The question of an alleged resurrection in Jubilees 23:29-31

Article The question of an alleged resurrection in Jubilees 23:29–31 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 2024, Vol. 33(4) 303–316 © The Author(s) 2024 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/09518207241254681 DOI: 10.1177/09518207231217202 journals.sagepub.com/home/jsp John Granger Cook LaGrange College, USA Abstract The scholarly community has generally concluded that Jub. 23:29–31 does not envision a resurrection of the dead. There are those who doubt the consensus, however. The question has implications for the debate over the existence of a so-called spiritual (non-bodily) resurrection in Second Temple Judaism. There is a fundamental distinction in the text between the Lord’s servants (ʾagbertihu) who have long lives on the earth and the righteous (s.ādeqān) whose bones rest in the earth while their spirits observe the servants. Consequently, any attempt to isolate a spiritual resurrection in Jub. 23:29–31 fails. Keywords bodily resurrection, Jub. 23:29–31, spiritual resurrection Introduction In recent years, a consensus has emerged that Jub. 23:29–31 is not a reference to resurrection. Not all agree, however, and this warrants a detailed investigation and a sustained argument for the thesis that the Lord’s servants (ʾagbertihu) should be clearly distinguished from the righteous (s.ādeqān) whose bones are buried in the earth and whose spirits are alive. This distinction provides a warrant for the more general thesis of this investigation—namely, that there is no spiritual resurrection in Second Temple Judaism. The question whether one can identify a tradition of a so-called spiritual resurrection in Second Temple Judaism has been examined by Alexander J. M. Wedderburn. He reviewed certain texts from that period where others had seen evidence of a nonbodily resurrection and came to a negative conclusion concerning the existence of a Corresponding author: John Granger Cook, LaGrange College, 601 Broad St., LaGrange, GA 30240, USA. Email: jcook@lagrange.edu