" for the writers of the Jewish Scriptures, details concerning the afterlife were murky. Solomon wrote that “the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten” (Eccl. 9:5). Job knew only that after death, “the wicked cease from turmoil, and . . . the weary are at rest” (Job 3:17). He later asked, “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14). Although David claimed that God would redeem him from the power of sheol, he had no promise of mansions, pearly gates, or a crystal sea in return for faithfulness. For the children of Israel, the essence of religion was experiencing God to the fullest during this lifetime, not merely preparing for the next. "

― Rachel Held Evans , Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions