WAITING

WAITING FOR THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODIES
This explanation is in consonance with the explanations of later Christian fathers. The
understanding of both Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy preserves the Bosom of
Abraham as distinct from heaven ( Life After Death by Metropolitan Hierotheos)
In the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome referred to Abraham's bosom as the place in hades
where the righteous await judgment day in delight.
Augustine of Hippo likewise referred to the righteous dead as disembodied spirits blissfully
awaiting Judgment Day in secret receptacles. (Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book XII)
Up to the time of Maldonatus (A.D. 1583), its origin was traced back the universal custom of
parents to take up into their arms, or place upon their knees, their children when they are
fatigued, or return home, and to make them rest by their side during the night (cf. 2 Samuel
12:3; 1 Kings 3:20; 17:19; Luke 11:7 sqq.), thus causing them to enjoy rest and security in the
bosom of a loving parent. After the same manner was Abraham supposed to act towards his
children after the fatigues and troubles of the present life, hence the metaphorical expression
"to be in Abraham's Bosom" as meaning to be in repose and happiness with him.
According to Maldonatus (1583), whose theory has since been accepted by many scholars,
the metaphor "to be in Abraham's Bosom" is derived ed from the custom of reclining on couches
at table which prevailed among the Jews during and before the time of Jesus. As at a feast
each guest leaned on his left elbow so as to leave his right arm at liberty, and as two or more
lay on the same couch, the head of one man was near the breast of the man who lay behind,
and he was therefore said "to lie in the bosom" of the other.
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