Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Hebrews 11:5: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death
I remember as a child and young adult I was troubled by these verses. For one thing I was told by our preachers that whole bunches of us would get raptured and never see death. If that is the case what about this appointment that we have to die? My preachers usually answered. “Well, Enoch and Elijah did not die.” I usually responded: “But then you are saying there is a contradiction in Scripture.” That was followed by the usual put down, “Well, this is something very difficult to understand. When you’ve been through years of Bible College and Seminary you will begin to understand.” Well, I guess a smart aleck question deserves a smart aleck answer. Anyways, I went on to years of Bible College and Seminary and he was right, I now understand what he was telling me, he didn’t have an answer anymore than I did.
Actually there is any number of explanations to explain these two passages as not contradictory. Each explanation has it merits and but let’s stay with the traditional understanding only come at it from a different direction. I found something in the Jewish Talmud that might help us with this passage.
Now keep in mind that if Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, which I believe he did, then he was a Jew, thinking like a Jew and he was also a master of Oral Tradition and the Tradition of the Fathers from which the Jews got the Talmud. If he was thinking like a Jew he might have been referring to something that we as Christians would not give much thought to.
Paul’s native language was Aramaic. I am not sure what language he wrote the Book of Hebrews in, I will concede to the general Christian belief that it was written in Greek although there does exist arguments that it could have been written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek. Still Paul was thinking with a Semitic mindset, thinking in Aramaic and/or Hebrew.
Hebrews 9:27 in the Aramaic presents something very curious. In the Greek is says that it is appointed unto man once to die. In the Aramaic it reads at one time it is established they would be condemned to death and then out of that (condemnation) after their death the judgment. The word appoint in Aramaic is sum which means to establish You see the first time the word for death is prefixed with a Nun which in Hebrew would put it in a Niphal form only the Aramaic does not have a Niphal form. Checking the Grammar book by William Stevenson it appears that this could put that word into a Ithpeel which would be similar to the Hithpael. This makes it reflexive. Thus this first death is one that we bring on ourselves. But does not God have control over life and death? The word death here is muth which can be both spiritual and physical death.
I would suggest, only in theory, that perhaps in the Aramaic Paul as the writer of the Book of Hebrews is referring to a spiritual death the first time and then a physical death the second time. Yet, the Talmud teaches that the greatest form of uncleanliness is death. Jews were not allowed even touch anything dead lest they become unclean.
This is a book to the Hebrews and those of a Hebrew mindset. I think what the Apostle Paul is saying is not that it is appointed unto man to die because clearly two chapters later he tells us Enoch did not die. But I think he was saying that we have made ourselves unclean and when we die we will face the judgement of God for this uncleanness.
John 15:3, however tells us that: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Through Jesus Christ we are clean so that when we die we will not face the judgment. Uh, that seems to be what my Christian preachers and teachers have been teaching all along. Oh well, at least now I figured it out for myself.
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