privations
(Jon
3"-,
Jl
!"■
™);
their
life
is
a
thing
to
be
considered.
We
find
the
ground
of
this
feeling
in
the
view
that
God
is
not
only
the
original
Creator
or
Source
of
lite,
but
directly
its
Sustainer
in
all
its
forms
(Ps
36«,
Pss
104.
14S
passim).
This
seems
also
to
be
the
fundamental
significance
of
the
very
common
expression
'the
hving
God'
(lit.
'God
of
lite').
2.
Life
is
predominantly
set
forth
as
man's
summum
bonum.
Life
and
death
are
respectively
'the
blessing
and
the
curse,'
and
that
uniquely
(Dt
30").
'Choose
lite'
is
the
appeal
pointing
to
the
one
desirable
boon.
Every
man
should
answer
to
the
description
in
Ps
34'^.
The
language
which
disparages
life
and
praises
death
(e.g.
Job
7'^
Ec
4i*-
etc.)
is
the
expression
of
an
abnormal
state
of
feeling,
the
outcome
of
man's
ex-perience
of
misery
in
one
form
and
another.
But
it
is
not
mere
existence
that
is
in
itself
desirable.
As
Orr
points
out,
life
in
its
Scripture
use
has
'a
moral
and
spiritual
connotation
'
(Christian
View
[1893],
p.
393)
;
and
it
is
only
the
godly
and
righteous
life
that
is
a
boon
from
the
Scripture
point
of
view.
Such
is
the
burden
of
the
Wisdom
books,
when
they
speak
of
'finding
life,'
and
describe
wisdom
as
a
'tree
of
life'
(Pr
3'8
835).
3.
The
idea
of
a
life
to
come
is
in
many
portions
of
the
OT
conspicuous
by
its
absence.
There
is
nothing
anywhere
that
will
compare
with
the
NT
conception
of
'eternal
life.'
The
latter
expression,
it
is
true,
is
found
in
the
OT,
but
only
once,
and
that
in
the
late-
Hebrew
Book
of
Daniel
(12^).
It
is
to
be
remembered
that,
though
this
book
is
in
EV
numbered
among
the
Major
Prophets,
its
a£Snities
are
not
with
that
group
but
rather
with
later
post-Biblical
Jewish
writings.
In
these
writings
the
use
of
this
expression
is
best
illustrated.
Enoch,
Ps.-Sol.,
4
Mac.
furnish
examples.
See
also
in
Apocrypha,
2
Mac
7'-
*.
'Life'
alone
in
this
later
use
comes
to
be
used
a3
=
'life
eternal.'
(See,
e.g.,
2
Mac
7";
cf.
in
NT,
Mt
7"
19"').
Later
Jewish
use,
how-ever,
prefers
the
clearer
phrase,
'life
of
the
age
to
come':
and
along
this
line
the
genesis
of
the
term
'eternal
Ufe'
must
be
explained.
(Cf.
the
last
clause
in
the
Nicene
Creed:
'the
life
of
the
world
to
come').
Jewish
eschatological
hopes,
first
for
the
nation
and
afterwards
for
the
individual,
contributed
largely
to
the
development
of
this
idea.
At
the
same
time,
though
in
some
parts
of
the
OT
the
hope
of
lite
hereafter
seems
expressly
excluded
(see,
e.g..
Is
38"-
",
Ec
9'-
"
(Ec
12'
is
not
in
conflict,
for
it
embodies
the
idea
of
're-absorption,'
and
is
not
to
be
read
in
the
light
of
Christian
hope
and
teachingl),
and
this
world
alone
is
known
as
'
the
land
of
the
living,'
the
very
asking
of
the
question
in
Job
14"
is
significant,
and
the
language
of
Ps
16
concerning
'the
path
of
life'
lends
itself
readily
to
an
interpretation
looking
to
life
beyond
death.
II.
In
the
Apochypha.
—
Chs.
1-5
of
Wis.
yield
much
that
is
of
interest
relating
to
contemporary
Jewish
thought;
e.g.
God
is
the
author
of
life
but
not
of
death
(1131.
2^'-).
The
wicked
live
in
harmony
with
the
saying,
'Let
us
eat
and
drink,
for
to-morrow
we
die'
(ch.
2).
The
righteous
have
immortality
as
their
inheritance,
whilst
the
wicked
shall
be
brought
to
judgment
and
shall
be
destroyed
(chs.
3-5).
For
an
impressive
presentment
of
a
fooUsh
appreciation
of
life,
see
also
IS™-.
In
Sir
IS"
'
Before
man
is
life
and
death,'
we
have
an
echo
of
Dt
30".
The
conception
of
Ufe
('soul')
as
a
loan
that
can
be
recalled
is
found
in
Wis
15'-
",
a
close
parallel
with
Lk
12">.
Such
phrases
as
'the
fountain
of
Ufe'
(Sir
2V^)
and
'the
tree
of
lite'
(2
Es
2'^
8=2)
recall
their
use
in
both
OT
and
NT.
For
the
former,
see
Ps
369,
pr
iou_
jn
410.
U;
for
the
latter
Gn
2»,
Rev
2'
22^
etc.
2
Es
7
furnishes
a
notable
and
picturesque
view
of
Ufe
beyond
death,
with
the
judgment
of
the
righteous
and
the
unrighteous.
See
especially
the
long
passage
beginning
at
v.".
The
return
of
the
spirit
'to
him
who
gave
it,'
v.",
has
none
of
the
limitations
that
attend
a
similar
reference
to
death
in
Ec
12'.
(See
above.)
III.
In
NT—
The
term
'
life
'
is
the
Eng.
equivalent
of
three
terms
used
in
the
original
—
(1)
zoe.
This
is
of
most
frequent
occurrence;
generally
corresponding^
to
chayyim
in
OT;
=
life
in
the
ab-solute:
vitality:
fuU,
active
existence.
It
is
the
term
capable
of
embodying
aU
progressive
conceptions
as
to
what
con-stitutes
life,
and
so
regularly
occurring
in
the
phrase
'
eternal
life.'
(2)
psyche,
generaUy
=
OT
nephesh,
but
the
fluctuation
between
'life'
and
'soul'
(see,
e.g.,
the
weU-known
passage
Mt
16®'-)
as
its
rendering
in
English
is
significant.
The
primary
notion
is
that
of
the
animating
principle
(in
con-trast
to
the
'body').
It
further
denotes
the
specific
life
or
existence
of
any
individual.
By
an
easy
transition
it
comes
to
stand
for
a
man's
'self'
(roughly
'soul').
(3)
bios,
occurring
only
a
few
times.
=
the
present'state
of
existence,
this
Ufe;
as
in
Lk
8",
1
'Ti
2^,
2
Ti
2\'
1
Jn
21=
3"
(zde,
however,
is
sometimes
used
in
this
sense,
with
'this'
or
'the
present'
qualifying
it,
e.g.
1
Co
15");
also
=
means
of
subsistence:
and
so
=
'Uving'
(Lk
8^^
1512
etc.).
1.
The
teaching
of
Jesus.
—
As
regards
the
present
life
we
gather
from
the
Gospels
that
Jesus
never
bewailed
its
brevity
and
vanity.
The
mournful
notes
of
some
of
the
OT
Scriptures,
the
pensive
commonplaces
of
so
much
of
man's
thoughts
and
moralizings,
find
no
echo
here.
On
the
contrary,
in
His
own
Ufe
He
graciously
exempUfies
the
joie
de
vivre.
This
in
one
respect
was
made
even
a
ground
of
complaint
against
Him
(Mt
11").
The
sacredness
of
Ufe
is
insisted
on,
and
the
Sixth
Commandment
is
accentuated
(Mt
5").
The
precious-ness
of
Ufe,
even
in
its
humblest
forms
('sparrows,'
Mt
10^'
II
Lk
128),
appears
in
connexion
with
our
Lord's
arresting
doctrine
of
Divine
Providence,
which
stands
in
such
unhesitating
defiance
of
the
sterner
features
of
the
world
of
Ufe
(In
Memoriam,
Iv.
f.).
Very
conspicuously
Jesus
condemns
over-anxiety
about
this
Ufe
and
its
'
goods.'
SimpUcity
and
detach-ment
in
regard
to
these
things
are
repeatedly
insisted
on
(see,
e.g.,
Mt
6"-
",
Lk
12'').
Certainly
the
accumula-tion
of
a
superabundance
of
the
'
goods
'
of
Ufe
at
the
expense
of
others'
deprivation
and
want
is
in
direct
opposition
to
the
spirit
of
His
teaching.
The
deep,
paradoxical
saying
(Mt
162*')
about
losing
and
finding
one's
Ufe
is
of
significance
here
—
a
saying
found
not
only
in
the
three
Synoptics
(see
Mk
S'',
Lk
9"),
but
also
in
its
substance
in
Jn
122^.
Eternal
life
figures
conspicuously
in
the
teaching
of
Jesus.
He
did
not
originate
the
expression:
it
was
already
estabUshed
in
the
Rabbinical
vocabulary.
The
subject
was,
and
continued
to
be,
one
greatly
discussed
among
the
Jews.
The
phrasing
of
Jesus
—
as
when
He
speaks
of
'inheriting'
(Mt
19^'),
'having'
(Jn.
passim),
'receiving'
(Mk
10'°),
'entering
into,'
or
'attaining'
(Mt
19"),
eternal
life,
or
Ufe
simply—
is
also
that
of
the
Jewish
teachers
of
His
own
and
a
later
day.
(Note
even
the
significance
of
the
wording
in
Mk
10"||).
'Life'
alone
as
='
eternal
Ufe'
is
used
in
Mt
7",
Mk
9"
etc.;
also
in
John's
Gospel
(as
3"
10"
etc.).
(See
above.)
The
Johannine
Gospel
conspicuously
gives
'eternal
Ufe'
as
a
chief
topic
of
Christ's
teaching;
whilst
in
the
Synoptics
'
the
kingdom
of
God
'
holds
the
corresponding
place.
The
connexion
between
the
two
conceptions
is
intimate
and
vital.
The
primary
characteristic
of
eternal
life
is
that
it
is
Ufe
Uved
under
the
rule
of
God.
The
definition
found
in
Jn
17'
(with
which
Wis
15'
invites
comparison)
shows
how
essentially
it
is
a
matter
of
moral
and
spiritual
interests.
The
notion
of
ever-lastingness
rather
foUows
from
this:
the
feeUng
that
death
cannot
destroy
what
is
precious
in
God's
sight.
Cf.
Tennyson:
'
—
^Transplanted
human
worth
Shall
bloom
to
profit
otherwhere.'
But
the
life
is
a
present
possession,
an
actual
fact
of
experience
(Jn
3»
5"
6"
etc.).
We
have,
however,
the
indication
of
a
special
association
of
eternal
Ufe
with
the
hereafter
in
Mk
lO"
('in
the
world
to
come')
Mt
25«.
Cf.
also
p.
490«.
