WAITING

WAITING FOR THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODIES
2. Use in Jewish Literature:
In the apocryphal and pseudo-epigraphical literature the word is extensively used in a spiritual
and symbolical sense, signalizing the place of happiness to be inherited by the righteous in
contrast to Gehenna, the place of punishment to which the wicked were to be assigned. In the
later Jewish literature "Sheol" is represented as a place where preliminary rewards and
punishments are bestowed previous to the final judgment (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE;
ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; and compare 2 Esdras 2:19; 8:52). But the
representations in this literature are often vague and conflicting, some holding that there were
4 divisions in Sheol, one for those who were martyred for righteousness' sake, one for sinners
who on earth had paid the penalty for their sins, one for the just who had not suffered
martyrdom, and one for sinners who had not been punished on earth (En 102:15). But among
the Alexandrian Jews the view prevailed that the separation of the righteous from the wicked
took place immediately after death (see The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14; 4:10; 5:5, 17;
Josephus, Ant, XVIII, I, 3; B J, II, viii, 14). This would seem to be the idea underlying the use of
the word in the New Testament where it occurs only 3 times, and then in a sense remarkably
free from sensuous suggestions.
3. Used by Christ:
Christ uses the word but once (Luke 23:43), when He said to the penitent thief, "Today shalt
thou be with me in Paradise" (see ABRAHAM'S BOSOM (compare HADES)). This was no time
to choose words with dialectical precision. The consolation needed by the penitent thief
suffering from thirst and agony and shame was such as was symbolized by the popular
conception of paradise, which, as held by the Essenes, consisted of "habitations beyond the
ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain, or snow, or with intense heat,
but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is
perpetually blowing from the ocean" (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 11).
4. Other Forms and Uses:
Nowhere in His public teaching did Christ use the word "Paradise." He does indeed, when
speaking in parables, employ the figure of the marriage supper, and of new wine, and
49