Second death

The second death is an eschatological concept, in Judaism and Christianity, related to punishment after a first, natural, death.

Judaism

Although the term is not found in the Hebrew Bible, Sysling, in his study (1996) of Teḥiyyat ha-metim (Hebrew; "resurrection of the dead") in the Palestinian Targums, identifies a consistent usage of the term "second death" in texts of the Second Temple period and early Rabbinical writings. In most cases, the "second death" is identical with the judgment, following resurrection, in Gehinnom at the Last Day.

Targum Deuteronomy

In Targum Neofiti (Neof.) and the fragments (FTP and FTV), the "second death" is the death that the wicked die.

Targum Isaiah

Targum Isaiah has three occurrences. The first is 22:14 where the Aramaic paraphrases the Hebrew as "This sin will not be forgiven you until you die the second death." The final two examples are from Targum Isaiah 65 which sets the scene for an apocalyptic final battle. Targum Isaiah 65:6 paraphrases the Hebrew in line with the interpretation of the penultimate verse of the Hebrew Isaiah, found in the Gospel of Mark, where "their worms does not die" is equated with Gehinnom. Here both Targum Isaiah and Gospel of Mark supply the term "Gehinnom", where Hebrew Isaiah simply concludes with the heaps of corpses following the last battle where "their worms do not die", making no further eschatological extension into resurrection and judgment.