p. 101 | DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Nov 7, 1854

DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED.

[Continued.]

THE GRAVE.

The words rendered grave in the O. T. are—1. Kever, a grave or cavern, from kovar to cover, to bury, to hide; 2. Ai or ee, a ruin, waste, or heap; 3. Shokhath, destruction; and 4. Sheol, which originally meant the grave, but afterwards became a general term, signifying the state of death. Ai is translated grave only in Job xxx, 24; but in the margin it is rendered heap. Shokhath is translated grave in Job xxxiii, 22. Kever is translated grave in about forty-seven places: Genesis xxxv, 20; Exodus, xiv, 11; 2 Samuel iii, 32; xix, 37; 1 Kings xiii, 30; xiv, 13; 2 Kings xxii, 20; xxiii, 6; 2 Chron. xxxiv, 4, 28; Job iii, 22; v, 26; x, 19; xiv, 13; xvii, 1; xxi, 32; Ps. lxxxviii, 5, 11; cxli, 7; Isa. liii, 9; lxv, 4; Jer. viii, 1; xx, 17; xxvi, 23; Eze. xxxii, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; xxxvii, 12, 13; xxxix, 11; Na. i, 14. As only some of the dead are buried in their graves (keverim plural of kever,) but all the dead are in the state of death, of unconsciousness, all the dead are said to be in sheol. That sheol does not in the strictness of language mean grave, we shall demonstrate under that word. For the present we give but one instance where the sheol is mistranslated grave. Gen. xxxvii, 33, 35, "And he knew it; and said, My son's coat: an evil beast hath devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. . . And he said, For I will go down into sheol unto my son mourning." Mark, the pious patriarch says, Joseph is torn in pieces, is devoured; yet he expects to be with him in sheol: sheol is therefore neither the grave nor hell, as now understood, but the state of death.

We shall have occasion to notice only one of the Greek words which are translated grave, namely, hades, in 1 Cor. xv, 55. See Hades. Be it remembered that the grave never represents a place of suffering; but of repose, of silence, of forgetfulness; a place where there is no knowledge, nor device; where all are indiscriminately consigned to nothingness and oblivion; and to the entire annihilation of being, to all whom Christ has not ransomed from the grave by a resurrection from the unconsciousness of death to an everlasting existence in his kingdom.

THE PRISON.

The word prison does not denote a receptacle in which the wicked will be tormented for ever. It sometimes occurs in the sense of grave: as in Isa. xlii, 1-7, "Behold my servant (the Christ) whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes (of the living) to bring out the prisoners (the dead) from the prison (the grave) [and] them that recline in darkness out of the prison house (the grave)." The same general sentiment is found in Isa. xlix, 8, "In an acceptable time have I heard thee . . . and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause the desolate heritages to be inherited; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, (those who are in graves,) go forth; to them that are in darkness, show yourselves." Ps. cxlii, 7, "Bring my soul out of prison (the grave) that I may praise thy name." Isa. lxi, 1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison (the grave) to them that are bound (therein); to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God." Luke iv, 18. Ps. lxix, "For the Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his prisoners." Speaking of high ones and kings, God says in Isa. xxiv, 22, "And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit;" may refer to their being collected in the valleys of Jehoshaphat prior to their destruction in Gehenna: or, being brought down to death, be "visited" with a resurrection; and then the "Lord of armies shall reign in Mount Zion."—Bible vs. Tradition—pp. 177—184.