viii THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY 297 



it to be understood that he is annoyed at Saul's pre- 

 sumption in disturbing him ; arid that, in Sheol, 

 he is as much the devoted servant of Jahveh and 

 as much empowered to speak in Jahveh's name 

 as he was during his sojourn in the upper air. 



It appears now to be universally admitted that, 

 before the exile, the Israelites had no belief in 

 rewards and punishments after death, nor in any- 

 thing similar to the Christian heaven and hell; 

 but our story proves that it would be an error 

 to suppose that they did not believe in the 

 continuance of individual existence after death 

 by a ghostly simulacrum of life. Nay, I think it 

 would be very hard to produce conclusive evidence 

 that they disbelieved in immortality ; for I am 

 not aware that there is anything to show that they 

 thought the existence of the souls of the dead in 

 Sheol ever came to an end. But they do not 

 seem to have conceived that the condition of the 

 souls in Sheol was in any way affected by 

 their conduct in life. If there was immortality, 

 there was no state of retribution in their theology. 

 Samuel expects Saul and his sons to come to him 

 in Sheol. 



The next circumstance to be remarked is that 

 the name of Eloliim is applied to the spirit which 

 the woman sees " coming up out of the earth," 

 that is to say, from Sheol. The Authorised Version 

 translates this in its literal sense " gods." The 

 Revised Version gives " god " with " gods " in the 



