“Paul Cho highlights an important but understudied phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible: the willingness to die. He carefully, but engagingly, distinguishes between suicide, martyrdom, and other ways that the motif appears in ancient texts. Just as importantly, he keeps a keen eye upon the theological implications of the attitudes to death in the Hebrew Bible in order to develop a fuller picture of how death affects life on both the human and divine planes for people of faith today.”
— James D. Nogalski
Baylor University
“Although martyrdom and a willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of others is often assumed to be a distinctive New Testament or Christian theme, Paul Cho’s Willingness to Die and the Gift of Life argues that the theme is deeply embedded already in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Cho expertly portrays how a wide array of protagonists in the Hebrew Bible exemplify the theme in different ways. Some actually give up their lives; others contemplate it and come dangerously close. Examples include Samson, Saul, Job, Judah, Moses, and Esther. Two Old Testament figures are genuine martyrs in the fullest sense: the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 40–55 and the persecuted members of the ‘Wise’ who were killed for their faith and promised a resurrection from the dead in Daniel 11. The book concludes with a provocative reflection on whether the God of the Hebrew Bible could conceivably ever die or be portrayed as willing to die.”
— Dennis T. Olson
Princeton Theological Seminary
“Paul Cho has written a fresh and richly suggestive book. He shows that by a focus on a fresh interpretive question, texts are illuminated in new configurations that generate new possibilities for meaning and significance. Cho’s work is marked in two important ways. On the one hand he attends carefully to the biblical text; on the other hand he has read widely and has mobilized fresh secondary material for his study. This book is welcome now in a culture of violence where life is precarious and widely under threat. It is only because of the inexplicable gift of life that we may think with freedom about death. In this study, Cho features those who thought courageously about death.”
— Walter Brueggemann
Columbia Theological Seminary
“Paul Cho has produced an important and relevant work on the monumental subject matter of death in the Hebrew Bible as risked death, suicide, and martyrdom. Each chapter is a highly developed, self-contained exposition engaging theological, social, and ethical issues on death so that life may be furthered for those that continue to live in the here and now. From kings and heroes like Moses, Job, and Samson, to Queen Esther, the Suffering Servant, and Daniel and his three friends, Cho has provided an invaluable and fresh work with exceptional literary exposition. The work is timely and provocative.”
— John Ahn
Howard University School of Divinity
“In this splendidly argued, creative, learned, and readable volume, one of the preeminent biblical scholars of the younger generation offers striking new insights into no less momentous an issue than that of death and life in the Hebrew Bible. Buckle your seat belt: this book is likely to change your views on that issue and on a multitude of biblical texts in the process. Enthusiastically recommended!”
— Jon D. Levenson
Harvard Divinity School