The body sleeps, the soul does not. Texts which say that a person is asleep mean that the body is asleep, and not in mere appearance. The body (more particularly the brain) is no longer conscious, no more alive, no more in possession of life force. This is not true of the spirit (or soul).
In this posting we will begin a look at some of the leading texts that seem to indicate that the dead are not conscious in soul or spirit in an Underworld of spirits. We cannot look at them all. The ones that speak of a person being asleep have already been addressed. We need not look, therefore, at all the numerous passages that speak of a dead person being asleep.
Let us begin with Solomon and his statements in Ecclesiastes. Those who believe like the Sadducees, or in "Soul Sleep," affirm that there is no consciousness in the afterlife for departed spirits. They love to quote from Ecclesiastes, especially from two verses in chapter nine where Solomon says "the dead know not anything" and "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave (Sheol) where you go." Let us examine more closely the words and their context. Wrote Solomon:
"For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun...10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave (Sheol), whither thou goest." (Eccl. 9: 1-6, 10 kjv)
We can summarize the words and categorize the verses above as follows:
1-3 The same fate – death – awaits everyone.
4-6 Death deprives humans of everything in life.
7-10 Enjoy life while it lasts.
Major Interpretive Views
1. No knowledge or activity on the earth, in the land of the living, in the physical world. Life is different in Hades, both for the body and the spirit. What is said is true of the body and brain, not of the soul or spirit. Thus it is seen as saying (paraphrase) - "the dead know not anything so far as their physical bodies are concerned, and know not anything about what is happening in the world of the living."
2. Solomon states what observation of the world and human experience, without a revelation from God, deduces or induces, what conclusions it makes about such based upon science and logic. In other words, Solomon states what some people infer, or conclude, not what he believes. Or we may say that he gives the humanistic or man centered explanation of life and death, and of the afterlife. He cannot speak about what he does not see or discover by study and careful observation. He therefore does not affirm an afterlife, and like the Sadducees, does not confess a belief in the existence of spirit beings or of a immaterial world.
3. Of course, there is that view that says that the verses affirm that the souls of men do not survive the death of the body, but die as the body or sleep. It says that the verses teach that there is no consciousness after death, that no man has an immortal soul or spirit which survives the death of the body.
We should reject number three for the passages we have studied so far disprove what the Ecclesiastes verses seem to affirm. Dives was not unconscious when he was in Hades in his disembodied spirit, nor were Abraham and Lazarus. Both the torment and speech of Dives and the comforts and joys of Lazarus show that the dead do know much when they have died. Are we to conclude then that Solomon contradicts Jesus and the other writers of the holy scriptures who teach contrary to Solomon? First, let us see how Solomon seems to contradict Solomon (or himself). Let us see where he seems to affirm life after death, and of a conscious state of existence for ghosts of departed people.
Solomon On Life After Death
"You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment...Remember your Creator in the days of your youth." (Eccl. 11: 9; 12: 1)
"Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (12: 6-7)
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (12: 13-14)
Though it is possible for these passages to be interpreted so as to align with the soul sleep doctrine, yet I believe that they do show that Solomon did believe in God and in the afterlife (thus in the immortality of the soul). The spirit departs the body when the body dies and goes where? It "returns to God who gave it." That is true of every man, both righteous and unrighteous. When the departed spirit stands before God, it is either sent to Heaven or to Hell (or to one of the sides of Hades for OT peoples). This is what Paul had in mind when he said "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb. 9: 27) This judgment occurs when the naked soul appears before God at death and is given its eternal status.
Solomon, like many of the writers of the Old Testament scriptures, did not have as clear an understanding of the afterlife as do people who lived with access to the New Testament scriptures. They essentially said the same thing, as we have seen. Recall the words of Isaiah 14 about how Lucifer and the king of Babylon were received by the inhabitants of Sheol as an example. Solomon's affirmation of the immortality of the soul or spirit is not as forceful as other old testament authors. There is not much said about it in his Proverbs either. Consider also another factor in why the old testament did not elaborate more on the conscious state of the dead, such as what is stated in the Abstract of a book titled "Life with Yahweh After Death: How the Psalter’s References to Life After Death Cohere" by Bill Tackmier (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis - See here). In it we find these words in the same direction (emphasis mine):
"This dissertation demonstrates how seven Psalms passages that refer to life beyond death reflect a single, coherent view of postmortem existence held in ancient Israel. Although it has been argued by some over the past hundred years that four of the passages (Pss 6:6; 30:10; 88:10–12; and 115:17) reflect a time when Israel either did not believe in an afterlife or had a very limited view of postmortem existence, this dissertation argues that the seven passages are muted expressions of afterlife belief — muted so as not to be confused with beliefs among Israel’s neighbors that the dead could speak to the living. The psalmists, like many in ancient Israel, opposed the cult of the dead practiced throughout the ancient Near East. The three other psalms examined (Pss 16, 49, and 73) focus on how the individual believed he would go on to an existence of eternal bliss with Yahweh without reference to other deceased persons sharing that existence. The psalmists do not deny that such a community of the dead existed, but they appear to avoid addressing the topic since Israel was often tempted to practice the cult of the dead, which involved offering sacrifices to the dead and soliciting their counsel and guidance from beyond the grave. The dissertation first surveys the cult of the dead as practiced by Israel’s neighbors, then surveys how the rest of Hebrew Scripture cautiously handles the topics of afterlife and the cult of the dead, and finally examines exegetically the seven Psalms references to show that the psalmists are affirming belief in a continued postmortem existence with Yahweh, but one in which the dead were unable to communicate to the living either Yahweh’s praises or his counsel."
That seems like a good reason why the ancient Hebrew scripture writers did not speak at length about the spirit world of Sheol. I also think that more revelation was always being given on that subject.
Consider also that Solomon believed what David his father believed. David, as we have seen, did believe in life after death and the immortality of the soul, and did not believe in soul sleep.
He would have believed what Moses believed too. In Psalm 90, written by Moses and called a "prayer of Moses the man of God" (vs. 1), he said:
"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (vs. 10 kjv)
What flies away in death? Not the body. It is the spirit that returns to God who gave it. As we noted in the first chapters, the Egyptians often had hieroglyphs which showed a bird flying from a corpse as a symbol to convey the same idea of the soul or spirit leaving the body and going to Sheol, or to Heaven. The Hebrew word means to "fly swiftly away like a bird, as this word signifies" (Poole's Commentary). "The immortal spirit wings its way into the eternal world," says Clark's Commentary.
The fact that the people of Israel often involved themselves in necromancy also shows that they believed that the ghosts (spirits) of the dead had a conscious existence in the spirit world. Why would you try to communicate with non-existent or unconscious spirits?
Further, as we have observed before, it was commonly said of the righteous, when they died, that they were "gathered unto their people." For a list of those several old testament passages see (here). Such language shows that people expected to be consciously joined with their relatives when they died, and this is true with both righteous and unrighteous.
Consider also these words from the Psalmist (presumed to be king David): "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (Psa. 116: 15) I don't think it could be precious to the Lord if death extinguished the persons of his people.
"Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow." (Eccl. 8: 12-13)
It seems to me that there is an implied belief in the afterlife in these words. It is not always better in this life for the righteous than for the unrighteous. Solomon even grieves over this fact and can't make sense of it. Good people often suffer more than bad people and die young while the wicked grow old. Job also spoke of the same distressing phenomenon. Recall the story of Lazarus and Dives. Who fared better in this life? Though Lazarus did not fare well in this life, compared to Dives, yet he fared better when death came to both, for Lazarus, being righteous, went to the place of the blessed, and "prolonged his days" in the world to come, for he inherited eternal life.
The Speaker's Perspective
From what perspective does Solomon or The Preacher speak of death? Perspective is important. Consider that a person standing above the earth's north pole and looking down would say the earth is spinning counter clockwise but while standing below the south pole would say it turns clockwise. Both are right though what they say is totally different.
Oftentimes, Solomon speaks of a man who is only believing in what he can see and reasonably conclude. Other times he speaks as a man who has been taught by the unseen, namely God, in ways not observable to the physical eye but discernible by the inner eye of mind and spirit. If this is so, then what he says in chapter nine may be an expression of the way things appear to him, looking at things from the standpoint of the man who only believes in what he can see and conclude by logic and reason.
Wrote Albert Barnes in his Commentary (emphasis mine):
"Solomon here describes what he sees, not what he believes; there is no reference here to the fact or the mode of the existence of the soul in another world, which are matters of faith."
The view I take is very similar to this. But, more on that shortly. Got Questions web page also says something similar (see here, emphasis mine):
"The key to understanding the statement “the dead know nothing” is found in the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is written specifically from an earthly perspective. The key phrase, repeated throughout the book, is under the sun, used about thirty times. Solomon is commenting on an earth-bound life, “under the sun,” without God. His conclusion, also repeated throughout the book, is that everything from that perspective is “vanity” or emptiness (Ecclesiastes 1:2)...The last clause of Ecclesiastes 9: 6 indicates that the writer confines his observations on the dead to their portion in, or relation to, this world."
Many things that Solomon says in Ecclesiastes are falsehoods because Solomon speaks for the man who believes that this life is all there is, and that there is no afterlife. He speaks often from the perspective of a cynic, skeptic, agnostic, materialist, etc.
He also speaks sarcastically, or as an infidel might speak. He also uses satire, and as in sarcasm, a man must be interpreted to mean exactly the opposite of what he says; And, if a man read the words, and did not know they were sarcastic or satirical, then he would be led to take them as declarative statements of truth. If I go outside in awful weather and say "nice weather we are having today," no one knowing the context would say I really meant it as a statement of truth or fact.
Said bible teacher Ray Stedman (See here - emphasis mine):
"The book of Ecclesiastes, or "the Preacher," is unique in scripture. There is no other book like it, because it is the only book in the Bible that reflects a human, rather than a divine, point of view. This book is filled with error. And yet it is wholly inspired. This may confuse some people, because many feel that inspiration is a guarantee of truth."
If this is true (that Ecclesiastes has errors), and it is, then we must be able to discern which are true and which are errors. Doing this is often the hard part. I believe that "the dead know not anything" is not a truth proposition. If it is saying something about the body and brains of the deceased, then it is true. Thus, one of the first decisions the bible student will have to make upon the passage is to decide whether Solomon is stating a truth or a falsehood. If it is decided that he is stating a truth, it still does not necessarily support the soul sleep doctrine for it may be true relative to the physical intellect. However, I rather think Solomon is stating a falsehood or a topic of discussion (the latter being my view, though either is quite plausible). For example, let us notice these words:
“A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything.” (Eccl.10: 19)
So, is money the answer to everything? No. Do men think it is? Yes. There are other similar statements in Ecclesiastes. The above statement is said today by people, but say rather "money talks." That is true, relatively speaking, though not absolutely. The bible is full of statements that say in essence - "your money will not help you." Further, does wine make one happy in life? Well, again, yes and no. It seems to me that the words above are more a topic for discussion than a statement of absolute truth. But, more on that as we progress in our thoughts. Consider also that many things said by Job's friends and counselors were falsities.
Said Stedman
"Because of its remarkable character Ecclesiastes is the most misused book of the Bible. This is the favorite book of atheists and agnostics. And many cults love to quote this book's erroneous viewpoints and give the impression that these are scriptural, divine words of God concerning life."
It is certainly used by those who deny the immortality of the soul and of a conscious state of the dead, by those who believe in soul sleep or annihilationism.
Said Stedman
"But right away in its introduction this book is very careful to point out that what it records is not divine truth. It presents only the human view of life. You'll find that over and over, throughout the whole course of Ecclesiastes, one phrase is repeated again and again: "under the sun," "under the sun." Everything is evaluated according to appearances alone-- this is man's point of view of reality and is utterly exclusive of divine revelation. As such, Ecclesiastes very accurately summarizes what man thinks...it is written from a humanistic point of view."
This is very important to understand. The same with discerning sarcasm in scripture. Many err in interpreting certain biblical statements because they fail to understand that the speaker is speaking sarcastically. (See Job 12: 2 as an example) So, we must decide whether statements like "the dead know not anything" are statements of fact, or are instances of sarcasm, or satire, or simply a stated proposition for discussion.
Said Stedman
"Then in chapter 9 he examines the world's value judgments and points out again that they all come to the same thing..."
So, is Solomon stating what he believes is true or what appears to be true to men who believe only in what they can see and explain? That is a priority in a discussion of what he says.
Said Stedman
"Here he says, "You see these men who say, like Benjamin Franklin, 'Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise' and 'A penny saved is a penny earned'. All these things," he says, "have an aura of wisdom about them -- but they don't really work. I have seen times when the race was not to the swift and the battle didn't go to the strong nor bread to the wise nor riches to the intelligent. It doesn't always work. I have seen some very stupid rich people." So these worldly values and judgments are not accurate, and they too all end in death..."
I think this is so true of Ecclesiastes in several places. Whether it is the case in chapter nine is yet for us to more fully examine. It certainly is more plausible than to conclude that Solomon is affirming what the soul sleepers say about his words.
In the next chapter we will continue our look at Solomon's words in this chapter.
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