), ** There Ls not upon the dust," (i.e., upon the earth) " his like." " And though after my skin," i. e., after my $kin is destroyed by the loathsome disease with which I am afflicted. The malignant disease with which Job was smitten "lip; 125 ^'1 (shechin ra) was a species of the black leprosy of Egypt, or elephantiasis, so called, partly because the whole body becomes covered with small scaiy inflamed ulcers, which give to the skin the appearance of the elephant's skin, and partly because the disease causes the feet to swell to such an extent, that they loose their flexibility and become stiff and unshapely like those of the elephant. The ulcers gradually cut deeper and deeper and the pain becomes intolerable. The agonizing pain which Job endured from tliis frightful disease, may be gathered from ch. vii., and from many other passages in the book. Yet, notwithstanding all this intense suffering, he still consoles himself that, although his disease should destroy his skin, and worms destroy his body, that at the resurrection of the dead he would still, in his flesh and with his own eyes, see God. I have already stated that by ellipsis, a member of a sen- tence is frequently omitted, and must be supplied from the context. Thus, for example, Psal. v., 4, " in tlie morning I dii'ect my prayer unto thee ;" Job xxvii,, 19, "for we cannot order oiir speech by reason of darkness." And so the reader will almost in every page in the English version, find words in italics, indicating that such words are not in the original. But, some one may ask, why supply in the i)assage under consideration, just the word worms "i I answer, what else can be the subject to the verb " destroy 1" It cannot be I 26 LECTURE III. disease, for the verb rigft^ (nikkejyhu), is the Srdpers. plural, nor can it be enemies, for Job's suffering does not arise from the assailment of enemies, but from a loathsome and most distressing disease. That the introduction of the word *' worms,^^ however, is not arbitrary, is quite evident from ch. vii., 5, where Job himself gives a brief description of the malady with which he is afflicted : " My flesh is clothed with worms, and clods of dust j my skin is broken, and become loathsome." To this we may add, that the Arabic word 'iiaJiiph, which is derived from an malogous verb to that used in Hebrew in the above passage, denotes a trunk of a palm tree eaten hy worms, from which it would appear that when the verb in question is emj)loyed in the sense of to destroy, that both in Heljrew and Arabic it has especially reference to destruction caused by worms. " From my flesh," may be rendered from my body, as the word '^125^ (hdsar) " flesh," is sometimes employed to denote the whole body. See Prov. xiv. 30, Is. x. 18. Having made these few remai'ks on the text, it is in the next place proper to state, that whilst the generality of in- terpreters hold that Job, in the passage before us, undoubtedly sjjeaks of the resurrection of his body and future state, there are yet some writers who see in this famous passage, nothing ^ } more than a prediction of his restoration to health and tem- poral pros],)erity. The latter theory, however, is altogether untenable for several conclusive reasons. In the first place, the expressions, " after my skin he destroyed" — " worms de- stroy this body," — " although my reins be consumed within me," — in themselves indicate an entire dissolution, and the disease which produced these results was incurable, so that Job could have had no expectation of being cured of his malady unless such was effected by a miracle. Secondly, it does in no wise agi-ee with the context. If the reader \vill LECTURE III. 27 •• t A t I peruse the chapter from tlie beginning, he will perceive that Job, in most pitiful language, remonstrates with his friends who had ostensibly como to sympathize with him in his great affliction and to console him, (see ch. ii. 11,) but who in reality by their cruel insinuations that all his calamities can only be accounted for as being punishments for some sin or sins which he must have committed, only a thousandfold more increased his anguish and suffei'ing. Having repeatedly in vain endeavoured to convince his friends by the most powerful arguments, that the just and upright man may at times be destined to sufter the severest calamities, while tlie wicked is frequently very prosperous, Job exclaims, " How long will ye vex my soul and break me in pieces with words V (ver. 2.) Then imploringly adds, " know now," (i. e, con- sider now) that God had overtlii'own me, (ver. 6), He hath stripped me of my glory, (ver. 0), " He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone : and my ho})e has he torn u}) like a tree." Tlie reader will perceive that Jol) speaks of all hopes of recovori/ and restoration to p7'osj)criti/, as torn from him, like a tree that is torn from the ground by its roots, so that it must surely })ei'isli. Under such grief and suffering which should at least have called forth the compassion of his friends and acquaintances. Job most toucliingly laments of his being cruelly deserted by ''kinsfolk" and "familiar friends," by "bosom friends" and "servants;" nay more even by his " wife," though he had most pitifully pleaded with her, (ver. 19.) Nor is this all ; not only do they callously turn their face from his suffering, but they even abhor him, (ver. 19.) This cruel desertion bv those who once were near and dear to him ; and by those who in his prosperity had freely par- taken of his hospitality, brings Job's anguish to its climax, and makes him break forth in the most pitiful ]:)rayer : "28 LECTURE III. " Have pity on me, have pity on me, ye my friends ; For the hand of God bath touched me. Why will ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh ?"— (vv. 22, 23.) As much as to say, why will ye persecute me to such a degree as God i^ersecutes me ; and why not be satisfied with the slanders and reproaches which ye have already showered on me? We must remark here, that to eat the Jlesh of another, is an oriental saying, for calumniatmg and slandering him. An Arabian poet said : '< I am not addicted to slander, or one who devoureth the flesh of his friends." (llamasa, or the A rahian Anthologia, p. 1 59. j The })hraseology is evidently taken from wild beasts rending mercilessly their prey ; and in ch. xvi. 9, 10, the reader will find the image of a furious defamer drawn at full lenijth. I would now ask, whether it is conceivable that the ffrief stricken and forsaken })atriarch, after such an outpouring of sorrow, and declaration of his heli)less and hopeless condition, as is recorded from the beginning of the chapter to the end of the twenty-second verse, could have been inspired by the lust of fame and wealth, to give vent in the same breath to such language, — " Oh that my words were now written ! Oh that they were inscribed in a book ! That with an iron pen and lead, They were graven in the rock for ever !" if the subject which was thus to be handed down to posterity had merely reference to his restoration to health and pros- perity 1 Had Job been the most ambitious of mortals, yet that at such a moment his ambition should suddenly have gained such an ascendancy over him as to become incapable of concealing it, is utterly incredible. '• J k .. f . , . ■^ LECTURE III. 2^ The ardent desire which Job expressed, that his words micht be i-eoorded in tlie most histin^^j manner, can in no other way be accounted for, than the conviction he had of their utmost importance, and of tlieir setting forth a truth uni- versally interesting and of great moment to the whole human race. Hence his wish that his words might be recorded in every mode of writing then known. First, to be '•' written," that is, transmitted in the ordinary way ; secondly, to be '-inscribed in a book," by which Job probably means a book or record such as was lodged for safe keeping in public archives ; at all events, it appears that more care was taken to preserve books or records than with mere ordinar\- writings, hence we tind God commanded Moses to write the victory gained over Amalek, Avhich was the first event in the military history of Isiael, " for a memorial in the book," (Exod. xvii. 14) ; and so Isaiah is commanded, " Now go, write before them on a table, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever." (Is. XXX. 8.) And lastly, he wished his words "to be graven in the rock" as the most durable of all. The practice of cutting or engraving inscriptions in blocks of stone was a common practice amongst the ancient Egyptians, (See Roselliniiii. 3, p. 241.) The Sinaic inscriptions also bear evi- dence of the practice of handing down records in that manner : See Forster's " Sinai Photographed." So does King Mesha's Pillar, which has lately found a new resting place in the Louvre in the part which is devoted to Hebrew antiquities. This pillar, which is of black basalt, and having nearly the same form as the tables of the Decalogue, bears a record referiing to an engagement between Meshak king of Moab. and Jehoram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, (see ii. Kings, iii. 4, &c.) The pillar had remained iii the same position in the country of the Moabites, on the bores of the Dead Sea 30 LECTURE III. for 2,800 years, its inscrii>tion dating back 000 years before the Cliristian era. The third objection, and wliich in itself is fatal to the supposition that the i)assage under consideration merely refers to Job's temporal restoration to health and prosperity is, that the afllicted patriarch nowhere throughout the whole book expresses such a ho})e ; on the contrary, there are many distinct declarations which clearly i)rove that he had no expectation of the removal of those evils which he endured, but by death. That he had given up all hope of a restora- tion to temporal prosperity, is apparent from such passages as the following : — " My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, They are spent without hope ; remember that my life U a breath, Jliue eyes shall no more see anything good. No more shall the eye of him now seeing mc behold me : Thine eyes are upon mo, and I am no more. — Ch.vii. G, 7, 8. Are not my days few ? cease then, Let me alone, that I may be a little ^cheerful. Before I shall go, and shall return no more : Unto the land of darkness and the shadow of death. — Ch. X. 20, 21. My breath is distroyed, my days are cut short, + graves await me." _Ch. xvii. 1. Even after Job hath uttered the passage under conside- ration, he still continues in the same strain, "For I know thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house of assembly for all living." — Ch. xxx. 23. * tli'ibii^l "that I may be cheerful," the rendering of the Enghsh version, "that I may take comfort," does not give the proper meaning of the word. In Arabic, the verb denotes, to shine out again, as the sun after it has been clouded. + t]'^1i2p "graves," here employed for the place of graves, the burying place ; so again ch. xxi. 32. • ♦ \ I . :»aA-^\. '■ • — : — i LECTURE III. 31 « ' 1 I would crave the reader's attention liore to tlie expression, " And to the house of assembly for all living :" it is the place where the de})arted spirits are assembled after death. The rendering of the English version of tho words ^3?"|)2 f^ij^ (heth moed) by '* to the house ai)poiiitod," is not — as any Hebrew scholar will at once see — a proper rendering of the original. Tho word ^3?i^ is not a vcrl), but a noun, signi- fying a meeting, an asscmhlij, as Is. xvi. 13. {harmoed) "the mount of assembly," where English version, " mount of con- gregation." It denotes also an appointed place of assemhli/, as Josh. viii. 10, Lam. ii. 6, Ps. Ixxiv. 4. Besides the noun J-|-i^ (l)eth) is in the genitive, and miist be translated by " house of." It is, therefore, quite clear from the original Hebrew^, that Job here speaks of a 2J^<^^c^ where the dei)artcd spirits are assembled after death. From the few passages above quoted it must now be ai)i>a- rent, that Job never entertained any hope of restoration to health again, nor is it easy to conceive how he could possibly have cherished such a hope, when he must have been perfectly aware that sucli a restoration could only be affected by a direct miracle. Even the less virulent ivliite leprosy was incurable, Moses prescribes no natural remedy for it, though he laid down laws to prevent persons affected with the disease to communicate with persons in health. Tliis care extended even to dead bodies thus infected, which he commanded not to be buried with others. We repeat, therefore, as Job had not entertained any hope of a restoration to health again, his memorable words, " I know that my Kedeemer is living," &c., can only be explained as expressing his conviction in the certainty of a future state, a state of enjoyment in another world; and we can then likewise understand, his expressing so vehemently a desire that these words should be preserved as a memorial for the human race. 32 LECTURE III. TJie following paniphraso in verse of the passage we have just been considering, l)y Thomas Scott, may perhaps not be unacceptable to the reader : — 25 " I know, that Ho whose years can ne'er decay Will from tlic grave redeem my sleeping clay, When the last rolling sun shall leave the skies, He will survive, and o'er the dust arise : 26, 27 Then shall this mangled skin new form assume. This llcsh then liouriah in immortal bloom : My raptured eyes the judging God shall see. Estranged no more, but friendly then to me. How docs the lofty hope my soul inspire ! I burn, 1 faint with vehement desire." But the passage, ^^ e liave just treated on, is by no means the only one in the Book of Job wliicli s})eaks of Si future state. In chapter xiv. 10, 11, 12, we find the following words recorded : — "But nian dieth and passeth away : Yea man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? As the waters fail from the sea. And the stream diminisheth and drieth up : So man lieth down, and riscth not : Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, Nor be aroused out of their sleep." In order that the reader may fully understand the force, and perceive the beauty of the above passage, it is necessary to remark, that the Hebrew word j^n (yam), a sea, is used in a wider sense than our English word sea generally is, inas- much as it is applied to any large collection of water, to a lake however small, or a j^ool ; hence even the large brazen or molten vessel in Solomon's temple, from the large quantity of water which it held, was called the brazen or molten sea. It is sometimes applied to rivers which are accustomed to overflow at a certain part of the year, and thus for a time ' ■ ' LECTURE III. 33 assume the appearance of a sea. Hence it is a})plied some- times to the Hluphrates, (.Tor. li. 30, Zoch. x. 11.) and some- times to tlio Nile. (Ts. xix. 5, Nali. iii. 8.) The Egyjitians, too, from the most ancient times, have called, and do still call the Nile d Bahr {the sea). Now, it is very probable that Job alludes to the rcijular yearlv inundations of the Nile, in the phrase, " As the waters fail from the sea j" or he may allude to some large collection of water which was annnally formed dnring the rainy season in the neighbourhood where he resided, bnt which during tlu^ sunnner entirely dried U}). The last snppositiou is favoured by the following clause : "And the stream dindnishetli and drieth up ;" for here Job un({uestionably refers to one of these noisy temporary streams which rush with great force through the Wadys or valleys of the desert of Arabia during the winter, but which gra- dually entirely disappear as the summer a^jproaches. In ch. vi. 15, Job beautifully com})ares his friends who had been loud in their professions of kindness during his prosperity, but who now, since he is afflicted, have so terribly disap- pointed him, to one of those temporary noisy streams : "My bretlireu (i. e. my friends) are deceitful like a stream, Like a brook of tlie valleys they pass away." During the summer, when they would be of the greatest service to the thirsty travellers, they have disappeared. The force and beauty of the simile, in the passage under consideration, becomes now strikingly apparent. " There is hope for a tree," says Job, (ver. 7,) although it is cut down, there still remains life in the roots, and may send forth sprouts again, (ver. 9.) But it is not so with man, he dies and passes away altogether, and leaves no trace upon the ground, so that it might justly be asked, " where is he T Like the waters of a temporary sea, and of a brook of the X 34 LECTUKU III. valloy -which oiuhivo hut for a short iiinn and tlien ontiroly (lisa|)]i('iU', so that tlio traveller coniiii;^ that way, mi^lit well ask, where are thoy ? Joh miL^ht well have stojipecl with the words, "so man Ii<'th down and riseth no more," for liero the Himile is eomjjleted, as these tem^jorary watei's return no more to their former place, so man does not return again to his earthly home; ; Imt evidtnitly fearing lest his words might be construed to imply a total annihilation of man, he adds : '' Until the lieaveiis nro no more, they shall not nwiiko Nor bo moused out of tlieir sleep." Do these words not imply a resurrection of the body ? Who will answer no 1 Here we may add, that in 8cri})ture, death is frequently spoken of as slcpp, and the rcsiurection, as awaking from sleep. Job, in earnestly longing for death, says : " For now I would have lain down and been quiet : I would have slept, then there would have been rest to me." — (Ch. iii. 13.) So Daniel — •' And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. — (Ch. xii. 2.) So David — " As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness." — (Ps. xvii. 18; Eng. ver. 17.) It is impossible to conceive a more pointed reference to the resurrection ot the dead, than that which is afforded in * the two last quotations. The psalmist declares in the last clause, that his happiness will be complete when he awakes from the slumber of death in the likeness of God. This must be the meaning of the language employed, or it means > i t LECTLMIE III. 35 nothini; at all. I can asHuro the reader the language in the original, altogether foi-hids any other construction being forced upon it. I am quite aware that attempts have been made by some writers to divest the passage of this meaning; and, to give the reader an idea of the ingenuity which has been dis[)layed to elfect it, I will adduce a few examples. Hensler and Ilitzig, explain the passage in question, " I will be satisfied when I awake in the morning with a full assu- rance of Thy presence to deliver me from my enemies." Ewald regards this Psalm as " an evening song, and that the psalmist expresses a hope that on awakening in the morning he may have pleasant views of God." Ilupfeld ex[)lains it, " that as often as the psalmist awakes, the presence of God bursts anew upon him like a sun." But this is sim})ly forc- ing their own suppositions ui)on the language of the sacred writer. In plain words, it is nothing less than trifling with the language of Holy Writ. The Hebrew word, HDl^Stl (temunah), means a likeness or imaje, and nothing else ; and there cannot bo adduced one single instance either from the Hebrew Scrii)tures or any other Hebrew work where it is used in any other sense. The raising of the spirit of Samuel by the necromancer of Endor — not the witch as she is generally called — at the s[)ecial request of Saul, also clearly proves that the belie/ of the iin- mortalitij of the soid was at that time a firmly established faith amonir the ancient Jews. No one reading the narrative recorded in 1 Sam. xxviii. can come to any other conclusion than that the whole was a real transaction, and that the sacred writer himself regarded it as such, for he represents the woman as having actually seen Samuel, and that Samuel had really spoken to Saul, giving the very words which were uttered on that occasion. There is not the slightest hint in the whole narrative from which it miijht be inferred that it was not T 36 LECTURi: III. tlie ghost of SamiK.'l who appeared and who uttered those prophetic words, "to-morrow tliou and tliysons shall l^ewith me." If there has l.)een any collusion, it must only be con- jectured, the language in the narrative does not imply it. The narrative, however, seems to have been regarded as true by the ancient Jews, for Joscphus not only speaks of it as such, but further bestows a veiy high encomiiim upon the woman for the manner in which she liehaved towards the king. See Antiq. b, vi, ch. xiv. pp. 2, 3, 4. There have, of coui'se, been vaiious objections advanced to the literal interpretation of the narrative, but it is not necessary for me to enquire whether the woman had merely imposed upon Saul, as some maintain, or whether the whole occurrence may not have been a miracle as is held by othei's. Certain it is that Saul weiit to consult the woman at the place called Endor, it is also equally cei'tain, that the woman asked him, " whom shall I bring up," and that the king answered, " Bring me up Samuel." On this portion of the narrative, I think there exists no dillerence of opinion, and this is all that I require to establish my argument ; for it follows that Saui must have believed in the existence of depai'ted spirits; nay more, it is further evident that the sacred writer himself must have believed in their existence, or he would assuredly — no matter how briefly — have iioticea the absurdity of a king of the Hebrews seeking information • f a thing that has no existence. Josephus, too, nnist likewise have believed in the existence of departed spirits, or else he would certainly not have left such an absurd act of a king of Israel to pass unnoticed, for he was too careful always to explain any- thing that might be misconstrued, and make his nation appear ridiculous in tl:o eyes of other people. There is frequent mention made in Scripture of this class of necromancers who professed to call up the spirits of the • » * p LECTURE III. 37 dead l>y means of incantations, so that they might l)0 con- sulted upon future events. We find them ah'eady mentioned by Moses, Lev. xix. 31, xx. 6, and afterwards by other sacred writers, and their existence, if it shews nothing else, at least goes to shew, that the belief in a future state was generally accepted. We may now proceed to examme what the Old Testament reveals regarding the abode of human souls or intermediate state. And here we may at the outset remark, that whatever diversity of opinion may exist as to the locality of that abode, or as to its condition, there cannot be the slightest doubt that the Old Testament distinctly speaks of its existence. We have already remarked that the common word for grave, is '^^'^ (kever) ; but besides this, we have of very frequent occurrence the term ^IJJ^II' ('^^<''''^0> which, in the English version, is always rendered either 1)y '"grave," "pit," or " hell," but which in many j)laces are not })roper equiva- lents for the Hebrew word, and hence do not always convey to the English reader the proj)er meaning of the })assage. This has no doubt led to many passages in the Old Testa- ment being cither misunderstood or not understood at all. We have already had an example of this in treating on Gen. xxxvii, 35, and others will be j)ointed out immediately. It is a pity, therefore, that the translators did not either re- tain the Hebrew term sheol, or ado})ted its Greek equivalent, hades ; at least in such passages where (jrave or j^it does not afford a suitable rendering, especially as they had adopted the term Paradise, through the Greek from the Hebrew {^'^-^g (pardeis), a pleasure ground ; or, from the Sanscrit, (paradica), a very beautiful region. As regards the etymology of the word 5l!J^12J (^^^^(^Of we may remark, that it is undoubtedly derived from the verb bi^tj (^^>'^^(^^) io ask, to demand, hence, according to its deriva- ■T" 38 LECTURE III. tion, it denotes a place that lays claim to all men alike. It is therefore represented sometimes as veiy greedy, " there- fore alieol (Eng. ver, ** hell,") has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure." (Is. v. 14.) And, in Pro- verbs, " sheol" (Kng. ver. " the grave,") is mentioned as one of the "four things that are never satisfied. (Ch. xxx. 16.) It is proper to remark here, that Gesenius, in his Lexicon, which is now so commonly used, labours hard to force upon the He)>rew verb ^jj^*^ slidal, the meaning to excavate, to hollow out, in order to bring the term sheol to correspond to the German Holle, (i. e.) hell, originally the same with Hohle, a cavern ; but, although the Hebrew verb occurs up- wards of fifty times in the Old Testament, he has not been able to produce one single example, where it is used in the sense to excavate. The fact is, this novel mode of deri- ving the term sheol, originated with Gesenius, and is likely to die with him. Indeed, he acknowledges himself that " the usual derivation has been from the notion of asking, demanding. ^^ This sheol, or realm of departed spirits, is used in antithe- sis to heaven. Thus, Zophar, one of Job's throe friends, in sj)eaking of the inscrutable wisdom of the Almighty, says, "7/ is as high as heaven ; what canst tbou do ? Deeper than sMol (English ver. " hell,") what canst thou know ?" Here, sheol is represented to be a portion of space vast and deep, just as heaven is vast and high ; and therefore neither hell nor grave would be a suitable equivalent for the Hebrew word. Again, David, in speaking of the omnipresence of God, savs : •' If I ascend up into heaven thou art there ; If\ make my be I in shCol (Eng. ver. "hell,") thou ar< there. > » I a LECTURE III. 39 T * t » If I take the wings of the morning, (i. e., of the morning light which difFusea with great velocity,) And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, And Thy right hand shall uphold me." (Ps. cxxxix. 8, 0, 10.) The reader will, no douljt, at once perceive that the ren- dering of sheol, hy " hell," if taken in its common accepta- tion to denote the place of jmnishmenf, does not allbrd a pro- per antithesis to " heaven." The psalmist wishes to enforce in the strongest manner" possible, that there is no place, whether in heaven — which is the seat of God's glory and the abode of the angelic host — or in the realm of departed spirits — which includes also the plaee of punishment, as we shall hereafter show — or in the uttermost part of the world, where one can escape from the presence of God. Besides, we can hardly conceive that the i)salmist, who in this psalm is praising God for his infinite mercies, wouhl in such a connection, use such an expression as, *• If I make ni}- bed in hell," which is equivalent to, If I make my abode in hell. Most German writers render sheol here, and in such other places where it denotes the abode of spirits, by Unter- welt, (i.e.) the lower loorld ; which, although not exactly a proper equivalent, yet is fur better than the English render- ing, " hell" or '* grave." Again, sheol is spoken of as a common receptacle of the souls after death : — " As the cloud is consumed and vanished away : So he that goeth down to sheol (Eng. ver. " grave,") shall not come up again." — (Job vii. 9.) " Whatever thy hand fiudeth to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work, nor devise, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in sheol (Eng. ver. «• grave,") whither thou goest." — (Eccl. ix. 10.) ' I » 40 LECTURE III. Hence, we find sheol, by metonomy, sometimes put for its inhabitants ; '' sheol (Eng. ver. " hell,") from beneath is moved concerning thee to meet thee at thy coming." (Is. xiv. 0.) It is the inhabitants of sheol are thrown into commotion at the approach of the tyrant, the last king of Babylon. And, again, *' For sJiiiol (Eng. ver. " the grave,") cannot praise thee ;" it is the inhabitants of sJceol cannot praise thee." (Is. xxxviii. 18.) Henc( . the psalmist also says — " For in death there is no remembrance of thee : III sheijl [¥A)g. ver. 'in the grave,') who shal! give tliee thanks." (Pe. vi. G, Eiig. ver. v. 5.) As the domain o/ sjih'ifs is thus figuratively used for its inh((hitants, so in like manner V1*j^ (erets), the earth, the do- maia of tin: liviiuj, is i)ut sometimes for its inhabitants, as in Gen. ix. 10. *' These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole V"^^ n^3i (napJiets(di erets,) earth dis})ersed." ^ I It is of them all the inhabitants of the earth dispersed or scat- tered themselves over the earth. Hence, the vulgate, " dis- siminatnm est omne yenus homi)i7(iii." The rendering in the English version, " was the whole earth overspread," though it gives the proper meaning, yet it is a free rendering of the original. Again, ch. xi. 9, it is said, " and the whole earth was one language ;" it is, all the inhabitants of the earth spoke one language. And, in 1 Kings, x. 24, " and the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wis- dom." It is, all the inhabitants of the earth ; and hence in the original the pai*ticiple (nievukshini), is in the i)lural, tvere eeekitif/ the pi'esence of Solomon. So we are accustomed to say, the whole land or country is mourning or weeping, when speaking of the death of a beloved sovereign, or some noted and highly esteemed personage ; but we would never make use of such an expression, unless the land or country was LECTURE III. 41 inhabited ; and so we may rest assured the sacred writers woiikl never have employed the word sheol, in tliat manner, had they not believed that it was the habitation of the souls of men after death. That such, indeed, was their belief, is happily not left to mere conjecture ; they speak distinctly of the inhabitants of sheol under the designation Qi^S'^ (rep- haim,) spirits or shades ; and this leads us in the next place to consider what the Old Testament reveals concerning these rephaim, but before doing so, it may be as well to enquire first into the derivation of the word. The term rephaim is evidently derived from the verb &^Sl rapha, signifying, to heal, to care, hence, to allay pain, and thus to quiet ; the cognate verl) in Aiiibic is extended in 1 its signification to apply to the quieting of a tumult, i.e., healing a tumult. The word rephaim, therefore, according to its derivation, means tlie quiet, i.e., the spirits now at \ , rest in sh,eol who have been relieved from the body and the turmoil of this world. Hence Job, jjassionately longing for this state of existence, exclaims, " For now I would have lain down, and would have been quiet I should have slept, then there would liave been rest to me. There the wicked cease from turmoil, Ana there the wearied in strength are at rest." — ;Ch. iii. 13, 17.) The first passage to which I beg to call the reader's atten- tion where the rephaim or inhabitants of sheol are distinctly spoken of is that recorded in Is. xiv. 9, The i)rophet Isaiah in his exquisitely beautiful and vivid prediction of the down- fall of the last king of Babylon, and with him the utter overthrow of the Babylonian monarchy recorded in chai)ters xiii. and xiv. puts in the mouth of the captive Iraelites a song of triumph.* • * The Hebrew term jtl))^ (mashal) rendered in the Eng. vers, "proverb" in the above passage, but which I have rendered by a 42 LECTURE III. "How hath the oppressor ceased, the exactress of golj ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers. He that smote the people in wrath, with a stroke without cessation, He that ruleth the nations in anger, with a persecution and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, is quiet : they burst forth, (i. e. the in- habitants,) into a shout of joy. — (Ch. xiv. 4, 5, (3, 7.) In order to depict more coni})]etely the universal joy that should prevail at the downfall of this common foe, the prophet beautifully rei)resents the cy})re.sses and cedars — those majestic trees of Lebanon, which like the inhabitants sufiered from the i-avages of war t — as also paitaking in the great joy, and makes them exclaim, "Since thou art laiil down (i, e. since thou art fallen,) the feller does not come up agiiust us." — (v. 8.) Here one might naturally have expected the pi-ophet would have completed his graphic re})resentation of the uni- versal joy, but not so, by one of the boldest prosopojxeias that lias ever been attempted in poetry, he suddenly changes the scene from the earth to the regions of the dead, and with a brevity yet sul)limity of diction, that has called forth the admiration of writers of every shade of belief, he represents the whole sheol ' commotion at the approach of the once mighty monarch of Babylon. soiuj of irlamph, embraces any sententious, ligurativu and sublime composition, lietiee it includes in its meaning, a 2»'overb, a parable, a poem, a so)i, also a dulactk (Hscoitrse, as Job xxvii. 1 sq., xxix. 1 sq. Even j^rophecies couched in highly poetic language are sometimes designated by this term, hence Balaam's prophetic declarations are called via^hal : Xuni. xxiii. 7, 18, xxiv. 3, 15, 20. These are not parables as the rendering of the word in the English version would lead one to suppose, hut jtrophecks. + In ch. xxxvii. 24, Sennacherib king of Assyria proudly boasts of ascending mount Lebanon and cutting down its beautiful cedars. ;t LECTURE III. 43 " Shgol from beneath is moved concerning thee, to meet thee at thy coming: l' It stirreth up (r^phaim) the shades for thee, all the great ones of t the earth. It causeth to rise from their thrones, all the kings of the nations. All of them shall begin to speak and say unto thee : Art thou also, even thou, become weak like us? ^ Art thou become like unto us? Is thy pride brought down to slitiol, •'''the souml of thy harps ? Are worms spread beneath thee, and vermin become thy covering ?f JHow art thou fallau from heaven, Lucifer, sou of the morning ! Thou art cut down to the earth, thou that didst lord over the nations I — (vv. 9, 10, 11, 12 ) Here, then, we have as clear and distinct alhision made to the rephmm spirits or shades in slicol as hmgiiage can possibly express it. But it will probably be said that this is mere figurative language, and that no one v/ould take it in a literal sense ; certainly not, the language is no doubt figurative, but the objects are nevertheless real. Biilsliazzai\ the last of the Chaldean kings, is a real personage, the captive Israelites ar: *'' The sound of the harps" to express all kinds of luxury and en- joyments of the Biibylonian court. (Compare cb. v. 12, ch xxiv, 8.) fit is. Are worms made thy couch and covering for thy body? The reader on referring to verses 18, 19, and 20, will see that it is predic- ted there, that this impious and iiated monarcli should bo deprivi-d even of a decent burial ; and it is generally believed that so hated ■was this tyrant, that his body was left lying uniiiterred. (^yrus, in- deed, gave a general permission to bury tlie dead ; yot us there is no mention ever made as regards the burial of this king, it rather Strengthens the supposition that he was left lying uniiiterred, "like an abominable branch," (i. e.) a icortJdtss branch, or such a one on ■which a malefactor was hanged. ^To fall from heaven, is a poetical expression to denote to fall from a high political position, and frequently made use of also by the class- ical writers. A star, is a figure for a mi'/hfy monarch. i ^ ■» LECTURE III. 45 It is proper to observe tliat my rendering of verse o, in the above quotation — wliicli is a literal rentloring of the original — differs altogether from that given in the English version, where it reads, " Dead thhujs are formed from nnder the waters, and the inhabitants thereof," a rendering whieh not only does not give the proper meaning of the original, but renders the passage altogether unintelligible. The translators have rendered repJidim by "dead things" a signification which it never has, nor can I find it so rendered in any other version. The Chaldee version has ".}^l*\|27i" {ijclcnJi/u) thf giants or vwjJitij inoi), and in a similar manner it is rendered in the Syriac, the Septungint, the Vulgate, the German and other vcr.^ions. These versions have taken the word in a restricted sense here, and applied it only to the shades of those impious, gigantic races of the Canaanites, the Zam- zumim, the Emim, and Anakim mentioned in Scripture, since these are also designated in the Old Testament rephdim, which is, however, a different word from that which denotes departed S2)irUs. (See Gcsenius's or any other good Hebrew Lexicon.) Still, even according to the rendering of these versions, it applies to departed spirits, and our argument is. therefore, not in the least affected. All eminent modern critics and commentators, on the contrary, have rendered it by " Schatten," i.e., spirits or shades. So llosenmiiller, Evvald, Hahn, *Gesenius, &c. 1 find it is likewise so rendered in the Jewivsh version made by the celebrated tKabbi Solomon Hakkohen, " Die Schatten beben da unten," the shades tremble heneath there. •See Gesenius's Lexicon article JJ^S'n (rapha) where this very passage is given as an example. fThe version of R. S. Hakkohen is published in 18 vols., 8vo. It has the Hebrew original on one side, and on the opposite page the German translation, but in Hebrew characters. This edition of the Bible ia very rare, on account of its being so expensive. 46 LFXTURE III, The verl) T'^^in"^ (yccliOlalu) the translators have rendered "are foi-ined;" and, in a jjliilological point of view, there certainly cannot be any ol)jection to such a rendering, as the verb is sometimes used iti that sense. But in cases where words have various shades of significations, as is the case with most Hebrew words, the contiixt is the only sure guide in selecting that signification which is most suitable and affords the best sense. Now, we have shewn that the word rephdlm cannot be translated "dead things," we have there- fore no alternative but to translate it spirits or sJiades ; or say, even as the ancient versions have it, " glants,^^ and in that case the rendering " are formed" must be abandoned, as it would not make sense to translate tJte spirits or (j id ids are formed under the tvater, and hence the Chaldee version has rendered " are trembling," Rosen mii Her, " they tremble;" so Gesenius, Hahn, Ewald, and nearly all translators. Tlun'e are a few who have followed the Vulgate and render [ ^' (jemitnt," i.e., the// c/rocm, probably from the idea of being in pain, to writhe ivlth pain, a signification which the verb sometimes bas, but as it is never strictly used in the sense of to groan, and ViS Job does' not speak of God's power as pain- giving, but rather as awe-inspiring, this latter rendering has very justly not found much favour. Again we find the rSphfiim mentioned Ps. Ixxxviii. (Eng. ver. v. 10.) Wilt thou shew wonders to the Q1j7l)2 (meithim) dead ? Or shall the (rephiiim) shades (Eng. ver. ' dead') arise and praise thee ? The Psalm from which this quotation is taken contains a prayer of a pious Israelite under great affliction, brought down even to the brink of death. From verse 2-10 in- clusive, he earnestly prays God to hear his supplication, and to shew him yet mercy, whilst he is in the land of the living. ' I * \ > LECTURE III. 47 Inverses 11, 12, 13, lie assigiiH a renson why God should now hel}) him, inasimicli as after deatli no such hel[) can be exjK'ct'Kl, nor do the rcphaini any longer render praise or supplicate for such mercies. We may htate, that such cpies- tions as those contained in the above passage are constantly employed by the sacred writers to give S})ecial emphasis to their dechii'ations, and always im})ly a negative answer, as much as to say, thou dost surely sliew no wonders to the dead, Jieither do the re[(hriim arise again to praise thee. In the English version both Hebrew terms, 7)i' 'tJiim and re- phahn, in tlie above passage, are rendered by " the dead," although they are widely different in their meanings, tlie former being derived from the root f^^^ (inooth) to die, denotes such as have passed through the ju'ocess of dissolu- tion : hence "the dead," whilst the latter, on the contrary, is always employed to denote disembodied spirits, not altogether without some faculties of the mind, and hence are represented as being capable of recognizing, as susceptible of terror, &c. The phrase ''shall the repJiCiini arise and praise thee," does not convey the idea, that they are in- capable of doing so, but that they do not, it being otherwise ordained. So David in Ps. vi, earnestly supjdicates in his great distress that God would now deliver him from his sore affliction, and assigns a similar reason : • '* For there is not in death remembrance of thee ; In shCol who shall praise thee?" (v. 0,}. But no one would argue from this language that the psalmist had no idea of a future state, when there are found in the Book of Psalms a number of passages, some of which we shall hereafter have occasion to notice, which clearly prove that quite the contrary is the case ; indeed, as I have already shewn, from his own declaration, the climax of his 48 LECTUllE III. hjn»})iness would be, tliut he might awaken from the sleep of death in the likeness of God. — (Ps. xvii. 17.) There have, comparatively speaking, been but few attempts made by the so called liberal critics and intcr[)reters of the German .school, to exi)lain away either the real existence of a sheol, or that of the {irpJidim) disembodied s[)irits that in- habit it, but the explanation fi'equently given by them, why these spirits do not give praise in sJieol, has been so unscrip- tural, that it deserves at least a ])assing notice, as it wouM take n[) too much space to enter fully on the discu.ssion of the subject. We may cpiote the remark of De Wette on the subject, which does not materially differ from other writers of this school, in treating on l*s. vi. G, he observes, ** Die Todtenbescliworungen bi^weiscn unwiedesrprechlich den Ghulbeu an das Fortleben der Todten. Dass sic im XJnterreiche Jehova iiicht i)reisen, kommt von ihrer Gedankenlosigkeit, oder besser von der Traurigkeit ihres Zustandes her," i. e., The conjurations of the dead incontro- vertihly 2^'^ov^ the helicf of the continued existence of the dead. That they do not i^raise God in the lower loorld arises from their being devoid of thoiujht, or rather from the mournful condition of their existence. — (Comment, on the Psalms.) Now this is all mere conjecture, and has not a shadow of scriptural authority in support of it. The Scriptures, from beginning to end, teach that man is accountable for his deeds done in the flesh, and for these he has to render an account at the day of judgment, and as no prayers could avail any- thing after the spirit leaves the body, hence they are always represented, as in the above passage, that they give no praise in sheol. For similar views to these advanced by de Wette, see also, Scheid Dissert, ad. Cant. Hisk. p. 20. sqq. Ammon lib. d. Todtenreich, der Hebr., in Paidus Mem iv. 196, Bauer Theolog. des. A. T. S. 248. ff. LECTURE III. 49 J The next passage which we shall lefer to is, Prov. ii., 18 : " For her house incliuetli to |ni?2 (mavetU) death, And her paths unto the (re^)/iai//t) shades." — (Eug. vers, "the dead," Here Soloiuou iuculcates that " the house of the strange woiiiau," i. e., the adulteress, inclines " to death," and that "her paths," i. e., her conduct or manner of life, leads to the (rephaim) shades of the wicked as separated from those of the righteous. This will be more fully noticed hereafter. We have already stated that there is another word, rephaimy denoting giants ; and as these gigantic races were noted for their cruelty and wickedness, hence their shades are meta- phorically put for the shades of the wicked in general. In a similar manner are the (rephaim) shades mentioned in ch. ix. 18. ^*But he regarded not that the r^j'hd'im are there, (Eng.ver."tho dead.") I'/iat her guests are in the valley.s of iiheol."{ — Eng. vers, in the depths of hell.) In order to understand fully the force of this passage, it must be taken in connection with wliat j)roceeds. In verses 13-10, folh/ is personified under the image of *.' a foolish woman," always clamorou.s, simple, and knowing nothing, sitting herself before the door of her house, inviting passen- gers going straight forward — i. e., walking uprightly — "whoso is simple, let him come in hither : and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him," — "Stolen waters are sweet, And secret bread, (i. e., bread to be eaten in secret,) is pleasant." an oriental proverbial expression meaning, that very thing forbidden, and every thing that requires to he done in secret, has a special charm. Here, however, the sacred writer breaks suddenly off, and allows it to be inferred from the preceding chapters, and especially from ch. vii., that many a 60 LECTURE III. giddy and thoughtless person will allow himself to be allured by folly's seductive voice, without for a moment considering the consequences of the fearful step, without regarding ''that the rephdim are " there," i. e., in that part of sheol set apart for the shades of the wicked, and " tJicit her guests," i. e., those who have accepted the invitation of folly, "are in the valleys of sheol, i. e., in the very depths of it. I beg the reader particularly to notice, that the shades, spirits, or smds — the reader may choose any one of these terms as an equivalent for the term re2:)hdim — of those who, from time to time, have allowed themselves to be enticed away from the upright path, and have become the " guests" of folly, are here represented as real beings now inhabiting the very depths of sheol. Hence Solomon declares ch. xxi. IG, " The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding, Shall remain in the congregation of the rgphaim." — (Eng. vers, "the dead.") Here the (rephahn) shades of the wicked are spoken of as a " congregation" among whom the spirit of every one "that wandereth from the way of understanding" or piety is doomed to dwell. Now a " congregation" implies an assemblage of people, at least the Hebrew word, "^Jlp {kahal) Qon^Qgai- tion," here employed is only used in reference to the assem- bling of people or nations, even if a gathering of other living objects are spoken of the term J^^3? (eidah), an assembly is then employed, as for example, Jud. xiv. 8, Ps. Ixviii, 31. It is, therefore, not stretching criticism too far to say, that the sacred writer designedly employed here the term b»1p (kC'h^^) i^ reference to the assembly of human souls of wicked men now inhabiting sheol. It is altogether in- comprehensible what meaning the translators intended to ^' LECTURE III. 61 . convey by rendering " the congregation of the dead ?" If intended merely to refer to " the dead" in the graves, it would, to say the least, be a very strange if not altogether unintelligible expression ; but this is not all, it would at the name time render this very impressive declaration perfectly meaningless, since the pious, the good, the just, as well as those that wander " out of the way of understanding," have to "remain in the congregation of the dead" until the day of the resurrection. Then again, as I have already stated, the term ^JlD (^"^^i"^)? according to Scripture usage, is only *' applied to the assembling o{ living human beings, although it probably occurs no less than a hundred times in the Old Testament : not in a single instance is it used otherwise, ex- cept in the passage before us, where the sacred writer no doubt designedly applied it to tlm assemblage of human souls. If, on the contrary, we are to understand by " the dead" the disembodied souls, then that rendering does certainly not convey the meaning to the ordinary reader which it was in- tended it should convey, and is, therefore, not a proper equivalent for the Hebrew term rephdim. Then again, the expression ''shall remain in the congrega- tion of there^^/taim-," implies that the " congregation of the rephaim" has a continued existence, and that those who are to "remain" in it, likewise must possess the attribute of a continuous existence, this could not be said of " the dead" bodies mouldering in the grave. But whilst the term sheol unquestionably, primarily denotes the realm of departed spirits, and is generally used in that sen^e, yet like many other Hebrew tei'ms of jilo-ceSy it is used also in a more restricted sense, and thus it is apparently sometimes employed to denote the grave only. In this re- stricted sense it appears from the context to be employed in Job xvii. 13. 52 LECTURE III. •* If I hope, (shM) the grave w my house : I have made my hed in the darkness." Job's friends have continually endeavoured to impress upon him that there is still hope of his recovery : he, on ^the contrary, maintains that the only comfort left him, and the only hope for relief from his sufferings was death and the grave. And so intense was his longing for death, that he welcomes the accompaniments attending dissolution as dearest relatives : " I have said to corruption, thou ai't my father, And to the worm, thou art my mother, and sister." — (v. 14.) So again, Ps. cxli. 7, " Our bones are scattered at the (jsheol) grave's mouth." Likewise 1 Kings ii. 9, " But his hoar head bring thou down to the (sheol) grave with blood." In conceding this much I have shewn even greater liberality than Gesenius, who is noted for his liberal views on doctrinal points, and his free interpretations. He does not give the meaning grave as one of the significations of sheol in his Hebrew Lexicon, although he quotes about thirty passages from the various books of the Old Testament, from which it is apparent that in his opinion, the word is never used in that sense, or else he would undoubtedly not have omitted to give it, for his failing is certainly not that he gives too little, but, if anything, tliac he sometimes is apt to give too much. I must, however, especially press upon the reader's attention here, the fact that the term sheol is never used in the plural, nor is it ever used with a 2)088€8sive pronoun, — one can no more say mi/ sheol, than one can say my heaven. This clearly indicates that there is but one sheol, that it denotes a place which cannot be exclusively appropriated to any one. This alone would afford a conclusive refutation to the supposition that sheol means merely the grave, if any one, indeed, were bold enough to advance such a theory. ( > LECTURE III. 53 The term sheol is also further applied sometimes in a restricted sense to denote "^Ae place of pitnishment of the wicked after death" or hell, as it is generally rendered. That sheol has this accessary signification will become evident on referring to a few passages. Thus in Prov. xxiii. 13, 14, we read, •<, Withhold not correction from thy child; For if thou chastisest him with the rod, he shall not die. Yea, thou shalt chasten him with the rod, And bis soul thou wilt save from shSol." (Eng. ver. "hell.") Now, here the terms "die," ^' sheol," cannot possibly be taken in their ordinary acceptation, for it is the common lot of all men to die, and for their souls to go down into sli^iol, from these there is no possible deliverance. The phrases " he shall not die," "save from sheol," can, therefore, only find their true explanation when we regard them as having reference to the future jyt^^^ishment for sins. From this a parent's timely correction, by God's grace, may save a child by ^causing him to turn from his evil way. This is, no doubt, what the sacred writer intends to inculcate, and the trans- lators have, therefore, in my opinion, correctly rendered here sheol by " hell." In Ps. ix. 18, (Eng. ver. v. 17), we have the following distinct declaration : ♦' The wicked shall be turned into shgol, (Eng. ver., " hell.") And all the nations that forget God." There the term shSol cannot merely mean the grave, nor the realm of the departed spirits, or else " the wicked " and those " that forget God " would be no worse off than the righteous ; the term sheol, without a shadow of doubt, must mean here the place of punishment, or the psalmist's declara- tion would be altogether meaningless, and hence it is correctly rendered in the English version by " hell." 64 LECTURE III. I have merely briefly alluded to these accessary significa- tions of the word slieoU to prevent the reader from supposing that I wished to convey the idea that it is only used to denote the ahode of human soicls, for whilst I hold that this is the primary meaning of the word, and is generally used in this sense, I consider it also, beyond a doubt, that it is likewise used occasionally in the sense of grave and hell. The ancient Jews held that slieol was a vast receptacle or region where the departed spirits dwell until the day of resur- rection, when they would be united again with their bodies. The souls of the righteous, according to their belief, dwell in the upper region, which they designated the inferior paradise, whilst the lower region was the place assigned to the souls of the wicked, which they called 'Q^^ ^^ (^^^ Hinnom) Gehenna, which originally was the name of a valley on the south and west of Jerusalem. This valley being noted for the human sacrifices here offered to the idol Moloch, and afterwards for its becoming the receptacle for all the filth of the city, by an easy metaphor its name was transferred to the place of pun- ishment in the other world, and to the abode of the souls of the wicked. The belief of the souls of the wicked inhabit- ing the lower region of sheol no doubt was founded upon cer- . . tain passages of Scripture in which the lower or lowest sheol I ^ is especially mentioned. Thus, for example, Deut. xxx. 22, " For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest sheol." (English vers, "hell.") So again in Ps. Ixxxvi. 13, " For great is Thy merey towards me, and Thou deliverest my soul from the lowest sheol." (English vers, "hell." And this will also explain how the term sheol be- came, in a restricted sense, to denote hell. I have already stated that the term slieol is always ren- dered in the English version either by pit, grave, or fiell, but never by its proper meaning, the realm or abode of departed LECTURE III. 55 '' • spirits, in order, therefore, that the reader — who may per- haps have become somewhat rusty in his Hebrew — may be enabled to judge for himself from the context which would be the most suitable rendering of the Hebrew term in any passage where it is employed, I have given below a list of all the places where the word occurs in the Old Testament, so that the reader will only have to substitute the word sheol instead of the English word grave, j)it, or hell, as the case may be.* But it will naturally be asked, how can it be accounted for, that so large, influential, and enlightened a sect as the Sadducees evidently were, should reject such a vital doc- trine held by the Jewish Clwrch, and one which seems to be so clearly set forth throughout the Hebrew Scriptures 1 The same question, however, will equally apply to their denial of the existence of angels ; and yet, there could not possibly be stronger evidence of the existence of these heavenly beings than that which is found in the books of the Old Testament ; indeed, they are as distinctly mentioned as are the patriai'chs, Abraham and Jacob. It is impossible always to account for the strange opinions which are es- poused from time to time, by either single individuals or entire communities, and which are often maintained with such pertinacity, that no proof, however cogent, and no • Gen. xxxvii. 35, xlii. 38, xliv. 29, 31. Num. xvi. 30, 33. . aut. zxzii. 22. 1 Sam. ii. 6. 2 Sam. xxii. 6. 1 Kings ii. 6, 9. Job. vii. 9, xi. 8, xiv. 13, xvii. 13, 16, xxi. 13, xxiv. 19, xxvi. 6. Ps. vi. 6 (Eng. vers. v. 6), ix. 18 (Eng. vers. v. 17), xvi. 10, xviii. 6 (Eng. vers. V. 6), xxx. 4 (Eng. vers. v. 8), xxxi. 18 (Eng. vers, v. 17), xlix. 16, 16 (Eng. vers. 14, 16), Iv. 16 (Eng. vers. v. 15), Ixxxvi. 13, Ixxxviii. 4 (Eng. vers. v. 8) Ixxxix. 49 (Eng. vers. 48), cxvi. 3, cxxxix. 8, cxli. 7. Prov. i. 12, v. 6, vii. 27, ix. 18, xv. 11, 24, xxiii. 14, xxvii. 20, xxx. 16 Eco. ix. 10), Is. v 14, xiv. 9, U, 16, xxviii. 15, 18, xxxviii. 10, Ivii. 9 (Ez. xxxi. 15, 16, 17, xxxii. 27. Ho&. xiii. 14, 14. Am. ix. 2. Jon. ii. 2. Hab. ii. 5. 66 LECTURE III. reasoning, however conclusive, are of any avail to break the shackles that fetter the mind. Frequently, opinions act like a sedative medicine upon a troubled mind, and for that reason alone are often welcomed as a friend in need. The rich and wealthy Sadducee, like any other human creature, was not exempt from the stings of conscience, and we can therefore easily imagine, that whilst revelling in his wealth, and freely enjoying the pleasures of this life, the thought that there is no future life, and consequently no future punishment for sin, must have been highly consoling to him. The Sadducees, however, were not so much a philosophical as a religious political party. They counted among their ranks the more wealthy and refined portion of the people, who detested the Pharisees for their disgusting preten- sions of self-righteousness, aa well as for their despotic exercise of power, and used, therefore, every possible means — ostensibly for the good of the people, but in reality with a view to theii' own aggrandizement — to wrest the power from theu' hated opponents. So long, then, as the Jews possessed political power, the contest between the two parties was more of a secular than a religious nature ; but when the nation gradually lost that power, the Sadducees found it necessary in order to perpetuate the hatred which had constantly been gathering strength, to have recourse to doctrinal points as tha surest mode of preventing any reconciliation, and to make the animosity, if possible, even more deeply rooted. Now, about the time of the Maccabees there flourished a Jewish philosopher, named Zadok, who, being a disciple of Antigonus, of Socho, was well versed in Grecian philosophy, with which he became gradually more and more imbued ; and ultimately altogether undermined his religious belief. His first step towards scepticism was the total rejection of the oral law, which, by his nation, was regarded almost with t 1 V V LECTURE III. 07 Ml '' V ,♦ equal sanctity as the written law of Moses, and would alone have been sufficient to place him without ho pale of his Church. But Zadok- did not stop there. His master Anti- gonus, according to the custom of those times, had left to his disciples a memorial moral saying, which runs as follows : — " Be not like servants who serve theii' masters merely for the sake of obtaining a reward, but be like servants who serve their masters without an expectation of receiving a reward." This saying, Zadok not only explained " that vii'tue should be exercised without a hope of reward," but also " that there was no future reward or punishment for sin." As the views promulgated by Zadok were well calculated to eflfectually prevent a reconciliation, it is not to be wondered at, that they should have been eagerly adopted by the opponents of the Pharisees, tending, too, as they naturally would, to afford them gi-eater scope in indulging in worldly pleasures, without the fear of having hereafter to render an account for theii' actions done in this life, Zadok, then, may be regarded as the first who introduced the novel doc- trine among the ancient Jewish people, that there is no future state; and from him, the Sadducees, as his followers, obtained theii' appellation. Much stress has been laid by some writers on the fact of this influential sect among the Jews rejecting the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, as being very significant; but, from the foregoing explanations, it will be seen upon what shallow grounds their belief was originally based, also the motives which favoured its adoption. I have now finished my task ; and although the subject has not been by any means exhausted, yet I feel sure the candid reader will readily concede that the passages which have been examined conclusively establish the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Indeed, I should feel gi-eatly sur- prised if the reader's verdict were otherwise than that which 68 LECTURE in. I have so confidently anticipated ; since I have never yet met with a Hebrew critic or commentator of any note who has ventured to deny that sheol moans the abode, and rephaim, the shades or spirits that dwell there. Such positive evidence from the inspired wi*iters ought to be sufficient to dispel all doubt that may lurk in the mind of any one on this impor- tant subject, and lead him to be impressed with the great tinith of the immortality of the soul : " Why should it seem a thing impossible to thee, man of many doubts That God shall wake the dead, and give this mortal immortality ! Is it that such riches are unsearchable, the bounty too profuse ? And yet, what gift, to cease or change, is worthy of the King Almighty?" THE END k.t 1" '^ r ' I / ^ •f. '■' — -"i— ^T-' 1 M wwm^^'mmw' M '4 V 4 \ i HM i i ii i i MnAii