?* ..^^"l^'',''''*'' P- 2^^ ; ^'^^ Mundi, p. 235 ; Borg-Schiittmann in JVK Ztschr. 1901, 667-693.
W. J. Sparrow Simpson.
RESURRECTION OP THE DEAD.— 1. Jewish beliefs current in the time of our Lord The
doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, symboli- cally applied to the nation (Hos 6^ 13", Ezk 37i-"),
implicit as regards the individual in prophecy and psalm (Job U^^-i' 19'^-^^ Is 65. 66, Pss 49. 73), has its first explicit expression in Is 26''*"'^ as the hope of the righteous, based on conviction of God's power and faithfulness and on their persistent rela- tion to Him. It appears in the Canon as formal prediction and definitely in Dn 12-, and became part of that ' consolation ' which the devouter part of Judaism, in the absence of official prophecy, but upon the basis of past i^ophetic utterance and on the lines of prophetic indication, developed. ' The Pharisaic movement offered salvation to the Jewish race . . . partly by opening wider hopes to those who obeyed ' (Swete, Apoc. of St. John, p. xxiii)— proximately the Messianic hope, and eschatologi- cally the hope of the resurrection. The literature of the period preceding and following our Lord's appearance shows three views as to the future of the dead, viz. (1) the traditional doctrine of Sheol ; (2) a doctrine, variously held, of resurrection ; (3) a Platonic doctrine of immortality.
(1) Of these Sirach {IT'-'^^) knows only the first unmodified, repeating the thought of Ps 6^ and of Hezekiah's psalm (Is 38^- **) — the days of man are to the eternity of God as a drop to the sea, — ■ wherefore the Divine pity (Sir 18^'") ; the dead have lost the light and are at rest (22") ; even of the righteous only the name and deed survive (449-15). Samuel's death is 'his long sleep.' In Tobit death is dissolution (Sttws dvoXvdQ) and per- manent (top aiiJjviov rdnov, 3*"). As to the doctrine of 1 Mac. the evidence is negative ; no future life is refeiTed to. ' We fight for our lives and our laws' (3^^). In Judith the enemies of God in the Day of Judgment shall meet His vengeance in putting fire and worms els crdpKas avrGiv (Jg 16'^), and shall feel the pain of it for ever ; but in the absence of more, this scarcely implies a doctrine of physical immortality. This traditional eschat- ology had still its adherents in the Judaea of our Lord's lifetime (Mt 22^^ Mk W», Lk 20^^ Ac 23**).
(2) In 2 Mac. there is a clear statement of a developed doctrine of bodily resurrection for the righteous. God shall raise up those who have died for His laws ; the very members which have been stricken from the martyr being restored to him, and ' breath and life as at the first ' ' unto an ever- lasting life' (78- 11- 23 i446)_ The faith of such a restoration is felt as an ethical necessity. It is not so much a theoty of human destinies as a con- viction of the Divine justice and truth. The pro- blem of martyrdom has compelled it^the problem whether supreme fidelity can issue in loss. That it should seem even for the present so to issue is realized as a difficulty, and is explained as a chastising, a temporal penalty {jSpaxvi' . . . ttSvov) for personal and national sins ; the martyr's role being one of self -offering and expiation for these ('jis. 37. 38) Resuri'ection is God's reconciliation with His servants, and is implied in their persist- ent relation to Him — they are ' dead under God's covenant of everlasting life ' (7^^- ^). But for the enemies of God there is no resurrection (vv."-^'').
As to the extent of the resurrection, the case in 2 Mac. is that of the mai'tyrs only ; but the confi- dence expressed with regard to them is probably based on a wider hope, including Israel, or at least the faithful in Israel {(tvv toIs ddeXtpois crov, 7^", hardly implies this, the dSeXcpoL are literal ; but the tone of the whole passage [see v."] implies a faith for others than the actual speakers). In the apocalyptic literature, which did much to extend the doctrine of resurrection in Judaism, it is gener- ally presented as limited to Israel. For the ques- tion with which the Apocalypses deal is one of fulfilment of promises to Israel, and the deeper question whether * the righteous shall be as the wicked' — at what point and in what form the
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EESUKKECTION OF THE DEAD
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD 515
faithful in Israel are to be vindicated and the apostates meet Divine justice. The earlier section of Eth. Enoch seems to expect a resurrection universal to Israel, with the exception only of the absolutely evil : ' complete in their crimes ' (22'^). The second section excludes none — all Israel is raised, but the rij^hteous and holj- are ciiosen from the rest for reward (51. BH-^). In the third section ' tlie judgment appears to be followed by tlie resurrection of rigliteous Israelites only ' (Charles, Bk. of Enoch, p. 27). The conception of a resurrection general to mankind does not occur in this literature until the close of the period under discussion, when the Apoc. of Baruch (1st cent. A.D. ) expressly proposes the question of the num- ber of those who shall rise (28' 41', cf. Lk 13-^), aTid teaches a Hrst resurrection at tlie Advent of the Messiah, of 'all who have fallen asleep in hope of Him ' ; but al.so apparently a resurrection of good and evil, Gentiles and Israelites, for the pur- pose of judgment (50^- ■* SI'"**). 2 Esdras teaches one general resurrection of the same character (7^^'^*).