What was meant by “paradise” when Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross?

Question

As he was crucified, Jesus engaged in a conversation with one of the other thieves hung along side him. at the end is this pronouncement:

Luke 23:43 (ESV)
⁴³ And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

This verse is often referenced to make a theological point about how people come into salvation and the absence of presence of ceremony/action in the process. However it seems to me that most usages of the verse are based on an interpretation that uses a theological construct or doctrinal position of some kind to interpret this verse based on their larger understanding of the concepts. For example:

• Protestants who believe salvation is entirely a work of God might say that this verse shows that Jesus pronouncement that this person was now heaven bound means that he can bestow salvation on whomever he pleases with them having to have done any works or go through an rituals. Paradise refers to Heaven and salvation (admittance) is a free gift.
• Mormons who believe that salvation is impossible without some accompanying works argue that this verse isn't talking about heaven at all but some other realm where that person would again have a chance to do good works. Paradise is not heaven and the gift given was a second chance to earn admittance into heaven.

Starting with the word Greek παράδεισος and it's original meaning and how it would have been understood in context, what can a good hermeneutical approach to this passage show us? How would the original audience have understood this usage? Then bringing in other passages to bear on the issue, what relevant related texts do we have? At what point in the process of zooming out from the text must our doctrine formed by other sources become the determining factor in how we interpret this saying?

Note that I do not think interpretation based on other clearer passages or understandings is wrong, but part of my interest in asking this is understanding _where the line between that and textual analysis is drawn in this case. Is the word itself self-evident? If so why the dispute about what it means? If it's not self evident, when do we step back and apply other methods and what are those in this case?

Answer 1

"Paradise" is a transliteration of παράδεισος, a word used only three times in the New Testament. Furthermore, the context of each of the three uses is different from the others, and by three different authors.

In 2 Corinthians 12:4 it appears to parallel or point to the term "third heaven" in verse 2. Since God is apparently immediately present there, this seems to be a reference to what we generally consider "heaven". (See the NET Bible notes on this passage as well.) However, since this passage refers to an apparent vision, it's difficult to relate directly to Jesus' statement.

In Revelation 2:7, this is given as the location of the "tree of life" - once again, what we typically believe to be an attribute of "heaven". In this case, the word is also modified by a possessive - "of God" - to differentiate it from any other paradises.

The meaning is somewhat more cloudy in Luke 23:43. First, we have to deal with Jesus' destination after death - did Jesus descend into Hell/Hades, and if so, how long did He remain there? In other words, does "paradise" refer to an understanding of Hades as a "holding area" for the dead? Or was He speaking in a sense outside space and time, and actually referring to Heaven?

As far as the original meaning of this word, the NET Bible notes provide the following definitions:

• (Persian) A grand park or hunting preserve; enclosed, protected, well cared for, but sealed off or contained
• A pleasure garden
• A grove or park
• ("Later" [?] Jews) The part of Hades set aside for the souls of the righteous until the resurrection
• Heaven (possibly including the view mentioned above, with multiple levels of "heaven" - sky or atmosphere, outer space/universe, God's abode)
• Eden

One critical point here is that none of the passages refer to any further work done by those in this location or state. Regardless of whether we take it as Heaven itself or a holding area for the righteous awaiting resurrection, their fate seems to be already determined. It also seems to be a place of pleasure, not torment or toil.