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Is pre-existence of the soul part of Judaism? Is there scripture and Talmud to support or refute this? Can I have verses quoted please?

But is it supposed to exist previous to that?

If all souls were created at the beginning of everything we know doesn't that point toward reincarnation? Or does that refer to a giant waiting room for souls who have yet to be physically born?

Agreed, and actually in the majority of reincarnation religions I think there is reference to a waiting room area... like the summerland ect.... of course you also have to take into account that while our population grows the populations of other species deplete... as well as the variation between predators and prey creatures in any givin area...

Here we go. It is in the Talmud.

Emphasis mine.

The Talmud can be tricky with wording, especially English translation. Who did you use, Shottenstien? What does the Hebrew or Aramaic say: Born, or Conceived?

Probably just a reference to omniscience.

Here are some quotes suggesting pre-existence of the soul and possibly reincarnation. Do take it with a grain of salt though since different traditions and sects have different interpretations of the following passages.

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)

"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again...What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:4-9)

"The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind." (Proverbs 8:22-31)

"He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it." - Jesus Christ, Revelation 3:12

"He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish in his sight and love." (Ephesians 1:4)


Psalm 139:15, 16 "Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me."

Acts 17:26 "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."


"And as he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who has sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" Jesus answered, 'Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents, but the works of God were to be made manifest in him.'" (John 9:1)

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7)