Development of Resurrection Theology in the Old Testament

The resurrection of the dead is one of the most important aspects of Christianity. Christianity is unique from many other world religions in its view of resurrection, particularly the resurrection of the body. However, the Christian tradition has its roots in the Jewish tradition which also held somewhat to a belief in a resurrection of the dead. [1] At the time of Jesus, when Christianity began, there were various beliefs about the resurrection of the dead amongst the Jewish people,[2] including debates as to whether or not there was a resurrection of the dead as seen in case of the dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, The Pharisees believing in one and the Sadducees believing according to Josephus that “the soul perishes along with the body.”[3] Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees held to their beliefs in the resurrection or lack of resurrection on the basis of the authority of Scripture. Both groups provided quite legitimate examples from the Scriptures to back up their claims. In order to understand these two very different opinions one must look into the texts which were used by these religious traditions to support their claims. When one does this, they may find that both groups appear to be correct in their interpretations. The Scriptures of the Old Testament seem to support both views, and do not go into the kind of detail one would hope to find and would indeed find in the New Testament.

The New Testament is focused on the resurrection of the dead, centering on Christ’s resurrection, but the Old Testament appears to have a wider range of opinions on the subject and only touches upon it here and there, considering other matters of more importance.[4] In order to understand what the Old Testament has to say about resurrection one must read the passages which seem to portray the idea in the light of their surrounding passages and in the light of the text as a whole. When one does this, they discover that the Old Testament was written by many different people over a long period of time, and that not all of these biblical writers had a thoroughly consistent theology. This inconsistency is included in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Within the structure of the Old Testament is seen the development of the theology of resurrection over time. Resurrection plays a much larger role in the later books, such as Daniel, than in the earlier ones.[5] The later writings portray resurrection in the sense that it is a reversal and destruction of death much more than the earlier writings which portray more of a different kind of existence after death.[6] Resurrection and eschatology in general is also much more significant in the apocryphal works from the time between the return from Exile and the time of Jesus. These apocryphal works also helped to shape the idea of resurrection as it was understood by the rabbis in first century Judaism.[7] However, while the later texts deal much more explicitly in the matter of resurrection, the idea, though less developed, is not completely foreign to earlier writings in the text.

In Genesis 3 is seen the fall of mankind and in this fall lies a curse - the curse of death. Death is shown to be the final state of mankind because of sin. In the story, God says to Adam “By the sweat of your brow/ you will eat your food/ until you return to the ground, /since from it you were taken; /for dust you are/ and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). In this scene, death is shown to be the victor over humanity, and this not only a spiritual death, but a physical death as well.[8] In referring to “dust,” God is saying that humanity is cursed under a physical death. The curse of sin is both physical and spiritual.[9] Previously, God tells Adam and Eve that the day they eat of the tree they will die. This seems to be untrue unless the kind of death he was speaking of was a spiritual death.[10] This may be the case that God is referring to a spiritual death in these verses, but he is definitely referring to physical death during the issuance of the curse. This leads one to believe that the curse of death through the fall is both physical and spiritual, and would also lead one interested in the idea of a resurrection from the dead to investigate the possibility of both a spiritual and a physical resurrection.[11] There does not appear to be any hope of resurrection in the Genesis 3 though, except that life will continue through childbirth through Eve who is known as “the mother of the living.”

Throughout most of the Old Testament it would seem that the common view of death is that it was the end of life, and very little is said about the possibility of life beyond the grave. Death has a hold over humanity and the end of every person is the grave. The hope of life after death or the hope of life living in victory over death is seen mostly in the reproduction of offspring. Life will continue through progeny, even as the fathers are “gathered to their people.”[12]

There are, however, a few occurrences early on in the text of life beyond death in some way. One significant example may be seen in the few short verses about Enoch, “who walked with God.” This man is described as having walked with God for 300 years, and at the end of this period of time “he was no more, for the Lord took him away.” It is unclear as to what has happened to Enoch at this point, and the text does little to explain this occurrence. It would seem that Enoch did not die.[13] This is the most common interpretation of this passage by both Jews and Christians over the past few thousand years. If Enoch does not die then in this passage, one may ask what has become of him. One interpretation would be that Enoch was taken to be in the presence of God himself. The text indicates the closeness of Enoch to God in this life, saying that “he walked with God.” So it would follow that his closeness to God was so extensive that there was no difference between his proximity to God after his death than what was present before his death, to the extent that if he died his death was unnoticeable. The example of Enoch, however, does not deal with the issue of resurrection, but it does give us an early example of the possibility of life beyond the grave.[14] Enoch does not experience death and appears to be absorbed in one way or another by the presence of God, but he is not portrayed as one who died and came to life again. Resurrection is not the same as being “raised to heaven” or “taken up to glory.”[15] Perhaps the most helpful part of this passage is that it indicates that those who “walk with God” may have some sort of distant hope that they may be rescued from death in some way.

Another example one who “walked with God” is Noah. While Noah does die eventually, he is rescued from death in another sense in that because he has walked with God, he and his family are saved from the flood waters that destroy the entire earth. Again, the idea of walking with God as being associated with rescue from death is seen here. When the flood story is looked at in the light of its development and association with such ancient texts as the Gilgamesh Epic, one may see how this story has its roots in a desire for immortality.[16] While the Noah story is different from the Gilgamesh Epic, the desire to avoid death is still present.[17] Even the picture of the ark is one of a type of box, or a coffin or sarcophagus.[18] The language in the text is riddled with images of death and the promise of new life. The Ark story has often been interpreted in allegorical fashion, saying that the flood waters represent death and chaos and that Noah and all in the Ark are saved from death, even in a sort of picture of resurrection.[19] Noah and his family emerge from the Ark after the flood as though emerging from a coffin. This type of language was carried on further by the early Christians who compared the flood waters to the waters of baptism, in which the followers of Christ become associated with Christ in his death and resurrection in both a spiritual and a physical sense.

Another example of avoiding death is seen in the concept of a scapegoat and in animal sacrifice. This has a lot to do with the problem of sin and the association of sin with death. This begins to be played out more in the Abrahamic narratives. In God’s covenant with Abraham, God commands Abraham to be perfect, also promising him land and descendants.[20] They seal the covenant in blood as was the custom in ancient near eastern culture at the time, and even today in certain places.[21] This is done by both covenantal partners walking through the blood of the dead animals. However, God is the only who passes between the halves of the animal carcasses in the form of smoke and in the form of fire, as he is often represented in scripture.[22] Abraham, though, does not walk through the pool of blood. He would have been condemning himself had he done so, because both parties are required to live up to their ends of the agreement under penalty of death.[23] Abraham and the descendants promised to him were to be perfect under penalty of death, and God was to provide land and descendants under penalty of death. However, the text indicates that Abraham does not pass through the blood, but that God passes through as fire and as smoke. In doing this God is indicating that he will live up to his end of this covenant even if Abraham does not.[24] God will be put to death if he does not fulfill his side of the covenant, and God will also be put to death if Abraham does not fulfill his side of the covenant.[25] In this we begin to see the idea of the sacrificial system starting to play out. The animal sacrifices are a reminder to God of the promise he made to Abraham to not condemn his descendants to death because they have not lived up to perfection and that God has promised to carry the sentence of death as a result of sin in their place.

The idea of sacrifice and blood substitution as a way to avoid death caused by sin is carried further in Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. In this story God first asks Abraham to sacrifice his favored son, but then provides a ram as a substitution at the last second. In this way, the blood of the ram is used in the place of the blood of Isaac and he avoids death. The blood sacrifice is also seen throughout the Exodus story, especially in Passover. Also, death swallows up the Egyptians in the Sea, but the Israelites emerge alive.[26] God continues to provide means of avoiding death to his people.

Another example of a biblical character avoiding death is seen in the story of Elijah. At this point the theology of Israel appears to have developed further with the formation of the Deuteronomistic History in the light of the Torah. Elijah, like Enoch previously, appears to disappear from this space and into God’s space without dying.[27] However, the narrative provides a few more details here, saying that Elijah is taken up into “heaven” in a “whirlwind” by “flaming chariots” which are called the “chariots and horsemen of Israel” (2 Kings 2:12). One reason why the narrative provides Elijah with an ascension may be because the story calls for victory of life over death. Too much blood has been spilled in Kings, so Elijah’s ascension counters any sort of reign of death in the story.[28] Also, Elijah is not allowed to die, even though he previously had asked God to kill him, because of how fiery or full of life he is in his association with Yahweh. There seems to be a hope that he will return with all his passion, and the tradition even developed later that he would in fact return to the earth with the same fire and power he had before.[29] Previously in the Elijah narrative, we find our first example of a type of resurrection. Elijah raises the widow’s son back to life after he has died. The way this story plays out is rather bizarre. The widow informs Elijah of the death of her son, and blames him for it because of his coming to them. She believes that Elijah has come to remind her of her sin and to cause her son to die. Again here, death is seen to be a result of sin to an extent. Elijah heals the boy by taking the body to the upper room where he was staying and puts him on his bed. He then cries out to God, blaming God for the boy’s death. He then lays himself on top of the boy three times and cries out, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” (1 Kings 17:21). The boy’s life is then restored. It is unclear what exactly has taken place at this point other than that Elijah has raised the boy from the dead by the power of God. It is clear that it is only through God’s intervention that this resurrection takes place.[30] Again, we see one who “walks with God” or is close to God avoiding death. In this case, the boy is taken back from death, and later Elijah avoids death altogether.

A similar story is seen in the Elisha narratives. He also, like Elijah raises a woman’s son from the dead. He also saves the other prophets from dying who have eaten poisonous gourds and miraculously provides life-giving bread to a hundred people. However, unlike Elijah, Elisha does not himself avoid death,[31] though the words spoken to Elisha in his illness by the king are the same words Elisha spoke when Elijah ascended. Elisha dies and his body is placed in a tomb. There is though, a strange occurrence involving Elisha’s body even after his death. A group of people are burying a dead man’s body when raiders attack. The men flee, tossing the body into a tomb where it lands on Elisha’s bones. The dead man then comes to life after coming into contact with Elisha’s bones. Again, it is unclear as to what exactly has happened, other than another resurrection taking place through what seems to be the power of God placed in the body of one who has “walked with God.”[32] Elijah held the spirit of Yahweh and Elisha had been given a “double-portion” of his spirit. This power is enough even to cause death to work backwards.[33] This event is a picture of the hope God has in store for Israel and appears to be linked images of restoration from exile and includes even a mentioning of Jonah, who was seen in a way to be the resurrected prophet.[34]

Previously in the Deuteronomistic History is seen perhaps even a stranger account of life after death than in the Elijah/Elisha narratives. This is in the story of Saul going to see the witch at Endor just before his death in battle against the Philistines. Here, the witch calls up the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel from the earth. He is described as an old man in a robe.[35] Some early Christians tried to interpret this by saying that a demon appeared to the witch and pretended to be Samuel, but this is not what the text indicates.[36] This text is unique to the Scriptures in that we see the spirit of a dead man coming up from the ground, indicating the idea of spirits existing after death in an underworld sort of place. Some rabbis concluded that it was only because God wished Samuel to condemn Saul’s sin and to present the way of righteousness to him one last time that the witch was able to call up Samuel.[37] Only God truly had that kind of authority, even though he may have not prevented mediums from engaging in this practice successfully. It is also ironic that when Samuel informs God earlier of all the good things Saul had done in spite of his disobedience, the removal of the mediums was on the list. Here, perhaps God is showing Samuel that this was not the case as Saul himself uses a medium to call upon Samuel.[38] The rising of Samuel’s spirit seems to be an out of the ordinary occurrence as the witch seems to realize that Samuel, an important person, would only come for another important person, Saul.[39] Even the witch seems surprised, though she appears to be more afraid of Saul than of the ghost because of Saul’s death penalty against witches, but also perhaps because contact with ghosts was normal for her.[40] The picture is a dark and gloomy one, and the spirit of Samuel asks why he has been disturbed.[41] He seems to prefer the place from where he has come to the place he has been summoned. He then condemns Saul once again and tells him that he and his sons will join him in death in the place where he now resides.[42]

At this point in the Bible, we begin to see a more developed theology of a possible afterlife. People are believed to go to the place of the dead when they die. This place is mysterious and is associated with the ground or the grave. This place is referred to as Sheol.[43] The idea of Sheol throughout much the text at this point is that it is a place where people go when they die.[44] It is not necessarily a bad place, but it is not happy.[45] The belief is that once people die and go to Sheol, they cannot praise God.[46] They cannot do anything because they are dead. They continue to exist, but they are still dead. While they cannot praise God from the grave, they do seem to be within God’s presence. Those who have walked with God are still with God even in death.

In the poetic literature, we begin to see even more reflection on Sheol and what happens to people in the grave and how they relate to God. In the Psalms, there are a particular set of hymns attributed to “The Sons of Korah” which seem to reflect not only on Sheol as the place where praising of God is no more, but they also begin to wonder whether or not God may raise up his people out of Sheol in resurrection.[47] This is interesting that these songwriters in particular spend so much time dwelling on the concept of being raised from Sheol since Samuel might also be considered to be a son of Korah through his father’s lineage and Samuel seems to be the first person to be raised up out of Sheol.[48] Also, the original Korah from whom they have derived their name was swallowed up along with his followers by the earth after they had rebelled against Moses. In this story, Korah and the other rebels go down to the grave alive.[49] The earth opens up its mouth and swallows them and they appear to enter Sheol even before they die.[50] Perhaps this story is why these psalmists in the tradition of Korahites ponder why one might also be raised up out of Sheol alive.[51] If it is possible to be swallowed alive by Sheol, then perhaps it is also possible through the power of God to be vomited out alive by Sheol.[52] However, while this idea exists within some of the psalms of the Sons of Korah and in some other psalms, there are also many portions of the poetic literature which indicate that death is the final state of man. Even in the psalms of the Sons of Korah is seen this idea at times. Psalm 88 asks of God, “Do you show your wonders to the dead?/ Do their spirits rise up and praise you?/ Is your love declared in the grave,/ your faithfulness in Destruction?” (vv.10-11). This hints that death is the final hopeless state, and yet at the same time the question of whether or not “spirits” actually are able to rise up out of the grave is pushed forward. While this seems impossible, these psalmists imply that they will be “taken” out of Sheol by God just as Elijah and Enoch were “taken.”[53] While many of the psalms proclaim that the dead do not praise God, there are also instances where they say that even in Sheol God is present. Psalm 139 asks if there is any place where God is not, and any place where one may flee from the presence of God. The conclusion is no, God is everywhere, even in the “depths of the earth” and “the far side of the sea” (vv.8-10). This shows that while death may overtake the follower of God, God will remain with them wherever they go. This shows that the person’s relationship with God is not severed by death, but it says nothing of a resurrection.

This type of language, though, is used in the prophetic literature. In the book of Jonah, the prophet travels to the far side of the sea to escape God and descends to the depths, but he finds that God is present even in these places.[54] God even brings the prophet up from the depths of the grave.[55] The prayer of Jonah from inside the fish says, “From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,/ and you listened to my cry” (2:1). Jonah continues, “The engulfing waters threatened me,/ the deep surrounded me;/ seaweed was wrapped around my head./ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;/ the earth beneath barred me in forever./ But you, LORD my God,/ brought my life up from the pit” (2:5-6). At the conclusion of Jonah’s prayer form inside the fish, the passage reads, “And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10). This is a truly remarkable passage as far as resurrection is concerned. We see a picture of one who has fled from God to every place imaginable, even into the grave, only to find that God is in the grave and has the power to cause the grave to vomit him back out. The connection of the fish with the grave is further shown in that Jonah spends three days and three nights in its belly, the length of time before one is proclaimed legally dead in Jewish tradition.[56] This story is found in the prophetic works and not in the histories, so Jonah’s prayer ought to be interpreted through a prophetic lens. If one does this then one will see that Jonah’s prayer is not just about his own state, but also the state of the nation of Israel. The Jonah narrative is only a small part of a larger picture, one that indicates God’s ultimate power and victory over the grave among other things.

The later writings contain more hints at resurrection than the earlier writings. The book of Job is an example of this. While it appears to be a very old text originally, it also appears to have taken its final shape late in the history of Israel and was influenced by the late period of Wisdom literature along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.[57] The books of wisdom seem to be all over the place when it comes to the idea of resurrection. They are philosophical in nature and tend to argue within themselves for several different views. Job 7 argues that one who goes down to the grave never comes back again.[58] Chapter 14 concludes the same, saying “till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep” (v.12). At the same time, though, Job uses several words to describe new life and perhaps even resurrection while he says that people remain in the grave.[59] He talks about how trees die and come back to life, but that men do not. He then asks God to lay him low in the grave until a future time when God’s anger has diminished.[60] He asks God to set a time later to remember him. He says that he would like to lie in the grave until God calls and when that happens he will respond, indicating that he will be made alive again.[61] But he concludes these statements with the question, “If someone dies, will they live again?” (v.14). He seems to hope for this possibility, but remains skeptical. [62] However, in Job 19, Job says that he will be redeemed, calling God his Redeemer, and “that in the end he will stand on the earth” or “on me” (v.25). He continues, “And after my skin has been destroyed,/ yet in my flesh I will see God;/ I myself will see him/ with my own eyes—I, and not another” (vv.26-7). This indicates Job’s hope in a resurrection from the dead in which he will see God. He seems to say that “in the end” God will raise him from the grave, and that he will live even though his body has decayed. While there is debate on what Job actually means, he appears to say that not only his spirit but his body will live again. He will see God with his “own eyes” (v.27). This passage appears to state the possibility of a resurrection of the body in the future.

Ecclesiastes seems to be more pessimistic in its speculation with its famous lines of “Everything is meaningless!” (1:2; 12:8). The writer says to live life because life will not be lived after death. He also concludes that the best thing one can do is remember their Creator while they are still young, before “the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (12:7). The writer seems to believe in the traditional idea that the body returns to the dust from which it was made, referring back to the curse in Genesis 3, and says nothing of resurrection. However, he does seem to say that the spirit of the person returns to the Spirit of God from which it came, referring back to Creation in Genesis 2 where God breathes his spirit into the body of Adam. He seems to conclude then that while the body is impermanent the spirit is permanent and is perhaps absorbed by God after death just as the body is absorbed by the earth. However, he seems to doubt even this in 3:21, where he asks “Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?"[63] So he only speaks sometimes of a sort of spiritual life after death, but never of a resurrection, especially not of the body.[64]

Isaiah does speak of a type of resurrection. In chapter 26 he writes that the people of Israel were supposed to bring life to the earth, but that they failed. They instead produced children who were as though they were stillborn. He says, “We have not brought salvation to the earth,/ and the people of the world have not come to life” (v.18). He then says that God will not allow it to be this way forever. He will cause salvation to be brought to the earth. Isaiah uses a picture of resurrection to describe this act, saying, “But your dead will live, LORD;/ their bodies will rise—/ let those who dwell in the dust/ wake up and shout for joy—/ your dew is like the dew of the morning;/ the earth will give birth to her dead” (v.19). While Isaiah is speaking of salvation here, he describes it as resurrection, even saying that the bodies of the dead will rise. This shows that the idea of resurrection conveyed in this word picture about salvation was limited to a spiritual resurrection but a physical one as well.

In chapter 53 is seen the passage on the Suffering Servant. The man described in this passage appears to have been made a sacrifice for sins, harking back to the idea of sacrificial substitution as a way of avoiding death as a result of sin. This person is described as bearing the sin of all of Israel in his own body and being put to death for the sins of others, the people of Israel.[65] Isaiah writes, “But he was pierced for our transgressions,/ he was crushed for our iniquities;/ the punishment that brought us peace was on him,/ and by his wounds we are healed./ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,/ each of us has turned to our own way;/ and the LORD has laid on him/ the iniquity of us all” (vv.5-6). This Servant dies in the place of Israel and is placed in the “grave” of “the wicked,” but his life appears to continue even after his death. The writer says, “and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,/ he will see his offspring and prolong his days,/ and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand./ After he has suffered,/ he will see the light of life and be satisfied” (vv.10b-11a). While this can also be translated to mean that he understands “the fruit of his suffering” or that he is looking forward to the redemption that his suffering will bring to Israel, it can also be translated that he himself will be present after this redemption has taken place, as is consistent with the part that says God will “prolong his days” so that “he will see his offspring.” This seems to present a picture of a bodily resurrection of the Suffering Servant after he has been killed on Israel’s behalf. It is uncertain exactly what Isaiah had in mind, but he seems to be struggling with the sacrificial promise made by God to Abraham, which said that God would God be held accountable for the sins of Abraham’s children.[66] God is seen as fulfilling his covenant through this suffering servant, and yet because of the apparent nature of this servant of God, his association and identification with God portraying his innocence, it would seem that death cannot truly hold onto him forever. This leads one to conclude that the Suffering Servant must not remain dead forever, indicating a possible and even likely resurrection of the body from the dead. Isaiah concludes his book continuing his theme of salvation and saying that God will create a new heaven and a new earth and that in this new existence death will be a foreign thing and that in this place destruction will not be found.[67] While his language is poetic and he tends to convey all kinds of messages in his writings, a particular theme found here is that death is an enemy and that God’s desire is for his people to live without death and destruction.[68] While he speaks in a way here of life standing in victory over death, he does not speak of resurrection specifically, and this idea is only portrayed in the old order of things passing away to make way for the new way.[69]

In Ezekiel, there is a passage that describes a valley of dry bones that come to life and are given flesh and a spirit. While this is a picture of God’s salvation of his people and is not to be taken as a literal event, it does present the reader with a picture of resurrection of the body in the sense of a parable describing salvation.[70] We see here even further development of this concept of resurrection, though not a literal resurrection here, it does portray some of the theological considerations present at this time of a bodily resurrection.[71] This passage should also be read in light of the Exodus story, as Ezekiel describes Egypt taking its rightful place in Sheol, and life being given to Israel.[72] Egypt will descend into the Netherworld, but Israel will rise.[73] God breathing his spirit into bodies of flesh is also reminiscent of Genesis 2 and shows that God remains Creator of life.[74]

In the book of Daniel we begin to see a more full-fledged theology of resurrection developing. Daniel says that in the future after a time of great distress “your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (12:1-2). Here is portrayed a resurrection of not just the righteous, but the evil as well.[75] This development is also seen in the apocryphal books, written around the same time during the period between the Exile and Jesus. Wisdom of Solomon teaches that in the future the righteous who are now dead and who dwell in the presence of God will be given resurrected bodies and will “rule over nations and kingdoms.”[76] Also, the Maccabeans, whose enemies were cutting off their hands, feet and tongues, taunted their persecutors by saying that God would give back what they had lost indicating a belief in the restoration of the body in a resurrection.[77] The apocryphal works draw on imagery from the Korah psalms and from the stories of Elijah and Enoch and say that not only will the dead rise up out of Sheol, but the living will also be raised up into the air in the Day of YHWH.[78] It is the development of resurrection during this time-period that helped to strongly shape the resurrection theology of the Pharisees and others during the time of Jesus. At that point, it seems that most religious Jews believed in an ultimate bodily resurrection of the dead at “the last day.” However, there were more conservative groups such as the Sadducees who did not embrace the later texts and continued to support a view of no resurrection. Jesus was more Pharisaic in his hermeneutic than he was Sadducaic and seemed to believe in bodily resurrection of the dead, though he claimed to be this resurrection himself, forming the foundational Christian belief that though his bodily death and resurrection, all would receive life.

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[1] NT Wright. “The Resurrection of Resurrection.” Biblical Archaeology Society Archive. 16:04 (Aug 2000).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Hoekema, Anthony. The Bible and the Future. (William B Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, MI): 1979.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Kugel, James L. How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. (Free Press: New York): 2008.
[11] Hoekema.
[12] Schwarz, Hans. Eschatology. (William B Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, MI): 2000.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] N.T. Wright. “The Resurrection of Resurrection.”
[16] McGovern, John J. "The waters of death." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 21, no. 3 (July 1, 1959): 350-358.
[17]Tikva Frymer-Kensky. “What the Babylonian Flood Stories Can and Cannot Teach Us About the Genesis Flood.” Biblical Archaeological Society Archive. (Dec 1977).
[18] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.: Peabody, MA): 2004.
[19] McGovern.
[20] Rogers, Cleon L, Jr. "Covenant with Abraham and its historical setting." Bibliotheca Sacra 127, no. 507 (July 1, 1970): 241-256.
[21] Dr. Ray Vander Laan. “Focus Institute Lecture Series: The Blood Path.” (lecture presented at Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 2009).
[22] Rogers.
[23] Vander Laan.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Rogers.
[26] Strong, John T. "Egypt's shameful death and the house of Israel's Exodus from Sheol (Ezekiel 32.17-32 and 37.1-14)." Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament 34, no. 4 (June 1, 2010): 475-504.
[27] Schwarz.
[28] Glover, Neil. "Elijah versus the narrative of Elijah: the contest between the prophet and the word." Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament 30, no. 4 (June 1, 2006): 449-462.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Alexander Rofé. “The Classification of the Prophetical Stories.” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Dec., 1970), pp. 427-440.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Olley, John W. "2 Kings 13: A Cluster of Hope in God." Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament 36, no. 2 (December 2011): 199-218.
[35] Pigott, Susan M. "1 Samuel 28--Saul and the Not So Wicked Witch of Endor." Review & Expositor 95, no. 3 (June 1, 1998): 435-444.
[36] K. A. D. Smelik. The Witch of Endor: I Samuel 28 in Rabbinic and Christian Exegesis Till 800 A.D.
Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Jun., 1979), pp. 160-179.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Reis, Pamela Tamarkin. "Eating the Blood : Saul and the Witch of Endor." Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament no. 73 (March 1, 1997): 3-23.
[40] Ibid.
[41] Pigott.
[42] Ibid.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Harris, R Laird. "The meaning of the word sheol as shown by parallels in poetic texts." Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society 4, no. 4 (December 1, 1961): 129-135.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Mitchell, David C. "'God will redeem my soul from Sheol': the Psalms of the sons of Korah." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 30, no. 3 (March 1, 2006): 365-384.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Ibid.
[50] Ibid.
[51] Ibid.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Landes, George M. "Kerygma of the Book of Jonah : the contextual interpretation of the Jonah psalm." Interpretation 21, no. 1 (January 1, 1967): 3-31.
[55] Ibid.
[56] Lessing, Reed. "Dying to live: God's judgment of Jonah, Jesus, and the baptized." Concordia Journal 33, no. 1 (January 1, 2007): 9-25.
[57] Kugel.
[58] Smith, David L. "The concept of death in Job and Ecclesiastes." Didaskalia (Otterburne, Man.) 4, no. 1 (Oct. 1, 1992): 2-14.
[59] Pinker, Aron. "Job's perspectives on death." Jewish Bible Quarterly 35, no. 2 (April 1, 2007): 73-84
[60] Ibid.
[61] Ibid.
[62] Smith.
[63] Ibid.
[64] Ibid.
[65] Schwarz.
[66] Vander Laan.
[67] Hoekema.
[68] Ibid.
[69] Schwarz.
[70] Strong.
[71] NT Wright. "Jesus' resurrection & Christian origins." Stimulus 16, no. 1 (February 1, 2008): 41-50.
[72] Strong.
[73] Ibid.
[74] NT Wright. "Jesus' resurrection & Christian origins."
[75] Schwarz.
[76] NT Wright. "Jesus' resurrection & Christian origins."
[77] Ibid.
[78] Mitchell.