Paradise is a garden of pleasure. Such in ’particular was that in which Adam was at first placed, in the state of innocence, called by the name of ïøò
We find this word three times in the New Testament, (Luke 23. 43. 2 Cor. x2: 4. Rev. 2: 7.) but the word is not used in the Old. But as the word itself is derived from the Hebrew or Chaldee, it signifies forest or garden of trees; and the same meaning is annexed to what Nehemiah useth for the king’s forest, Neh. 2: 8; and what Solomon saith, Eccles. 2: 5, about his gardens and orchards; and of the church it has the same meaning when Jesus commending her saith, "Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates" - - that is, a veryparadise.
We are apt to confine our ideas of the word paradise to the garden of Eden, as being so during our first parents’ innocence; and this being lost, we now look forward to the possession of a better paradise in the kingdom of glory. What the Lord Jesus said to the dying thief upon the cross, (Luke 23. 43.) and to the church of Ephesus, (Rev. 2: 7.) have tended much to establish this opinion. It is sufficient however for all the purposes of knowledge concerning the word itself, that it means a place of unspeakable happiness anddelight; and our Lord’s promise to the dying thief decidedly settles the point. I would only beg to observe upon that sweet promise of Jesus, in what he plainly shewed, and by his own words, in the manner of expression, that the blessedness of paradise consisted. The happiness of the poor pardoned sinner was not in the place, not simply as paradise, for this he might have been, and in the company of angels also, and yet not blessed. This was not the chief blessing spoken of by the Lord Jesus; but the felicity of whichparadise was made up, and which formed the sum and substance of all joy, was Christ. Verily, (said Jesus) "I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Shall I be indulged with subjoining one thought more on the subject of paradise in general, and the ease of this highly - favoured pardoned sinner in particular, just to remark that this promise of Jesus to him, that that very day he should be with Christ in paradise, carries with it a conviction of the truth of that doctrine, that the souls of the redeemed pass instantly to glory on their separation from the body. The voice John heard from heaven, commanding him to write "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; fromhenceforth," that is, immediately, instantly, the bodies rest from their labours, until the resurrection of the just, and then the solemn events Jesus speaks of will take place. (John v. 28, 29.) But to be to - day with Jesus in paradise, carries with it a palpable demonstration of immediate consciousness and unspeakable felicity. I beg the reader to connect with this what the Holy Ghost hath said by the prophet of the consciousness of the opposite character entering eternity. (Isa. 14. 9, 10.) In the person of the impious king ofBabylon, the sacred writer thus addresseth him: "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak, and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?’ Now here we see not only a state of living consciousness described, but the miserable already departed speaking to the miserable now come among them, and giving them thehorrible gratulation of partnership in endless woe. Let the reader compare both descriptions; that which Jesus said to the penitent thief, and that which is here described by the prophet; and let him then form his own judgment whether the happiness and misery of the eternal world to the different characters is not immediate on death.
according to the original meaning of the term, whether it be of Hebrew, Chaldee, or Persian derivation, signifies, “a place enclosed for pleasure and delight.” The LXX, or Greek translators of the Old Testament, make use of the word paradise, when they speak of the garden of Eden, which Jehovah planted at the creation, and in which he placed our first parents. There are three places in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament where this word is found, namely, Neh 2:8; Son 4:13; Ecc 2:5. The term paradise is obviously used in the New Testament, as another word for heaven; by our Lord, Luk 23:43; by the Apostle Paul, 2Co 12:4; and in the Apocalypse, Rev 2:7. See EDEN.
Par´adise, the term which by long and extensive use has been employed to designate the Garden of Eden, the first dwelling-place of human beings. The word was used by Xenophon and Plutarch to signify an extensive plot of ground, enclosed with a strong fence or wall, abounding in trees, shrubs, plants, and garden culture, and in which choice animals were kept in different ways of restraint or freedom, according as they were ferocious or peaceable; thus answering very closely to our English word park, with the addition of gardens, a menagerie, and an aviary.
From its original meaning the term came by degrees to be employed as a metaphor for the abstract idea of exquisite delight, and then was transferred still higher to denote the happiness of the righteous in the future state. The origin of this application must be assigned to the Jews of the middle period between the Old and the New Testament. The Talmudical writings contain frequent references to Paradise as the immortal heaven, to which the spirits of the just are admitted immediately upon the liberation from the body.
Hence we see that it was in the acceptation of the current Jewish phraseology that the expression was used by our Lord and the apostles: ’Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise;’ ’He was caught up into Paradise:’ ’The tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God’ (Luk 23:43; 2Co 12:4; Rev 2:7).
Eden is the most ancient and venerable name in geography, the name of the first district of the earth’s surface of which human beings could have any knowledge.
All that we know of it goes to show that Eden was a tract of country; and that in the most eligible part of it was the Paradise, the garden of all delights, in which the Creator was pleased to place his new and pre-eminent creature, with the inferior beings for his sustenance and solace.
Upon the question of the exact geographical position of Eden, dissertations innumerable have been written. Many authors have given descriptive lists of them, with arguments for and against each. But we more than doubt the possibility of finding any locality that will answer to all the conditions of the problem. That Phrat is the Euphrates, and Hiddekel the Tigris, is agreed, with scarcely an exception; but in determining the two other rivers, great diversity of opinion exists; and, to our apprehension, satisfaction is and must remain unattainable, from the impossibility of making the evidence to cohere in all its parts. It has been remarked that this difficulty might have been expected, and is obviously probable, from the geological changes that may have taken place, and especially in connection with the deluge. This remark would not be applicable, to the extent that is necessary for the argument, except upon the supposition before mentioned, that the earlier parts of the book of Genesis consist of primeval documents, even antediluvian, and that this is one of them. There is reason to think that since the deluge the face of the country cannot have undergone any change approaching to what the hypothesis of a postdiluvian composition would require. But we think it highly probable that the principal of the immediate causes of the deluge, the ’breaking up of the fountains of the great deep,’ was a subsidence of a large part or parts of the land between the inhabited tract (which we humbly venture to place in E. long. from Greenwich, 30° to 90°, and N. lat. 25° to 40°) and the sea which lay to the south; or an elevation of the bed of that sea. Either of these occurrences, produced by volcanic causes, or both of them conjointly or successively, would be adequate to the production of the awful deluge, and the return of the waters would be effected by an elevation of some part of the district which had been submerged; and that part could scarcely fail to be charged with animal remains. Now the recent geological researches of Dr. Falconer and Capt. Cautley have brought to light bones, more or less mineralized, of the giraffe in the Sewalik range of hills, which seems to be a branch of the Himalaya, westward of the river Jumna. But the giraffe is not an animal that can live in a mountainous region, or even on the skirts of such a region; its subsistence and its safety require ’an open country and broad plains to roam over.’ The present position, therefore, of these fossil remains, lodged in ravines and vales among the peaks, at vast elevations, leads to the supposition of a late elevation of extensive plains.
Thus we seem to have a middle course pointed out between the two extremes; the one, that by the deluge, the ocean and the land were made to exchange places for permanency; the other, that very little alteration was produced in the configuration of the earth’s surface. Indeed, such alteration might not be considerable in places very distant from the focus of elevation; but near that central district it could not but be very great. An alteration of level, five hundred times less than that effected by the upthrow of the Himalayas, would change the beds of many rivers, and quite obliterate others.
From all we can learn, then, of the Garden of Eden, it appears to have been a tract of country, the finest imaginable, lying probably between the 33rd and the 37th degree of N. latitude, of such moderate elevation, and so adjusted, with respect to mountain ranges and water sheds and forests, as to preserve the most agreeable and salubrious conditions of temperature and all atmospheric changes. Its surface must therefore have been constantly diversified by hill and plain. From its hill-sides, between the croppings out of their strata, springs trickled out, whose streamlets, joining in their courses, formed at the bottom small rivers, which again receiving other streams (which had in the same way flowed down from the higher grounds), became, in the bottom of every valley, a more considerable river. These valleys inosculated, as must consequently their contained streams; wider valleys or larger plains appeared; the river of each united itself with that of its next neighbor; others contributed their waters as the augmenting stream proceeded; and finally it departed from the land of Eden, to continue its course to some sea, or to lose its waters by the evaporation of the atmosphere or the absorption of the sandy desert. In the finest part of this land of Eden, the Creator had formed an enclosure, probably by rocks and forests and rivers, and had filled it with every product of nature conducive to use and happiness. Due moisture, of both the ground and the air, was preserved by the streamlets from the nearest hills, and the rivulets from the more distant; and such streamlets and rivulets, collected according to the levels of the surrounding country (’it proceeded from Eden’) flowed off afterwards in four larger streams, each of which thus became the source of a great river. With regard to its locality, after the explication we have given it may seem the most suitable to look for the site of Paradise on the south of Armenia. From this opinion few, we think, will dissent.
A Greek word signifying a park, or garden with trees. The Hebrew word GAN, garden, issued in a similar way, Neh 2:8 Ecc 2:5 Son 4:13 .\par The Septuagint uses the word Paradise when speaking of the Garden of Eden, in which the Lord placed Adam and Eve. This famous garden is indeed commonly known by the name of "the terrestrial paradise," and there is hardly any part of the world in which it has not been sought. See EDEN.\par In the New Testament, "paradise" is put, in allusion to the paradise of Eden, for the place where the souls of the blessed enjoy happiness. Thus our Savior tells the penitent thief on the cross, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise;" that is, in the state of the blessed, Luk 23:43 . Paul speaking of himself in the third person, says, "I knew a man that was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter," 2Co 12:4 . And in Jer 2:7 22:14, the natural features of the scene where innocence and bliss were lost, are used to depict the world where these are restored perfectly and forever.\par
Par’adise. This is a word of Persian origin, and is used in the Septuagint (LXX) as the translation of Eden. It means "an orchard of pleasure and fruits," "a garden" or "a pleasure ground", something like an English park. It is applied figuratively, to the celestial dwelling of the righteous, in allusion to the garden of Eden. 2Co 12:4; Rev 2:7. It has, thus, come into familiar use to denote both that garden, and the heaven of the just. See Eden, 1.
Paul in a trance was caught up even to the third heaven, into paradise (2Co 12:2; 2Co 12:4). In Eden Adam and Eve lived solitary, exhibiting the perfection of the individual. The heavenly home shall be not merely a garden, but a city, the perfect communion of saints (Heb 12:22; Revelation 21; 22). Earthly cities, Nineveh, Babylon, and Thebes, rested on mere force; Athens and Corinth on intellect, art, and refinement, divorced from morality; Tyre on gain; even Jerusalem on religious privileges more than on love, truth, righteousness, and holiness of heart before God. But the coming city shall combine all that was excellent of the first Eden, with the perfect polity that rests on Christ the chief corner stone, in which symmetry, grace, power, and the beauty of holiness shall shine for ever.
The word
PARADISE.—The word is a Persian one, and was adopted by the Hebrews from the mildest and most benevolent of their conquerors. Like most words with sufficient impetus to find their way into another language, it brings with it something of the character of the race from which it comes. It means something that the NT receives ‘Legion’ and ‘Praetorium’ from Rome, and ‘Paradise’ from Persia. It seems in its first home to have denoted a park-like garden,—an enclosure fenced in from evil influences outside, and yet not so artificial as to be solely the work of man and devoid of natural landscape beauties. Herds of deer and other wild animals found a happy home in the old Persian paradises (Xen. Cyr. i. 3. 14, Anab. i. 2. 7). But a word entering the speech of a strong nation does not remain unaltered. The strength of Israel was religious, and the word ‘Paradise’ became on her lips restricted to the great garden where God at the first had talked with man. Paradise became to her the lost Eden, the garden of the four rivers and the two mystic trees. It was impossible, however, to the Hebrew that anything religious should remain a mere memory. In process of time it became a heavenly and an inspiring hope. A cool and fragrant Paradise awaits the faithful Hebrew after death. The Golden Age ereates the future home of the people of God.
It was to little purpose that the Alexandrian Jewish school combated this conception as too materialistic and earthy. The popular mind saw nothing attractive in the allegorizing which taught that Paradise meant ‘virtue,’ and the trees of the garden the thoughts of spiritual men. The strangely mingled life man lives, half in, half out of the spiritual world, will not suffer a system which ignores so large a portion of his consciousness.
This was its meaning to the mass of men in Gospel times. It appears thrice in the NT,—in Luk 23:43, in 2Co 12:4, and in Rev 2:7,—and its history on the sacred page seems that of a spiral curve upwards. St. Paul’s reference is so mystic as to remain somewhat indefinite, yet it is up to Paradise he is caught. But in Revelation the spiritual meaning shines through the thin veil of the pietorial promise to the Ephesian ‘angel.’
It is not without interest to observe that in later times and outside Scripture the word seems in two directions to take a downward slant; first, among Mohammedans as applied to their carnal heaven, and afterwards in the Mediaeval Church as indicating a place (the Limbus Patrum) reserved for departed souls who are only in partial and imperfect communion with the faithful.
Our Lord’s solitary use of the word constitutes by far its greatest interest to Christians. He who spoke of ‘the kingdom of God’ or ‘the kingdom of heaven’ to the Apostles, used the word ‘Paradise’ to the dying brigand on the cross. The connotation of a term rises and falls with the mood of the speaker. But with the Speaker on this occasion, His mood is always regulated by the receptivity of the hearer. This man never knew much of any world beyond his own world of violence and rapine. He was dying now. What he needed was a form of comfort—real and true, no doubt, but such as he could reach and relish. He was writhing in thirst and agony, and the simple, common, current idea of Paradise, with its rest and relief, was to him, for the time being, the chiefest good. The hope of such a change was a simple hope; but a plain thought may be as true, as far as it goes, as a complex one; just as an outline may be as correct as a finished portrait. Anything more advanced would have meant nothing to the repentant robber. He who ‘knew what was in man’ gave the promise. See, further, art. ‘Paradise’ in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , and the Literature cited there.
Literature.—As bearing upon Christ’s use of the word, special ref. may be made to Salmond, Christian Doct. of Immortality, 346 ff.; Edersheim, LT
M. P. Johnstone.
(Hebrew, 
; Greek,
By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board., George A. Barton, Judah David Eisenstein, Mary W. Montgomery
—Biblical Data:
The word "paradise" is probably of Persian origin. It occurs but three times in the Old Testament, namely, in Cant. iv. 13, Eccl. ii. 5, and Neh. ii. 8. In the first of these passages it means "garden"; in the second and third, "park." In the apocalypses and in the Talmud the word is used of the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype (comp. references in Weber's "Jüdische Theologie," 2d ed., 1897, pp. 344 et seq.). From this usage it came to denote, as in the New Testament, the abode of the blessed (comp. Luke xxiii. 43; II Cor. xii. 4; Rev. ii. 7).
Description in Genesis.
In the Old Testament, however, one has to do with the earthly Garden of Eden, of which there are two representations: one in Gen. ii., iii., and the other in Ezek. xxviii. 13-17. According to the first of these passages Yhwh planted a garden "eastward in Eden," in which were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge; and He gave it to Adam to keep. There "went out" from this garden a river which was divided and became "four heads." The names of these were Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel (Tigris), and Euphrates. Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of all the trees of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In this garden were created and placed all sorts of animals; but none of these proved a suitable companion for man. Accordingly a woman was created. Adam and Eve then lived in the garden without clothing.
The most subtle of the creatures in the garden was the serpent. He questioned the woman concerning the trees of which she and Adam might eat, and was told that they were prohibited from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that death would result from such an act. The serpent declared that, so far from this being the case, if Adam and Eve were to eat of it they would become like gods. Eve was tempted and ate; then she persuaded Adam to eat. The result of this act was that the primitive pair realized their nakedness and began to make clothing. It was declared that the ground would bring forth to man thorns and thistles, that he should with difficulty wrest from it his sustenance, and that woman should bring forth children in pain. The pair were then expelled from Eden, lest they should eat of the tree of life. To prevent their return cherubim were placed at the entrance of the garden. It is probable that this account intended to locate the garden in Mesopotamia. The mention of the Tigris and Euphrates indicate this, though the allusion to the lands of Havilah and Cush, around which the Pison and the Gihon flowed, is not so clear.
Ezekiel's Conception of Eden.
Ezekiel's allusion to Eden occurs in a highly rhetorical passage in which he arraigns the King of Tyre. This king, he declares, was in the garden of God, clothed with many kinds of precious stones. According to the Masoretic text this king was the cherub, but the Septuagint reads more correctly "stood with the cherub." This garden was in "the mountain of God," where the king moved in the midst of the stones of fire. To form a complete picture of Ezekiel's conception of paradise one should add the reference to the cedar as the supreme tree of Eden (Ezek. xxxi.), and his description of the Temple at Jerusalem as a holy mountain from which flowed a river (ib. xlvii.). It is evident that Ezekiel had in mind a picture of Eden kindred in many ways to the account in Genesis, but which also differed in many points (comp. Paradise, Critical View).
Ezekiel's conception of Eden is not unlike that of the heavenly paradise in Enoch xxiii.-xxviii. The happy destination of the righteous is pictured in this work (which dates from 200 to 170 B.C.) as a great mountain in the midst of the earth from under which streams of water flow. At the center of its sacred enclosure a palm-tree grows. Similar views find expression in other apocalypses (comp. Apoc. Baruch, iv.; II Esd. viii. 52; Rev. ii. 7, xxii. 2 et seq.). These passages form the transition from the earlier ideas of paradise as man's primitive home to the Talmudic and New Testament conceptions of paradise as the final abode of the blessed.
Definition.
—In Rabbinical Literature:
The word 
is used metaphorically for the veil surrounding the mystic philosophy (Ḥag. 14b), but not as a synonym for the Garden of Eden or paradise to identify a blissful heavenly abode for the righteous after death. The popular conception of paradise is expressedby the term "Gan 'Eden," in contradistinction to "Gehinnom" = "hell." Jewish authorities are almost unanimous in maintaining that there is a terrestrial as well as a celestial Gan 'Eden; that the Garden of Eden in Genesis is a model in miniature of the higher Gan 'Eden called paradise (see Eden, Garden of). Paradise is occasionally referred to as "'Olam ha-Ba" (= "the world to come"); but generally this term is used for the post-millennial time, after the Messianic and resurrection periods. Sometimes the terms "Gan 'Eden" and "'Olam ha-Ba" are erroneously interchanged. Gan 'Eden is recognized by Naḥmanides as "'Olam ha-Neshamot" (= "the world of the souls"), which the departed souls of the righteous enter immediately after death (see Sem. i. 5b; Tem. 16a).
The Midrash Agada gives, with cabalistic coloring and vivid imagination, a detailed description of paradise. Dimensions of the chambers, etc., are furnished; and the particulars contained are graphically stated in various forms of legendary narratives. These accounts are supposed to have been communicated by the very few individuals who, it is claimed, visited paradise while alive. The Haggadah credits nine mortals with entrance to heaven while alive: Enoch, Eliezer, Abraham's servant, Serah, the daughter of Asher (Soṭah 13a), Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh (I Chron. iv. 18), Hiram, King of Tyre, Elijah, Messiah, Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Jer. xxxviii. 12), and Jabez b. Judah ha-Nasi (probably an error; should be Jabez the Judahite, mentioned ib. iv. 10). Others substitute Joshua b. Levi for Hiram, King of Tyre (Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa i., end; Yalḳ., Gen. 42). Joshua thus became the hero of nearly all the paradise legends. He often met Elijah before the gates of paradise (Sanh. 98a; see "'En Ya'aḳob" ad loc.); and he obtained permission from the angel of death to visit paradise before his death and to inspect his assigned place. He reported the result of his investigation to Rabban Gamaliel ("Seder ha-Dorot," ed. Warsaw, 1893, ii. 191). Probably the original accounts are in the Zohar, which contains all the elements in fragmentary documents (Zohar, Bereshit, 38a-39b, 41a, and Leka 81a, b). One of these accounts is credited to Enoch. Midrash Konen is probably the first compilation and elaboration of these fragments; it reads as follows:
"The Gan 'Eden at the east measures 800,000 years (at ten miles per day or 3,650 miles per year). There are five chambers for various classes of the righteous. The first is built of cedar, with a ceiling of transparent crystal. This is the habitation of non-Jews who become true and devoted converts to Judaism. They are headed by Obadiah the prophet and Onḳelos the proselyte, who teach them the Law. The second is built of cedar, with a ceiling of fine silver. This is the habitation of the penitents, headed by Manasseh, King of Israel, who teaches them the Law.
Description in Midrash Konen. (Midr. Konen, in "Arze Lebanon," 3a, b, Venice, 1601; comp. Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 28, 29).
"The third chamber is built of silver and gold, ornamented with pearls. It is very spacious, and contains the best of heaven and of earth, with spices, fragrance, and sweet odors. In the center of this chamber stands the Tree of Life, 500 years high. Under its shadow rest Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the tribes, those of the Egyptian exodus and those who died in the wilderness, headed by Moses and Aaron. There also are David and Solomon, crowned, and Chileab (II Sam. iii. 3; Shab. 55b), as if living, attending on his father, David. Every generation of Israel is represented except that of Absalom and his confederates. Moses teaches them the Law, and Aaron gives instruction to the priests. The Tree of Life is like a ladder on which the souls of the righteous may ascend and descend. In a conclave above are seated the Patriarchs, the Ten Martyrs, and those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of His Sacred Name. These souls descend daily to the Gan 'Eden, to join their families and tribes, where they lounge on soft cathedras studded with jewels. Everyone, according to his excellence, is received in audience to praise and thank the Ever-living God; and all enjoy the brilliant light of the Shekinah. The flaming sword, changing from intense heat to icy cold and from ice to glowing coals, guards the entrance against living mortals. The size of the sword is ten years. The souls on entering paradise are bathed in the 248 rivulets of balsam and attar.
"The fourth chamber is made of olive-wood and is inhabited by those who have suffered for the sake of their religion. Olives typify bitterness in taste and brilliancy in light [olive-oil], symbolizing persecution and its reward.
"The fifth chamber is built of precious stones, gold, and silver, surrounded by myrrh and aloes. In front of the chamber runs the River Gihon, on whose banks are planted shrubs affording perfume and aromatic incense. There are couches of gold and silver and fine drapery. This chamber is inhabited by the Messiah of David, Elijah, and the Messiah of Ephraim. In the center are a canopy made of the cedars of Lebanon, in the style of the Tabernacle, with posts and vessels of silver; and a settee of Lebanon wood with pillars of silver and a seat of gold, the covering thereof of purple. Within rests the Messiah, son of David, 'a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief' (Isa. liii. 3), suffering, and waiting to release Israel from the Exile. Elijah comforts and encourages him to be patient. Every Monday and Thursday, and Sabbath and on holy days the Patriarchs, Moses, Aaron, and others, call on the Messiah and condole with him, in the hope of the fast-approaching end"
Female Souls.
In other versions the sections of paradise are increased to seven. Another midrash, apparently composed of fragments of ancient versions, describes the three fire-walls of different colors around paradise, and places the section of the pious among the heathen nations outside the outer wall. This description is remarkable for the diminutive dimensions which it gives, e.g., 600 ells between the walls, and 120 ells' space between the entrances; also for the fact that it antedates paradise to the creation of heaven and earth by just 1,361 years, 3 hours, and 2 minutes. This paradise has a tall music pillar which plays beautiful songs automatically. There are seven sections for the pious souls, and a separate division of seven sections for the souls of pious women, headed, in the order named, by Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, a proselyte; Jochebed, wife of Amram; Miriam; Huldah the prophetess; Abigail; (sixth and seventh sections, the highest) the Matriarchs ("Gan 'Eden," second recension in Jellinek, l.c. iii. 131-140). In another version the sections are seven, but the grades of the souls number twelve, as follows: "those (1) who feared God, (2) who were charitable, (3) who buried the dead, (4) who visited the sick, (5) who dealt honestly, (6) who lent to the poor, (7) who cared for the orphans, (8) who were peacemakers, (9) who instructed the poor, (10) who were martyrs, (11) who learned the Law, (12) David, Solomon, and other righteous kings, such as Josiah and Hezekiah" (Jellinek, l.c. v. 41-48).
Joshua b. Levi's Description of Paradise.
The following midrashic narrative is attributed to R. Joshua b. Levi, though the style of the midrash appears to be much later, perhaps of the ninth century: "Paradise has two diamond gates, and there are 600,000 attending angels with shining faces. Immediately on the arrival of the righteous, they divest him of his shroud and clothe him witheight garments made of clouds of honor. They put a double crown of fine gold and jewels on his head, and place eight myrtles in his hand. The angels salute him, saying, 'Go eat thy bread with joy,' and lead him along valleys of water in which grow 800 species of roses and myrtles. Each of the righteous has a canopy as is befitting his excellence. Connected with each canopy are four rivulets of milk, wine, balsam, and honey. Over each canopy grows a golden vine studded with thirty pearls, each glittering like Venus. Under the canopy is a table of onyx set with diamonds and pearls. Sixty angels guard every righteous one and ask him to partake of the honey as compensation for his study of the Law, which is likened to honey (Ps. xix. 10), and to drink the wine, which has been preserved in its grapes ever since the six days of Creation, the Law being likened to spiced wine (Cant. viii. 2). The most uncomely of the righteous becomes as beautiful as Joseph and as R. Johanan. Exiguous silver pomegranates reflect the sun, which is always shining; for 'the path of the just is as the shining light' (Prov. iv. 18). There are three stages through which the newcomer has to pass: (1) the section of the children, which he enters as at child; (2) the section of the young; and (3) the section of the old. In each section he enjoys himself as befits his state and age" (Yalḳ., Gen. 20; comp. "Seder Gan 'Eden," in Jellinek, l.c. iii. 52-53).
Banquet for the Righteous in Paradise.
Regarding the feast that is prepared for the righteous in paradise, the Leviathan and "the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation" are the main courses to be served at the banquet (B. B. 75a). The order of the banquet follows: "The Almighty invites the righteous into paradise. King David requests God to join the company. The angel Gabriel brings two thrones, one for God and one for David, as the Scriptures say, 'his throne as the sun before me' (Ps. lxxxix. 36). They feast and drink three goblets of wine. The toast (grace before meals) is offered, to Abraham, 'the father of the world,' but he declines because he had a son (Ishmael) who antagonized God. Isaac, in turn, declines because one of his descendants (an Edomite) destroyed the Holy Temple. Jacob declines because he married two sisters (against the Law). Moses declines because he did not cross the Jordan into Palestine. Joshua declines because he left no issue. Finally, King David accepts the toast, saying: 'I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord' (Ps. cxvi. 13). After grace the Law is produced, and God, through the interpreter, Zerubbabel ben Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2), reveals the secrets and reasons of the commandments. David preaches from the Haggadah, and the righteous say: 'Let His great Name be hallowed forevermore in paradise!' The wicked in Gehinnom, on hearing the doxology, take courage and answer 'Amen!' Whereupon the Almighty orders the attending angels to open the gates of paradise and to permit the wicked to enter, as the Scriptures say, 'Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth [
] may enter in' (Isa. xxvi. 2), the word 'emunim' being interpreted 'who observe to answer "Amen"' [
; plural, 
]" (Tanna debe-Eliyahu Zuṭa xx.).
There are a nether Gehinnom and an upper one, over against the nether and the upper Gan 'Eden. Curiously enough, hell and paradise join each other. R. Johanan claims that a partition of only a hand-breadth, or four inches wide, separates them. The Rabbis say the width is but two fingers (= inches; Midr. Ḳohelet; Yalḳ., 976). R. Akiba said: "Every man born has two places reserved for him: one in paradise, and one in Gehinnom. If he be righteous he gets his own place and that of his wicked neighbor in paradise; if he be wicked he gets his own place and that of his righteous neighbor in Gehinnom" (Hag. 16a; see "Sefer Ḥasidim," §§ 609, 610). The question "Who may be a candidate for either Gehinnom or paradise?" is solved by the majority rule. If the majority of the acts of the individual are meritorious, he enters paradise; if wicked, he goes to Gehinnom; and if they are equal, God mercifully removes one wicked act and places it in the scale of good deeds. R. Jose b. Ḥanina quotes, "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity" (
= "lifts a sin"; Mic. vii. 18; Yer. Peah. i. 1, end).
Symbolic Significance.
The Talmud deduces the immortality of the soul from the Scriptures. "The spirit shall return to God who gave it" (Eccl. xii. 7); the body of the righteous "shall enter into peace" (Isa. lvii. 2); and the soul "shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord" (I Sam. xxv. 29), which is under God's "throne of honor" (Shab. 152b). The haggadic dimensions of paradise and names of the attendants, as well as the materials and articles described, have their cabalistic value and symbolic meaning. The feasting and enjoyment are spiritual, for which figures of speech were invented. Rab distinctly says: "In paradise there is no eating, no drinking, no cohabitation, no business, no envy, no hatred or ambition; but the righteous sit with crowned heads and enjoy the luster of the Shekinah, as it is written: 'They saw God and did eat and drink'" (Ex. xxiv. 11—the sight of God being considered the equivalent of food and drink; Ber. 18a).
In the Middle Ages, however, most of the people and many rabbis failed to grasp the spiritual meaning of paradise, and accepted all haggadic references in a literal sense. Maimonides was probably the first authority to strike a blow at this literalness, by asserting in unmistakable terms the fallacy of such a belief. "To believe so," he says, "is to be a schoolboy who expects nuts and sweetmeats as compensation for his studies. Celestial pleasures can be neither measured nor comprehended by a mortal being, any more than the blind can distinguish colors or the deaf appreciate music." Maimonides maintains that the Gan 'Eden is terrestrial, and will be discovered at the millennium (Maimonides, Commentary on Sanh. x.). This view evoked considerable opposition from the contemporary French rabbis; but the Spanish rabbis, especially Naḥmanides, defended Maimonides except as regards his theory of punishment after death. SeeEschatology; Immortality of the Soul; Judgment, Divine; Resurrection.
Bibliography:
Naḥmanides, Sefer Sha'ar ha-Gemul;
Aldabi, Shebile 'Emunah, ix.;
Albo, Ha-'Iḳḳarim, article IV., xxx.-xxxiv.;
Aramar, 'Aḳedat, x.;
Delacrut, Ẓel ha-'Olam, xvii.;
Berechiah, Ma'abar Yaboḳ, article III., xxxiii.-xxxviii.;
Mëir ben Gabai, 'Abodat ha-Ḳodesh, 'Abodah, xxvii., xxix.;
Moses Romi, Sefer Sha'are Gan 'Eden, Venice, 1589;
Weber, Jüdische Theologie, § 74, Leipsic, 1897;
Bousset, Die Religion des Judenthums, p. 270, Berlin, 1903.
—Critical View:
The paradise narrative of Gen. ii.-iii. is a part of the J stratum of the Pentateuch; but it has long been recognized that it is not all from one hand. Dillmann regarded ii. 10-14 as supplementary (comp. his Commentary on Genesis); and the view is now generally accepted. Budde ("Urgeschichte," pp. 46 et seq.) showed that ii. 9b and iii. 22b, relating to the tree of life, are also later additions, a view which Toy rightly confirms ("Jour. Bib. Lit." x. 1 et seq.). In the original story but one tree appeared.
Babylonian Elements of Narrative.
As already noted, this garden seems to be placed by the writer in Babylonia, and presumably the Hebrew writer's knowledge of it came from Babylonian sources. Although no such narrative has yet been found in Babylonian sources, all the elements of it appear in Babylonian literature in one form or another. From Eridu, where there was a sacred garden containing a palm (comp. Barton, "Semitic Origins," p. 197), comes the Adapa legend (comp. Schrader, "K. B." vi. 92 et seq., and "Assyrian and Babylonian Literature," Aldine ed., pp. 314 et seq.), in which it appears that there are a food and a water of life, of which, if a man partake, he may become like the gods—a thought also prominent in the story of Genesis. In the Gilgamesh epic there is a story of a wild man, Eabani, who lived with animals and had intercourse with them, and who through intercourse with a woman was enticed to leave them and cling to her. One of the enticements which she held out to him was that he would become like a god. Jastrow ("Adam and Eve in Babylonian Literature," in "Am. Jour. Semit. Lang." xv. 193 et seq.) claims that the parallelism of this to the Biblical story has been obscured by changes of the Biblical text, and that originally in Genesis also man consorted with the animals, which were created before woman, that the fruit by which he was tempted was intercourse with her, and that originally Gen. ii. 24 read "a man shall leave [
] the animals and cleave unto his wife." All this, as Barton has shown (l.c. pp. 93 et seq.), is in thorough harmony with primitive Semitic belief as to the origin of civilization, and is probably true.
The cherubim as the guardians of gates are identical with the lion and bull deities that performed similar offices in Babylonia and Assyria. The sacred tree also is an emblem which appears often on the Assyrian monuments. Frequently cherubim of a different character are represented as fertilizing it, thus showing it to be a palm-tree. On an old Babylonian cylinder a man and a woman are pictured sitting on either side of such a tree on which clusters of dates are seen hanging, and behind the woman a serpent stands on tail to whisper in her ear (see illustration in Jew. Encyc. i. 175, s.v. Adam; and for representations of cherubim comp. ib. iv. 15). The flaming sword associated with the cherubim is probably the "exalted lightning," which Tiglathpileser (Col. vi. 15) mentions as an implement of punishment.
Divergent Views Respecting the Rivers.
The serpent as the author of evil has also a parallel in the dragon Tiamat in the Babylonian story of the Creation, though the two really belong to different spheres. The name "Eden" is found also in the Babylonian "edennu" = "field" or "plain." There can, therefore, be little doubt that the account came to the Hebrews from Babylonia; but scholars differ as to the location of the rivers Pison and Gihon. Delitzsch ("Wo Lag das Paradies?" 1881) identified these with two canals, of which one is not known, but the other, Gihon, was near Babylon. Cush, in this view, is the Kassite country east of the Persian Gulf. Haupt (in "Ueber Land und Meer," 1894-95, No. 15) regards the Hebrew writer's knowledge of geography as so defective that he identified the Pison with the Red Sea, which was supposed to flow as a river about Arabia (Havilah), and the Gihon with the Nile, which was supposed to flow through unknown countries until it appeared in Cush (Nubia). Hommel ("Aufsätze und Abhandlungen," pp. 326-340) identifies all the rivers except the Euphrates with Wadi Dawasir, Wadi al-Rumma, and Wadi Ṣirḥan in Arabia. Gunkel ("Genesis," in Nowack's "Kommentar," p. 33) regards the rivers as heavenly rivers, suggested by the Milky Way, to which the Tigris and Euphrates corresponded upon earth, and thinks paradise was situated at the north pole.
Barton has shown (l.c. pp. 93 et seq., especially p. 96, note) that in the Semitic conception paradise was one of those fertile oases that are found in Arabia and North Africa (comp. W. R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., pp. 102, et seq.), and that in Babylonia it became a garden because of changed economic conditions. Indefiniteness is, therefore, to be expected in its Babylonian location—such indefiniteness as is incident to mythology.
Ezekiel's Picture of Eden.
In Ezekiel's picture of Eden the outline of the primitive oasis is still further modified. In this the shrine is on a mountain, and the sacred tree is no longer a palm, but a cedar. In the Gilgamesh epic (Tablet V.) there is a parallel to Ezekiel's picture in the description of the beautiful shrine of Humbaba, god of Elam, in the midst of a forest of cedars. Recent discovery confirms the existence of a sacred cedar forest in Elam (comp. Scheil in De Morgan's "Délégation en Perse," ii. 58, 59, 63, 69). Out of this sacred mountain a sacred river ran; and here divine voices were heard (comp. Jensen in Schrader, "K. B." vi. 437, 441, 573). It is this picture which has indirectly influenced Ezekiel. Probably because of Tyrian influence in building Solomon's Temple, and the consequent impress of Tyrian ideas on Israel, the representation of paradise came to Ezekiel from Tyre (comp. Bevan in "Jour. of Theological Studies," iv. 500 et seq.); and Ezekiel speaks of this mountain as though it were identicalwith the hill of the temple in Tyre. Its cedars are for him cedars of Lebanon. The precious stones of Ezekiel's paradise were probably, as Bevan suggests, a reference to the two pillars of the temple at Tyre which shone brightly at night (Herodotus, ii. 44), and to the stones of the high priest's breastplate worn by the Tyrian king. The spring of the primitive oasis has here become a mountain stream, as in Babylonia it became rivers, because the paradise tradition has here come by way of a mountainous country.
Evolution of the Ideal Jerusalem.
These traditions of a primitive paradise from which man had been expelled for transgression made it natural that the goal of national prosperity, or of human life, should be represented as a regaining of these primitive conditions. It was this that led Ezekiel (Ezek. xlvii.) to portray the ideal Jerusalem in colors taken from the traditions of paradise as they were known to him. A trace of this appears also in Zech. xiv. 8 and Joel iv. 18. This method is taken up in greater detail in Enoch and in the apocalypses cited above, where the pictures of paradise are modified to suit each writer's fancy. As time went on and Jerusalem was more and more idealized, elements from the city were introduced into the picture of paradise and blended with the elements taken from the garden and the oasis. Thus in Rev. xxii. 2 et seq. paradise is a city, down the street of which a river, rising under the throne of God, flows; and on either side of the river the tree of life grows, bearing a fruit every month (comp. Barton, l.c. p. 96, note). See Eden, Garden of.
Bibliography:
Friedrich Delitzsch, Wo Lag das Paradies? Leipsic, 1881;
Toy, Analysis of Genesis ii. and iii. in Jour. Bib. Lit. 1891, x. 1 et seq.;
Haupt, Wo Lag das Paradies? in Ueber Land und Meer, No. 15, Stuttgart, 1894-95;
Jastrow, Adam and Eve in Babylonian Literature, in Am. Jour. Semit. Lang. 1899, xv. 191 et seq.;
Barton, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, pp. 92-98, New York, 1902;
Bevan, The King of Tyre in Ezekiel xxviii. in Journal of Theological Studies. 1903, iv. 500 et seq.;
Zimmern, in Schrader, K. A. T. 3d ed., 1902, pp. 527 et seq.
—In Arabic Literature:
Paradise is usually called in Arabic "jannah" = "garden," the Persian word "firdaus," which has given the word "paradise" to European languages, being applied to one part only of the celestial abode. "There are one hundred steps in paradise; the distance between every two steps is as that between the heavens and the earth; and Firdaus is the highest, and from it flow the rivers of the paradises; and God's throne is above Firdaus" ("Mishkat al-Maṣabiḥ," xxiii. 13, 1). In the Koran there are eight different designations for paradise, which, according to most Moslem theologians, indicate eight different heavens or degrees of bliss, although probably no such exact use of the names was intended by Mohammed. Eight different degrees in paradise are, however, referred to; and the prophet himself was carried through a succession of heavens on the occasion of his miraculous night journey.
There is also a difference of opinion as to whether the paradise of the future world is identical with the Eden from which Adam and Eve were ejected, some claiming that paradise has not yet been created. The orthodox, however, believe that the two are the same. The story of Idris or Enoch, who entered heaven without dying, illustrates the latter theory. In spite of the opposition of the angel of death and of Ridwan the gatekeeper, Enoch scaled the wall of paradise by the aid of the tree Tuba, which God directed to bend a branch toward Enoch and draw him in (G. Weil, "Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans", p. 52).
Description of the Mohammedan Paradise.
The paradise of the Mohammedans is full of material delights built up by a rich and often childish fancy, chiefly on a Jewish and a Christian foundation. In sura lxxvi. 12-22 paradise is described as follows: "And their reward for their patience shall be paradise and silk. Reclining therein upon couches, they shall see neither sun nor piercing cold; and close down upon them shall be its shadows; and lowered over them its fruits to cull; and they shall be served with vessels of silver and with goblets that are as flagons—flagons of silver which they shall mete out! and they shall drink therein a cup tempered with zinzabil [Baiḍawi: "ginger," with which Arabs flavor their water and like which the contents of this fountain are supposed to taste], a spring therein named Silsabil! and there shall go round about them eternal boys; when thou seest them thou wilt think them scattered pearls; and when thou seest them thou shalt see pleasure and a great estate! On them shall be garments of green embroidered satin and brocade; and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver; and their lord shall give them to drink pure drink! Verily this is a reward for you and your efforts are thanked" (Palmer's translation, Oxford, 1880).
Flowing Water a Principal Feature.
As is natural for a people living in an arid country, one of the principal features of the Arabian paradise is the flowing water. The River Kauṣar is described as having water whiter than milk and sweeter than honey; its bed is of saffron, and its banks of musk. From it flow streams to all parts of the garden. Other chief features are the black-eyed virgins (houris) promised to the faithful. Every believer will have a tent formed of a hollow pearl of immense size, in the corners of which will be his wives. All bodily imperfections will be removed, and every man will enter paradise at the age of thirty; i.e., his age will be changed to that if he be older or younger, and he will retain this age. Every possible wish will be immediately gratified. If one wishes to ride he will have a ruby horse with wings; if he desires children he will have them grown up at once; if he wishes to farm, whatever he plants will grow with incredible rapidity. There is a river of life also in paradise. After the Day of Judgment, when the faithful have passed over the narrow bridge across hell into heaven, God will ask them if there be any who had but a particle of good in them who have fallen into hell. After any such have been rescued, He, out of His great mercy, will take out of the burning fire those who in all their lives have not performed one good deed, and will throw them into the river of life, where, although they have been burned to coals, they will return to life ("Mishkat").
Much has been said in criticism of the materialism of the Mohammedan paradise. In connection with this a remark in the "Mishkat" is of interest, to the effect that all the joys of paradise are as nothing compared with the delight of beholding God's face.
Bibliography:
Baiḍawi, Commentary on the Koran;
Ersch and Gruber. Encyc. s.v. Paradise;
Hughes, Dictionary of Islam;
Al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Maṣabiḥ, Calcutta, 1810;
G. Weil, Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans, New York, 1846.
PARADISE.—A Persian word for ‘park’ or ‘garden’ (see Orchard), used in later Jewish and Christian thought to represent the abode of the blessed dead.
1. In the OT.—While the word pardçs occurs only 3 times in the OT (Son 4:12, Ecc 2:5, Neh 2:3), and then with no reference to the Garden of Eden, it is unquestionable that Eden serves as the basis for the later conception. The transition from the usage of Genesis to one less literal is to be seen in Eze 31:1-18, which is doubtless modified to a considerable degree by Babylonian conceptions. These, undoubtedly, are also to be seen in the Genesis picture of Eden. The significance of Ezekiel’s conception is that it shows the anticipation of the apocalyptic conception of Eth. Enoch (chs. 23–28) and other apocalypses both Jewish and Christian.
2. In Jewish apocalyptic literature and in the NT.—In the apocalypses there are elaborate descriptions (particularly Eth. Enoch, Apoc.
3. In Christian theology the term is commonly used as identical with ‘heaven,’ although in some cases it is distinguished as the ‘temporary abode of the saints, either in some place on earth or above the earth. It has been particularly developed in connexion with the speculation as to the intermediate state as the place where the righteous live between their death and the Parousia. Lack of data, however, makes it impossible to reach certainty in the matter, and the most modern theology maintains an attitude of reverent agnosticism regarding the state of the dead, and uses the term ‘Paradise’ as a symbol rather than with precise definition.
Shailer Mathews.
(Old Persian: pairidaeza, enclosure)
Christian tradition has long applied the name to the Scriptural Garden of Eden, the home of our first parents before their fall. In the New Testament it signifies the future abode of rest and enjoyment in store for the just after death. It occurs only three times in the New Testament, though the idea which it represents is frequently expressed in other terms, e.g., "Abraham’s Bosom" (Luke 16:22). It first occurs in Luke (23:43), Jesus on the cross saying to the penitent thief: "Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." Saint Paul describing his ecstasy says he was "caught up into paradise" (2 Corinthians 12). Lastly in the Apocalypse (2:7), Saint John hears the words of the Angel of Ephesus: "To him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is the paradise of my God." In all three passages the word refers to the heavenly kingdom.
1. Origin and Meaning:
A word probably of Persian origin meaning a royal park. See GARDEN. The word occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures but 3 times: Son 4:13, where it is translated “an orchard”; Neh 2:8, where it is translated “a forest” (the Revised Version margin “park”); Ecc 2:5, where it is in the plural number (the King James Version “orchards,” the Revised Version (British and American) “parks”). But it was early introduced into the Greek language, being made specially familiar by Xenophon upon his return from the expedition of Cyrus the Younger to Babylonia (see Anab. i. 2, section 7; 4, section 9; Cyrop. i. 3, section 14). In Septuagint the word is of frequent use in translating other terms of kindred significance. The Garden of Eden became “the paradise of pleasure or luxury” (Gen 2:15; Gen 3:23; Joe 2:3). The valley of the Jordan became ’the paradise of God’ (Gen 13:10). In Eze 31:8, Eze 31:9, according to Septuagint, there is no tree in the ’paradise of God’ equal to that which in the prophet’s vision symbolizes the glory of Assyria. The figures in the first 9 verses of this chapter may well have been suggested by what the prophet had himself seen of parks in the Persian empire.
2. Use in Jewish Literatare:
In the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature the word is extensively used in a spiritual and symbolia sense, signalizing the place of happiness to be inherited by the righteous in contrast to Gehenna, the place of punishment to which the wicked were to be assigned. In the later Jewish literature “Sheol” is represented as a place where preliminary rewards and punishments are bestowed previous to the final judgment (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE; ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; and compare 2 Esdras 2:19; 8:52). But the representations in this literature are often vague and conflicting, some holding that there were 4 divisions in Sheol, one for those who were marryred for righteousness’ sake, one for sinners who on earth had paid the penalty for their sins, one for the just who had not suffered martyrdom, and one for sinners who had not been punished on earth (En 102:15). But among the Alexandrian Jews the view prevailed that the separation of the righteous from the wicked took place immediately after death (see The Wisdom of Solomon 3:14; 4:10; 5:5, 17; Josephus, Ant., XVIII, i, 3; BJ, II, viii, 14). This would seem to be the idea underlying the use of the word in the New Testament where it occurs only 3 times, and then in a sense remarkably free from sensuous suggestions.
3. Used by Christ:
Christ uses the word but once (Luk 23:43), when He said to the penitent thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (see &ABRAHAM’S BOSOM (compare HADES)). This was no time to choose words with dialectical precision. The consolation needed by the penitent thief suffering from thirst and agony and shame was such as was symbolized by the popular conception of paradise, which, as held by the Essenes, consisted of “habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain, or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathin of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean” (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 11). See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
4. Other Forms and Uses:
Nowhere in His public teaching did Christ use the word “Paradise.” He does indeed, when speaking in parables, employ the figure of the marriage supper, and of new wine, and elsewhere of Abraham’s bosom, and of houses not made by hands, eternal in the heavens; but all these references are in striking contrast to the prevailing sensuous representations of the times (see 2 Esdras 2:19; 8:52), and such as have been introduced into Mohammedan literature. Likewise Paul (2Co 12:4) speaks of having been “caught up into Paradise” where he “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” See ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. But in 2Co 12:2 this is referred to more vaguely as “the third heaven.” In Rev 2:7 it is said to the members of the church at Ephesus who should overcome, “I (will) give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God,” where the Eden of Gen 2:8 is made the symbol of the abode of the righteous, more fully described without the words in the last chapter of the book. The reticence of the sacred writers respecting this subject is in striking contrast to the profuseness and crudity both of rabbinical writers before Christ and of apocryphal writers and Christian commentators at a later time. “Where the true Gospels are most reticent, the mythical are most exuberant” (Perowne). This is especially noticeable in the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Acta Philippi, the writings of Tertullian (De Idol. c. 13; De Anim. c. 55; Tertullian’s treatise De Paradiso is lost), Clement of Alexandria (Frag. 51), and John of Damascus (De Orthod. Fid., ii, 11). In modern literature the conception of Paradise is effectually sublimated and spiritualized in Faber’s familiar hymn:
“O Paradise, O Paradise,
I greatly long to see
The special place my dearest Lord
Is destining for me;
Where loyal hearts and true
Stand ever in the light,
All rapture thro’ and thro’,
In God’s most holy sight.”
Literature.
The articles in the great Dicts., especially Herzog, RE; HDB; Alger, Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life; Schodde, Book of Enoch; Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. on Luk 23:43; Salmond, The Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 346 ff. For a good account of Jewish and patristic speculation on Paradise, see Professor Plumptre’s article in Smith’s DB, II, 704 ff.
1. Etymology.-The word is most probably of Persian origin, and passed into Greek through Xenophon, and into Hebrew during the period of Persian influence. The LXX_ translators adopted the word as the translation of the Hebrew name for the Garden of Eden. Hence the term ‘Paradise’ is associated with the various lines of development connected with the conception of the primal Golden Age and the Garden of Delights. For a fuller discussion of the etymology see the art._ ‘Paradise’ in HDB_, and EBi_, also Oxf. Heb. Lex. s.v.
2. History of the conception.-A full discussion of the growth of the conception does not fall within the scope of this article. For this the reader is referred to the artt._ mentioned above, and to the list of literature there appended. It is necessary here to notice the main lines of development, in order to understand the place which the conception of Paradise has in the Apostolic Age.
(a) Primitive conceptions.-Paradise, or the Garden of Eden, belongs to one important group of motifs which comparative religion shows to be present in nearly all primitive religions, the group of ideas associated with a Golden Age, a time of supernatural fertility and prosperity, lost in the past and to be restored in the future. This with other groups of fundamental motifs existed in primitive Hebrew religion, possibly in a form derived from Babylonian religion, but was taken up and used by the prophets as the form into which their visions of the coming Kingdom of God were cast.
(b) Later spiritualization.-In the development of later Judaism, the conceptions of Paradise and the Tree of Life became spiritualized, and they were used as symbols of spiritual felicity and moral excellence, especially in Alexandrian Judaism.
(c) Mystic realism.-In Palestinian Judaism, Rabbinical theology developed these symbols along the line of a naive realism. The term ‘paradise,’ apart from a few passages in which it means ‘garden’ or ‘park,’ as in late Hebrew, always has the technical sense of mystic theology or speculation, including trance and other ecstatic experiences. On the other hand, the Hebrew phrase ‘Garden of Eden’ is kept to describe the earthly or the heavenly place of bliss commonly denoted by the name ‘Paradise.’ The Rabbis developed a transcendental doctrine of Paradise, holding that it was one of the seven things (sometimes six), created before the world (Ber. Rabba, 20). There was also some doubt as to whether the earthly and the heavenly Paradise were to be identified or not.
(d) Special apocalyptic development.-In the Jewish apocalyptic literature Paradise, by a combination of elements from (a) and (c), came to be conceived of as one of the abodes of the righteous after death. It was in the third heaven (see art._ Heaven), where God’s throne was situated. The references are not always consistent, as there was no clear-cut consistent scheme of the future life in Jewish eschatology. The principal references for our period occur in the Apocalypse of Moses, more correctly known as the Books of Adam and Eve, in 4 Ezra , 2 Baruch; there is also one reference in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (‘Levi,’ xviii. 10).
The most important passages in the Books of Adam and Eve and the parallel Apocalypse of Moses are: Ad. et Ev. xxv. 3: ‘the Paradise of righteousness,’ where God is seen sitting encompassed by angels; xxviii. 4: ‘the paradise of “vision” and of God’s command’; xlii. 5: ‘Christ, descending on earth shall lead thy father Adam to Paradise to the tree of mercy’ (this passage is an interpolation from the Christian apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus); Apoc. Mos. xxxvii. 5: ‘Lift him up into Paradise unto the third Heaven, and leave him there until that fearful day of my reckoning,’ etc.; here Paradise in the third heaven is contrasted with Paradise on earth where Adam’s body is lying (xxxviii. 5; so also xl. 2). While there is apparently some confusion of thought, the central idea is that, in the Resurrection, Adam will be restored to Paradise, and that meanwhile his spirit (apparently) is in the heavenly Paradise, in the third heaven. Hence the conception of Paradise as an intermediate abode appears here.
There are several important passages in 4 Ezra, especially 4 Ezr_3:6, Paradise created before the world; 4:8, Paradise in heaven; 7:36, the Paradise of delight manifested in the last day over against Gehenna (so also 7:123). In 8:52, ‘for you is opened Paradise, planted the Tree of life, the future Age prepared,’ the conception of Paradise is parallel with that of Rev_2:7; Rev_22:2. The reader may be referred to G. H. Box, The Ezra Apocalypse, London, 1912, p. 195 f.
There are several important passages in 2 Enoch: viii and ix., where Paradise is described as in the third heaven, the place where God rests, with all kinds of sensuous delights, and reserved for the eternal abode of the righteous; lxv. 8, 10, at the completion of the Age, the righteous are collected and Paradise becomes their eternal dwelling-place; cf. also xlii. 3 and 2 Bar. li. 11, lix. 8.
(e) NT.-Thus we find the background of the conceptions which appear in the three passages in which the word occurs in the NT-
(1) In Luk_23:43, as in the Books of Adam and Eve, Paradise is conceived of as a place of intermediate abode, though whether in heaven or in Sheol is not clear.
(2) In 2Co_12:4 we have a combination of the Rabbinical conception of Paradise as denoting mystic contemplation and the trance-state, with the conception of Paradise as in the third heaven and the abode of God.
(3) In Rev_2:7 as in 4 Ezra Paradise is presented as a reward in the future age for the righteous.
The probable reason for the scanty reference to Paradise in the NT has been pointed out in the art._ Heaven. The movement of thought was clearly away from the sensuous and material side of Jewish eschatological expectation, even though in the later development of thought in the Church there was a return to this element, and a corresponding loss of the vitality and freshness characteristic of Pauline and Johannine eschatology. This return, however, lies beyond our period, and begins to be seen in the references of Irenaneus and Tertullian.
Literature.-See under art._ Heaven.
S. H. Hooke.
Originally the word translated ‘paradise’ in English versions of the Bible meant ‘a garden’. The word was used of the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8-10; Eze 28:13). This association with a place of beauty and perfection was probably the reason why the word in later times was used of heaven (Luk 23:43; 2Co 12:3; Rev 2:7; cf. Rev 22:1-5; see HEAVEN).
A wonderful place of blessing,
where God’s people go when they die.
Biblically, paradise is the place of uninterrupted bliss. The Garden of Eden was considered a paradise. Jesus mentioned paradise while on the cross (Luk 23:43) and Paul also mentioned Paradise (2Co 12:1-4). Some consider paradise to be the abode of people in the intermediate state while others believe it is the permanent location of the saved.