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From: meth@csd2.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Afterlife
Message-ID: <42700010@csd2.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 5-Dec-84 21:34:00 EST
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Posted: Wed Dec  5 21:34:00 1984
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Nf-From: csd2!meth    Dec  5 21:34:00 1984


or leyom chamishi leparshas vayishlach, 12 KISLEV 5745

----------
tim mcdaniel writes :

In the text that Christians refer to as "the Old Testament" (I am sorry
that I do not know the Jewish term for it), I think that there is a
Hebrew term rendered in English as "sheol".  Webster's says that it is
"an underworld where according to ancient Hebrew belief the dead have a
shadowy existence".  (Definition 2 is "hell", which is an obvious
Christian corruption of the term.)  The Oxford English says much the
same, without the phrase "ancient Hebrew belief".  What is the precise
meaning of "sheol" in Hebrew, and how does it relate to the rest of
Judaism?  Three possibilities: (1) my memory is bad and "sheol" does
not occur until the NT; (2) "sheol" is apocrypha (not Apochrypha, of
course); (3) Jewish beliefs have changed, maybe???
----------

the text is called the TANACH.

the word "sheol" appears in many places (and in various forms) throughout
TANACH. just to mention the first two : bereishis 37:45, 42:38
(bereishis = genesis).

the "ARUCH" translates "sheol" as "shem la-aretz tachtiyos".

mandelkorn, in his KONKORDANTZIA (concordance), gives the following definitions
for the word "sheol" :
 "kinui live-er shachas"
 "shachas va-avadon"
 "mishkan m-sei olam"

as i do not feel that i can adequately translate these phrases into english,
doing proper justice to the meaning and not mistranslating, i refrain from
attempting to translate them here. if anyone else feels that they can translate
these phrases PROPERLY, do so if you wish.

it appears to me that the definition tim quoted from webster's is a
conglomeration of sorts of the various phrases i mentioned.

            asher meth
            allegra!cmcl2!csd2!meth
            meth@nyu-csd2.arpa (on the ARPANET)