ad, precisely as the
Babylonians pictured the life in Aralu. The dead are designated by a
name[1298] that indicates their weak condition. They can only talk in
whispers or they chirp like birds. Their gait is unsteady. In general,
they are pictured as lying quiet, doomed to inactivity. Death is
lamented as an evil. The dead have passed out of the control of Yahwe,
whose concern is with the living. Yahwe's blessings are meted out in
this world, but not in Sheol. These blessings consist chiefly of long
life and plenty of offspring. The dead need not praise Yahwe.
Ecclesiastes--although a late composition--expresses the old popular
view in the summary of the fate of the dead,[1299] when it is said that
the dead know nothing of what is going on. Their memory is gone; they
neither love nor hate, and they are devoid of any ambition. There is no
planning, no wisdom, no judgment in Sheol.

Like the Babylonians, the Hebrews also believed that the condition of
the individual at the time of death was an index of the condition in
store for him in Sheol. He who goes to Sheol in sorrow is pursued by
sorrow after death. Jacob does not want to go down to Sheol in
sorrow,[1300] because he knows that in that case sorrow will be his fate
after death. To die neglected by one's family was fatal to one's
well-being in Sheol. Life in Sheol was a continuation, in a measure, of
the earthly existence. Hence, the warrior is buried with his weapons;
the prophet is recognized by his cloak; the kings wear their crowns; the
people of various lands are known by their dress.[1301] Even
deformities, as lameness, follow the individual into the grave. On the
other hand, while the dead were weak and generally inactive, although
capable of suffering, they were also regarded by the Hebrews as
possessing powers superior to those of the living. As among the
Babylonians, the dead stand so close to the higher powers as to be
themselves possessed of divine qualities. Schwally aptly characterizes
this apparent contradiction by saying 'that the dead are _Refa'im_
(weak), but, at the same time, _Elohim_, _i.e._ divine beings.'[1302]
Yahwe has no power over the dead, but they receive some of his
qualities. They are invoked by the living. The dead can furnish oracles,
precisely as Yahwe can. They not only appear to the living in dreams,
but their shades can be raised up from Sheol. A certain amount of
worship was certainly paid to the dead by the ancient Hebrews.

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