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Let’s lay out the Context of the future New Heavens & Earth:

“For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain.

And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.

“And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭66:22-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

To parallel the aftermath of the creation of the New Heavens & New Earth in Revelation, we also see “the unsaved” identified as the following in only V.15:

“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We might assume that “corpses” would be inanimate & unthinking, for such are human bodies when they die currently in this present evil age. Yet, in the age to come, “corpses of the men”, who “transgressed against” God, will be present somewhere “outside” the city of God.

I have 3 questions:

Q:

1.) What does Isaiah mean by “corpses of the men”?

2.) Is Isaiah suggesting resurrected bodies of the damned?

3.) What does the Hebrew indicate with respect to Isaiah’s usage of personal pronouns in Isaiah 66:24?

Cork88
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  • Putting aside the new heavens and the new earth for the moment, I've tried to address, in my answer below, your 3 Q's, the parallel account here. Good Q. though, + 1. – Olde English Feb 18 '22 at 19:03
  • @OldeEnglish Why put aside the New Heavens & New Earth when it’s clearly part of the immediate context? – Cork88 Feb 18 '22 at 19:33
  • I'm a little rusty in responding to BH Q's, having been on a self imposed exile for some 4 months now. I guess I was responding to the title of the Q., in so much as with regard to the example of the slain. The new heavens and the new earth, I see as being in the making, as to those worthy of same, after the possibly eternal example, towards the wicked was made at Armageddon. Consequently, I'm seeing 2 separate issues. For example, I am not seeing any reference to the dead, who are to be resurrected at the end of the Millennium, at least from V 22 on anyway. – Olde English Feb 18 '22 at 20:21
  • After all the back and forth, here and under my answer, which amounts to a lot of informative content, even if we can't exactly agree, for which you have shown no appreciation, I regret the upvote, which I would take back if it was allowed but apparently not. – Olde English Feb 19 '22 at 01:34
  • @OldeEnglish You & I hopefully are here for Hermeneutics mainly. Just as the Pharisee’s disagreed with Jesus, and people throughout Church History have disagreed with their opponents on matters of doctrine; here between us, there is nothing new under the Sun. It’s okay to have a disagreement here or elsewhere. I don’t care for the “points” or “attention” on this site. I do care for my reputation in terms of learning & having fellowship with other Christians, but this matter between us is trivial. I do appreciate your time & effort to at least make an attempt, for I read your response. :) – Cork88 Feb 19 '22 at 02:56
  • ... to at least make an attempt, for I read your response. :) - Really!! And FYI it was attempt(s) and response(s), which were not without merit. I can't help it if you have trouble in following the discourse, and that you are unable to appreciate reciprocity, for/towards mutual benefit. – Olde English Feb 19 '22 at 03:34
  • @OldeEnglish I read multiple responses from you; the (singular) response was in reference to your original answer. I don’t understand where you’re going with reciprocity when there is a function of either an (Upvote) or (Downvote). There is no rule on HSE that says you must agree with one another on a particular Hermeneutic. I don’t have trouble following the discourse; I have trouble understanding/or accepting your hermeneutic, which is normal in a fallen world where disagreements are bound to happen. I hope you have a good day/night! (Depending on where you are located in the world). – Cork88 Feb 19 '22 at 04:02
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    With regard to the plural, not to mention reciprocity, I was including the back and forth under my answer, which after all is regarding the same Q. I couldn't comment further under my A. without having to go to chat, which my instincts tell me would have been futile. Good day/night to you too. – Olde English Feb 19 '22 at 04:23

2 Answers2

2

Corpses

The root word used here is פֶגֶר ("peger"), and it pretty straightforwardly refers to a carcass. A good example is 2 Kings 19:35, referring to the dead bodies of the Assyrians after their army was devastated by the plague of the Lord.

This looks like a clear reference to dead physical bodies.

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Resurrection of the wicked

We can certainly make a case for the resurrection of the wicked from 1 Cor. 15 or Rev. 20, but this doesn't appear to be Isaiah's focus here. By comparing Isaiah 66:22-24 with Isaiah 65: 17-25, this reads as a description of the Millennium--Isaiah 65 has some pretty classic millennial language.

In that case, this is a description of the death & destruction of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years, not the end.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:4-5)

Verse 4 describes the righteous during the Millennium (as does Isaiah); verse 5 describes the resurrection of the wicked at the end of the Millennium. So Isaiah sees the rotting bodies of the wicked that will, about 1000 years later, be resurrected.

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Pronouns in verse 24

And they shall go forth (all one word in Hebrew-- וְיָצְא֣וּ -- the antecedent is those worshipping the Lord in verse 23)

and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me for their worm shall not die ("their worm" is תוֹלַעְתָּ֞ם -- referring to the carcases of the men that have transgressed)

neither shall their fire be quenched ("and their fire"--all one word in Hebrew--וְאִשָּׁם֙--referring again to the carcases of the men that have transgressed)

and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh ("and they shall be--all one word in Hebrew-- וְהָי֥וּ--is suggested by the CEV to refer to the bodies (see here), though it is not clear to me that the antecedent couldn't be the whole spectacle--bodies, worms, etc--rather than just the bodies.

Hold To The Rod
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  • Not bad, + 1. I think Gehenna is being referenced here though, when talking about the "worms" and "fire". See my A. below. – Olde English Feb 18 '22 at 18:53
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Does Isaiah 66:24 in Hebrew showcase the reality of the bodies of the Resurrected Unsaved?

In response to the OP's 3 Q's

**1) I think we are talking "Carcasses" here, non edible at this point.

  1. No Isaiah is not talking about resurrected bodies of the damned.

  2. The use of personal pronouns would seem to be a case of stressing the point.**

Isaiah 66:24 would appear to be an unapologetic reference to Gehenna. A subject that I have touched on before in some detail, see the following:- "... where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" - Is Jesus' description of Hell (Gehenna) literal or figurative? - My answer is the 4th answer to this Q. I also gave many a comment on the other answers given there. Hope that this aids in answering your questions:-

Olde English
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  • This is a very helpful discussion of Gehenna--and certainly rotting bodies & fire are very Gehenna-esque themes. +1 – Hold To The Rod Feb 18 '22 at 19:07
  • @Olde English I don’t see how the use of personal pronouns is “stressing the point” - How can a carcass be referenced as “their” or “they” ? – Cork88 Feb 18 '22 at 20:58
  • @Cork88 I don't see why not. The carcasses may now be inanimate but it's not as if they were a rock, chair, or a book etc... and in V 24 the use of the personal pronouns, is clearly in reference to the carcasses, as well as the living persons viewing them. The word their is being used, not there and consequently does not refer to the words worm, or fire. "....they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh (mankind, in the NASB)", is in reference to the debased condition, of the carcasses/corpses. – Olde English Feb 18 '22 at 21:47
  • @OldeEnglish So you’re suggesting there is nothing to necessarily know of the resurrected state of these “carcasses”? It may be a mystery to us now; but what purpose is a “carcass” being identified as a “their”. It seems to suggest an element of personhood. – Cork88 Feb 18 '22 at 22:11
  • @Cork88 As in my answer, I think we are talking complete destruction, as in no chance of a resurrection (to life). Yes, their does suggest an element of personhood, just dead personhood. When the resurrection of the dead, during the Millennium, happens, some will be resurrected to life and others to judgement John 5:25-29. If Jesus, in speaking of judgement, meant a trial the result of which might be life, then there would be no contrast between this and the "resurrection of life". Therefore, the context indicates that Jesus meant by "judgement" a condemnatory judgement. – Olde English Feb 18 '22 at 23:29
  • @OldeEnglish Based on your usage of the NWT on the thread link you sent; it would appear that we have a difference of doctrine on Jesus’s teaching on “eternal punishment”. However whether or not Isaiah 66:24 is in reference to the resurrected bodies of the unsaved may be a 50/50 in my convictions. This passage is undoubtedly hard to interpret, the other passages on Hell(Gehenna) or (Hades) the place of torment, are certainly easier to ascertain as an eternal abode for the lost. – Cork88 Feb 19 '22 at 00:23
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    @Cork88 I don't think this particular verse is difficult to interpret, but as to the question of reading into what it ultimately means for these debased carcasses, well that's another thing entirely. I've spent a lot of time here with you today; and it would seem that you may have gotten something out of the back and forth but if you aren't willing to upvote me here, like I did for your Q., which wasn't exactly easy for me to reconcile, then I'm done here. – Olde English Feb 19 '22 at 00:59
  • I don't think so, thank you. I'd rather the comments here, as such, were readily available for all to see. – Olde English Feb 19 '22 at 01:52