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Before ~200 BCE the Jews did not necessarily believe in an afterlife. At around this point in history study and contemplation of scripture came into general acceptance and the concept of heaven became popular belief. Support was then found to be plentiful in scripture both recent and ancient. I heard this in a documentary on PBS "Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites." It is an interesting line of thought.

A story I've always liked, regarding one Rabbi Hillel (born about 65 BCE)...

A non-Jew asked the rabbi to teach him all about the Torah while standing on one foot. Rabbi Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, don't do unto your neighbor. The rest is commentary. Now, go and study."

In other words: Judaism is a religion of ethics. It's primary concern was, and still is, living properly here and now.

"Life in the Hereafter? Vorry 'bout that vhen you get there."

Originally posted by Mindship
A story I've always liked, regarding one Rabbi Hillel (born about 65 BCE)...

A non-Jew asked the rabbi to teach him all about the Torah while standing on one foot. Rabbi Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, don't do unto your neighbor. The rest is commentary. Now, go and study."

In other words: Judaism is a religion of ethics. It's primary concern was, and still is, living properly here and now.

"Life in the Hereafter? Vorry 'bout that vhen you get there." That's the way it should be, too many so-called Christians lose sight of the way it ought to be and get it backwards and think it's more like, "worry about the Hereafter, living good is not really as big a deal as long as you get there."

Originally posted by Regret
Before ~200 BCE the Jews did not necessarily believe in an afterlife. At around this point in history study and contemplation of scripture came into general acceptance and the concept of heaven became popular belief. Support was then found to be plentiful in scripture both recent and ancient. I heard this in a documentary on PBS "Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites." It is an interesting line of thought.

Specifically, the Sadducees did not believe in a future resurrection of the dead, whereas the Pharisees did.

Originally posted by Gregory
Specifically, the Sadducee's did not believe in a future resurrection of the dead, whereas the Pharisees did. No. Until ~200 BCE the afterlife was not necessarily a belief, period, according to the documentary. After this point Sadducee's and Pharisees separate in their belief on the subject, but the subject may not have existed until ~200 BCE. Pharisees and Sadducee's both were valid groups from at least somewhere around 550 BCE if not earlier.