Abstract

EVANS, Annette. To what extent is Ezekiel the source of resurrection of the dead in 4Q385 Pseudo-Ezekiel and Targum Ezekiel?. Old testam. essays [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.1, pp.70-85. ISSN 2312-3621.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2015/v28n1a6..

Tins article is a response to Daniel Block's recent statement that Ezekiel offers hope to the people that "there is life after death and there is hope beyond the grave, " but some scholars have objected to what has been called Christian supersessionalism. The research question is a) whether concepts of resurrection of the dead can have had their source in specific passages in the book of Ezekiel, and if so, b) whether the concept in Ezekiel applies to the "house of Israel" as a group, or to righteous individuals. Ezekiel marks the transition from pre-exilic Israelite religion to post-exilic Judaism and it has been suggested that he laid the foundation for the symbolic universe of apocalypticism. The eschatological element of judgment after death has now been seen to be an essential part of Jewish apocalypticism. The essence of the research question is: to what extent can Ezekiel be seen to have born such eschatological seeds? For various reasons, it is not possible to construct a linear progression of beliefs about the afterlife in Hebrew texts. Therefore the methodological approach was to examine relevant sections of two later extra-Biblical Jewish texts which are both clearly based on Ezekiel and which are both to some extent concerned with resurrection after death. Consequently relevant passages in 4Q385 Pseudo-Ezekiel and Targum Ezekiel have been compared to Ezekiel MT to yield some indication of the actual connections in this regard.

Keywords : Ezekiel; Qumran; supersessionalism; life after death; Jewish apocalypticism.

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