After a time, my reading revealed definite patterns in the use of the word life. In the first half of the Hebrew scriptures, the word referred almost entirely to biological life—both humans’ and animals’. Starting with the book of Psalms, that changed. The word began to refer not just to physical existence but to the quality of one’s experience.

You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16, verse 11)

My son…keep sound wisdom and discretion,
So they will be life to your soul. (Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 21–22)

Unfortunately, this knowledge didn’t tell me anything new. We had already surmised that Ray could have been referring to the withdrawal of biological life or an event that might change the quality of life. I wondered if I was wasting my time.

I trudged on through the Hebrew prophets, who to my surprise focused less on prophesying about the future than on declaring divine moral pronouncements. God wasn’t pleased with Israel’s idolatry, sexual immorality, dishonesty, and oppression of the poor, among other failings. If they kept God’s commandments, the Jews were promised life (health and long life expectancy) and prosperity. But they never succeeded in keeping them for long, and they suffered the consequences.

Interestingly, according to the prophets, God would one day do away with this arrangement. In its place he would make a new arrangement with all of humanity, based not on outward adherence to rules but on an inner connection to God himself.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)

Not a bad deal, actually, if you believed in this sort of thing. God himself would move in and do the work for you. If only he would do my lesson prep for the next term.

My growling stomach alerted me to the passage of time. I finished Malachi, the last prophet, stood, and through the glass in my office door saw Abby back on the couch. I walked into the living room.

“You looked engrossed,” she commented.

“I was, I guess. Read the rest of the Hebrew scriptures.”

“The entire Old Testament? Did you make a list of things to discuss?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Her forehead creased. “Why not?”

“Because there isn’t anything to discuss. Life means biological life or quality of life. We already had those as possibilities. After all that research, we’re still at square one.”