I. Name

The Hebrew Bible uses the word mēt/mētîm to refer to the dead as well as the related term rĕpāʾîm‘Rephaim’. Several words (nepeš mēt, nepeš ʾādām, peger, gĕwiyyâ, nĕbēlâ, mappēlâ, gûpâ) are used to refer to the corpses of humans and/or animals. On occasions, the word ʾĕlōhîm, literally ‘gods’, is used to denote the preternatural character of the dead (cf. 1 Sam. 28.13; Lewis 1989:115–116). Shades of the dead are referred to by such terms as ʾôb/ʾōbôt (Spirit of the dead) and yid…