JETS 39/4 (December 1996) 587607

HERMENEUTICAL ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES IN HEBREWS

AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE SECOND CHAPTER
LANIER BURNS*
When our successful classes and conferences on hermeneutics at school
or church come to a close, the homily of Hebrews will come back to haunt us.
F. F. Bruce began his commentary with this caveat: Since, however, neither
that community nor the writer is expressly identied in the text as it has
been preserved to us, the document presents us at the outset with a number
of critical problems to which no agreed solution has been found.1 The critical problems have not evaporated:
The Epistle to the Hebrews is often said to be the most Greek book in the
Jewish-Christian Bible. Indeed, to some it might seem that the epistle itself is
something of a jokea joke played upon a church obsessed with nding complete certainty about its origins. That the most elementary facts concerning
this nal word on the Christian faith may be arrived at only through a fancy
tapestry of guesswork is what punctuates the joke with its requiredand
exquisiteirony. 2

In other words, we do not have the information that we would seem to need
for an accurate interpretation of Hebrews.
We will come to Hebrewsthe book, or epistle, or sermonto discuss
the author, audience, circumstances and literary details of its composition.
We will learn that the writer was obviously a dedicated, articulate JewishChristian leader who was trained in Hellenistic rhetoric and theological
nuances. Even though we are aware that Hebrews was accepted in early
manuscripts as a Pauline epistle between Romans and 1 Corinthians, we also
know that it has neither the form of an epistle nor Pauls style. Concerning
epistolary form we may note the summarizing introductory sentence of Heb
1:1 4 in lieu of the customary salutation. With respect to Pauline style the
author uses legein with reference to Gods speaking rather than Pauls
characteristic graphein to introduce OT quotations. On the other hand, the
mention of Timothy (13:23) and the early association of Hebrews with Paul
suggest a member of the Pauline circle. One is attracted to someone like
Apollos, an aner logios, an eloquent (learned, NIV) man (Acts 18:24). The
* Lanier Burns is professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary, 3909 Swiss
Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204.
1
F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1964) xxiii.
2
L. D. Hurst, The Epistle to the Hebrews: Its Background and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge
University, 1990) 1. This is an excellent source for background information in general.

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appellation was associated at the time with rhetorical ability.3 In any event
we discover that Paul, Barnabas, Luke, and Clement of Rome in antiquity
and, more recently, Apollos, Aquila, Aristion, Philip, Jude and Silvanus have
been proposed as authors. 4 William Lane concludes: This divergence underscores the impossibility of establishing the writers identity.5
Similarly we know much about the audience, but not their identity. They
were a specic Jewish-Christian group (13:17, 24), such as a house church
(10:2425), apparently in an urban setting with similar groups (10:3334;
13:13, 14). 6 The readers were threatened by defections to former aliations
that apparently held beliefs that were hostile to the truth of Jesus as Messiah and its ecclesial implications (3:1213; 10:2630; 13:9). The author knew
his audience well enough to know about the defections and their immaturities (4:1, 11; 5:116:12; 12:15). Interestingly the anonymity of the author
suggests his closeness to them since he did not have to explain his awareness
of their problems and the appropriateness of his potentially oensive appeals.
The purpose clause in 13:19b (so that I might be restored to you sooner)
implies that he considered the readers problems to be a part of his pastoral
responsibilities, so he dispatched his word of exhortation (1:113:21) with
its personal postscript (13:2225) as a substitute until he could come in person (v. 23). They had come to faith through the preaching of people who had
heard Jesus, whose message had been miraculously authenticated by God
(2:1 4). These preachers, now deceased (13:7), seem to have been their rst
leaders. The readers had formerly suered in a commendable way (10:3235),
perhaps during the Claudian hostilities, but were now disheartened and were
tempted to drift from faith in the face of renewed persecution (2:1; 4:11; 10:26
39), which apparently involved ostracism, imprisonment and martyrdom.7
The author was encouraging his weakened readers to follow the example of
the Son as faithful sons unto martyrdom if necessary (12:112). When 13:24
(those from Italy) is compared with Acts 18:2 (Aquila . . . who had recently
come from Italy) and Romans 16s inferences about house churches in the
city, we might suggest that the audience was a second-generation house
church in Rome around the mid-60s. Accordingly the homily is an eloquent,
passionate, pastoral appeal to this type of community in crisis. Lane summarizes the introductory dilemmas and hermeneutical challenges well:
Hebrews is a delight for the person who enjoys puzzles. Its form is unusual,
its setting in life is uncertain, and its argument is unfamiliar. It invites engagement in the task of dening the undened. Undened are the identity of
the writer, his conceptual background, the character and location of the community addressed, the circumstances and date of composition, the setting in
life, the nature of the crisis to which the document is a response, the literary
3
E. Orth, Logios (Leipzig: Teubner, 1926) 46. On Pauline similarities Hurst, Epistle chap. 5, is
helpful.
4
H. W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1989) 16.
5
W. L. Lane, Hebrews (WBC; Dallas: Word, 1991) 1.xlix.
6
R. Banks, Pauls Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in Their Historical Setting
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980) 41 42.
7
M. Goguel, La second gneration chrtienne, RHR 136 (1949) 3157, 180208.

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genre, and the purpose and plan of the work. Although these undened issues
continue to be addressed and debated vigorously, no real consensus has been
reached. . . . These facts constitute a continual reminder that every statement
about Hebrews is a personal synthesis, an interpretive statement. Interpretation calls for humility. 8

This paper is about a few interpretive principles that the author of Hebrews used in his homily. One can say from the start that the sermons style
can be embarrassing to language as we sometimes use it: perspicuous, normal, plain, grammatical, historical, literal, spiritual, and so forth. I would suggest that the best way to approach this topic is to observe the use of the OT
in Hebrews, since that is where the authors hermeneutical practice is most
evident. I would also say that my own teaching of Hebrews in church and
classroom settings has left me uneasy with a disparity between the Bibles
own use of its text and our sometimes modern misuse of it. 9 The three principles that are discussed in this paper reect a part of that disparity.
Several questions come to mind. Have scholars slipped into scientic
shackles that have isolated them from the uncertainties of pastoral passions?
I think of some of the highly technical dissertations on the warning passages.
Have we pursued obscure details to the point that we have lost sight of the
Christocentric center of Scripture that may not be so evident in the historicalgrammatical meaning of some OT texts? How can the author seem to have
been so imprecise about the seemingly transparent historical-grammatical
meanings of texts that he used? Have modern dissertations sometimes been
preoccupied with the Sitz im Leben to such an extent that the textual details
are either neglected or rejected because they do not conform to an anticipated
theory? The recent thesis of Yigael Yadin and others that attempted to establish a Qumran background for Hebrews comes to mind. 10 On the other
hand, can application of sermonic material in the broadest sense become interpretation? How should we handle the sermonic juxtaposition of academic
meaning and practical impact? I believe that anyone who has been involved
in the dissertational and homiletical processes will identify with the tensions
in these questions. 11
8

Lane, Hebrews 1.xlvii.

B. Lindars, The Theology of the Letter to the Hebrews (Cambridge: Cambridge University,
1991) 23 (cf. p. 128), notes the diculty of Hebrews for a modern audience: Unfortunately the
argument of Hebrews is not easily grasped. Many readers are baed by it. It is constantly interrupted by digressions and moral exhortations. . . . A more serious diculty is that the whole argument has an alien character from the modern point of view. There are constant quotations from
Scripture, but the method of using it is dicult for modern people to appreciate. Similarly G. Guthrie wrote: Hebrews stands as a praiseworthy example of ancient homiletic craftsmanship, an example which in all its complexity exhibits rhetorical power and beauty. The authors craft, however,
may seem opaque to moderns unfamiliar with his conventions (The Structure of Hebrews: A TextLinguistic Analysis [Leiden: Brill, 1994] xviiixix). In other words, many people have unknowingly misused Hebrews because they have not understood its rst-century, Jewish-Christian genre
and argument.
10
For example Y. Yadin, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Epistle to the Hebrews, ScrHier 4
(1958) 3653; F. C. Fensham, Hebrews and Qumran, Neot 5 (1971) 921.
11
At least that has been my personal experience.
9

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The use of the OT in Hebrews is a daunting subject because the sermon

is a magisterial exposition of messianic foreshadowings and soteriology with
its distinctive comparisons of the Levitical and new covenants. Therefore limitation of space for the paper is a concern. I have selected the use of the OT
in Hebrews 2 somewhat arbitrarily. On the one hand the hermeneutical challenges of the entire sermon are unthinkable for present purposes. One would
want, however, to discuss a crucial passage that has broader implications
for the work as a whole. Hebrews 2 contains representative problems in the
homily, and it occurs in the rst section of the sermons structure, drawing
substantial scholarly attention in recent literary and rhetorical studies. Accordingly the paper will discuss hermeneutical issues in recent studies of
Hebrews and show how the second chapter illustrates them. Admittedly texts
like Psalms 95, 110 12 and Jeremiah 31, issues like the so-called misquote of
Psalm 40 in chap. 10, 13 and typological gures like Moses 14 and Melchizedek 15 will have to be bypassed. They simply cannot be adequately treated
in the present study. At the same time the selection of chap. 2 necessarily
limits us to the authors hermeneutical principles in that chapter. We will
discuss them as pastoral/rhetorical, Christological, and contextual principles.

I. THE RHETORICAL PRINCIPLE

The pastoral/rhetorical principle is based on the primary genre and the
two subgenres of Hebrews word of exhortation and is validated by its tone,
vocabulary and literary approach to the readers problems. We use the term
pastoral here because Hebrews is a sermon that was written to a church
setting. Rhetorical is apropos for the genre, but it has a much broader eld
of meaning. The writer describes his work as a word of exhortation (13:22,
logos tes parakleseos). 16 It occurs outside of the formal structure in the postscript with collegial greetings as a commendation to the homily as a whole.
The sonorous play on words between parakalo (I urge) and parakleseos
seems to have been deliberately crafted for rhetorical eect, a frequent phenomenon in Hebrews. The phrase was also used in Acts 13:15 to describe
Pauls exposition at Antioch of Pisidia in response to the synagogues request.
Hellenistic synagogues customarily had a public reading of designated por12
See for example D. M. Hay, Glory at the Right Hand: Psalm 110 in Early Christianity (2d ed.;
SBLMS 18; Nashville: Abingdon, 1973).
13
K. Jobes, Rhetorical Achievement in the Hebrews 10 Misquote of Psalm 40, Bib 72 (1991)
387396.
14
See for example M. R. DAngelo, Moses in the Letter to the Hebrews (SBLDS 42; Missoula:
Scholars, 1979).
15
See for example F. L. Horton, Jr., The Melchizedek Tradition: A Critical Examination of the
Sources to the Fifth Century A.D. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (SNTSMS 30; Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 1976).
16
J. Swetnam, On the Literary Genre of the Epistle to the Hebrews, NovT 11 (1969) 268,
notes that a paraklesis might be a homily which formally consoles in distinction to a kerygma,
a formal proclamation. The word kerygma (keryssein) is not found in Hebrews.

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tions of Scripture that was followed by homiletical midrash on the passages.

The early Church was familiar with the pattern as indicated elsewhere in
1 Tim 4:13: Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture,
to preaching [exhortation, te paraklesei], and to teaching. The exhortation
was a sermon, Hebrews being a written form to be read aloud to the readers.
The additional note about its brevity, humorous in view of its thirteen chapters, was also a convention of the form at the time.17 The phrase seems to have
been an idiomatic expression for a homiletical midrash in Jewish-Hellenistic
circles. 18 Therefore the principle means that the author used a commonly understood rhetorical form with suitable adaptation to his pastoral situation to
persuade his audience more eectively to a right course of action.
Many scholars have developed our understanding of the genre. Hartwig
Thyen discussed the Jewish-Hellenistic homily under three headings: (1) the
inuence of the cynic-stoic diatribe, (2) the use of the OT, and (3) the use of
parenesis. His study laid the foundation for modern analysis of rhetorical
forms, though Hebrews sermonic style had been recognized from Reformation times. 19 He drew attention to personal elements such as the use of the
rst-person-plural pronoun, the use of the Pentateuch and Psalms in the LXX,
rhetorical devices like paronomasia and phonetic assonance in common with
Hellenistic parallels, and a focus on parenetic instruction as characteristic of
Jewish-Christian homilies. 20 Accordingly he concluded that Hebrews is the
only example of a completely preserved homily from the Hellenistic period.21
Lawrence Wills reconstructed a tripartite form for Hellenistic Jewish and
Christian sermons, using Pauls word of exhortation (Acts 13:16 41) as a
paradigmatic homily with validation from similar passages. The form included authoritative exempla (Biblical quotations and exemplary gures with
exposition), pertinent conclusions that applied the exempla to the readers
problems, and a nal exhortation. He concluded that Hebrews followed the
form in a complex, cyclical way. 22

17
A. Vanhoye, Le structure littraire de lptre aux Hbreux (2d ed.; StudNeot 1; Paris: Descle
de Brower, 1976) 221222.
18
On form and background consult Hurst, Epistle chaps. 12; D. Cohn-Sherbok, Paul and
Rabbinic Exegesis, SJT 35 (1982) 117132.
19
K. Hagen, Hebrews Commenting from Erasmus to Beza 15161598 (BGBE 23; Tbingen:
Mohr, 1981).
20
H. Thyen, Der Stil des jdisch-hellenistischen Homilie (FRLANT 47; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1955) 17, 67110. Swetnam, Literary Genre 269, has critiqued Thyen for
his articial distinction between Hellenistic and Palestinian homiletical practices without adequately describing the latter and called his work important, but not denitive. Cf. also W. R.
Stegner, The Ancient Jewish Synagogue Homily, Graeco-Roman Literature and the New Testament (SBLSCS 21; ed. D. E. Aune; Atlanta: Scholars, 1988) 5169.
21
Ibid. 106.
22
L. Wills, The Form of the Sermon in Hellenistic Judaism and Early Christianity, HTR 77
(1984) 277299, esp. 280283, 299: That Hebrews makes use of the word of exhortation form
seems clear, although the artful composer has modied it, creating a very complex sermonic
form.

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Clifton Black armed Wills, concluding that the tripartite argument

based on exempla cohered with principles of classical rhetoric as described in
sources like Aristotles Rhetoric, Quintilians Institutio oratoria and Cornicius Rhetorica ad Herennium. The author of Hebrews argued by exemplication and renement, notably in the extended exhortation of Heb 5:110:18.
The sermon, according to Black, is epideictic rhetoric to fortify the audiences
weakening convictions and commitment. 23
Harold Attridge argued that the word of exhortation imprecisely exemplied a subgenre within the taxonomy of parenesis as discussed by John
Gammie. Attridge structured the key sections of Hebrews with a fourfold formal pattern. For example, in 8:110:18 an introduction (8:16) is followed
by a Scriptural quotation (8:713), a thematic exposition (9:110:18) and an
application (10:1921). This pattern is the word of exhortation that forms a
subgenre of the larger category of paraclesis that characterized synagogue
preaching in Hellenistic cities. The homily as a whole belongs to the larger
paraclesis. The author used this form to conrm Christian commitment in a
group that was experiencing ostracism. 24
These studies have shown us that Hebrews was a written sermon that
was intended for oral reading. This is indicated by the writers rhetorical
skills that conveyed a sense of conversation through speaking and listening
rather than reading and writing: We are speaking (2:5), we are saying
(8:1), we cannot discuss now (9:5), I urge you, brothers (13:22), and so
forth (cf. 3:1, 12; 10:19). 25 Rhetorical devices, to be mentioned under the third
principle, would have heightened the oral eect. This means that Hebrews
was to be received primarily by listening as a group rather than by reading
and personal reection. Complete consensus does not exist yet on matters of
form, but the authors rhetorical intent is rmly in place, which can profoundly aect ones view of its literary structure and meaning.
Hebrews contains two interrelated subgenres: expository (or didactic) passages that alternate with hortatory (or warning) passages (such as 2:1 4).
We must ask: Was the author primarily developing an advanced Christology
or trying to discourage the defection of his readers? In other words, what is
the relationship of thesis and parenesis within the work? 26 Are the warning
passages merely digressions in the expository ow of the authors distinc23
C. C. Black II, The Rhetorical Form of the Hellenistic Jewish and Early Christian Sermon:
A Response to Lawrence Wills, HTR 81 (1988) 118.
24
H. Attridge, Paraenesis in a Homily (logos parakleseos): The Possible Location of, and Socialization in, the Epistle to the Hebrews, Semeia 50 (1990) 211226. Attridges concern is the
lack of an adequate denition for protreptic and paraenetic as descriptive titles for the subgenre. Gammies article, Paraenetic Literature: Toward the Morphology of a Secondary Genre,
appears on pp. 4177; a second key article is L. G. Perdue, The Death of the Sage and Moral
Exhortation: From Ancient Near Eastern Instructions to Graeco-Roman Paraenesis, pp. 81109.
25
P. Andriessen, En lisant lptre aux Hbreux: Lettre au R. P. A. Vanhoye, Professeur lInstitute Biblique Pontical sur linterprtation controverse de certain passages (Vaals: Abby St. Benedictusberg, 1977) 60.
26
For this issue, one should begin by consulting R. Gyllenberg, Die Komposition des Hebrerbriefs, SE 2223 (195758) 137147; Attridge, Paraenesis 215.

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tively high Christology? The word of exhortation genre suggests that argumentation serves exhortation. Expressed precisely, Hebrews is a personal
expression of its authors pastoral concern for his readers. Most of us may be
inclined to reverse the order. Thus the primary purpose is to motivate the
audience to faithfulness in view of impending suering: faithfulness both to
the ethical support of an undeled Christology and to godly behavior such as
regular fellowship (10:25), prison visitation and marital delity (13:3 4).
The expositions give the warnings substance by focusing on the accomplishments and oces of the gloried Christ, who is also the supreme example of
the hurting believer. From the initial sentence (1:1 4), expositions that develop the supremacy of Christ give a persuasive basis not only to the exhortation that follows in 2:1 4 but also to the preparation of the readers for
Christs high-priestly claims and warnings in the remainder of the sermon.
The argument develops the nality of Christ as better than the older Levitical provisions, which were a mere preview of his perfection. The exempla, in
quotations throughout and the forward-looking examples of faith in chap. 11,
proceed to Christ himself as both exemplar and enabler of proper conduct in
suering. In Lanes words: The recurrence of exhortation and the fact that it
is interspersed in blocks throughout the homily indicate that parenesis holds
the various sections together as a unied whole. The dominant motif in Hebrews is parenetic. 27
Furthermore Guthries discourse analysis showed that Hebrews exhortation and exposition do not relate in a merely linear pattern. Sections of exposition are not limited to giving theological substance and a persuasive basis
to contiguous sections of exhortation. Instead the homily has divisions that
are developed simultaneously:
In this way one can see that the complex structure of Hebrews is due to two
notions or genres moving in concert along their own lines but progressing towards the same goal of challenging the readers/hearers to endure. . . . It may
be suggested that the concept of the two genres moving in concert, but not
exact correspondence, makes sense. . . . The discourse was not crafted to t our
neat, thematically progressing outlines. It was meant to have an impact on
listeners. The switch back and forth between a logically developed exposition
and a challenging exhortation would have been highly eective. 28

In other words, there is greater literary depth and complexity of style than
has been heretofore recognized.
The pastoral genre brings a subjectivity to the interpretation of Hebrews
and similar works that disorients the modern taste for objective proofs and
scientic precision. Helmut Koester, for example, has found designations like
sermon or homily imprecise and vague. 29 He does not favor the categorization of Hebrews as a sermon, because the genre has not been dened.
27

Lane, Hebrews 1.ci.

Guthrie, Structure xii, 146; cf. also pp. 139, 143.
29
H. Koester, Introduction to the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982) 2.273.
28

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Karl Donfried likewise rejects the sermon/homily designations as hopelessly

vague. Thus he argues: We know virtually nothing about the contours of
such a genre in the rst century A.D. . . . The term homily is so vague and
ambiguous that it should be withdrawn until its literarily generic legitimacy
has been demonstrated. 30 One of the problems in assessments like this is
the assumption that homilies must conform to a rather rigidly dened pattern that will yield precise comparisons within the genre. In the nature of the
case, however, sermons in any day personally address the perceived needs of
the audience, which necessitates exibility. Even in a carefully crafted homily like Hebrews such variation can account in part for the lack of scholarly
consensus regarding its structure.
We often speak of the text as perspicuous, and we assign to hermeneutics
the task of recovering its meaning and clarity. But what do we do with imprecise, unexplained details that were apparently clear in the rst century
but have been obscured with passing centuries? The perennial problems in
the warning passages are redolent with pastoral appeals that were written
for relational impact as well as textual analysis: It is impossible for those
who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who
have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of
God, and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away to be brought back
to repentance (6:46a NIV). 31 If we keep on sinning after we receive the
knowledge of the truth, no sacrice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment (10:2627a). Similarly how should we treat (exegetically,
theologically, and pastorally without familiar shortcuts) Pauls committal to
Satan (1 Tim 1:20), Johns sin that leads to death (1 John 5:1617), and
Peters slaves of depravity, who escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome (2 Pet 2:1920; cf. 1 Pet 1:6)? We look for clear parallels to interpret
unclear passages, but we encounter some frustration in writings like Hebrews
that have so many unique teachings, terms and literary features. Most of us
eventually use Biblical and ecclesial contexts to oer a best possible view.
Hebrews has served as a reminder that the most precise understanding
of its so-called imprecisions may be found in the services of the Church, even
as the author was involved with his readers. Here the depth of spiritual problems are seen, felt and believed in what my students refer to as the real
world. At this level we can empathize with Hebrews appeals for our people.
The appeal is to the emotions as much as the intellect, cautions Lane.
Forceful and artistic prose provides the vehicle for the text of the argument. 32 At this level we can understand that much of Scripture focuses on
the practical outworking of truths rather than essences as ontological sources
of behavior. Thus, for example, could the impossibility of salvaging departed
saints in Hebrews, Paul, John, or Peter be viewed as a practical hardening
30

K. P. Donfried, The Setting of Second Clement in Early Christianity (Leiden: Brill, 1974) 26.
Cf. Attridge, Hebrews 168169.
32
Lane, Hebrews 1.lxxvi.
31

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that precludes further fellowship or restorative eorts of an assembly rather

than a doctrinal declaration about the lost salvation or the nonsalvation of
shipwrecked members? 33 A precise hermeneutic must treat Hebrews as a sermon in an ecclesial setting rather than as a dissertation, or even a rhetorical
treatise, in Athens or Rome. The pastoral setting, in the case of this word
of exhortation, enhances our understanding by repunctuating passages like
the warnings.

II. THE CHRISTOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE

Secondly, the problem of precisely understanding a seemingly imprecise
text continues in the Christological principle, which is emphasized in the authors use of the OT to demonstrate its comprehensive fulllment in the Son.34
Paul Ellington states the principle well:
It would be anachronistic to confuse the approach of the author of Hebrews
with that of a modern scholar, drawing a clear line of demarcation between the
meaning of an OT text in its original setting and its possible application to a
later situation, whether in the rst century or the twentieth century of the
Christian era. The authors approach to the OT may be summarized as follows: Christ, by whom God has now spoken his nal word (1:1 f.), was alive
and active in creation (1:2) and throughout Israels history. Any part of the OT
may thus in principle be understood as speaking about Christ, or as spoken to
or by him. Clues within the text may show to what parts of the OT it is most
appropriate to apply this principle in practice. Indeed, since Christ was already
at work in OT times, even an OT text without a future reference (such as
Ps. 40:68 = Heb. 10:57) may be applied to Christ. 35

In general and as a prelude, we should observe four characteristics about

the OT in Hebrews. First, the homily is, in Lanes words, impregnated with
the Old Testament, 36 both explicitly and implicitly, both in quotation and allusion. Contrary to recent theories that argue for the authors indebtedness to
Philonic allegory, Qumranic peser, or reductionistic Christological typology,
he quotes the text with an unwavering view of its original meaning.37 Instead
of Platonic forms and hidden mystical meanings he views OT precedents as
forward-looking history to be interpreted eschatologically and messianically:
In the past God spoke . . . but in these last days he has spoken to us by
33
Cf. Bruce, Hebrews 118; also pastoral guidance passages like 1 John 5:16: I refer to. . . . I am
not saying that he should pray about that. Lindars, Theology xi, expresses the tone of the homily
well: This argument is not a theological treatise, but an urgent address to the original readers,
who are on the brink of taking action which their leaders regard as nothing short of apostasy. The
author uses his considerable rhetorical skill as a writer to persuade them to change their minds.
34
Cf. R. Longenecker, Can We Reproduce the Exegesis of the New Testament?, TynBul 21
(1970) 1626, 3132.
35
P. Ellington, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993) 41 42.
36
Lane, Hebrews 1.cxv.
37
C. Spicq, Lptre aux Hbreux (Paris: J. Gabalda, 195253) 1.341. Cf. also Lindars, Theology
5153.

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his Son (1:12). The informative word is pattern in Exod 25:40 (cf. Heb
9:110), which establishes the standards and guidelines for eschatological
fulllment to which even Messiah himself must conform. This in turn accords
with apostolic usage reected in the sermons of Acts and our Lords exposition about himself in Matthew 5 and Luke 24. Even the intriguing correspondences with Melchizedek are grounded in Psalm 110. The author may
have changed wording to emphasize or clarify his key points, but his obvious
concern was to preserve the sense and meaning of the text.38
Furthermore variations in the quotations do not allow for facile categorizations of the writers method, such as directly or indirectly messianic
prophecies. F. Schrger concluded that the author had no uniform method of
quotation. 39 And Hurst concludes: But until some consensus is reached as to
which texts fall into which category (an unlikely prospect), it will be virtually
impossible to conduct a comparative analysis of Hebrews with the midrashpesher exegesis of Qumran which will be accepted universally.40
There is disagreement about the number of quotations: Ellington identied thirty-ve, 41 but G. B. Caird lowered the gure to a mere twenty-nine. 42
R. N. Longenecker suggested thirty-eight, but he concluded: Nowhere in the
New Testament is the listing of biblical quotations more dicult than the
Letter to the Hebrews. 43 Lanes summary illustrates the problem: In this
commentary it is proposed that there are thirty-one explicit quotations and
four more implicit quotations, a minimum of thirty-seven allusions, nineteen
instances where Old Testament material is summarized, and thirteen more
where a biblical name or topic is cited without reference to a specic context. 44 In conclusion, we know that the OT is pervasively present in Hebrews in an eschatological and messianic way. The authors method is
consistent with NT methodology in general, though further study is needed
to establish specic matters such as categorization and quantication.
Second, for soteriological comparisons between the old and the new covenants the writer usually depends on the Pentateuch, sometimes as viewed
through the lenses of the Psalms as applicable. A noteworthy example is his
exposition of Israels wilderness experience in light of Psalm 95. His Christological source is the Psalter. 45 He frequently used the present participle of
lego with God portrayed as conversing with the readers. His intentionby
inspiration, the Church would add with its canonical imprimaturwas not
only a language of direct address but also a strategic elevation of his disheartened readers into the heavenlies to hear divine conversation about fa38

J. C. McCullough, The Old Testament Quotations in Hebrews, NTS 26 (197980) 378379.

F. Schrger, Der Verfasser des Hebrerbriefes als Schriftausleger (Regensburg: Pustet, 1968)
269293.
40
Hurst, Hebrews 62.
41
Ellington, Hebrews 37.
42
G. B. Caird, The Exegetical Method of the Epistle to the Hebrews, CJT 5 (1959) 47.
43
R. N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975)
167.
44
Lane, Hebrews 1.cxvi.
45
Lane, ibid., counts 17 quotations and 16 allusions to the Psalms.
39

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597

miliar texts in their full messianic glory (as in 10:57 with Ps 40:68; 2:13
with Isa 8:1718; and 4:35 where God reected on his own Sabbath rest
and the absence of rest among his people). The quotes incarnate Hebrews
doctrine that the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any doubleedged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (4:12 NIV). The writers
uniqueness on this point conforms to his rhetorical strategy, which is to bring
all of the authority of God and his word to bear on his readers problems.46
Third, OT quotations are foundational to the authors argument and thematic development. Scholars have made reference to this at least since the
work of J. A. Bengel (1742), who underlined the structural signicance of
Psalms 2, 8 and 110. 47 Caird argued that the author used important quotations to keynote each of the sections of the sermon, usually supporting his case
for the ineectiveness of the old covenant. According to Caird the primary
texts are Pss 110:1 4; 8:46; 95:711; Jer 31:3134. 48 Guthrie rearmed
the thesis in greater detail with an additional insight that the use of the OT
in Hebrews is a signicant factor in the contemporary lack of consensus about
its structure. 49 Just when we think that we have found the clear and easy-tofollow structural keys of the homily, an awkward OT detail seems to surface.
Fourth, the author used an old Greek translation that he shared with his
audience, presumably the LXX. 50 Sometimes, however, his quotations dier
with that translation. Scholars have argued either that he precisely used an
old version that no longer exists 51 or he used the LXX and made rhetorical
adjustments to enhance his messianic arguments. 52 The weight of recent research favors the latter option.
We are specically concerned with the use of Pss 8:46; 22:22; Isa 8:17
18 in chap. 2. The authors hermeneutical clues are found in the introductory formulae (which have been generally neglected), variant details in the
quotations, and midrashic comments in which he highlights his interest in
the passage.
The vividly present rhetorical principle was so important to the author
that he introduced Ps 8:57 (LXX) in 2:6 with Somewhere someone has
testied, saying. The introduction is strange, because a pivotal quotation
follows instead of a passing allusion. From our perspective he could have
been less vague. He could have written God says or its equivalent as he
did elsewhere in the sermon. To explain the vagueness as consistent with
the strong emphasis throughout Hebrews on the oracular character of Scrip46
Attridge, Hebrews 24: Human instrumentality is of course recognized, since God spoke
through the prophets (1:1), but the humans involved are generally ignored.
47
J. A. Bengel, Gnomon of the New Testament (6th ed.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1866).
48
Caird, Exegetical Method 4451.
49
Guthrie, Structure 7.
50
Attridge, Hebrews 23.
51
K. J. Thomas, The Old Testament Citations in Hebrews, NTS 11 (196465) 303325.
52
Jobes, Rhetorical Achievement 388389, 394396; McCullough, Old Testament Quotations;
G. Howard, Hebrews and Old Testament Quotations, NovT 10 (1968) 208216, who demonstrates
how complex the issue of OT citations in Hebrews really is.

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ture is to bypass the problem. 53 Vague allusions are not satisfying unless
contextually warranted in this rhetorically precise sermon. Psalm 8 is attributed to David, and the author has just used Davidic texts in his catena
in chap. 1, referring to them as words of God so as not to detract from the
divine Son. The issue of the paragraph is Jesus identication with mankind
as emphasized in the midrash on his attainment of glory by suering in 2:9.
As a creation hymn, Psalm 8 is Davids inspired reection on Genesis 1,
praising God for his majesty as evidenced both in the vastness of creation
and his condescension in elevating such creatures as human beings to the
glory and honor of vice-regency over it. Therefore in a profound passage on
mankinds promised glory the author seems to have rendered Davids praise
representative of a believers proper response to God-bestowed dignity. Somewhere someone suggests a generic and perennial response that is reected
in 2:8: In fact we do not see everything subject to his control. It thereby
achieves timeless applicability to fallen patriarchs, the disciples in Luke 24
and Acts, Hebrews suering readers, and believers today. With this meaning it would be yet another achievement of the authors rhetorical immediacy. In eect he says that their problems involve the dilemma of v. 8 (we do
not see) that is solved in v. 9 (but we see). 54 The issue is theodicy, and the
answer is eschatological relative to blessings that we anticipate through
faithfulness but do not see in the injustices of the present. At the same time
the author previews the proper attitude of praise that will be reected as
well in his chain-quotation in 2:12.
The hermeneutical crux of the quotation is melohm in the phrase a
little lower than the angels (2:7a, 9a). The expression was given a qualitative nuance in Psalm 8 (a little lower than lohm). One must realize that
in its OT context this would not have referred to mankinds nature and consequent position in the order of creation. In Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 it would
have blasphemed the Creator by potentially divinizing humanity, promoting
hubris rather than dependence. In Hebrews 2 it would have undermined the
authors argument by making Jesus, the representative man, inferior and
subordinate to (or lower than) angels by nature.
The issue in Psalm 8 is the dominion aspect of the imago Dei, humanitys
divine grant to rule creation as Gods vice-regent, which was defaced but not
erased by the fall (Gen 9:17). Its lohm probably refers to God because it
is used without modication with reference to creation, which was viewed
theologically as the work of God alone (cf. Isa 40:14). 55 Therefore a little
lower would be a distinction of status. God and man are similar in their possession of dominion, but humanity is obviously lower as creature in a divinelybestowed degree of dominion.
53

The reader may note the remarks of Bruce, Hebrews 34; Lane, Hebrews 1.46.
Attridge, Hebrews 24, identies another aspect of indeniteness in the Psalm 8 quote: Thus
in Ps. 8:57 the indenite human being of the text becomes a specic person, Jesus, and grammatical ambiguity is exploited to make a celebration of humanity in general read as the story of
Jesus humiliation and exaltation.
55
D. R. Glenn, Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2: A Case Study in Biblical Hermeneutics and Biblical
Theology, Walvoord, A Tribute (ed. D. K. Campbell; Chicago: Moody, 1982) 41.
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599

The author of Hebrews complements the Psalm without contradicting it.

To begin with, he uses the LXX as the shared version of the Hellenistic,
Jewish-Christian audience. The issue of genre helps here because pastors customarily use the accepted version of their audience to avoid confusion, both of
them arming inspiration in spite of the imperfections of the versions before them. Second, the author of Hebrews testies without question to the
inspiration of the Scriptures, quoting God as speaking the OT directly to the
audiences situation with protable doctrine, reproof, and instruction in righteousness. Preserving the Biblical emphasis on the incomparability of God,
the author premised the Creator-creature distinction for the entire sermon in
his initial Christological sentence. We could surmise that it was sensitivity to
this point that caused translators of the LXX, targums and Peshitta to choose
angels for lohm. The LXX reading suited the authors argument that
Jesus was transcendently divine and supremely worthy of worship instead
of angelic in nature or subordinate in status. Third, he used a little lower
to refer to the incarnation (i.e. a brief time in the earthly sphere). Verse 9 in
the Greek text is chiastic, emphasizing that lower than the angels is complemented by the Semitism that he might taste death for everyone. The inner clauses bring together suering of death and crowned with glory and
splendor. The authors point, with his readers in mind and consistent with
the Biblical emphasis in general, was that Jesus was crowned with glory
precisely because he suered death for his family (cf. 1:3c).56 Two contextual
points that support the incarnational interpretation are the emphasis on incarnation as identication with humanity and solidarity with his people and
the contrast in status between the dominion of Jesus as man and the servanthood of angels (1:14). Finally, to underscore lowerness as incarnation
and atonement the author understood brachy ti (2:9) as temporal (for a little
while) and placed it in the initial, emphatic position, which also highlights
Jesus present glory and splendor through the chiasm of the verse.
In his midrash that follows, the author describes the victorious process of
the Sons perfection through suering as Gods will and way of bringing
many sons to glory (2:10). 57 His battle was with the devil, and his victory can
liberate faithful believers from slavery to their fear of death.58 The connec56

For the exegesis see Lane, Hebrews 1.42 and nn. d, h and i.
Midrash is used in this paper with Longeneckers denition in mind: Midrash exegesis,
then, ostensibly takes its point of departure from the biblical text itself . . . and seeks to explicate
the hidden meanings contained therein via agreed upon hermeneutical principles in order to contemporize the revelation of God for the people of God (Exegesis 6). Longenecker then summarizes the principles with indebtedness to Vermes and Gerhardsson. The Hebrew word means to
examine in the sense of a commentary on a passage; cf. Guthrie, Structure 124 n. 31: More recently, however, the term has been used to refer to the activity of exposition as well as the resulting literary genre. The essence of the practice of midrash involved the citation of a text, or texts,
followed by exposition, often with reference to secondary texts.
58
Cf. G. Delling, argos . . . katargeo, TDNT 1.453: Using katargein, Paul says this expressly
even of death, which is a curse resting on the physical and intellectual and moral life of the natural, i.e., the carnal or psychic man (2 Tim. 1:10). The Epistle to the Hebrews lls out this declaration by stating that through the death of Christ even the one who has power over death, the
diabolos (2:14), is condemned to inactivity or ineectiveness in relation to the Christian.
57

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tions are numerous. The glory of the dominion grant is now applied to many
sons, who specify the everyone object of Jesus death preceding. The grace
of God (2:9) is dened by his appropriate perfection through suering. This
point about suering unto glory and circumlocutions for deity maintain the
readers connection with the initial sentence (1:3b). The liberation from slavery suggests the Israelites exodus from Egypt and the readers need for
faith-rest as expounded in chap. 4 from Psalm 95. The exposure of the author of salvations present position as high priest-king (vv. 10, 17) looks
forward to the Sons better covenant, priesthood and sacrice as the believers supreme exemplar.
Familial relationships are formed in the family of faith (Abrahams descendants, v. 16), which is expressed in a chain of three OT quotations complementary to 1:513 in their common argument about the superiority of the
Son to angels. In saying it is not angels he helps, the author implies that
the divine-human le-leader is not angelic even as his high-priestly oce is
not archangelic.
The rst quotation is taken from Ps 22:22 (21:23 LXX) and is introduced
by So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, . . . This appears to be an allusion to shamed disciples at their eschatological encounter
with the Son of Man (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; cf. 1 John 2:28) when he returns
with the glory of his Father and holy angels. Jesus is not ashamed to call
them brothers because he has identied himself with the remnant of faithful suerers in his own death unto glory (cf. chaps. 1112).
Specically Jesus identies himself with David, who in oppressive circumstances had continued to praise God and was comforted by promises of vindication to come (Ps 22:2331). To the Messiahs quotation of the lament on
the cross (Matt 22:46; Mark 15:34; cf. John 19:24) the author now adds the
vow of public thanksgiving in v. 23, a unique usage. 59 His faithfulness to his
vow was demonstrated to the apostles, various followers, and large gatherings (1 Cor 15:46; cf. John 17:6). In eschatological perspective, the author
in eect makes Jesus a royal cantor who leads the redeemed community in
praise (cf. Rom 15:712). The psalmic interplay between lament and confession, despair and hope, and hurt and trust with its armation of praise
in congregation made the quotation an appropriate word for the readers
needs. 60 The parallelism of brothers and congregation identies the Sanctier and the sanctied and gives the readers a mentor to emulate.
The second quotation (I will put my trust in him) follows the rst one
with continuity (kai palin, cf. 1:56). 2 Samuel 22:3 (= Ps 18[17]:3) and Isa
12:2 have been suggested as the OT source. The nal quotation, however, is
59
Bruce, Hebrews 45: Practically the whole of the lament to which the rst part of the Psalm
is devoted was used in the Church from very early times as a testimonium of the crucixion of
Christ; not only is it expressly quoted, but its language has been worked into the very fabric of the
New Testament passion narratives.
60
The quotation agrees with the LXX except for the substitution of apangelo as equivalent for
diegeomai.

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601

clearly from Isa 8:18, and 8:17 would t the contextual ow of the catena.
The brevity of the quote supports C. H. Dodds point that principal OT quotations in the NT are not isolated prooftexts but carry their contexts with
them. 61 In other words, it is so brief that it needs contextual reinforcement
for its meaning. Isaiah, another righteous suerer like David, had issued
warnings to Ahaz to trust Yahweh at a time of capricious alliances. He was
rejected and bore children as signs of the need to trust God to avoid internecine catastrophe. In a passage that was fraught with messianic signicance
for the early Church (Isa 7:14 in Matt 1:2223, Isa 8:14 in 1 Pet 2:8, and so
forth) the prophet vowed his trust in the Lord. The notion of a vow at a time
when God was hiding his face connects the Isaiah passage with the preceding psalm (22:24), and the authors addition of ego for emphasis parallels idou
ego in Isa 8:18 that follows. The connections suggest that the vow of the second quotation points to the trait of faithfulness that expressed itself in the
public praise of the rst one. Ecclesial praise is the outward expression of
faith and delity in suering that becomes increasingly important in the homily (2:17; 3:13, 19; 4:2; etc.). It is a trust that will be vindicated as proven by
the gloried Messiah.
The third quotation is introduced with repetition of palin and a rearmation of Jesus speaking. Why does the author separate consecutive verses
with the same formula of continuity? Bruce suggests: The reason no doubt
is that two separate points are being made. 62 The additional idea of children in this citation denes the sons and brothers in vv. 1011. In an important distinction for Jewish Christians in the rst century (Romans 911;
Galatians 3; John 1:13) Abrahams descendants were believing children
who faithfully trusted God in their trials. The author stopped the quotation
before the identication of children as signs in 8:18b, which would have been
unsuitable for his argument about faith. The congregation of the faithful is
a remnant that Bruce aptly calls the ekklesia of the Messiah. 63 Therefore
the ttingness of perfection through suering is the common holiness of the
same family over time that openly testies of Gods victorious salvation as the
outward expression of their abiding mutual trust.

III. THE CONTEXTUAL PRINCIPLE

Thirdly, the contextual principle is made necessary by careful literary
analysis of the text in light of its rhetorical genre and Christological themes.
We have seen on rhetorical grounds that the author adapted messianic texts
to his readers immediate needs. However uncertain the introductory issues
might be, careful study of the text leads to the conclusion that his message
is contextually clear and precisely argued. The perspicuity of the Bible has
61

C. H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures (London: Nisbet, 1952) 20.

Bruce, Hebrews 47.
63
Ibid. Cf. also G. W. Grogan, Christ and His People: An Exegetical and Theological Study of
Hebrews 2:518, Vox Evangelica 6 (1969) 6061.
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been emphasized in evangelical hermeneutical texts. This is proper, for God

intended his word for a priesthood of believers rather than a small coterie of
elite thinkers with advanced credentials. The exhortations of Hebrews afrm that truth, and its ethics are intended for all parts of the ekklesia. One
must take into account, however, the large volume of research that has resulted in a better understanding of Hebrews. We can ill aord to lose either
emphasis.
Rhetorical criticism over the past thirty years has demonstrated that the
literary structure of Hebrews is complex and elusive. Early on, the importance of the relationship between exposition and exhortation was recognized.
Modern discussion of literary structure can be dated from R. Gyllenbergs
modication of Bchsels ve-part outline that was based on the interplay
between the two genres. 64 Gyllenberg observed that, unlike expository material, the hortatory passages returned repeatedly to similar themes.65 Leon
Vaganay developed Thiens earlier proposals for a more sophisticated outline
of Hebrews central chapters. Thien had noticed that the author announced
his themes and then discussed them in inverse order. For example, at the end
of chap. 2 Jesus is called the merciful and faithful high priest. The theme of
faithfulness is discussed in 3:1 4:13, and his mercifulness is developed in
4:145:10. 66 Vaganays seminal work examined the structure of Hebrews
in light of rhetorical devices, chiey hook words, the rhetorical use of key
words to mark the transition from one block of material (usually a paragraph)
to the next one, such as angels in 1:1314; 2:2, 5, 16. As a result he modied Thiens outline into a symmetrical structure: The introduction (1:1 4) is
followed by the rst thematic section (1:52:18), a three-sectioned discussion of the Sons priesthood (3:113:21) and a conclusion (13:2225).67 A. Deschamps focused on characteristic terms, the repeated use of the same term
within blocks of discourse that identied and developed their theme and relationship to surrounding material. 68 For example, angels is used eleven
times in 1:52:16 and only twice thereafter. In this case the same term (angels) served two functions, but this is not always the case in other sections,
and other terms are characteristic of respective paragraphs in the rst section as well. Albert Vanhoye synthesized prior insights and his own rigorous
analysis to structure the homily with ve devices: announcement of subject,
hook words, change of genre, characteristic terms, inclusio. In his inuential
64

F. Bchsel, Hebrerbrief, RGG (2d ed.).

Gyllenberg, Komposition 139140. Gyllenbergs observation has carried through to the recent conclusion of Guthrie, Structure 126127: The expositional units in Hebrews, therefore, may
be said to develop logically, the central propositions of each unit building on those expositional
units which have gone before. . . . In contradistinction from the expositional material, the semantic
program of the hortatory units in Hebrews does not develop in a step-by-step argument, beginning
at point x and moving systematically to point y. Rather the hortatory aim of the discourse is executed by reiteration of certain key topics.
66
F. Thien, Analyse de Lptre aux Hbreux, RB 11 (1902) 7486.
67
L. Vaganay, Le Plan de Lptre aux Hbreux, Mmorial Lagrange (ed. L.-H. Vincent; Paris;
J. Gabalda, 1940) 269277.
68
A. Deschamps, La structure de lptre aux Hbreux, Revue Diocsaine de Tournai 9 (1954)
333338.
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and widely debated text Vanhoye armed the symmetry of Vaganays outline, polishing it with devices such as inclusio, which bracketed a pericope
of material with similar statements at its beginning and end.69 Sometimes
set over against Vanhoye is Wolfgang Nauck, who objected to the signicance
of the Stichworten as advocated by Vaganay and Spicq. Instead he used Otto
Michels structural principles and called attention to parallel passages at the
beginning and end of parenetic sections of material (1:1 4:13; 4:1410:31;
10:3213:21, the key parallels being 4:1416 with 10:1923).70 As in other
studies of Hebrews, there is no present consensus about its structure. David
Aune concluded: The structure of Hebrews remains an unsolved problem.71
The most promising study since Vanhoye and Nauck is that of George
Guthrie, whose approach has been designated discourse analysis with a
continuing focus on the transitional links. Guthrie expanded hook words,
characteristic words, overlapping passages that simultaneously conclude one
section and begin the next, parallel introductory passages, and overlapping
(or woven) themes into nine transitional techniques that are identied as either constituent or intermediary transitions. He distinguished exposition and exhortation, the urgency of the latter with warnings about
consequences for disobedience of Gods word being supplemented by progressively developed exposition of the gloried Christ. This brief summary belies
the true sophistication of recent research that commands scholarly attention
but not consensus as yet. The process has been as insightful as it has been
inconclusive in certain details, a kaleidoscope that has yielded intriguing designs with promise of more to come.
Therefore we should draw two conclusions that balance one another about
the perspicuity of Hebrews. (1) It is a written sermon that was apparently
clear to its audience, reecting the authors close relationship with them. The
mutual knowledge of author and audience about unexplained details, as in
all of the Scriptures, has left a residue of unexplained details that have tantalized subsequent generations. (2) We must distinguish levels of meaning
and understanding. We can draw an important distinction between its basic
argument and doctrinal armations, which the Church has found canonically
authoritative, and more subtle issues of author, audience and now structure
and compositional details that retain their elusive attraction. Canonical status reects the abiding ecclesial recognition of an inspired text. Hebrews was
incorporated with Pauls epistles because the Church felt its timeless power
and relevance as Gods protable sermon to a group of discouraged saints who
needed the refreshment of truths about Christs session. We have needed its
exhortations so that we can be furnished for good works in our respective
generations. Interestingly, scholarly appreciation for Hebrews has advanced
as uncertainties in details have been discussed. 72
69

Vanhoye, La structure.
W. Nauck, Zum Aufbau des Hebrerbriefes, Judentum, Urchristentum, Kirche: Festschrift
fr Joachim Jeremias (ed. W. Eltester; BZNW 26; Giessen: Tpelmann, 1960) 199206.
71
D. E. Aune, The New Testament in Its Literary Environment (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987)
213.
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We can best approach the conclusion by summarizing the hermeneutical

impact of pastoral genre, Christological focus, and contextual awareness on
our understanding of Hebrews 2. From its opening sentence the accent of the
homily is on the God who speaks, the revelation of himself in various prophetic ways until these last days when he has spoken supremely through his
Son. That unique Son now sustains all things by his powerful word, having
provided for purication for sins and taken his seat (cf. 10:12) as priest-king
at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (1:3). The supreme revelation and
gloried priest-king is proleptic of the sermon to follow, the rhetorical announcement of the subjects to follow. 73 As the argument unfolds, alternatively
God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit authoritatively speak to the troubled saints
through the inspired text until the climactic warning: Be careful that you
do not disregard the one who is speaking (12:25).
The initial comparison argues the superiority of the Son to angels. From
its introduction in 1:4, angels is used ten of twelve times (only 12:22 and
13:2 elsewhere) in the rst section (to 2:16) as a characteristic term as well
as a hook word (1:4, 14; 2:2, 5). Two inclusios or repeated expressions mark
o 1:513 and 2:516 as paragraphs, bracketing the rst warning passage
(2:1 4). The inclusios are to which of the angels has God said . . . and for
it is not to angels that he. . . .
The rst paragraph uses seven quotations in a chain as an emphatic way
of arming that the Son is to be worshiped as God rather than as an exalted
angel. 74 The rst pair would have proven his fullling sonship, the second
pair would have demonstrated the subservience of angels to the Son, the
third pair armed the eternity of his reign, and the seventh quote (Ps 110:1)
introduced royal motifs that are developed throughout the homily.75 Verbally
and conceptually it links the chain with the following quotation of Ps 8:46.
A rhetorical question even places angels as servants of redeemed brethren,
who are being prepared to share Messiahs glory in 2:1016.
The warning in 2:1 4 is an appeal from the lesser to the greater (the qal
wahomer principle) to show the serious consequences of neglecting the gospel. 76 Generally the Son superior to the angels theme (1:514) had
presented the evidences for the a fortiori conclusion that neglect of their
great salvation would bring disastrous consequences.77 The Law, which had
been mediated by angels, would have had lesser consequences than salvation
72
Lindars comment is representative: The opening chapter, with its measured phrases and
balanced clauses, describing Jesus as the culmination of the prophetic revelation and raised to the
rank of divine Sonship above the angels, is enormously impressive (Theology 3).
73
The initial sentence, four verses long, was written in periodic style. It organizes a number of
clauses and phrases into a well-balanced, artistic unity with a denite beginning and ending. Periodic style was commonly used in oratory. Though rare in the NT, such stylistic elegance is relatively frequent in Hebrews (1:1 4; 2:2 4, 1415; etc.). Cf. BDF 242; Aristotle Rhetoric 3.9, 1409a.
74
For the background problem of the Son relative to angels see Lane, Hebrews 1.8.
75
M. Barth, The Old Testament in Hebrews: An Essay in Biblical Hermeneutics, Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation (ed. W. Klassen and G. F. Snyder; New York: Harper, 1962)
6365; J. P. Meier, Structure and Theology in Hebrews 1, 114, Bib 66 (1985) 168189; J. W.
Thompson, The Structure and Purpose of the Catena in Heb. 1:513, CBQ 38 (1976) 352363.
76
Cohn-Sherbok, Paul 126.

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through the Son, which is expressed in juridical language as having been

authenticated by God himself. The emphasis is on spoken revelation (we have
heard), connecting with the preceding paragraph, while the warmth of the
rst-person pronoun suggests the following paragraphs.
Psalm 8:46 is then quoted to transition to a twofold midrashic exposition on the suering and consequent glory of the Son (Heb 2:59) and the
solidarity of Jesus with Gods sons in their suering and glory to come (2:10
18). Jesus transcendent dignity as divine ruler is made compatible with the
human condition by his incarnation and death. God is using that pattern to
form a family of faithful brethren to inherit the world to come (cf. the city
to come in 13:14) in fulllment of Gods mandate for human dominion at
creation (Gen 1:2628). The emphatic We do not see. . . . But we see is noteworthy because it brings self-evident identication and immediacy to the authors audiences natural response to broken expectations. This rhetorical
strategy is consistent with the homily as a whole. In the form of homiletical
midrash, the author calls attention to the hook word (hypotassein) and the
twin ideas of dominion/subjection that link Heb 1:13b with 2:5, 8 (about
which we are speaking from 1:67). 78 He highlights the complete subjection
of earthly aairs to humanity in v. 8 and the representative fulllment of
the decree in Jesus, who attained glory by graciously suering for his sons.
Thus the author transitions to the next paragraph with the hook words
suering and glory in 2:910. 79 In In 2:1016 the Son is vividly pictured
as the le-leading champion of Gods sons, leading them to perfection (2:10)
out of slavery to the fear of death (2:15) by making atonement for their sins
and sharing their temptations in suering. 80 The thematic words are family
terms and death (2:9, 1415), which lead to the end of the section with the
hook word angel (2:16).
Verses 1618 are a major sectional transition, summarizing the preceding
paragraph and introducing the priestly section to follow. God has not given
angels an imperial destiny over creation (2:5) or salvation (v. 16), but he will
give his Son and faithful remnant both. To lead and intercede for Abrahams
family, the Son had to experience complete (a theological equivalent would
be substitutionary) human solidarity, excepting sin with his brothers. Using
the device of inversion, he calls for his brothers and sisters to persevere in
their eschatological pilgrimage under their merciful (4:145:10) and faithful
priest-king (3:1 4:13). Christs example as le-leader looks to the crowning
77
The connections between the catena and the warning have been convincingly discussed by
G. Hughes, Hebrews and Hermeneutics: The Epistle of Hebrews as a New Testament Example of
Biblical Interpretation (SNTSMS 36; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1979) 79.
78
On the apostolic interpretation of the relationship of Psalm 8 to 110:1 to Christs exaltation
see G. Delling, hypotasso, TDNT 8.41 42; S. Kistemaker, The Psalm Citations in the Epistle to
the Hebrews (Amsterdam: G. van Soest, 1961) 103106.
79
Cf. Vanhoye, La structure 7980, on the symmetry of the paragraph.
80
The necessity of the Sons identication is grounded in the language; cf. O. Procksch, hagios,
TDNT 1.103: The verb hagiazein (Hb. 2:11; 9:13; 13:12 f.; cf. 10:10, 14, 29) is here used, which
expresses expiatory sanctication by the sacrice here oered in Christ. Only he who himself is
hagios, whether it be God, priest or victim, can exercise hagiazein. Hence Christ as hagiazon (Hb.
2:11) must Himself be hagios. Cf. also Heb 10:110; Rom 12:12.

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exempla of the sermon in chaps. 1213: Now faith celebrates the reality [of
the blessing] for which we hope, the demonstration of events yet unseen.
If we think of Hebrews in terms of concentric circles of understanding, we
have come full cycle with hermeneutical certainties at concentric center and
challenges that blur peripheral boundaries. The paper began with a summary
of well-known uncertainties, moving from the outside circles inward. The
most noteworthy of these are authorship and audience, which are important
hermeneutical guidelines in most texts. Lesser known problems among the
general public, such as the bearing of rhetorical ndings on the structure of
the homily, were introduced and discussed at some length.
We now ask: Does it make a substantial dierence whether we treat
Hebrews as an epistle or a sermon? 81 The answer is very little at the level
of basic themes and doctrinal truths. We have seen, however, that hortatory
passages like 6:46 may be understood best in the practices of ministry,
where the spiritual maturity of people aects the ability of the Church to
work with them.
On the other hand, if we speak of grammatical hermeneutics in terms of
literary structure and style, then studies of the Hellenistic Jewish-Christian
homilies have enhanced our understanding of literary details and transitions
in the text. Insights that can be gleaned from a sermonic genre can make us
more at home with the sometimes uneasy marriage between academic and
pastoral concerns. The authors skillful blend of exhortation and exposition
contains a warning that we too can think well and behave poorly. He keeps
Gods authoritative word before us, so that in the pressures of trials we can
be encouraged by the examples of the Church and her Lord rather than
focusing inward, as our narcissistic society would exhort us, to circumstances
that are usually lled with complexity and enigmas. Studies of rst-century
sermonic style have forced us to adjust our expectations about how they
might have expressed themselves and used OT precedents. In summary, the
issues and principles of this paper make a dierence in how we understand
and apply Hebrews: Certainly an accurate assessment of a books structure
is vital for an assessment of that books meaning. 82
If we speak of historical in terms of setting and approaches to apostolic
issues, then recent studies in Hebrews have reminded us of how imprecisely
modern some of our so-called precise studies have been. I have thought about
insightful proposals of reengineering seminaries in a more pastoral direction
and have imagined that the author, whoever he might have been, must be
smiling with some vindication in heaven, singing praises in the congregation
for the measure of godly maturity and pastoral concern that the Church will
need in this postmodern, global village. 83
The authors eschatological-messianic use of the OT is a perpetual reminder of the messianic dimensions of the older covenant that escape more
81

The question should not imply mutual exclusivity.

Guthrie, Structure xvii.
83
For example T. Morgan, Re-engineering the Seminary, Christianity Today 38 (October 12,
1994) 7478.
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casual treatments. As scholars have reminded us, the author was a literal interpreter in a rich, nontriing sense. I think of the three-dimensional books
that are capturing the publics fancy. Ones rst impression of the images is
a strange, mottled design that everyone can see. There is beauty and attraction in these patterns. With deeper perception, however, one can see several
levels of depth and vivid images and gures that make each page an adventure. I would like to say analogically that Hebrews is like those threedimensional pictures. The author has given all believers a unique Christology
with profound implications for daily behavior. But the depth of his homiletical artistry still captivates the Church. He has exemplied the inspiration
and authority of the text in a way that is alive, powerful and penetrating.
He leads his readers beyond his homily to the unifying foundation of apostolic Christology, which also appears in Acts and in our Lords own OT
hermeneutic in Luke 24.
Finally the uncertainties of introductory issues lead us to the certainties
of the text, the contextual principle. One of the most signicant benets of
contemporary studies has been a rearmation of the integrity of the homily. F. C. Synge attempted to disconnect the expository and hortatory materials by attributing them to two independent sources that were fused by the
author. 84 This paper and the sources on which it is based demonstrate the
vanity of the proposal. The authenticity of chap. 13 has been questioned as
well. 85 Lanes recognition of the precision of the author has led him to the
following conclusion:
Methodologically, an argument for the integrity of a composition is advanced
most eectively by proceeding from an assumption of coherence and allowing
that assumption to be tested as rigorously as possible. The argument will be
vindicated when the text yields better sense in its constituent parts and as a
whole than when a contested unit of material is regarded as intrusive, poorly
integrated, or corrupt. It will be shown in the commentary that chap. 13 transmits an essential message that can scarcely be separated from the concerns
and conceptual themes expressed in Heb. 112. 86

We should now be sensitive to key terms, overlapping themes, and rhetorical strategies that relate the various parts of the sermon to its tightly
woven arguments. The result is not a new Christianity but a new apprecia84

F. C. Synge, Hebrews and the Scriptures (London: SPCK, 1959) 4352.

G. W. Buchanan, To the Hebrews (AB; Garden City: Doubleday, 1972) 229245.
86
Lane, Hebrews 1.lxviii. Cf. also Guthrie, Structure 134: However, these concerns have been
soundly answered by drawing attention to vocabulary, uses of the Old Testament, conceptual ties
with the rest of the book, patterns of argumentation, structural patterns, and literary style, all of
which witness to the homogeneity of the chapter with the previous twelve chapters.
85

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tion for the beauty, artistry and timeless relevance of pastoral love for
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