Segal presents two scriptural texts, Ezekiel 37:1-10 and Daniel 12:1-3, as the representative examples to show how Judeans formed a concept of resurrection. At first, he argues that Ezekiel symbolically used a metaphor of resurrection to manifest Israelites’ renewal achieved by God (256). For him, although Ezekiel’s prophecy did not mean literal resurrection, it was very crucial because it first introduced the image of resurrection to the Israelites (257). In addition, he asserts that Daniel prophesied the literal sense of resurrection ambiguously described in Isaiah 66 (263). That is, Daniel’s vision and prophecy come from his thoughtful study of Isaiah 66. Furthermore, Segal emphasizes that for the Israelites, the belief in resurrection
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In order to support his contention, he tries to summarize the entire history of Judaism related to its belief in afterlife. He argues that the Hebrews thought not that they have a soul but that they are a soul based on the biblical creation story (78). Until the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, there was no mention of heaven and hell because death was understood just as a final state belonging to the natural order of things (85). However, both concepts of resurrection of the dead and life after death were formed at the time of great persecution toward Jews (86). That was because the ideas of bodily resurrection functioned as a hope for those who gave up life rather than renounce their belief (91). And then, Jews accepted Greek philosophical thinking that mortal body accommodates an immortal soul (91). Yet, Jews could not underestimate the body just as a dispensable thing like Greek philosophers because the body was created by God (92). So, in spite of somewhat conflicting notions, Jews embraced resurrection and immortality of the soul together. Of course, the intellectual movement in Judaism caused Jews turn into a more spiritualized version of afterlife rather than a literal meaning of bodily resurrection (93). However, Sumegi stresses that in Jewish tradition, belief in resurrection and belief in an
In order to support his contention, he tries to summarize the entire history of Judaism related to its belief in afterlife. He argues that the Hebrews thought not that they have a soul but that they are a soul based on the biblical creation story (78). Until the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, there was no mention of heaven and hell because death was understood just as a final state belonging to the natural order of things (85). However, both concepts of resurrection of the dead and life after death were formed at the time of great persecution toward Jews (86). That was because the ideas of bodily resurrection functioned as a hope for those who gave up life rather than renounce their belief (91). And then, Jews accepted Greek philosophical thinking that mortal body accommodates an immortal soul (91). Yet, Jews could not underestimate the body just as a dispensable thing like Greek philosophers because the body was created by God (92). So, in spite of somewhat conflicting notions, Jews embraced resurrection and immortality of the soul together. Of course, the intellectual movement in Judaism caused Jews turn into a more spiritualized version of afterlife rather than a literal meaning of bodily resurrection (93). However, Sumegi stresses that in Jewish tradition, belief in resurrection and belief in an