Abstract

A rather neglected but historically important group of Jewish and Christian apocalypses contain what Martha Himmelfarb has called 'tours of hell'. These are visionary visits to the place of punishment of the wicked after death, in which the seer is shown a variety of punishments being inflicted on various categories of sinners. Though most of these apocalypses contain material other than the tour of hell, such as a visit to paradise, a revelation of what happens to a soul at death or a dialogue about the justice and mercy of God in relation to hell, nearly all of them are overwhelmingly concerned with the fate of the dead. This chapter discusses the tours of hell with respect to the comic tours of Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and Baruch. It also explains the vision of hell with respect to Abraham and Hezekiah.Keywords: Christian apocalypse; Enoch; Hezekiah; Jewish apocalypses; Martha Himmelfarb; tours of hell

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