The second death in Revelation 2.11; 20.6, 14; 21.8.

[Ben C. Smith]

I know I have been posting quite a bit about the Targumim lately; it is just that I am trying to get a handle on some of the material, since early Christian texts seem sometimes to draw from the same ideological well as the Targumim do.

In this case, Revelation speaks of a "second death," as it were:

Revelation 2.11: 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death [τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ δευτέρου].

Revelation 20.6: 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death [ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος] has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20.14: 14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death [ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος], the lake of fire.

Revelation 21.8: 8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death [ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος].

It is not at all clear what this term means from its first appearance in this book, but the other three explain. To die a first death is to die to this present life; to die a second death is to die to the life to come: to spend eternity in the lake of fire instead of in God's presence.

The Talmud is familiar with a similar concept:

Talmud, Sanhedrin 92a: 92a .... Raba said: "Whence is resurrection derived from the Torah? From the verse, 'Let Reuben live, and not die,' meaning, let Reuben live in this world, and not die in the next." Rabina said, "From this verse, 'And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.'" Rabbi Ashi said, "From this verse, 'But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.'" ....

Deriving the doctrine of resurrection from Daniel 12.2 and 12.13 is no feat, but to derive it from Deuteronomy 33.6 is a bold stroke. To "die in the next" world seems to mean not to be able to participate in the world to come, just as to die in this world means no longer to be able to participate in this world, this life.

But the exact term, "second death," does not appear here. It does, however, appear in the Targum to that very same Deuteronomic verse which Raba interprets above (while bravely playing that favorite rabbinical game of finding proof of the resurrection in the Pentateuch, which notoriously lacks anything clear on that topic):

Deuteronomy 33.6 Masoretic: 6 "May Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few."

Targum Jerusalem, Deuteronomy 33.6: 6 Let Reuben live in this world, nor die the second death which the wicked die in the world to come; and let his youths be with the men in number.

Targum Onkelos, Deuteronomy 33.6: 6 Let Reuben live in life eternal, and not die the second death; and let his children receive their inheritance according to their numbers.

Targum pseudo-Jonathan, Deuteronomy 33.6: 6 Let Reuben live in this world, nor die the second death which the wicked die in the world to come; and let his youths be numbered with the young men of his brethren of Beth Israel.

The meaning here is clearly identical to the meaning of the term in Revelation.

Other Targumim are involved, as well:

Isaiah 22.14 Masoretic: 14 But Yahweh of hosts revealed Himself to me, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord God of hosts.

Targum Isaiah, Isaiah 22.14: The prophet said, "With my ears was I hearkening when this was decreed before Yaway of hosts, 'This sin shall not be forgiven you till you die the second death,' says Yaway of hosts.

Isaiah 65.5-6 Masoretic: 5 "Who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!' These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. 6 Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their bosom.

Targum Isaiah, Isaiah 65.5-6: Their punishment shall be in Gehenna, where the fire burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me, "I will not give them respite during life, but will render them the punishment of their transgressions and will deliver their body to the second death."

Isaiah 65.15 Masoretic: 15 "And you will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and the Lord God will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name.

Targum Isaiah, Isaiah 65.15: And you shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen and Yaway God will slay you with the second death, but his servants, the righteous, he shall call by a different name.

Jeremiah 51.39 Masoretic: 39 "When they become heated up, I shall serve them their banquet and make them drunk, that they may become jubilant and may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up," declares Yahweh.

Targum Jeremiah, Jeremiah 51.39: 39 "I will bring upon them distress and they shall be like drunken men so that they may not be strong and they shall die the second death [תִניָנָא וִימֻותֻון מוֹתָא] and shall not live in the world to come."

Jeremiah 51.57 Masoretic: 57 "And I shall make her princes and her wise men drunk, her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men, that they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up," declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.

Targum Jeremiah, Jeremiah 51.57: 57 ...and they shall die the second death [וִימֻותֻון מוֹתָא תִניָנָא] and shall not come to the world to come.

The casual way in which Revelation 2.11 throws in the concept of a second death without explaining it suggests that John the Revelator was drawing upon an established line of thought; I doubt he invented the term and then the Targumists later borrowed it from him.

Ben.

[Charles Wilson]

Hello Ben --

Consider this a very tentative response. Something sorta' registered but I'm still scoping it out. Maybe it will tease something of value from some others

The start of this is the Theft of Temple Money from Sabinus just after Archelaus has sailed to Rome.

Josephus, A..., 17, 19, 2:

"All the archers also in array did the Romans a great deal of mischief, because they used their hands dexterously from a place superior to the others, and because the others were at an utter loss what to do; for when they tried to shoot their arrows against the Jews upwards, these arrows could not reach them, insomuch that the Jews were easily too hard for their enemies. And this sort of fight lasted a great while, till at last the Romans, who were greatly distressed by what was done, set fire to the cloisters so privately, that those that were gotten upon them did not perceive it. This fire being fed by a great deal of combustible matter, caught hold immediately on the roof of the cloisters; so the wood, which was full of pitch and wax, and whose gold was laid on it with wax, yielded to the flame presently, and those vast works, which were of the highest value and esteem, were destroyed utterly, while those that were on the roof unexpectedly perished at the same time; for as the roof tumbled down, some of these men tumbled down with it, and others of them were killed by their enemies who encompassed them. There was a great number more, who, out of despair of saving their lives, and out of astonishment at the misery that surrounded them, did either cast themselves into the fire, or threw themselves upon their swords, and so got out of their misery. But as to those that retired behind the same way by which they ascended, and thereby escaped, they were all killed by the Romans, as being unarmed men, and their courage failing them; their wild fury being now not able to help them, because they were destitute of armor, insomuch that of those that went up to the top of the roof, not one escaped. The Romans also rushed through the fire, where it gave them room so to do, and seized on that treasure where the sacred money was reposited; a great part of which was stolen by the soldiers, and Sabinus got openly four hundred talents..."

1. Compare the arrows shot by the Romans here with the arrows shot at Titus that were divinely redirected back upon the shooters (@ Gamala: "...whereby the Jews cut off those that came up to them, and did much mischief to others by their darts, and the large stones which they rolled down upon them, while they were themselves so high that the enemy's darts could hardly reach them. However, there arose such a Divine storm against them as was instrumental to their destruction; this carried the Roman darts upon them, and made those which they threw return back, and drove them obliquely away from them; nor could the Jews indeed stand upon their precipices, by reason of the violence of the wind, having nothing that was stable to stand upon, nor could they see those that were ascending up to them").

2. We have a candidate for the "Lake of Fire": pitch and wax. Here is where the odd part of the story gets interesting. Sabinus is going for the gold and those defenders who are trapped are throwing themselves into the "Lake of Fire" or killing themselves. Would this be an Inversion? An Anti-Type? Sabinus is going to the Place of the Wicked, certainly. Would those who would not freely give their lives against the Roman Thieves go there as well?

3. There is another part of this - the beheadings - that I have not fully examined. (See possibly W..., 2, 12, 7 and 8, concerning Claudius).

4. There's a lot here, Ben. Thanx for pointing some of this to me.

CW

[John2]

Wow, Ben, you've been pointing out some amazing stuff here lately. I've never been aware of this issue before, but the first thing that comes to my mind, since it relates to a broader issue I've been thinking about, is that perhaps this could be another Pharisaic "notion" that Fourth Philosophers (which in my view includes Christians) agreed with (like the resurrection of the dead and messianism). And as I said elsewhere, targums were at least being made pre-70 CE, given the Qumran Targum of Job (which is another thing that makes me suspect that the DSS -at least those that date to the Herodian era, which is most of them- pertain to the Fourth Philosophy).