Immortality of the Soul in Early Jewish Texts

Some ancient Jews believed in the ultimate resurrection of the dead at the end of days. Other Jews, under the influence of Greek philosophy, maintained that the souls of the righteous never die—their souls are immortal. For the most part, these Jews dismissed the idea that the bodies of the (righteous) dead would ultimately be resurrected. According to Josephus, the Essenes adopted this doctrine (see also ESSENES AND QUMRAN). The Wisdom of Solomon claims that those who acquire wisdom and keep Torah laws are rewarded with immortality of the soul. The “holy martyrs” of 4 Maccabees, a book that preserves one account of the Maccabean revolt, were said to receive “endless life.”

Philo of Alexandria was the first Jew to offer biblical justification for the immortality of the soul. The author of 4 Ezra describes in more graphic detail seven different joys the souls of the righteous experience after death. Most striking among them is that these worthy souls would shine like the sun and the stars and soon after behold a vision of God.

While the rabbis tend to focus their theological energies on the doctrine of the resurrection, at times they do express a clear belief in the immortality of the soul. In Leviticus Rabbah, for example, the rabbis draw a parallel and highlight a unique connection between God and the human soul. Just as God outlives the world, so too does the soul outlive the body. Other rabbinic sources imagine that righteous souls return to the palm of God’s hand (Deuteronomy Rabbah) or to the space under God’s throne of glory (b. Shabbat 152b).