Ps 31:17:
"Let the wicked be disgraced; let them lie silent in
the grave" (NLT).
"Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in
Sheol" (NASB).
The Hebrew term rendered "wicked" is RASHA (רָשָׁע).
The LXX has οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ("the ungodly") for RASHA.
In any event, we know that evil, bad or wicked
people (from God's standpoint) are under consideration
in Ps 31:17.
In view of the foregoing data, my question is this.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that anyone who dies and
finds his/her abiding place in Sheol or Hades
(really not a place, but more of a condition) will one
day be raised from the dead (Rev 20:12-13) by God. But
if, as David indicates, the "wicked" are "brought down
to Hades" when they die, then wouldn't the wicked in
Hades have to be raised from the dead when God
empties Sheol? Compare Rev 6:8.
Someone might point out that Ps 31:17 does not explicitly
say the wicked go to Sheol post mortem, but it only states
that David prayed for God to consign the wicked in Sheol.
Nevertheless, the belief that at least some wicked
ones could be denizens of Sheol appears to be an
ancient belief of Judaism. While it is conceivable
that David prayed for the wicked to be
brought down to Sheol without believing that they would actually rest there,
that possibility seems highly unlikely, in view of
what other texts dealing with Sheol declare.
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Psalm 31:17--Sheol
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
I've posted a comment from Girdlestone in a separate blog entry.
my question concerning Rev 6:8 stemmed from the 1993 5/15 WT, p. 31, which says:
"Many who die while the preaching work is in progress prior to the
great tribulation will evidently receive a resurrection. This is
indicated by what we read at Revelation 6:7, 8 concerning the ride
of the symbolic horsemen. Many people have died as victims of wars,
food shortages, and deadly plagues. Since it is 'Hades' that claims
these victims of 'Death,' they will be resurrected during Christ's
Millennial Reign, when Hades gives up all the dead in it.
(Revelation 20:13) A number of those raised to life may have had
some contact with the Kingdom message before they died."
Nevertheless, this same article cautions:
"Hence, there is no reason for us to speculate about who among those
who have died recently may or may not be resurrected. This is
something we have not been authorized to do. (Compare Luke
12:13, 14.) It is far wiser for us to wait on the decisions of the
righteous Judges, Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. This will give us
more peace of mind as Jehovah's servants. It will also help us to
give better attention to what we have been assigned to do "'go and
make disciples of people of all the nations, teaching them to
observe all the things Jesus commanded.'"
So balance, modesty and humility is required. We must wait upon
Jehovah and put the doing of His will first in our lives. At the
same time, I just cannot help trying to acquire understanding of the
verses we have discussed. Thanks!
I don't necessarily argue with the point about departing from the path. However, that is a moral action. One (in this context) is leaving the path of righteousness. Commentary after commentary and more than one lexicon affirms this understanding for RASHA.
Pulpit Commentary on Prov 4:14: The wicked (ishaim), i.e. the godless (cf, Psalm 1:1), is parallel with "evil men" (raim), i.e. the habitually wicked.
Clarke on 4:14: Enter not into the path of the wicked - Never associate with those whose life is irregular and sinful; never accompany them in any of their acts of transgression.
For a recent commentary on Proverbs, I would highly recommend Michael V. Fox--his Anchor Bible Commentary. I also have no problem with positing concrete terms for Hebrew, but would that then mean that all abstractions have thereby been abandoned or not conveyed in Hebrew?
I guess the Hebrew Bible is also a very moral book for me (like the so-called New Testament). So while I agree that the verse could be talking about one who is pathless (so to speak), the notion of sin or moral defection still remains present in the text. Notice that the "wicked" do have a path that the godly are encouraged not to follow. Conversely, Enoch and Noah walked with the true God on the right path.
There are many definitions for "wicked," not all of which connote intent. We have to examine each occurrence within its appropriate context (I would submit). In NA28, the adjective "wide" modifies "the gate," whereas the adjective "broad" modifies "the way." So I don't think we have to read many paths into the one way:
"Wide gate and broad way; figures representing the pleasures and excesses of sin and wickedness. Strait gate and narrow way; representing, on the other hand, the effort and self-denial which Christian duty imposes" (Meyer's NT Commentary).
"Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it" (NWT 2013 Rev)
NWT is evidently based on the WH reading. Either way, I'm hard pressed to read the text as thematic of disfunction per se. Why destroy msomeone just because he/she is dysfunctional and not morally wicked and culpable?
Thanks for the two scriptural references Compare also Luke 13:24ff.
The piece on Prov 12:27 is interesting and detailed. It would take me a while to read it carefully, but I would like to peruse it sometime. As for wicked persons, I'm not sure that intent is primarily connoted by the word--Ps 145:20 is another verse that refers to the annihilation of the wicked.
Fox makes some good points about variants, but he discusses moralizing tendencies in the LXX too. Again, I'm not suggesting that people who are wicked always have bad intent per se.
I believe it's Girdlestone, who writes that the LXX use of ἁμαρτωλοὶ is not unusual for the LXX. We could probably track a number of places where such language is used by the translation. See Ps 119:95 (118:95 LXX).
Post a Comment