Grave, the

An OT synonym for death, the natural, inevitable human destiny, though not without hope for the righteous.

The grave as a place of burial

Numbers 19:16, Numbers 19:18; Deuteronomy 34:6; 1 Kings 13:31; 2 Kings 21:26; Isaiah 22:16

The grave representing natural death

Genesis 37:35; Psalm 88:3 See also Genesis 42:38, Genesis 44:29; 2 Samuel 22:5–6; 1 Kings 2:6, 1 Kings 2:9; Job 3:21–22, Job 5:26, Job 10:19, Job 17:1; Psalm 30:3, Psalm 89:48; Proverbs 5:5, Proverbs 9:18, Proverbs 15:24, Proverbs 30:16; Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:18; Jeremiah 20:17; Habakkuk 2:5

All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No, ” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

The grave as judgment

Psalm 55:15 See also Numbers 16:30, Numbers 16:33; Job 24:19, Job 40:13; Psalm 9:17, Psalm 31:17, Psalm 49:14; Isaiah 5:14, Isaiah 14:9, Isaiah 14:11, Isaiah 14:15

Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.

The grave represented only hopelessness and oblivion before Jesus Christ's resurrection

Job 17:13–16; Ecclesiastes 9:10 See also Job 7:9; Psalm 6:5, Psalm 31:17, Psalm 88:5, Psalm 88:11; Isaiah 38:18

If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?”

Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

The OT hope of redemption from the grave anticipated the gospel message

Psalm 49:15; 1 Corinthians 15:55 See also 1 Samuel 2:6; Job 14:13; Hosea 13:14; Acts 2:27; Psalm 16:10

But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah

“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”