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Death

Is the Soul Immortal?

Is there a difference between human and animal souls? Is there a hereafter at all, and if so, does righteousness or wickedness affect it? These questions, discussed by Greek philosophers, inspired the Judean discourse of the Hellenistic period. Ecclesiastes on one side, 1 Enoch and the Wisdom of Solomon on the other.

Dr.

Nili Samet

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Burning Desire Punished by Fire

Why the promiscuous daughter of a priest and Tamar, the widowed daughter-in-law of Judah, are sentenced to die by fire. The “poetic justice” of immolation.

Prof.

Esther Brownsmith

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No Heaven or Hell, Only Sheʾol

Sheʾol and its synonyms, בּוֹר “pit,” שַׁחַת “chasm,” and אֲבַדּוֹן “oblivion,” was the fate of all people upon death. The wicked were sent there early, while the righteous were rewarded with a long life. During the Second Temple period, the negative attitude about death and sheʾol develops into a concept of post-mortem punishment and eventually hell. 1 Enoch’s four chambers for the dead is the first step in that direction.

Prof.

Meghan Henning

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Eve’s Voice Is the Inclusio to the Cain and Abel Story – Maybe It’s Her Story Too

A mother’s joy, loss, and recovery serves as an etiology of human grief.

Dr.

Fran Snyder

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A Corpse Left Hanging Overnight Is a “Cursing of God”

The body of an executed criminal is hanged but must be buried on the same day, כִּי קִלְלַת אֱלֹהִים תָּלוּי, “because a hanged body is a cursing of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23). What does this phrase mean?

Prof. Rabbi

Marty Lockshin

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Og, King of Bashan: Underworld Ruler or Ancient Giant?

The answer lies in his bed.

Prof.

Laura Quick

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Abraham's Premature Obituary

Staff Editors

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Our Mummified Patriarchs: Jacob and Joseph

How was ancient mummification carried out? What does it say about Jacob and Joseph that their remains were handled in accordance with Egyptian burial practices?

Dr.

Rachel P. Kreiter

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Giving Miriam and the Matriarchs Their Proper Funerals

The Bible pays little attention to the death of its female characters, writing only cursory death notices, or sometimes none at all. Second Temple period authors retell the Torah’s stories to give more pride of place to the death scenes of its heroines.

Dr.

Atar Livneh

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