As I am writing this, I am getting ready to teach Hebrews in two different settings. As part of my preparation, I decided to read the book in Greek. Well, that turned out to be a tough bite. I have read the book in Greek before, so I should have been prepared, but perhaps I suppressed memories of the earlier experience!
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Language Used
This must be the hardest Greek in all of the New Testament: sophisticated, polished, cultured, complicated. The consensus among scholars is that Hebrews contains the finest Greek in the NT (so Witherington 2007: 39). Just look at these word counts (ibid.):
- 4942 words total
- 1038 different words
- 169 appear only once in the NT (so-called hapax legomena)
- 90 are used only in one other NT book
- 10 not found in Greek literature before Hebrews
We don’t know his name, but the author had quite a vocabulary.
[I don’t want to say much about the question of authorship. Today’s consensus is that it was not Paul; Paul writes differently, and Hebrews 2:3 does not fit Paul. Other than that, we only have guesses: Apollos, Barnabas, Luke, Aquila, … Apollos is interesting; he was a Jew from Alexandria and is described as “an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). But then, we don’t know how eloquent other people mentioned in the NT were, not to mention the many active Christians whose names did not make it into the NT. Bottom line is, we do not know who wrote Hebrews.]
Here is another indication of the rich language used. I drew up a list of all the warnings or dangers in the book. There is quite a spread of terms used, ranging from relatively mild to severe. On the mild end of the spectrum, we have words like drift (Heb. 2:1), neglect (Heb. 2:3), sluggish (Heb. 5:11 and 6:12), and grow weary (Heb. 12:3). On the harsh end, the author warns against an evil, unbelieving heart (Heb. 3:12), keeping on sinning deliberately (Heb. 10:26), refusing (Heb. 12:25), and three different combinations with the verb to fall (Heb. 3:12, 4:11, 6:6) – and in Greek, three different verbs for to fall are used.
I drew up a second list with terms used for what the author wants the readers to do instead, to avoid or counter the dangers of the first list.
For the remedy, the author uses more than 20 different terms and phrases, most of them only once. Encourage (once as a noun, Heb. 6:18, and once as a verb, Heb. 10:25) and to endure/endurance are repeated, and so is hold fast or firm. The latter phrase appears five times (Heb. 3:6, 3:14, 4:14, 6:18, and 10:23). However, two different Greek verbs are used. In addition, the object is different every time: the readers are told to hold fast:
- our confidence and our boasting in our hope (Heb. 3:6)
- our original confidence (Heb. 3:14)
- our confession (Heb. 4:14)
- the hope set before us (Heb. 6:18)
- the confession of our hope (Heb. 10:23)
Obviously, it is a similar idea throughout, but the author finds a different formulation every time. His language is rich indeed.
Rhetoric Structure and Strategy
Hebrews also stands out for its brilliant use of ancient rhetoric (for an introduction to this subject, see my introduction to the use of rhetoric in the NT). Likely, the author had gone through formal training in this area.
There were different kinds of rhetoric, serving different purposes. Often in the NT, we meet with deliberative rhetoric. The author aims to change the minds and behaviour of his audience. Good examples are Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians.
There are also examples of epideictic rhetoric (from a Greek word meaning to display or to show). Ephesians for instance. And above all, Hebrews. Epideictic rhetoric is not out to persuade people to change their minds. It does not seek to prove a thesis (therefore, we have no thesis statement). Rather, it is concerned with praise or blame, and shows what is praiseworthy (or not), in order to bolster identity and allegiance. It is the form you might use on a national holiday.
This kind of rhetoric assumes that people are in basic agreement with the author but may need to be reminded to strengthen faith and commitment to the values and convictions they share:
We need to keep steadily in view that the function of praise and blame of any topic was to motivate the audience to continue to remember and embrace their core values (involving both ideology and praxis) and avoid slipping into blameworthy beliefs and behaviors. (Witherington 2007: 52)
Synkrisis. One way Hebrews does this is through the device of synkrisis, a comparison of, in this case, the new and preferred option with the old. Point by point, we learn why the new, or Jesus, is so much better than the old: angels, Moses, Joshua’s rest, priesthood, tent, sacrifice.
We should not conclude from Hebrews that the old sacrificial system and the old covenant were therefore poor or worthless. The strongest synkrisis compares the preferred option with something good and worthwhile, and shows it is even better. (Point in case: “Jesus is better than vinegar” is not saying much; “your love is better than wine” – now that makes a point.) The old system put in place by Moses was the best available option – until Jesus.
Scripture. Hebrews is not simply a speech put in writing; it is a sermon. The author himself calls it a “word of exhortation”, and a brief one at that (Heb. 13:22; one wonders what a lengthy word of exhortation would have looked like). The backbone of Hebrews is a significant number of quotations from Scripture. He starts off with a chain of seven quotes in chapter 1. After this, there are seven passages he interacts with more intensively (although many more are quoted or alluded to); these seven are listed below.
The most important passage, by the way, appears to be Psalm 110. I counted 13 allusions to Psalm 110. It would be worth an issue of CALS in its own right; it is where the author found the idea of Melchizedek and a way for Jesus to be a priest without tracing his descent to Aaron and the tribe of Levi.
The exposition of Scripture is interchanged with exhortation (as it should be in a good sermon). This exhortation, no doubt, is the real aim of the author and therefore dominates toward the end of his text.
(Re-)statement. It is easy to lose the thread of a sermon, especially one this long and this dense. Helpfully, the author states and summarizes his main point in three places:
Hebrews 4:14-5:1 // Hebrews 8:1-3 // Hebrews 10:19-23
I print them in full, with repeated terms in bold:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Heb. 4:14-5:1 ESV)
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. (Heb. 8:1-3 ESV; notice that the priesthood of Jesus is the main subject until chapter 8; from chapter 8 onward, the main subject is the better covenant, the true tent, and above all the better sacrifice)
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Heb. 10:19-23 ESV)
The first and the last of these three re-statements bracket the central part of the book (Heb. 5:1-10:18), which is almost entirely exposition. It is here that we learn to understand Jesus as high priest as well as the superior sacrifice that he brought.
Unique Theology
With all its eloquence, Hebrews makes a unique and significant contribution to our understanding of Jesus and the cross. About a year ago, I finished a rather extensive series on the atonement, compiling models and explanations for the death of Christ on the cross. Hebrews gives us two of these that we don’t find elsewhere.
The obvious one is Jesus as the high priest who brings the perfect and perfecting sacrifice. The second one is that Jesus is the forerunner, pioneer, and way maker who makes a way through death. He tastes death for all of us (Heb. 2:9) and destroys the one who has been using the power of death to keep us in lifelong slavery through the fear of death (Heb. 2:14f).
In the process, the author also gives us the key to understanding the entire sacrificial system of the old covenant – and provides a plethora of reasons to run the race with endurance, all the while keeping our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1f).
He certainly looms large in Hebrews.
Attribution
Chamb, Jovyn. 2019 <https://unsplash.com/photos/iWMfiInivp4> [accessed 29 October 2021] CC0
edmondlafoto. 2018 <https://pixabay.com/photos/paris-festival-france-july-14th-3568523/> [accessed 29 October 2021] CC0
Radford, Stephen. 2016 <https://unsplash.com/photos/86QxYjwq8LU> [accessed 29 October 2021] CC0
References
All Bible quotations from: The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles)
Witherington, Ben. 2007. Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Hebrews, James and Jude (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, UK: IVP Academic; Apollos)