“What is man?” (Ps. 8:5): Two Judaeans’ views on human nature in the Persian period

The article deals with the Judaeans’ perception and interpretation of the doctrine of existential nature — proclaimed by the Torah in Gen. 6:3 in the Persian period, but going back to the ancient source Yahwist, — about the finitude of man in his fleshly hypostasis, but leaving open for readers the question about the afterlife of the spirit. The author shows that the Judaeans basically formed two answers to the question of the essential nature of man, the “last” question of his existence, identification and self-identification as an individual. One point of view is most clearly expressed by the compiler of the Book of Job: man’s body is ultimately destroyed without hope of restoration, and his spirit — even the wisest and most righteous - descends into Sheol and practically completely loses its individuality, depersonalizes (cf. also, for example, Ps. 104[103]: 29–30; 146[145]:3–4, etc.). The author of the Book of Qoheleth makes no secret of the fact that he is well aware of this extremely pessimistic doctrine. At the same time, the idea of the decisive good of “wisdom” and “justice/righteousness” for man and of the good reward for his adherence to them “there” (šām [Qoh. 3:17], i.e., in the otherworld) runs through his book. One may suppose that he thereby assumes, at least implicitly, that only the spirits of the “righteous and wise” ascend to God in heaven (Qoh. 12:7b; cf. also: Qoh. 3:21a) — thus appearing to be a true particle of the divine Spirit, — while the spirits of the rest descend to Sheol. According to Qoheleth, the “spirit” of man — as an active independent entity — on the death of the flesh returns to God on its own (not God taking it!) and — probably as a consequence — is not correlated with “breath” anywhere in the book (as opposed to relevant passages in the Book of Job and several other biblical texts).