Terminology Tuesday: Second Death

SECOND DEATH  [Gk ho deuteros thanatos (ὁ δευτερος θανατος)]. In the NT, the second death is mentioned only in Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14; and 21:8. It is symbolized as the “lake of fire” (20:14; 21:8), and presented as the opposite of receiving a crown of life (2:10) and life lived in the presence of God (21:3–7; 22:3–5). As opposed to the first death which is physical death, the second death is the final destruction of all that belongs to the realm of evil. It is the fate of those whose names are not written in the book of life (20:15), the unrighteous (21:8), the false prophet and the beast (19:20), the devil (20:10), and Death and Hades (20:14). The second death was the subject of Jesus’ warning: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28 = Luke 12:4–5; RSV).

Whether the second death is complete destruction or everlasting torment is uncertain from Revelation, although for the Devil, beast, and false prophet, it is everlasting (20:10). Both notions are found in tradition. In 1 Enoch the second death is destruction: “Woe unto you who spread evil to your neighbors! For you shall be slain in Sheol” (99:11, OTP), and “… for the names of (the sinners) shall be blotted out from the Book of Life and the books of the Holy One; their seeds shall be destroyed forever and their spirits shall perish and die …” (108:3, OTP; cf. 10:14–15). In Philo, however, second death is everlasting: “live for ever in a state of dying and so to speak suffer a death which is deathless and unending” (Praem 12, 70; LCL).
Although other Jewish writings contain the concept, both the concept and the expression “second death” are found in the Targums. Here second death can refer to either exclusion from the resurrection (i.e. remaining in the grave) or being relegated to eternal torment after judgment (Str-B 3.830–31). The former sense is found in Tg. Jer. 51:39, 57 which describes the fate of the Babylonian oppressors as second death which is the exclusion from the life to come. The latter sense which is more akin to Revelation occurs in Tg. Isa. 65:5–6, a passage very close to Rev 20:14 and 21:8, states: “Their punishment shall be in Gehenna where the fire burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: ‘I will not give them respite during (their) life but will render them the punishment of their transgressions and will deliver their body to the second death’ ” (cf. Tg. Deut. 33:6; Tg. Isa. 22:14; 65:15).
  Bibliography  Gangemi, A. 1976. “La morte seconda (Ap. 2,11)” RevistB 24: 3–11.  McNamara, M. 1966. The New Testament and the Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch. AnBib 27. Rome.  Rochais, G. 1981. Le règne des mille ans et la seconde mort: origines et sens. NRT 103: 831–56.

Watson, D. F. (1992). Death, Second. In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 2, pp. 111–112). New York: Doubleday.