life’s breath into human nostrils in the first place will simply withdraw it into his own possession.67 When Walther Zimmerli wrote his short, clear monograph, Man and his Hope in the Old Testament, the question of life beyond the grave was not only not the main issue; it hardly rated a discussion.68 This is a reminder that our present question was simply not faced head on by the majority of the Old Testament writers. They took for granted the picture we have sketched