compare 2 Peter 1:13-15.) In the meantime, death “is at work” in them, while, by their ministry, they bring a message of life to those to whom they minister.—2 Cor. 4:10-14; Prov. 18:21; see BAPTISM, Baptism into Christ Jesus and into His Death.

Jesus speaks of himself as having “the keys of death and of Hades” (Rev. 1:18) and he uses these in releasing those held by death. (John 5:28, 29; Rev. 20:13) Jehovah God’s release of Jesus from Hades serves as a “guarantee to all men” of this hope. (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15:20, 21) Those inheriting God’s kingdom in immortality are described as triumphing over death in their resurrection, so that its “sting” is overcome.—1 Cor. 15:50, 54-56; compare Hosea 13:14; Revelation 20:6.

THE DESTRUCTION OF DEATH

At Isaiah 25:8 the prophetic promise is made that God “will actually swallow up death forever, and the Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces.” The sting producing death is sin (1 Cor. 15:56) and thus all having sin and its accompanying imperfection have death working in their bodies. (Rom. 7:13, 23, 24) The abolition of death, therefore, would require the abolition of that which produces death: sin. By the removal of the last trace of sin from obedient mankind, the authority of death will be abolished and death itself destroyed, and this is to be accomplished during the reign of Christ. (1 Cor. 15:24-26) Thereby death, brought upon the human race by Adam’s transgression, “will be no more.” (Rom. 5:12; Rev. 21:3, 4) Its destruction is figuratively likened to its being hurled into a “lake of fire.”—Rev. 20:14; see LAKE OF FIRE.

SECOND DEATH

The “lake of fire” into which death, Hades, the symbolic “wild beast” and “false prophet,” and Satan, his demons, and the persistent practicers of wickedness on earth are cast is shown to mean “the second death.” (Rev. 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8; Matt. 25:41) Initially death resulted and was passed on to mankind by Adam’s transgression; hence the “second death” must be distinct from this inherited death. It is evident from the cited texts that there is no release possible from the “second death.” The situation of those in the “second death” corresponds to the outcome warned of in such texts as Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26, 27; and Matthew 12:32. On the other hand, those represented as gaining the “crown of life” and having part in the “first resurrection” are free from any possibility of harm by the second death. (Rev. 2:10, 11) These, who are to reign with Christ, receive immortality (deathlessness) and incorruption and hence are beyond the “authority” of the second death.—1 Cor. 15:50-54; Rev. 20:6; compare John 8:51.

ILLUSTRATIVE USE

Death is personified as a “king” ruling over mankind from the time of Adam (Rom. 5:14), along with the rule of “King Sin.” (Rom. 6:12) Thus, these kings are spoken of as exercising their “law” over those subject to their dominion. (Rom. 8:2) With Christ’s coming and the provision of the ransom, undeserved kindness began exercising a superior kingship over those accepting God’s gift, “with everlasting life in view.”—Rom. 5:15-17, 21.

Though men, disregarding God’s purposes, may try to make their own nonaggression pact or covenant with King Death, it will fail. (Isa. 28:15, 18) Like a horseman riding behind war and famine, death is pictured as bringing mass mortality to earth’s inhabitants.—Rev. 6:8; compare Jeremiah 9:21, 22.

Those spiritually sick or distressed are described as “arriving at the gates of death” (Ps. 107:17-20; compare Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13), and those passing through such “gates” enter the figurative “house of meeting for everyone living” (Job 30:23; compare 2 Samuel 12:21-23), with its “interior rooms” (Prov. 7:27), and a capacity for victims that is never completely filled. (Hab. 2:5) Those going into Sheol are like sheep shepherded by death.—Ps. 49:14.

The “pangs of death”

At Acts 2:24 the apostle Peter spoke of Jesus as being ‘loosed from the pangs of death, for it was not possible for him to continue to be held fast by it.’ The Greek word (o·dinʹ) here translated “pangs” is elsewhere used to mean the pains of childbirth (1 Thess. 5:3) but may also mean travail, pain, calamity, or distress generally. (Matt. 24:8) Additionally, it was used by the translators of the Greek Septuagint Version in rendering the Hebrew word hheʹvel in texts where the evident meaning is “rope.” (2 Sam. 22:5, 6; Ps. 18:4, 5) A related Hebrew word means “birth pangs,” leading some commentators and lexicographers to suggest that the Greek term (o·dinʹ) used by Luke at Acts 2:24 also had this double meaning, at least in Hellenistic Greek of apostolic times. Thus some translations render the phrase in this verse as “the bands [or bonds] of death.” (NC Spanish]; Segond, Ostervald [French]) In numerous texts the danger of death is represented as reaching out to snare the threatened one (Prov. 13:14; 14:27) with ropes that encircle him and bring him down into “the distressing circumstances of Sheol.” (Ps. 116:3) Whereas other texts, already considered, show that there is no consciousness in death, and it is obvious that Jesus was not in any literal pain while dead, nonetheless death is presented as a bitter and distressing experience (1 Sam. 15:32; Ps. 55:4; Eccl. 7:26), not only in the pain usually preceding it (Ps. 73:4, 5), but in the loss of all activity and freedom that its paralyzing grip brings. So, it may be that it is in this sense that Jesus’ resurrection ‘loosed’ him from the “pangs of death,” being freed from its distressing grip.

Change in spiritual state or condition

The death state is used to illustrate the spiritually dead condition of the world in general, so that Jesus could speak of the ‘dead burying the dead,’ and the apostle could refer to the woman living for sensual gratification as “dead though she is living.” (Luke 9:60; 1 Tim. 5:6; Eph. 2:1) And since physical death discharges one from any debts or obligations existing up to that time (Rom. 6:7), a Christian’s being freed or liberated from sin (Rom. 6:2, 11) and from the condemnation of the Mosaic law (Rom. 7:2-6) is also likened to death, such one having ‘died’ to his former situation and obligations. The one figuratively dying in such a way, of course, is still alive physically and is now free to follow Christ as a slave to righteousness.—Rom. 6:18-20; Gal. 5:1.

The use of death to represent a change in one’s state or condition throws light on prophetic visions, such as that in the book of Ezekiel wherein God’s people in exile in Babylon are likened to dried-out bones and to persons dead and buried. (Ezek. 37:1-12) They were to “come to life” again and be settled on their own soil once more. (Vss. 13, 14) Comparable illustrations are found at Revelation 11:3, 7-12 and Luke 16:19-31.

DEBIR

(Deʹbir) [innermost room or inner sanctuary].

1. The king of Eglon, one of four petty kingdoms allied with the king of Jerusalem to attack the city of Gibeon for making peace with Joshua. (Josh. 10:1-5) Gibeon’s surrender to Joshua caused fear since it likely weakened any united front against Israel (Josh. 9:1, 2), and at the same time apparently gave Joshua greater mobility between northern and southern Palestine, allowing for conquest of the land section by section. Gibeon’s siege brought Joshua’s army to its rescue and, aided by miracles, Joshua routed the Canaanite military, forcing Debir and the other kings to take refuge in a cave. Here they were trapped until later executed.—Josh. 10:6-27.

2. A royal Canaanite city (Josh. 10:38, 39), also known as Kiriath-sepher and Kiriath-sannah. (Josh. 15:15, 49; Judg. 1:11) It was in the inheritance of Judah but became a Levitical city of the Kohathites.—Josh. 21:9, 15; 1 Chron. 6:54, 58.

There are apparently two accounts of Israel’s first conquest of Debir as part of Joshua’s military operations. The first account simply states the annihilating of Debir’s population. (Josh. 10:38, 39) The second, Joshua 11:21-23, is likely a recapitulation of the same conquest (since verse 18 refers to the ‘many days when Joshua waged war with all these kings’), while supplying the additional information that Joshua “cut off the Anakim . . . from Debir” and other cities. This supplementary material may have been added to show that even the tall Anakim, who had stricken such fear in the hearts of Israel’s spies more than forty years earlier (Num. 13:28, 31-33; Deut. 9:2), had not proved invulnerable.

Nevertheless, it appears that the Anakim reestablished themselves in the city of Debir, perhaps coming in from the Philistine coast (Josh. 11:22) while Israel was temporarily at its Gilgal camp or while warring in the N. (Josh. 10:43–11:15) Though Joshua’s initial campaigns had served to subdue the unified resistance of enemy forces in the land of Canaan, rapidly demolishing all major strongholds, apparently this type of warfare did not allow for the establishing of garrisons to hold the sites of all the destroyed cities. So, a second conquest or “mopping up” operation was effected at Debir by Othniel, who, because of distinguishing himself in the city’s conquest, was given Achsah, the daughter of veteran warrior Caleb, as a wife.—Josh. 15:13-19; Judg. 1:11-15.

It cannot be ascertained precisely when in Israel’s history this second conquest occurred. The book of Judges opens with the phrase “after the death of Joshua” and the account of Caleb’s taking Debir follows thereafter (1:11-15). This, according to some, would make Judah’s conquest of Debir subsequent to Joshua’s death and would mean that the similar account found at Joshua 15:13-19 was a later addition to the book bearing Joshua’s name. However, others view Judges 1:1 as only a formal introduction to connect it with the book of Joshua, arguing that Caleb would hardly wait for years until Joshua died before driving the Anakim from his promised possession. Hence, they consider the Judges account to be a restatement of that in Joshua.

LOCATION OF DEBIR

Though various suggestions have been put forth by Biblical scholars as to the exact geographical location of Debir in the mountainous region of Judah, most authorities accept it to be Tell Beit Mirsim, somewhat less than thirteen miles (20.9 kilometers) W-SW of Hebron. Some archaeologists claim to see among the ten partially excavated strata at this site signs of a flourishing Canaanite culture, which was so thoroughly burned at the assumed period of the Israelite invasion as to leave layers of ashes three feet (.9 meter) deep in places. This pre-Israelite city of about seven and a half acres (three hectares) is said to have had a population of between 2,000 and 3,000 persons, who enjoyed such advances as a drainage system and various forms of developed native art.

Some scholars, understanding the “Upper Gulloth and Lower Gulloth” of Joshua 15:19 and Judges 1:15 to mean the “upper springs and the lower springs” (as in many translations), believe these springs to have been in the vicinity of Debir, and on this basis object to Debir’s identification with Tell Beit Mirsim, since this site lacks such springs. Those favoring the identification with Tell Beit Mirsim suggest that ancient wells or “underground basins” discovered a mile (1.6 kilometers) below and two miles (3.2 kilometers) above the site might satisfy the requirements of such association. The Biblical record itself does not specifically locate Upper and Lower Gulloth in relation to Debir.

SIGNIFICANCE OF NAME

The Biblical name “Debir” may indicate the strong religious nature of the city, as the Hebrew word from which the name is drawn is translated “innermost room” (NW) or “inner sanctuary” (RS) (as when later referring to the Most Holy in Solomon’s temple) (1 Ki. 6:5), and its ancient name, Kiriath-sepher (Josh. 15:15; Judg. 1:11), may mean “scribe town.” This has led some to conjecture that Debir was the center of Canaanite religious and legal learning and a place where public registers were kept. Harmonizing with this view is the fact that the Septuagint translators rendered both Kiriath-sepher and the other ancient name of Debir, Kiriath-sannah (Josh. 15:49), to mean “the city of letters.” If this latter name, Kiriath-sannah, is a Phoenician equivalent to the Arabic sunna, meaning “precept,” it would correspond well with the above meaning of Kiriath-sepher, although other scholars consider Kiriath-sannah to mean “city of palms [that is, palm trees]” or to be a scribal error for Kiriath-sepher. While the archaeological finds at Canaanite Tell Beit Mirsim sketch out the picture of a somewhat advanced materialistic culture, there are, by contrast, indications of a depraved character in morals and religion.

OTHER CONQUESTS AND RUIN

There are evidences that this site again suffered at least partial ruin about the time King Sennacherib invaded Judah from the SW, during the reign of King Hezekiah. (2 Ki. 18:13, 14; 19:8) Finally, when Nebuchadnezzar ravaged Judah in 607 B.C.E. (Jer. 25:8-11), Tell Beit Mirsim was so totally destroyed that the site was never reoccupied.

3. A site “at the low plain of Achor” appearing in Judah’s boundary list. (Josh. 15:7) Though its exact location is not now known, some geographers believe the name has survived in Thogheret ed-Debr, the “pass of Debir,” SW of Jericho.

4. A location on the boundary of Gad in Gilead. (Josh. 13:26) This Debir is usually associated with Lo-debar, where the home of Machir (who hosted Mephibosheth and, later, David) was located. (2 Sam. 9:4-6; 17:27-29) Some tentatively identify Debir in Gad with Umm ed-Debar, ten miles (16.1 kilometers) S of the Sea of Galilee.—See LO-DEBAR.

DEBORAH

(Debʹo·rah) [bee].

1. Rebekah’s nurse. When Rebekah left the household of her father Bethuel to come to Palestine and marry Isaac in 1878 B.C.E., Deborah accompanied her. (Gen. 24:59) After years of service in Isaac’s household, Deborah came to be in Jacob’s household perhaps after the death of Rebekah. Evidently some 125 years after Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac, Deborah died and was buried under a big tree at Bethel. The name given to the massive tree (Allon-bacuth, meaning “big tree of weeping”) indicates how beloved she had become to Jacob and his family.—Gen. 35:8.

2. A prophetess and judge in Israel; the wife of Lappidoth. (Judg. 4:4) There is no evidence that Lappidoth and Barak were the same person, as some suggest. The association of Deborah and Barak was purely because of their common interest in liberating Israel from Canaanite oppression. Deborah dwelt under a palm tree located in the mountainous region of Ephraim between Ramah and Bethel; “the sons of Israel would go up to her for judgment.”—Judg. 4:5.

Jehovah used Deborah to summon Barak from Kedesh-naphtali and inform him of God’s purpose to use ten thousand men in defeating the huge army of Canaanite King Jabin under his army chief Sisera. In addition to Jehovah’s promise to give the enemy into his hand, Barak, as he gathered the troops and led them to Mount Tabor, insisted on the presence of Deborah as God’s representative, even though she was a woman. Deborah proved willing to leave her