The Hebrew word for “paradise” was borrowed from the Persian word which means a wooded park where everything is peaceful and beautiful. The people of Israel began to use this borrowed word some time after their return from their exile in Babylon. In Nehemiah 2:8, it is used for the king’s forest, and in Song of Songs 4:13 and Ecclesiastes 2:5 it is a well-watered orchard or garden. Some of Israel’s prophets had begun to say that the faithful who died would live again after dying (Dan 12:2,3; Isa 26:19), and the term “paradise” eventually was used as the place where they would live after death. For some, “paradise” was thought of as being on the earth or in heaven. For others, it was a new Garden of Eden where the tree of life (see Gen 2:9) would grow forever. Still others believed paradise was where the faithful who had died would wait for the day of judgment.

A similar understanding of paradise can be found in various places in the New Testament. Jesus, for instance, promised the man who was crucified beside him that he would be with him in paradise that day (Luke 23:39-43). Another reference by Jesus to paradise can be inferred from the parable he told about a poor man, Lazarus, and a rich man. When the poor man in this story dies he is described as being taken to a place of honor next to Abraham (Luke 16:19-22).

Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 that when God was giving him a special message, he was taken up to heaven. Paul was not sad at the prospect of dying, since he would return to be with Christ (Phil 1:23). In Revelation, paradise is where the tree of life is (2:7; 22:1-5), and where God’s people will be gathered when the powers of evil have been defeated, and God’s rule has taken over the whole of the creation. In this new paradise, God’s people will share in the fruits of the tree of life (Rev 22:14).