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

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.