Death is Death
For Christians the Bible is the final authority in all theological matters. What is found within its pages should be the basis for the beliefs of Christians, and not the ideas of theologians or philosophers of the world. Given the authority that the Bible itself carries, does it have anything to say about death and the condition of the dead? Surprisingly, one Christian source says, “The Bible offers no formal definition of ‘death’ and no detailed exposition of what happens to people when they die.”[1] While it is true that the Bible does not offer a “formal definition” of death, it is also true that it does not need to give a “formal definition” in order for the Christian to make a conclusion on the matter. To expect the Bible to give a “formal definition” of death would be anachronistic at best. The Scriptures do in fact offer a satisfying definition of death and of what happens to the deceased one at death.
Instead of trying to find evidence for the support of a doctrine or belief by using the Bible, the Christian should allow the Bible to define[2] the doctrine or belief itself. Indeed, the Bible should be allowed to speak for itself instead of having others try to tell it what it means. That is why for the purposes of this study, the Bible itself will be allowed to speak its divine wisdom and sayings on this subject and shape the understanding of death from its perspective, and not man’s wishful thinking. In what follows will be a brief survey of the Hebrew Bible’s uses of and allusions to death, dying, and other related criteria of interest to this study, beginning with the Pentateuch, commonly cited passages for afterlife, and the poetic writings and proverbs. Then, a brief discussion of the soul will follow.
Pentateuch
Genesis. Appropriately, the first mention of death in the Bible is in the book of Genesis. Genesis 2:16-17 states,
And Jehovah Elohim commanded Man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.[3]
This account in Genesis clears up many things worth noting. It reveals that death was not something inherently woven into the nature of man, for man had not yet experienced death at the time of this utterance. Evidently, God had created man to live everlastingly since death would only come as a result of disobedience and negligence of God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Unfortunately, Adam and his wife, Eve, fell short of God’s standards as a little further reading into the book of Genesis reveals. This account not only gives us direct insight into why humans die, but it also gives us insight into what God meant when he said Adam would “certainly die” if he proved to be disobedient. From the very book of Genesis itself, the explanation and meaning of death are given from the standpoint of the Creator himself! God has not left humanity wandering in a state of ignorance on this very important matter. No, the Bible, even the Creator himself, disclose what ‘certain death’ meant when those words were uttered to Adam in Genesis 3:19:
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return[4]
Indisputably, God’s cautious utterance toward Adam about ‘certainly dying’ meant that he would ‘return to dust’ for that was his origin. That is not to say that man is merely dust, for that is not what the Scriptures present within its pages. Genesis 2:7 reveals a marvelous truth:
And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul[5]
The soul, according to Genesis 2:7, is a combination of at least two elements, namely, “dust of the ground” and “the breath of life.” These two elements are what man is (actually, there may be 3 elements, namely, “breath”, “life”, and “dust.” The breath is the element that gives life, but is not life itself). Removing the “breath of life” from the “dust” results in ‘certain death’ leading man to ‘return to the dust’ from which he was taken. This “breath of life” could be taken from humans forcefully, as was the case in the account of Cain and Abel. This account is the first recorded killing in the Bible and sheds some light on the subject of death.
After Cain had killed Abel, Genesis 4:10 records God as saying,
What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.[6]
Jehovah said that Abel’s “blood” was “crying” out to him, but what was it about blood that caused it to “cry” out to God? The Bible relates that Jehovah is the “source of life” (Ps 36:9). Man cannot give back a life that he takes, for he is not the “source” of the very thing he took. “All the souls—to me they belong,” says Jehovah in Ezekiel 18:4. Therefore, to take life is to take a possession that belongs to God alone. That is why the “blood” in Genesis 4:10 ‘cries out’ to Jehovah, because life (blood) is something that belongs to God. Thus the killing of any one human can be defined as the intentional (though sometimes unintentional, e.g. accidents) deprivation of life. It is of interest to note that Abel’s blood cried out to God “from the ground.” The phrase “from the ground” is crucial. If death results in man returning to the dust of the ground, then it follows that Abel’s “breath” had been taken from him, thus he returned to the ‘ground’, just as God had warned Adam in the Garden. For that reason it is appropriate for Abel’s “blood” to cry out to God “from the ground” because that’s where he had returned. According to the written record, Abel was the first human to ‘return to dust’, and the Bible supports such an idea by stating that his “blood” cried out “from the ground.”
Elsewhere in Genesis we are giving further perspicacity into the meaning of “death.” Genesis 6:17 records,
As for me, here, I am about to bring on the Deluge, water upon the earth, to bring ruin upon all flesh that has rush of life in it, from under the heavens, all that is on earth will perish[7]
By means of the Deluge God was going to cause all that had the “rush [breath, force] of life” to “perish.” The Hebrew word for “perish” is “[a] verb meaning to expire, to die. The word is apparently from a root meaning to breathe out. This word is used to describe the death of humans and animals in the flood (Gen. 6:17; 7:21).”[8] So, the Hebrew word that “is used to describe the death of humans” carries the notion “to expire”, meaning “to breathe out.” This breathing out is directly related to what God had told Adam. The exiting of the “breath of life” results in man returning to dust, thus the breathing out of this “breath” yields death. It is worth noting how the Bible links the death of humans to ‘breathing out.’ For man, the ‘breathing out’ of God’s breath is death.
An interesting text in relation to the present subject is found at Genesis 25:8 where it reads,
Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.[9]
After Abraham had “breathed his last”, meaning when the breath of life had exited his body, he “was gathered to his people.” Could it be that, for the first time in human history, the exiting of the breath of life from a human’s body resulted in something other than ‘returning to dust’? Concerning the phrase “gathered to his people”, one source relates “And was gathered to his people: in [Genesis] 15.15 the expression is “go to your fathers.” It is generally accepted that the two expressions are equivalent. However, there are different interpretations of the meaning. Note that t[odays] e[nglish] v[ersion] takes this expression to mean the same as “died,” and considers gathered to his people as a repetition of breathed his last and died. Another view is that gathered … people refers to being placed in the burial place with those who have died before. Others take it to refer to being in Sheol, the place of the dead in the deep parts of the earth. Still others understand it to refer to being remembered by the living as one of the honored ancestors.”[10]
Many of the explanations presented above do not suggest anything different from the fate every other man prior to Abraham had been subjected to. For as the handbook explains, the phrase can simply be a repetition of his breathing out or can refer to being burial in a family tomb. Or, this can be a reference to the idea of Sheol (Discussed later), which is synonymous “for… [the] pit, death, and destruction…Here all existence is in suspense, yet it is not a nonplace like utopia, but rather a place where life is no more.[11]
As the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible points out, Sheol is “a place where life is no more.” If life is no more in Sheol then the obvious implication based on the constant theme of Genesis is that it is a place where humans, whose “breath of life” has exited their bodies, go.
From what has been discussed above, it seems suffice to say that, in Genesis, death is the exiting of the “breath of life” from one’s body. It is a constant theme throughout the book, and more so than any other book, it gives precise details disclosing the ‘mystery’ of death and of other related issues
THEME OF GENESIS:
1. “Dust” + “Breath of Life”= Soul (= living being, whether human or beast)
2. “Dust”- “Breath of Life”= Death
[1] Kenneth D. Boa & Robert M. Bowman Jr., Sense and Nonsense About Heaven & Hell (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 37.
[2] By “define” it is not meant a “formal definition”, but a general outline of a concept or idea.
[3] Darby Translation
[4] English Standard Version
[5] American Standard Version
[6] New American Standard Bible
[7] The Five Books of Moses, Everett Fox
[8]Baker, Warren: The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN : AMG Publishers, 2003, 194.
[9] The Revised Standard Version
[10] Reyburn, William David ; Fry, Euan McG.: A Handbook on Genesis. New York : United Bible Societies, 1997 (UBS Handbook Series), 568
[11]Elwell, Walter A.; Beitzel, Barry J.: Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Book House, 1988, S. 1948
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