John Granger Cook 2017 article on the Question of an Empty Tomb in 1 Corinthians 15

[davidmartin]

after all , the epistles undermine the claim when they reveal there were other competing traditions and i think it is such as these that may have sourced the gospel stories.

I think we also can't just assume that the Gospel stories are based (or mostly based) on other traditions. It's possible that the authors of the Gospels are being highly creative and making things up to tell a story. The women finding the tomb empty could be made-up by Mark and not go back to any tradition.

sure but there seems more going on here than just events being described, like why the stories have odd features and details. and maybe metaphorical meanings in there. are these just plain stories or do they encode other information?
after all there's the esoteric sayings that turn up in Thomas, a bunch of symbolic stuff popping up in various early/earlyish texts.
it feels like there's stuff we're not aware of going on around the gospels to do with non-literal interpretations and that's the kind of thing to fit into traditions. So they may appear to be these stories but thats not all thats going on find it hard to just assume a straight narrative here that's just 'a story'. There's the accounts of the Valentinians mining the gospels for symbolic stuff maybe they suspected the same (although we hear the more outlandish ones about aeons), also there is quite a few symbolic stuff already visible. could go back to traditions pre-epistle or alt-epistle

[nightshadetwine]

sure but there seems more going on here than just events being described, like why the stories have odd features and details. and maybe metaphorical meanings in there. are these just plain stories or do they encode other information?
after all there's the esoteric sayings that turn up in Thomas, a bunch of symbolic stuff popping up in various early/earlyish texts.
it feels like there's stuff we're not aware of going on around the gospels to do with non-literal interpretations and that's the kind of thing to fit into traditions. So they may appear to be these stories but thats not all thats going on find it hard to just assume a straight narrative here that's just 'a story'. There's the accounts of the Valentinians mining the gospels for symbolic stuff maybe they suspected the same (although we hear the more outlandish ones about aeons), also there is quite a few symbolic stuff already visible. could go back to traditions pre-epistle or alt-epistle

Oh yeah, I agree. I do think there are metaphorical, allegorical, and symbolic elements in these stories.

[davidmartin]

which is why the epistles can be throwing us off the scent.
they encompass a bunch of esoteric or mystical things but laying them down in a structured framework really as if presenting them for the first time. But that could just be an intentional feature to make them seem early

If there were plenty of stories and other texts pre-epistle, all it means is the epistles ignored this stuff. which may seem a big claim but it's not. plenty of other texts ignored the gospels after they were known to have existed, like Hermas or Hebrews, even Acts. I don't see it as evidence to date the gospels late but as evidence it was quite routine for them to be ignored. Which means the epistles' lack of references just doesn't count for much. it's just part of this phenomenon where earlier sources just get ignored.

[MrMacSon]

John Granger Cook (2017)
'Resurrection in Paganism and the Question of an Empty Tomb in 1 Corinthians 15,' New Testament Studies, 63(1); pp.56-75

Abstract

2 In ancient Judaism (from the second century BCE on), the existing evidence demonstrates that individuals viewed resurrection as physical (i.e. bodily). Clearly some ancient Jews believed in other versions of the afterlife such as the immortality of the soul or the future exaltation of the spirit.

3 In ancient paganism, texts from classical Greece, the Roman Republic and the Empire all envisioned cases of resurrection as physical.


1. Some Methodological Reflections

By ‘physical resurrection’ I mean a resurrection in which the body of a dead individual returns to life in some sense (e.g. a return to mortal life or immortal life). ‘Physical’ or ‘bodily resurrection’ is consistent with a transformation of the earthly body (e.g. into a σῶμα πνευματικόν). The evidence, by necessity, for resurrection in paganism is from widely diverse chronological eras and appears in diverse contexts in the authors who preserve the traditions. Nevertheless, one can discern patterns in the pagan narratives of resurrections that are clearly analogous to resurrection in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Jonathan Z. Smith's distinction between analogy and genealogy in the history of religions can serve to illuminate the comparisons to be made below: they are analogies and not genealogies. My goal is not, for example, to demonstrate pagan influence (a genealogical method) on Paul and early Christianity or vice versa. In the discussion of Greco-Roman divinities below I have dispensed with the concept of the annual resurrection of vegetation deities.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 7ECF899313 (the whole article is available!)

Also see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4557&p=92064&hilit= ... ion#p92064 re Cook's 2018 book, Empty Tomb, Resurrection, Apotheosis

.

2. The Semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω

James Ware, in a recent analysis of ἐγείρω, distinguishes three senses, the first two of which are closely related: (1) ‘awaken, raise from sleep’ or ‘wake up, rise from sleep’; (2) ‘rouse up, stir up’; and (3) ‘raise up, set up right’ or ‘rise up, stand upright’ [Footnote 6]. In the first and third senses ‘the basic semantic meaning of getting up or arising to stand is present’ [Footnote 7]. This seems correct in general, although there are usages such as Homer, Iliad 2.41 where ἔγρετο δ’ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘he woke from sleep’) is followed by ἕζετο δ’ ὀρθωθείς in 2.42 (‘he sat up straight’). In such a text, one cannot demonstrate that the meaning ‘arising to stand’ is necessarily present in ἔγρετο. On the whole, however, Ware is accurate. One could argue that Iliad 2.42 simply clarifies the action of ‘getting up’ that is implied by ἔγρετο.

A text (probably first or early second century CE) attributed to Ammonius the grammarian distinguishes between the two verbs: ἠγέρθη καὶ ἀνέστη διαφέρει. ἠγέρθη, μέν, λεκτέον ἀπὸ ὕπνου, ἀνέστη δὲ ἀπὸ κλίνης (‘ἠγέρθη and ἀνέστη differ. Ἠγέρθη (he/she rose) is, on the one hand, to be said “from sleep”, but ἀνέστη (he/she rose) is to be said “from that on which one lies”’) [Footnote 8]. Clearly Ammonius perceives a physical meaning in both verbs. In another text, Ammonius writes: ἀναστῆναι καὶ ἐγερθῆναι διαφέρει. ἀναστῆναι μὲν ἐπὶ ἔργον, ἐγερθῆναι δὲ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘ἀναστῆναι and ἐγερθῆναι differ. Ἀναστῆναι is, on the one hand, to rise for a task, but ἐγερθῆναι is to rise from sleep’) [Footnote 9]. In another work dedicated to ‘incorrect phraseology’ (περὶ ἀκυρολογίας), the grammarian distinguishes the verbs so: ἀναστῆναι τοῦ ἐγερθῆναι διαφέρει. ἀναστῆναι ἐγρηγορότως, ἐγερθῆναι τὸ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘ἀναστῆναι differs from ἐγερθῆναι.

One rises (ἀναστῆναι) while awake, but one rises (ἐγερθῆναι) from sleep’) [Footnote 10]. Grammatical rules are occasionally broken, as in Ps.-Plato's Axiochus: Ἀγαμήδης γοῦν καὶ Τροφώνιος … κοιμηθέντες οὐκέτ’ ἀνέστησαν (‘Agamedes and Trophonius indeed going to sleep no longer rose up’) [Footnote 11]. A text of Eupolis the comic has a similar usage: τίς οὑξεγείρας μ’ ἐστὴν οἰμώξει μακρά· | ὁτιή μ’ ἀνέστησ’ ὠμόϋπνον (‘Who was it that waked/raised me? You will wail aloud | because you raised [or “woke”] me from my unfinished sleep’) [Footnote 12]. In general, it is true that classical Greek texts do not use the verb ἀνίστημι to mean ‘rise (from sleep)’. Both verbs imply a physical motion upward from the state of sleep, lying down or death – in contexts where individuals are sleeping, lying down or dead.

LXX and NT usage of the verbs for resurrection has roots in classical usage. A chorus in Sophocles’ Electra tells her that she will never raise her father from the lake of Hades, which is common to all, by wailing or by prayers (ἀλλ’ οὔτοι τόν γ’ ἐξ Ἀίδα | παγκοίνου λίμνας πατέρ’ ἀν|στάσεις οὔτε γόοισιν, οὐ λιταῖς) [Footnote 13]. There are a number of examples of the verb used in this way in classical literature [Footnote 14].

Examples of ἐγείρω and its cognates are more difficult to find. In Aeschylus’ Choephoroe, Orestes asks his dead father: ἆρ’ ἐξεγείρηι τοῖσδ’ ὀνείδεσιν, πάτερ; (‘Father, are you roused up by such taunts?’). Electra adds: ἆρ’ ὀρθὸν αἴρεις φίλτατον τὸ σὸν κάρα; (‘Are you raising up your beloved head erect?’) [Footnote 15]. If Ammonius is correct, then both lines are essentially referring to the same motion. Apollodorus describes Heracles’ raising of Theseus (who was bound near the gates of Hades) using the same verb: ὁ δὲ Θησέα μὲν λαβόμενος τῆς χειρὸς ἤγειρε, Πειρίθουν δὲ ἀναστῆσαι βουλόμενος τῆς γῆς κινουμένης ἀφῆκεν (‘Taking Theseus by the hand he raised him up, but although he wanted to raise Pirithous, when the earth quaked, he let him go’) [Footnote 16].

Theodoret presumably quotes Apollodorus (the second-century BCE historian) accurately, when the latter writes that Asclepius raised some who had died (τινας τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἐγείρειν) [Footnote 17]. In the case of the resurrections/awakenings of Tyrian Heracles and Dionysus the verb ἐγείρω was also used [Footnote 18].

Physical motion upward (usually ‘standing up’) is implied in all these texts. Clearly the verb is not equivalent to ‘exalting’ (for which an ancient Greek author would use ὑψόω) [Footnote 19].

4. Resurrections in Paganism

4.1 Resurrections Performed by Asclepius, Polyidus and Heracles

Philodemus (ca. 110–40/35 BCE), in his treatise On Piety, has a tradition of Asclepius’ resurrections:

Zeus struck down Asclepius with a thunderbolt, as the one who wrote the Naupactica [Hesiod's era] affirms and Telestes [4th C. BCE] in the Asclepius and the lyric poet Cinesias [ca. 450–390 BCE], because after being entreated by Artemis, he raised Hippolytus [from the dead] (ὅ[τι τὸ]ν Ἱππόλυτον [παρα]κληθεὶς ὑπ᾽ Ἀρ[τέμι]δος ἀνέστ[η]σε[ν]); but Stesichorus [ca. 600–555 BCE] in the Eriphyle wrote that it was because of Capaneus and Lycurgus.

Ps.-Eratosthenes (second century CE) notes that Asclepius’ transgressions included raising the dead by the art of the physician, and that his last resurrection was that of Hippolytus, son of Theseus (τούτου τέχνῃ ἰατρικῇ χρωμένου, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἤδη τεθνηκότας ἐγείρειν, ἐν οἷς καὶ ἔσχατον Ἱππόλυτον τὸν Θησέως). There are numerous testimonies to resurrections accomplished by Asclepius.

Agatharchides (second century BCE) includes Alcestis among those whom Heracles raised:

And Alcestis, Protesilaus and Glaucus who died rose again (καὶ τὴν μὲν Ἄλκηστιν καὶ Πρωτεσίλαον καὶ Γλαῦκον τετελευτηκότας πάλιν ἀναστῆναι), the one being brought up by Heracles (τὴν μὲν ὑφ’ Ἡρακλέους ἀναχθεῖσαν), the other because of his love for his wife, and the last because of the prophecy about the one buried with him.

In all the examples above, individuals’ material bodies are raised (i.e. there is no statement that their corpses were left in tombs).

4.2 The Resurrection Narratives of Naumachius

Proclus (410/12–85 CE) describes certain individuals who apparently rose from the dead:

καὶ γὰρ ἐφ’ ἡμῶν τινες ἤδη καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἔδοξαν καὶ μνήμασιν ἐνετέθησαν καὶ ἀνεβίωσαν καὶ ὤφθησαν οἳ μὲν ἐγκαθήμενοι τοῖς μνήμασιν, οἳ δὲ καὶ ἐφεστῶτες.

Because in our time certain individuals who were thought to have been already dead and who had been buried in their tombs came to life again and appeared (were seen), some lying on their tombs and others standing up.

Proclus gives several examples from an individual named Naumachius:

And Naumachius of Epirus, who lived in the time of my grandparents [mid 4th c.(?)], records that Polycritus, one of the most distinguished of the Aetolians who had obtained the office of Aetoliarch, died and came to life again in the ninth month after his death (ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ἀναβιῶναι μηνὶ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον ἐνάτῳ); and he came to the public assembly of the Aetolians and advised them on the best course of action to take concerning affairs that they were deliberating. Among the witnesses to these events were Hieron the Ephesian and other historians who wrote about what happened to Antigonus the king and other friends of theirs who were not present during the events.

It is a bodily resurrection.

< omitted >

4.3 Resurrections of Greco-Roman Divinities

4.3.4 Tyrian Heracles

A number of individuals in the ancient Mediterranean identified Tyrian Heracles with Melqart. An illuminating passage from Josephus refers to Menander's account of Hiram of Tyre's reign:

Moreover he went off and cut timber from the mountain called Libanos for the roofs of the temples, and pulled down the ancient temples and erected new ones to Heracles and Astarte; and he was the first to celebrate the awakening of Heracles in the month of Peritius (πρῶτός τε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἔγερσιν ἐποιήσατο ἐν τῷ Περιτίῳ μηνί).

There is a parallel text in the Contra Apionem:

He demolished ancient temples and built new ones, both to Heracles and to Astarte. He initiated the ‘Awakening’ of Heracles, in the month of Peritios (πρῶτόν τε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἔγερσιν ἐποιήσατο ἐν τῷ Περιτίῳ μηνί) …

... Menander is probably referring to the institution of an annual festival of the “Awakening” of the God …’Footnote 78 ‘Resuscitation’ or ‘resurrection’ would probably be good translations for ἔγερσιν in the texts in Josephus.

4.3.5 Attis

... In Pausanias’ (second century CE) Lydian version of the Attis myth, Attis is either killed by a boar or goes mad during a wedding and castrates himself when Agdistis, in love with Attis, interrupts the youth's wedding:

• But Agdistis repented of what he had done to Attis, and persuaded Zeus to grant that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay (μήτε σήπεσθαί τι Ἄττῃ τοῦ σώματος μήτε τήκεσθαι).

< omitted >
Smith notes the ‘second to fourth century AD reinterpretation, within some of the “mystery” cults, of archaic locative traditions of dead deities in new experimental modes which appear to testify to these deities returning to life.

Ps.-Hippolytus, in his discussion of the Naassenes, affirms a resurrection for Attis (who is called ‘Pappas’ in the text) ...

λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Φρύγες <τὸν> αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ νέκυν, οἱονεὶ ἐν μνήματι καὶ τάφῳ ἐγκατωρυγμένον ἐν τῷ σώματι … οἱ δὲ αὐτοί, φησί, Φρύγες τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον πάλιν ἐκ μεταβολῆς λέγουσι θεόν· γίνεται γάρ, φησί, θεός, ὅταν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης πύλης εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν.

But the Phrygians say that the same one is also a ‘corpse’, having been buried in the body as in a monument or tomb … And the same Phrygians, he says again, say that this same one is by reason of the change a god. For he becomes a god when he arises from the dead and enters into heaven through the same gate [the gate of the heavens].

< omitted >
The ‘Gnostic’ Phrygians of Hippolytus...relate the bodily resurrection of Attis to the spiritual resurrection of the pneumatikoi who are ‘born again from the bodies of the earthly’ (τουτέστιν ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων τῶν χοϊκῶν, ἀναγεννηθέντες πνευματικοί, οὐ σαρκικοί).

5. Protesilaus the Hero

Philostratus [fl. ~190–211 CE], in the Heroikos (a dialogue between a Phoenician and a vinedresser in Elaious), asserts that Protesilaus returned to life twice ...

PHOEN.: And yet he is said to have died after he came to life again (ἀποθανεῖν γε μετὰ τὸ ἀναβιῶναι λέγεται) and to have persuaded his wife to follow him.

VINEDR.: He himself also says these things. But how he returned afterwards too, he does not tell me even though I've wanted to find out for a long time. He is hiding, he says, some secret of the Fates (Μοιρῶν τι ἀπόρρητον). His fellow soldiers also, who were there in Troy, still appear on the plain, warlike in posture and shaking the crests of their helmets.

[robert j]

1 Cor. 15: 3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

So the creed tells that the Jesus appeared ... to Cephas and the twelve, but who were the witnesses to the earlier parts? What witnesses establish that (1) he died, (2) he was buried, and (3), that he was raised on the third day?

The witness is clear and explicit. Paul’s JC figure died, was buried, and was raised on the third day “according to the scriptures”.

What do you think Paul meant when he said that those events of his JC figure were “κατὰ τὰς γραφάς”?

[Peter Kirby]

The references to death "for our sins" and a putative resurrection "on the third day" may be significant, coming immediately before the phrases κατὰ τὰς γραφάς.

The appearances weren't said to be κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, and they would possibly provide a context for saying "that he was raised" but not necessarily that it happened "on the third day."

A theological meaning of a death (allegedly "for our sins") wouldn't be apparent by itself. There's a κατὰ τὰς γραφάς there.

[MrMacSon]

1 Cor 15:3-5 ought be considered in light of the previous two verses:

1 I now make known to you, brothers, the gospela that I proclaimedb to you, which you received and in which you stand, 2 by which you are being/shall be saved, by whichc logo[s]d I proclaimedb ...

---

a εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion

b εὐηγγελισάμην / euēngelisamēn

c τίνι / tini : from τίς, τί : 'which?' 'what?' 'who[m]?'

d λόγῳ / λόγῳ : reason; 'Word'; (?)

a One gets the sense that εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion is more than 'good news,' ie., that it might be either a gospel-text or a doctrine passed on & delivered orally (even though I don't think that was that common in early Christianity). Whatever, it's almost certainly a doctrine, as Peter points out, 'κατὰ τὰς γραφάς,' ie., 'according to writings.'

eta wrt 1 Cor 3:4:
"He was raised" = ἐγήγερται / egēgertai : from ἐγείρω / egeiró : to waken, to raise up (7 of the 9 NT occurrences are in 1 Corinthians; one in Mark 6:14 (wrt Herod postulating John the Baptist); and one in Matthew 11:11 (it's a less common Greek verb for rise or raise up).

[MrMacSon]

eta wrt 1 Cor 3:4:
"He was raised" = ἐγήγερται / egēgertai : from ἐγείρω / egeiró : to waken, to raise up (7 of the 9 NT occurrences are in 1 Corinthians; one in Mark 6:14 (wrt Herod postulating John the Baptist); and one in Matthew 11:11 (it's a less common Greek verb for rise or raise up).

Abstract

1. ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω, when used to describe resurrection, imply a physical movement upward.
   .
2. In ancient Judaism (from the second century BCE on), the existing evidence demonstrates that individuals viewed resurrection as physical (i.e. bodily). Clearly some ancient Jews believed in other versions of the afterlife such as the immortality of the soul or the future exaltation of the spirit.
   .
3. In ancient paganism, texts from classical Greece, the Roman Republic and the Empire all envisioned cases of resurrection as physical.
   .
4. Given the semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω and this ‘cultural encyclopaedia’ of resurrection, one can conclude that Paul and his readers, Jewish or pagan, would have assumed that a tradition about the burial of Christ and his resurrection on the third day presupposed an empty tomb.

1. Some Methodological Reflections

By ‘physical resurrection’ I mean a resurrection in which the body of a dead individual returns to life in some sense (e.g. a return to mortal life or immortal life). ‘Physical’ or ‘bodily resurrection’ is consistent with a transformation of the earthly body (e.g. into a σῶμα πνευματικόν) ... one can discern patterns in the pagan narratives of resurrections that are clearly analogous to resurrection in ancient Judaism and early Christianity ...

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 7ECF899313 (the whole article is available!)

3. Resurrection in Ancient Judaism

From the second century BCE onward clear traces of resurrection can be found in some Jewish texts. Claudia Setzer summarises the ambivalent views of ancient Judaism admirably:

… Jewish materials from the second century BCE through the first century CE exhibit a range of understandings of the afterlife. Fairly explicit claims of bodily resurrection appear in texts like 1 Enoch (51), 2 Maccabees, 4Q521, and Sibylline Oracle 4. A mix of concepts of resurrection of the body and immortality of the soul appear in 1 Enoch (91, 103), 1QH, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and Pseudo-Phocylides. Ambiguity prevails in works that nevertheless imply resurrection, such as ‘the Book of the Watchers’ [1–36] in 1 Enoch, The Testament of Judah, Psalms of Solomon, and CD 2:7–12.

---

Setzer, C. Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and Self-definition (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004); 21–52, https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en ... &q&f=false

Ironically, the sinners taunt the righteous with the concept of the resurrection of the body in 1 Enoch 102.8: ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀναστήτωσαν καὶ σωθήτωσαν (‘Henceforth let them arise and be saved’) – and then they proceed to deny its reality. Daniel 12 should be added to the list, despite the reservations of some. The Greek translations clearly indicate physical resurrection (Dan 12.2 LXX: ἀναστήσονται; Theod.: ἐξεγερθήσονται). John J. Collins classifies the view of afterlife in Jub. 23.26–31 as ‘resurrection, or exaltation, of the spirit’ to heaven. Jub. 23.30, however, only asserts that the Lord's servants ‘will rise (yetnaššʾu) and see great peace’, and the phrase is a reference to the ‘prosperity of the living not the resurrection of the dead’. ‘Exaltation of the spirit’ is acceptable in certain cases, but ‘resurrection of the spirit’ is a category mistake, not appropriate for Jewish or pagan texts, as a close analysis of the verbs for resurrection (such as ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω) indicates. Spirits do not rise from the dead in ancient Judaism, people do.

[MrMacSon]

3. Resurrection in Ancient Judaism

From the second century BCE onward clear traces of resurrection can be found in some Jewish texts. Claudia Setzer summarises the ambivalent views of ancient Judaism admirably:

… Jewish materials from the second century BCE through the first century CE exhibit a range of understandings of the afterlife. Fairly explicit claims of bodily resurrection appear in texts like 1 Enoch (51), 2 Maccabees, 4Q521, and Sibylline Oracle 4. A mix of concepts of resurrection of the body and immortality of the soul appear in 1 Enoch (91, 103), 1QH, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and Pseudo-Phocylides. Ambiguity prevails in works that nevertheless imply resurrection, such as ‘the Book of the Watchers’ [1–36] in 1 Enoch, The Testament of Judah, Psalms of Solomon, and CD 2:7–12.

---

Setzer, C. Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and Self-definition (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004); 21–52, https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en ... &q&f=false

In chapter one, the Introduction, Setzer refers to resurrection as a touchstone, "the touchstone," due to "the peculiar utility of resurrection as a symbol in the construction of community" and says, "[o]ther ideas coalesce around it." [p.4]

She notes,

From the second century B.C.E., The Testament of Judah describes the messianic age:

"And after this Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be resurrected to life and I and my brothers will be chiefs (wielding) one scepter in Israel (25.1) ... those who died in sorrow shall be raised in joy and those who died in poverty for the Lord's sake shall be made rich; and those who died on account of the Lord shall be wakened to life" (25.4).³¹ ...

A portion of I Enoch a century later, approximately contemporary with 2 Maccabees and Daniel, conveys...resurrection ("then the righteous one shall arise from his sleep, and the wise one shall arise" [91:10-11] ...)

.

According to Emile Pucch, 4Q521 is the passage that affirms the belief in resurrection most explicitly in the DSS:

"In his mercy he will judge, and the reward of good deeds shall be withheld from no one. The Lord will perform wonderful deeds such as have never been, as he said: for he will heal the wounded, make the dead live, proclaim good news to the meek, give generously to the needy, lead out the captive and feed the hungry ..." (frag. 2, col. 2, lines 9-13).

Davies submits that it may be a paraphrase of 1 Sam 2:6: "Yahweh causes to die and causes to live; he sends down to Sheol and brings up," and may simply refer to God's holding the power of life and death. It also echoes the prophets and psalms, referring to Yahweh's rescuing the downtrodden or the near-dead.

In another fragment, as Puech reconstructs it,

"… and they shall be for death, [when] the Reviver (hamechayeh) [makes] the dead of his people [ri]se. And we shall give thanks and declare to you the righteous deeds of the Lord, who [raises] the dead …" (frag. 5, col. 2, lines 5—8).

Puech's reconstruction is not accepted by all. As in the other materials from this period, the nature of the afterlife in the Dead Sea Scrolls is not carefully delineated nor uniform across the documents.

4Q521

• https://web.archive.org/web/20221019000 ... 4q521.html
• https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org ... -analysis/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4Q521

In portions of Enoch that date to the first century C.E., the image of final judgment includes a transformation of the righteous into angel-like beings: "

And I saw a dwelling place underneath the wings of the Lord of the Spirits, and all the righteous and the elect before him shall be as intense as the light of fire. Their mouth shall be full of blessing; and their lips will praise the name of the Lord of Spirits, and righteousness before him will have no end; and uprightness before him will not cease" (39:7).

Resurrection is hinted at later in the text when Sheol will give back everything entrusted to it (51:1),
including the dead.

A literal resurrection of the body appears in Sibylline Oracle 4, redacted around 80 C.E.,

"God himself will again fashion the bones and ashes of men ... and he will raise up mortals then as they were before, and then there will be a judgment ..."