Author:
Jared W. Ludlow Brigham Young University

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Abstract

This chapter examines the phrase “untimely death” (θάνατος ἄωρος) especially as it is found within the Testament of Abraham’s extensive discussion and treatment of death. Many biblical and pseudepigraphal texts depict the ideal end of life for righteous figures as they gather family around, give final counsel, dispense blessings and possessions, and peacefully join their ancestors. However, there are also counterexamples of individuals when death unexpectedly occurs and proper accommodations are left undone. Is the premature or unexpected death the result of unrighteousness, or does it function under a wider concept of an ideal length of lifetime that is somehow tragically cut short though not by an individual’s sinful acts? To illuminate this phrase’s meaning and purpose, comparisons are made with other usages of this phrase and concept in Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian texts. The Testament of Abraham’s foremost attitude toward untimely death is that God delays the death of sinners so, or until, they might repent and live. It also emphasizes that although there is a figure of death, Thanatos, he is God’s agent and God is ultimately in charge of the timing of death.

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