Digital Logos Edition
While a Christian understanding of divine judgement tends to focus on the afterlife, the Hebrew Bible is far more concerned with divine retribution as something experienced in this life. Yet if the same God enacts both, should there not be significant continuity between biblical accounts of divine retribution, whether experienced in this world or the hereafter?
In this study, Dr. Angukali Rotokha provides an overview of Old Testament and Second Temple sources that express conceptions of post-mortem judgement. Alongside these passages, she examines the perspective on judgement presented in Deuteronomy, with its orientation towards divine retribution as experienced on this side of death. She explores Deuteronomy’s varying emphases on the impersonal, anthropocentric, theocentric, and limited aspects of divine retribution, as well as the relevance of these conceptions to the descriptions of post-mortem judgement found in Isaiah, Daniel, 1 Enoch, and 2 Maccabees. In clarifying points of continuity and discontinuity between earthly and post-mortem divine retribution, she provides a foundation for deeper insight into the Judeo-Christian understanding of both God’s judgement and God’s grace.
Dr. Rotokha’s fascinating study of post-mortem retribution in the Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish writings is cogent, coherent, and compelling. She presents a balanced and thorough case on an under-researched topic that provides important background for the New Testament. This is a fine example of careful research, deserving of careful reading.
—Paul Barker, PhD
Angukali Rotokha’s excellent study, carefully examining and comparing the multidimensional aspects of the concept of divine retribution in Deuteronomy with four post-mortem texts, addresses a significant lacuna in biblical scholarship, and thereby makes an important contribution to the field. This book is a welcome and significant addition to the research and conversation on this important topic.
—Rebecca G. S. Idestrom, PhD