Sheol?

[thisisme]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I was interested in the topic of Sheol and didnt see a thread on it.. so here we are.

How agreeable is the idea of Sheol as afterlife among the religious circles of Judaism throughout the years? The translation of the word is unfortunately often seen as "grave" or even "hell", although it is clearly a waiting place that all the dead go to where they await their either ressurrection or judgement. How important is this concept in Jewish theology? How is one determined to be ressurrected or sent into some kind of hell or judgement?

Part two of the question is the placement of Pharisees, Saducees, Zealots, and Essenes. I have learned from perhaps unreliable sources that along with having different ideas of the political situation they were currently in (Roman occupation), they also had different opinions on Sheol, the afterlife, and the ressurrection. Is this true? What were they? Do these groups still exist in some form today or how did they go extinct?

I understand these are pretty big topics.. but I know there's a huge body of knowledge out there too.

[dauer]

Hello thisme.

Copied from another post I made here:

Originally Posted by me, that is, myself

Jewish beliefs about the afterlife vary quite a bit, are not written in stone. So there are a few possibilities for what might happen to someone after they died if they were not ready to go to gan eden, to heaven. They might be reincarnated and live another lifetime, they might go to a place called gehenna, which is a temporary place (no stay longer than 12 months), and their being there would prepare them to go to gan eden. This might happen by, for instance, them being confronted with all of the wrongs they had done in their lifetime in a way that would temper them so that they would be ready for gan eden. If someone was unable to be transformed in gehenna, then their soul would be extinguished. Odds are, according to this line of thinking, that the individual would not be extinguished, would eventually end up in Gan Eden. Of course, as I said before, these ideas are not written in stone. But these are some of the possibilities that show up in Jewish afterlife theology.

The translation of the word is unfortunately often seen as "grave" or even "hell", although it is clearly a waiting place that all the dead go to where they await their either ressurrection or judgement.

The translation as "hell" may be unfortunate, but I don't think translating it as "grave " is unfortunate at all. My argument would be that there is no evidence for belief in an immortal soul in the Torah, and that only becomes more possible once we include Nach.

How important is this concept in Jewish theology?

Judaism doesn't place a lot of emphasis on any afterlife theology. It's a very this-worldly religion.

Is this true? What were they?

Yes. The Pharisees believed in a resurrection. The sadducees did not. You can read more info about it here:

MyJewishLearning.com - Ideas & Belief: The Resurrection of the Dead

Judaism today can trace its roots back to the Pharisees. Some say that the Karaites are connected to the Sadducees, but imo if they are it is only in spirit, and they're really something that formed more in response to Muslim criticism of Jewish approaches to text than anything else.

Dauer

[Karimarie]

I've always read the idea of Sheol as being like the Greek concept of Hades (the place, not the god). It's not so much a place for sinners, it's just where everyone goes when they die as a final resting place.

I personally doubt the existence of an afterlife, though, at least in the sense of other planes of existence.

[inhumility]

Hi
There is mention of Sheol in Jonah, and Sheol is being discussed here. I asked a question from my Jewish and Christian friends in another forum.
There is a book in OTBible named Jonah; would somebody elaborate if Jonah was physically alive in the belly of fish when he prayed, or he was dead and only his spirit prayed and then G-d raised him from the real physically dead to be again physically alive. Do the wording of OTBible support this claim or otherwise? This is just a Bible Study question. I find following narratives in the scriptures:-
Jewish Bible
2 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly.
3 And he said: I called out of mine affliction unto the LORD, and He answered me; out of the belly of the nether-world cried I, and Thou heardest my voice.
Christian Bible
2 He said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave [a] I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.

• Jonah 2:2 Hebrew Sheol

My friends in another forum (CARM) gave following replies:
One of my Jews friends opines:
He was alive in the whale's belly. There is no "prayer through spirit" in Judaism.
My two Christian friends say:
1. He was alive. The verse states that Jonah was "inside the fish" and gives no indication that he was dead while in the whale.
2. He was alive. Why do you ask, pray tell?
To Jewish friend: could you please help me with these verses in Jonah?
1. And the Lord appointed a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Question: Are we to assume that it was a literal 3 days and 3 nights? 72 hours exactly?
2. And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God, from the belly of the fish.
3. And he said: I called out from my distress to the Lord, and He answered me; from the belly of the grave I cried out, You heard my voice.
Question: What does it mean by "belly of the grave?"
My Jewish friends again:
It's signifying Jonah knows this belly will be his grave if the Lord does not aid him.
I checked the NETBible's (uses the term Sheol, not grave) comments and it and it for the most part agreed, and said:
Sheol was a name for the place of residence of the dead, the underworld (see Job 7:9-10; Isa 38:17-18). Jonah pictures himself in the belly of Sheol, its very center – in other words he is as good as dead.
One of my Christian friends:
What about that 3 days and 3 night’s thing?
The word Sheol takes importance, here. I myself don’t know Hebrews. Would my friends here help to know the truth in this connection? This is my Bible study or search for truth.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam

[17th Angel]

sheol and hades are meant to be the same... obviously from two different language sets but.. in todays translation may of heard of it? the words are replaced for the word Hell...... ;/ some say it is a firery pit in the centre of the earth or whatever where you get punished.. but lookin in the bible when jesus is explaining this all, he describes a place called Gehhenna(sp?) burning dumping ground outside jerusalem(sp?) Saying this is what happens to those who do not fit in with gods plan... they are simply destroyed laid to rest, that there is no eternal punishment... And those in there memorial graves/tombs are to rise from their graves (sheol, Hades, HELL!!) and then be judged.... So yeah... sorry thats all I got lol..