The Karaite Olam Haba

The Sadducees were reputed to deny an afterlife, and this was in sharp contrast to their Pharisee rivals.  The Karaites have generally followed suit, and dismissed the notion of an afterlife. The Hebrew term Olam Haba refers to the world to come. 

If so, then what is the Karaite Olam Haba?  It can only be based on what the TNK  states about a future life or existence. There are cryptic references to possible future states of being, and this post will look at one them.

In the book of Isaiah, we see reference to something very unusual.  In Ch. 25 we see:

8 He will swallow up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away from off all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it.

This verse refers to a change of human nature. It is talking of a time when death itself will be abolished. How, where and when this will be is not clear. It is also not clear for whom this applies. Will we all have an opportunity to benefit from this?

The answers to these questions may or may not be available in the TNK, but this is a matter for further research.  However, a look at the following chapter in Isaiah gives us more detail of an after life. 

26:19 Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise--awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust--for Thy dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life the shades

If the dead will live again, then there is further possibility that they may even gain eternal life.   The location, this planet, or perhaps a more permanent version (with different laws of physics perhaps?) is a matter of fine detail.

Since the Karaites accept the Neviim, and Isaiah  discusses a future life, then a Karaite Olam Haba exists. This may not be the same as the Rabbinic version, but it is also different from the Sadducee version.