Jackson, Paul Norman

Investigation of Koimaomai in the New Testament: The Concept of Eschatological Sleep

1996 0-7734-2417-2
This work argues that the sleep-of-death metaphor in New Testament usage is compatible with an approach to a model of the intermediate state called wholistic dualism. Focusing mainly on the New Testament witness, this book investigates the historical progression of the use of the term koimaomai and its minor semantic associates from the time of Homer to the early church fathers. The time frame includes a consideration of non-Christian Greek and Latin sources; the Hellenistic period including the LXX, Pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus; the semantic domain in Hebrew and Aramaic incorporating the Old Testament and the literature of Second Temple Judaism; and the early post-biblical reaction. An exhaustive search of the TLG uncovered many striking examples from primary sources.