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2
saw all the souls sinking in it. I saw some whose hands were bound to their neck, with
their hands and feet being fettered. I said, "Who are these?" He said to me, "These are the
ones who were bribed and they were given gold and silver until the souls of men were led
astray. And I saw others covered with mats of fire, I said, "Who are these?" He said to
me, "These are the ones who give money at interest, and they receive interest for
interest."

C. Testament of Isaac
The question/answer format is typical of these tours.
From the tour recorded in the Testament of Isaac 5:10-32 is the following excerpt:
Then I observed the deep river whose smoke had come up before me, and I saw a group
of people at the bottom of it, screaming, weeping, every one of them lamenting. The
angel said to me, "Look at the bottom to observe those whom you see at the lowest depth.
They are the ones who have committed the sin of Sodom; truly, they were due drastic
punishment." (5:26-27)
3

In response to questions asked during a tour of Hades recorded in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah,
the angel stated that the people in Hades would have an opportunity to repent. "Until the day
when the Lord will judge" (10:10-11, Akhmimic text).
4
In contrast, Pseudo Philo 33:2-3
described Deborah (Judges 4-5) as stating that there is no opportunity for repentance after one
has died.
5
Although this topic is not often discussed in it, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
presents conflicting positions on the issue of postmortem repentance.

D. Response
In the Tours of Hell several saints who were given a vision of some horrors of
punishment there were profoundly moved to intercede in prayer for the damned. Although the
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is inconsistent as to the feasibility and results of such prayers, it
does mention a few instances in which such prayers are described as answered.
After learning about postmortem punishments, Abraham is described as praying first for a
man whose good and evil deeds were equally balanced and then for a broader group of clearly
wicked people that they might be delivered from their misery-and God is described as answering
his prayer affirmatively (Testament of Abraham 14:1-15).
6
In another tour Zephaniah, after seeing the condition of the wicked in punishment, is
described as imploring the Lord to have compassion on them (Apocalypse of Zephaniah 2:8-9,
Akhmimic text).
7
Later he described all the righteous in Heaven, led by Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, as praying daily for the wicked who were suffering these torments (Apocalypse of
Zephaniah 11:1-6, Akhmimic text).
8
Nothing was stated about the outcome of these prayers..
Nevertheless, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha also contains texts that convey a very
different perspective. After asking specifically whether or not the righteous could intervene for
the ungodly (especially for loved ones) on the day of judgment, Ezra was informed that the day
of judgment will be decisive, its verdicts irrevocable, with the result that no intercessory prayer
for the dead will be effective (4 Ezra 7:[102-113]).
9
Another text attributes to Deborah the