It appears, then, that during the Apocryphal period Ae conception of Sheol was by no means a fixed quantity. Rather was it in a somewhat fluid condition, and underwent considerable varia- tion. It had, however, ‘come to be regarded as a definite stadiwm between death and judgment, with preliminary penalties, and, in some forms of thought, with moral processes. The idea of an intermediate state took a larger and larger place in Judaism, and in this matter Christian theology to a great extent served itself heir to Jewish theo- logy. But all this is in the strongest possible con- trast to Christ’s own teaching. His words fix our thoughts on the present life and the final issues. . . . They give little or no place to the thought of an intermediate state.’ *
(6) Paradise.—According to Schrader,} the word ‘paradise’ is of Perso-Indogermanie origin (pairi- daéza, from pairi, ‘around,’ and daéza, ‘a ram- part’), and signifies an enclosure or ‘park.’ From this it came to denote a pleasure-garden generally, as in Neh 28, Ee 2°, and was ultimately adopted as the distinctive designation of the seat of the blessed, whether conceived as earthly or heavenly. According to the conception that prevailed in the 2nd cent. B.c., Paradise was reserved for those who had been directly translated in the flesh. In other words, its gates had been opened only for Enoch and Elijah. From the way in which it conceives Sheol as ‘the place of condem- nation’ (7* 22”), the Book of Jubilees, however, seems to imply that Paradise is the intermediate abode of the righteous dead until the Final Judg- ment. But this work also shares the point of view of the later 2 (4) Esdras, according to which
* Salmond, Christian Doct. of Immortality 3, p. 845 f t COT ii. p. 71.
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Paradise is conceived as the final abode of the righteous (7°* 8 8°), Already in the 1st cent. B.C. it_is viewed as ‘the garden of the righteous’ (Enoch 60”), and the.dwelling-place of ‘the elect’ (Enoch 60° 61"). In the Similitudes, however, it is not the eternal abode of the holy, who pass from it to the Messianic kingdom.
It would appear, therefore, that no very definite position had been reached either with regard to the geographical situation of Paradise or with regard to its inhabitants. This is clear from the varying representations of the Book of Enoch under both of these heads. ‘In 32% it lies in the East: in 70?* between the West and North: in 77° in the North. ... It is apparently empty in Enoch’s time in 32°", and the righteous dead are in the West, 22: it is the abode of the righteous and the elect in Enoch’s and Noah’s times in 61” 60°: 3: the abode of the earliest fathers in Enoch’s time, 89%.’ *
In spite of the uncertainty thus attaching to the term ‘ Paradise’ in Jewish thought, the later Rabbis constructed an elaborate topography of it, with ‘Abraham’s bosom’ as the place of highest honour. The general popular conception in the time of Christ is perhaps fairly well reflected in that of the Essenes, who, according to Jos. (BJ II. vill. 11), regarded Paradise as a region situated beyond the ocean, where there was no uncongenial rain or cold or heat, and where righteous souls were perpetually refreshed by gentle zephyrs blowing from the sea. The word is very spar- ingly used in NT. In the recorded sayings of our Lord it occurs but once (Lk 23), and not in such a way as to throw much light upon His own con- ception of the term. He employs it in a very general sense, and possibly as the word which would convey most meaning and comfort to the listener.
(c) Heaven.—It is not until the last century B.C. that we find heaven represented in Apocalyptic writings as the abode of the righteous subsequent to ‘the day of the great judgment.’ This view is first met with in Enoch 91-104, where the righteous are described as the objects of angelic intercession (1041). To them will the portals of heaven be opened (104?); their joy will be like that of the angels of heaven (104*) ; and they will yet become companions of the heavenly host (104%). According to the later Apoc. of Baruch, they will be made like unto the angels (511°), while in the Simelitudes of Enoch it is claimed that they will themselves become angels in heaven. The Book of Jubilees (23%!) and the Assumption of Moses (10°) also re- gard heaven as the eternal home of the righteous.
(d) Gehenna.—From denoting the scene of idola- trous sacrifices ‘Gehenna’ (from the Hebrew 037 »3= ‘valley of Hinnom,’ Gr. T'éevva) came to signify the place where apostate Jews are punished in the sight of the righteous (cf. Is 504). In Dn 12? it becomes the final abode of all such apostates. But in the last century B.C. this idea took on quite a new complexion. Gehenna is now no longer ex- clusively reserved for apostate Jews, and is the place of punishment for the nations generally (Jth 1617). More particularly is it intended for kings and the mighty (Enoch 48° 53° 54°). Again, whereas according to the older view the torments of the wicked were to afford a constant spectacle to the righteous (Enoch 277% 90°), in the Simili- tudes this spectacle, although still to be witnessed (622), is only of temporary duration. This fresh de- velopment is necessitated by the writer’s view with respect to the transformation of heaven and earth at the advent of the Messiah. In the new heavens and the new earth there was no place for Gehenna, which accordingly disappears from the sight of the