Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is no work or play in $)WL.

 All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there  
is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in She´ol, the place  
to which you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

The idea, to me, seems to be a place of complete inactivity. A common  
grave/resting place for all mankind.

James Christian

Quoting K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>:

> Rolf and Bryant:
> This is getting into theology, but looking at the meanings of words then
> draw one’s own conclusions one finds:
>
> NP$ as far as I can tell is expresses the idea of breath, life force. As a
> verb, it has the idea of “to take a breather” i.e. to stop to catch one’s
> breath, a stop to rest and regain strength. As a noun, it refers to those
> who have breath, often used alone as a synonym for a living person.
>
> In both verbal and noun usages, it is used close to 700 times in Tanakh.
>
> Ps 16:10, 30:4 seem to indicate that the life force still exists even after
> death and can be in the place of the dead, namely $)WL.
>
>
> Other references apart from the word NP$ indicate that $)WL is the place of
> the dead where they yet live, similar to BWR when used as a euphemism for
> the place of the dead, though occasionally the terms $)WL and BWR are used
> in a manner as “hell” where the just don’t go, not even after death, e.g. Ps
> 86:13, Pr 23:14. This is in contrast to QBR where bodies are laid.
>
> While the theology of the immortal soul is not well developed as in later
> Christian theology, it appears that the seeds thereof are discernible in a
> few verses in Tanakh.
>
> Just my 2¢.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
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