The Afterlife and the Shadow of Death in the Bible
The Bible mentions the mysterious phrase “the shadow of death” many times, which Christians have long understood as a reference to the realms of the afterlife. In recent times, sadly, this afterlife/underworld association has been downplayed by many Christians, both in modern Bible translations and in the theologies which arise from these translations. We shall explore the afterlife association of this mysterious biblical phrase, which makes it into one of the most used funereal readings (Psalm 23), together with one of the Christmas service readings, understood as a prophetic word regarding the coming and work of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9).
What is the Shadow of Death, and how did the original writers of the Bible intend their readers to understand this term? What are the theological implications for understanding the land of the shadow of death as the realm of the afterlife, and how does this deepen our understanding and appreciation of Christ’s comprehensive redemptive work?
As always on this site, we attempt to read the Bible through the eyes and understandings of the original writers and readers of the texts, in the spirit of ‘etsi doctrina non daretur,’ ‘as if doctrine is not given.’
The ‘Shadow of Death’ as the Afterlife
We know from our experiences that words and phrases change their meanings as time passes, which is true within the library of books we call the Bible. Single words have their meanings changed because of the context of the sentence and passage. Can we simply pluck a word out, analyse it devoid of its literary, cultural, historical and even theological context at the time, and say it means something we prefer to mean, according to our pre-existing theologies? No. If I remarked that something was ‘wicked’, before the 20th century, this word generally meant ‘evil’, yet now, the context determines whether what is being described as wicked is evil or actually great, cool, fantastic. The same goes for analysing words in Scripture.
The Hebrew word salmawet or tzalmavet has been the subject of intense scrutiny on its own. However, many analyses focus on the minutiae without considering the bigger picture of the word’s use within the cultural context.
Salmawet/tzalmavet is found in the following places within the Hebrew Bible. The book of Job (generally considered the oldest book) contains seven of these occurrences: Job 10:22; 12:22; 16:16; 24:17 (twice); 34:22; 38:17. The remaining occurrences are Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 9:2; Amos 5:8. Whilst the King James consistently translates this word as the shadow of death, modern translations use the following range:
- deep darkness – ESV, ISV, NIV, NLT, NRSV
- darkness – LEX
- pitch-dark- CEB
- the dark- AMP
- shadows – GNB
- shadowy darkness – The Voice
- death-shade – YLT
As a result of these translations, much ink has been spilt on how the aforementioned passages speak about subjects such as deep depression. Whilst there is certainly a positive pastoral element in reading these verses in that light, there is a deeper level of meaning behind the term that can lead to us rediscovering the afterlife realm revealed in the Scriptures.
Job and the Afterlife – The Land of the Shadow of Death
The earliest usage of this term is found in Job. Here are some of its usages in the NKJV, which have a chthonic context:
‘A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’
Job 10:22
I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust. My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death … O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! … For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return.
Job 16:15-16,18,22
These two passages speak of a ‘land of darkness’, laying one’s head in the ‘dust’. This is a term for death, and we first encounter this in Genesis 3:14, where the being who caused the Fall of humankind was made to “eat dust” in reference to him being sent to the underworld. This is a term we still use when we say someone has “bitten the dust” to refer to them dying. Anyway, note in Job that the land of the shadow of death has a ‘way of no return’ that the physically dying travel along. These three phrases might easily be glossed over without a contextual understanding that arises from knowing some of the surrounding cultures that used similar phrases of the afterlife/underworld realms.
In the Mesopotamian cultures which influenced Hebraic afterlife ideas, similar language about the realm of the dead can be found in the opening lines from the Akkadian Ishtar’s Descent into the Underworld [2], which reads:
To the House of Darkness, the Seat of Irkalla,
Ishtar’s Descent into the Underworld
To the house from where no one who enters can leave
To the journey from which there is no going back
To the house whose dwellers are deprived of light
Where dust is their sustenance, clay their food;
They see no light, dwelling in darkness
They are clad, like birds, with wings as garments
On door and bolt dust gathers.
A distinct link between physical death and the shadow of death is found in Job 34:
In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and pass away; the mighty are taken away without a hand. For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For He need not further consider a man, that he should go before God in judgment.
Job 34:20-23
Here, we find an idea that even the wicked may not find rest or be able to hide in the afterlife realm, something common to Job’s and his companions’ culture.
Having shown that the shadow of death means the afterlife in certain contexts, we can begin to analyse other passages in Scripture that mention the phrase, which may surprise us with their afterlife contexts once we know the language and imagery associated with this subject.
Psalm 23 – The Valley of the Shadow of Death may lead to a Blessed Afterlife
Psalm 23 is among the most common biblical texts in Christian and nominal-Christian funeral services. Whilst its overt connection with physical death is clearly seen in this context, some have tried to argue that the valley of the shadow of death, mentioned in the psalm, is nothing more than deep depression. Not to denigrate those who suffer from depression in any way, as it can indeed feel as though death is upon us, this is not what the original writer would have had in mind, given their understanding of the afterlife at their point in time:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23 – NRSV [a] ‘the valley of the shadow of death‘
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a]
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
When you understand the afterlife beliefs of the Hebrews at the time of the composition of this psalm, you will see that the early ideas of an afterlife where the “dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) is slowly being replaced with a more positive hope for those who are righteous. They will enter the afterlife through the “valley of the shadow of death”, accompanied by the Good Shepherd, continuing through to the green (symbolic of life) pastures, rest and refreshment. This afterlife realm would have been known to the Hebrews, who were earlier captive in Egypt, as the Egyptian afterlife’s Field of Rushes. It would later be known to them as the Elysian Fields in the geography of the Grecian Hades, as the Septuagint translators undertook their culturally contextual translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
Christ’s Redemptive Work in the Underworld
Psalm 107 – Those Chained in the Shadow of Death
Once we know the cosmic geography embedded throughout the biblical texts, where deserts are places of death, the sea is the underworld, and valleys, graves and wells are portals to the underworld realm then we begin to understand the redemptive capacity of God, even in the afterlife! Psalm 107 is prophetic of Christ’s redemptive work on all planes of existence. I’ve italicized certain key words and phrases that can be understood as afterlife terms, linking them to other parts of the Bible where these things are fulfilled in the work of Christ:
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Psalm 107:10-16 (NKJV)
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
And gathered out of the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south [sea – Revelation 20:13].
They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way [Matthew 12:23];
They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
And He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city for a dwelling place [John 14:2].
Oh, that they would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works for humanity!
For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons [1 Peter 3:18-19] —
Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
Therefore He brought down their heart with labour;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces [Psalm 68:18; cf Ephesians 4:8].
Oh, let them give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to humankind!
For He has broken the gates of bronze [Job 38:17],
And cut the bars of iron in two [Job 17:16].
Whilst this is prophetically speaking of Christ’s work in the afterlife, it hopefully suggests that even physical death is not the end of opportunity for salvation for a patient God who goes after even the lost sheep to offer them a place of safety there.
Isaiah 9 – Dwellers in the Land of the Shadow of Death
During the Christmas festive season, one often hears the words of Isaiah 9 spoken at the traditional Nine Lessons and Carols services in churches worldwide.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.For unto us a Child is born,
Isaiah 9:2,6-7 (Lesson Three from the Nine Lessons and Carols Service)
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Many Christians understand this as a prophetic word from the writer describing Christ’s role in the redemption of all creation. Few, however, realise this prophetic word includes Christ’s work in the afterlife, or ‘underworld’, what is known as the “Harrowing of Hell [Hades]” This is not surprising, given the passage’s overfamiliarity as a herald of the celebration of the birth of Christ, coupled with more modern translations preferring to avoid the chthonic overtone in verse 2.
We are very happy to see this as the light of Christ coming to the people alive and living in a world of spiritual darkness, as per the initial words: The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light. But, we often seem to miss the next part, believing it to be a repetition of the meaning of the previous part of the verse. But could this reveal a deeper layer of knowledge to be mined for those with ‘eyes to see’?: Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death [the underworld/afterlife], upon them a light has shined.
As we are told in Isaiah 9:2, Psalm 107, Acts 2:27, Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3:18-4:6, and Revelation 1:18, Christ descended into the underworld realm known as Hades to do battle with the forces of evil that held humanity captive and unable to be set free to live again. This theological concept is forgotten about in much of modern Protestant Christianity, yet has been a cornerstone of Christian teaching, to the point that it was embedded into the 5th Century version of the Apostle’s Creed:
descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
[Jesus] descended into hell, [and] rose again on the third day
The Apostle’s Creed
Conclusion
Whilst there are those who say that Christ remained in the tomb and that nothing happened on Easter Saturday, there is much for those with eyes to see that gives us greater insight into the glorious, redemptive work that Jesus was doing whilst in the afterlife realms, preparing for his resurrection and the giving of gifts to all those held captive there.
We can also see that redemptive hope in the afterlife has always been part of the mindset of some biblical writers and that posthumous salvation opportunities are not as heretical as some would like to pretend. Eventually, every creature in heaven, on earth and under the earth will sing the praises of God (Revelation 5:13), as they were originally created for.
To read more about the heavenly realms in the Bible, please see The Invisible Dimension. Read more about it, including its endorsements and author.
