Second death

The second death is an eschatological concept in Judaism and Christianity related to punishment after a first, natural, death.

Judaism

Main article: Jewish eschatology

Although the term is not found in the Hebrew Bible, Sysling in his study (1996) of Teḥiyyat ha-metim (Hebrew; "resurrection of the dead") in the Palestinian Targums identifies a consistent usage of the term "second death" in texts of the Second Temple period and early Rabbinical writings. In most cases this "second death" is identical with the judgment, following resurrection, in Gehinnom at the Last Day.

Targum Deuteronomy

In Targum Neofiti (Neof.) and the fragments (FTP and FTV) the "second death" is the death the wicked die.

Targum Isaiah

Targum Isaiah has three occurrences. The first is 22:14 where the Aramaic paraphrases the Hebrew as: “This sin will not be forgiven you until you die the second death.” The final two examples are from Targum Isaiah 65 which sets the scene for an apocalyptic final battle. Targum Isaiah 65:6 paraphrases the Hebrew in line with the interpretation of the penultimate verse of the Hebrew Isaiah found in the Gospel of Mark where "their worms does not die" is equated with Gehinnom. Here both Targum Isaiah and Gospel of Mark supply the term "Gehinnom", where Hebrew Isaiah simply concludes with the heaps of corpses following the last battle where "their worms do not die" making no further eschatological extension into resurrection and judgment.

Targum Jeremiah

Targum Jeremiah 51:17 has the Aramaic "they shall die the second death and not live in the world to come" which appears to depart from the other Targum uses in not being explicit that the second death is after resurrection, but may instead be an exclusion from resurrection.

Targum Psalms

The majority reading of Targum Psalm 49:11 has the Aramaic translation "For the wise see that the evildoers are judged in Gehinnom". However several manuscripts, including Paris No.10, Montefiore No.7, and Targum of Salomos 113 have the variant Aramaic translation "He sees men wise in wickedness, who die a second death, and are judged in Gehinnom."

Rabbinic interpretations

Rabbi David Qimhi (Toulouse, c.1160-Narbonne, 1235) considered the phrase to mean "the death of the soul in the world".

Christianity

Main article: Christian eschatology

The main occurrence of the term "second death" in Christianity are the series of uses in Revelation, 2:11, 20:6, 20:14 and 21:8. There are different interpretations as to the meaning of the term "second death"

Different views

The majority of Christians who believe in the immortality of the soul regard the second death to mean eternal suffering or torment in a place called the Lake of Fire, though a minority of Christians who believe in the mortality of the soul teach universal salvation. Mortalists, including some Anglicans, some Lutherans, all Seventh-day Adventists, and others, oppose the idea of eternal suffering but believe that the Second death is an actual second death, meaning that the soul perishes and will be annihilated after the final judgment.

See also

Spiritual death

References

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Second death. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.