> > You've hit the nail mentioning different definitions of death. The Bible's uses it as a spiritual state or the physical transition from this world to the next, rather than our cultural take of it as permanent non-being.
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> Not entirely accurate. The Bible as a whole doesn't even agree with itself about definitions of death;

That's not entirely accurate either. The same word is used to express different concepts, and it is pretty much always clear which definition is being used based on context. The Hebrews verse is a great one: there is no ambiguity at all about what type of death is being referred to. Yet in other verses, permanent separation from God is called death. This is not inconsistent: it's the nature of language for words to have multiple similar definitions, one discernible from the other based on context.

The word "heaven," for example, is used in at least three ways in the Bible: the atmosphere, the stars, and where those who have committed their lives to Christ will spend the afterlife. Yet there is no confusion about which definition is being used, so why quibble about the choice of verbiage?