The Letter to the Hebrews (The Pillar New Testament Commentary (PNTC)) - Hardcover

O'Brien, Peter T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802837298 ISBN 13: 9780802837295

Publisher: Eerdmans, 2010

Synopsis

In this carefully crafted commentary Peter O'Brien distinctively harvests the results of recent scholarship on the letter to the Hebrews, especially in relation to the genre of the document and the flow of its discourse. This volume is purposely neither unduly technical nor unhelpfully brief. Its careful exegesis and exposition combined with its theological richness and warm devotion will fruitfully serve pastors, teachers, and students everywhere.

About this title

About the Author

Peter O'Brien is senior research fellow in New Testament, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Letter to the HEBREWS

By PETER T. O'BRIEN

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Copyright © 2010 Peter T. O'Brien
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-3729-5

Contents

Editor's Preface.................................................................................................................................xiAuthor's Preface.................................................................................................................................xiiiAbbreviations....................................................................................................................................xvSelect Bibliography..............................................................................................................................xviiiINTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................1I. Authorship and Canonicity.....................................................................................................................2II. The Situation of the Recipients..............................................................................................................9III. Destination.................................................................................................................................14IV. Date.........................................................................................................................................15VI. Structure....................................................................................................................................22VII. Exposition, Exhortation, and Purpose........................................................................................................35VIII. Hebrews in Its First-Century World.........................................................................................................36COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS............................................................................................................................44I. Introduction: God's Final Word to Us in His Son, 1:1-4........................................................................................44II. The Position of the Son in Relation to That of Angels, 1:5–2:18........................................................................63III. Fix Your Attention on Jesus — A Warning against Unbelief — A Promise of Entering God's Rest, 3:1–4:13.....................125IV. Since We Have a Great High Priest, Let Us Hold Fast and Draw Near, 4:14-16...................................................................179V. The Son's Appointment as Unique High Priest, 5:1–7:28...................................................................................187VI. The Superior Offering of the Appointed High Priest, 8:1–10:18..........................................................................286VII. Since We Have Access to God through Christ's Sacrifice, Let Us Draw Near and Hold Fast, 10:19-25............................................360VIII. A Call to Perseverance and Faith, 10:26–12:29........................................................................................371IX. Concluding Exhortations, Final Prayers, and Greetings, 13:1-25...............................................................................502I. Subjects......................................................................................................................................542II. Authors......................................................................................................................................550III. Scripture References........................................................................................................................556IV. Extrabiblical Literature.....................................................................................................................590

Chapter One

Hebrews 1

I. INTRODUCTION: GOD'S FINAL WORD TO US IN HIS SON, 1:1-4

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

Hebrews begins with a magnificent opening that sets the program for the whole discourse. The author moves from God's past revelation, from his word to the Old Testament 'fathers', to his definitive and final revelation in his Son, Jesus Christ. What God has spoken in the Son is continuous with and the climax of his word uttered in earlier times. The Son who is the supreme revealer of God has finished the work of atonement and enjoys a status more glorious than that of the angels.

The author uses elegant language in this 'majestic overture' which is both 'rhetorically eloquent' and theologically full to overflowing. The opening lines command attention and engage a listener or reader immediately. Unlike other New Testament letters (except 1 John), Hebrews does not mention a sender, addressees, or words of greeting, and this has led many to conclude, particularly in the light of the author's description of his writing as a 'word of exhortation' (13:22), that it is a written sermon rather than a letter (see Introduction, 20-22).

But the document ends like a letter, with its mention of the author's hope of being restored to the readers (13:19), news of Timothy (v. 23), an exchange of greetings (v. 24), and its final prayer (v. 25). It seems appropriate to speak of Hebrews as an 'epistle' or 'letter' since this was a very broad category in the New Testament period, and because it has been classified as a letter for most of its history. This 'word of exhortation' or sermon was probably delivered and read aloud as a letter, and thus should be understood from an oral and a written perspective. When first read to the congregation, it was meant to be heard as a discourse and experienced as a whole in its unfolding.

The opening paragraph is a carefully crafted sentence that encapsulates many of the key themes that will be developed in the following chapters. In the original Greek, this multi-clause sentence (vv. 1-4) is built around the principal clause, God ... has spoken to us by his Son — an 'initial affirmation [that] is basic to the whole argument of this epistle, as indeed it is basic to Christian faith'. The author focusses first on the divine revelation (vv. 1-2a) and then on the person, work, and status of God's Son (vv. 2b-4). The decisive nature of God's eschatological saving action in and through Christ is thus powerfully asserted.

Recent study of vv. 1-4 has suggested that this majestic opening is symmetrically balanced, even broadly chiastic. D. J. Ebert has taken this a step further and shown that a precise chiastic pattern may be identified in these verses:

A vv. 1-2a The Son contrasted with prophets B v. 2b The Son as messianic heir C v. 2c The Son's creative work D vv. 3a-b The Son's threefold mediatorial relationship to God C' v. 3c The Son's redemptive work B' v. 3d The Son as messianic king A' v. 4 The Son contrasted with angels.

According to this structure, the central lines (D: vv. 3a-b), which 'emphasize the Son as God's supreme self-expression', portray him 'in his fundamental relationship to both the Father and the universe'. Ebert claims that these key statements at the centre of the chiasmus provide 'the theological basis for the Son's unique ability to be the supreme revealer of God and mediator of the new covenant'. Significantly, in vv. 1-4 the four verbs that lead to the centre of the chiasmus have God as their subject; from this point to the end of the sentence there is a change to the Son as subject. Moreover, at the centre there is a shift in emphasis from the cosmological to the soteriological: compare vv. 2b-c with vv. 3c-d (note the similar shift in Col. 1:15-20 at v. 18).

The lines immediately around the centre (C and C') announce what has been 'made' in relation to the Son: through him God made the world (v. 2c); and the Son (himself) made cleansing for sin (v. 3c). The next lines (B and B') allude to Old Testament messianic psalms: whom he appointed heir of all things (v. 2b) is a reference to Psalm 2:8, while he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven (v. 3d) refers to Psalm 110:1. Elsewhere in Hebrews the author specifically connects these psalms to show that the Son (Ps. 2) is also high priest (Ps. 110). Finally, the framing members of the paragraph (A and A') contrast the Son with other members of divine revelation: God's 'word in the Son is compared with his former word through the prophets' (vv. 1-2a), and 'the Son is declared to be superior to the angels, the supreme messengers of the OT' (v. 4). The latter prepares for the argument that picks up immediately in v. 5.

The prologue establishes the framework of continuity and discontinuity which is so important to the exposition and exhortation that unfold. It also lays out in magnificent fashion the dignity of the Son and his priestly work (purification for sins, v. 3) effected through his exaltation into God's presence.

Some have claimed that Hebrews 1:3 was a hymn to Christ known in the community to which Hebrews was addressed. The shift in subject from God (v. 2) to Christ (v. 3) and the more elevated style suggest this. Balanced clauses that describe the Son are introduced by the relative pronoun 'who' which is typical of hymnic passages (note Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 3:16), and along with unusual vocabulary, such as radiance, exact representation, purification, and sustaining, have suggested that the author was citing a source. Further, the passage describes the movement of the Son from his preexistence to his sharing in humanity and exaltation, a progress similar to that in other so-called hymnic passages. But there are good reasons for thinking that this paragraph stems from the author. There is not a sharp break between vv. 2 and 3, and while some of the vocabulary is distinctive, none of it appears in other New Testament hymnic texts, making it less likely that the author was quoting a source. It is perhaps more accurate to speak of v. 3 as including traditional elements within it.

1-2a Hebrews begins by powerfully proclaiming the decisive nature of God's saving action in and through Christ. God has spoken — first to the fathers through the prophets and finally in his Son. Fundamental to the author's argument is the conviction that God has not remained silent but has taken the initiative and revealed himself. This revelation is presented by means of four parallel contrasts, relating to the eras, the recipients, the agents, and the ways in which God has spoken. These contrasts, however, are not absolute. They draw attention to two stages of the divine revelation that correspond to the Old and New Testaments respectively. It is the same God who speaks in both and the same message of salvation that he offers. 'What God has done in Christ is the climax of what he had begun to do in earlier times'. Accordingly, there is continuity within the contrasts, and this emerges again and again throughout Hebrews.

The first stage of divine revelation was in the past (v. 1), that is, during Old Testament times when God's word was addressed 'to the fathers'. This common expression is not restricted here to the biblical patriarchs, but designates all the people of God under the old covenant. Later Hebrews will present these ancestors as positive and negative models of Christian obedience to God's word (chaps. 3, 4, and 11). In this context, however, as recipients of that earlier divine word, they stand in contrast to us, that is, the author and his listeners.

God's authoritative word to these ancestors was addressed through the prophets. If this instrumental understanding of en tois prophetais is correct, and the parallel by his Son suggests that this is so, then the expression is best taken broadly to include all those through whom God spoke, from the patriarchs through Moses, Joshua, David, and the classical prophets. Lane, however, thinks that since the locus of God's spoken word for the author of Hebrews was the Scriptures (he normally introduces passages from the Old Testament as God's direct speech: e.g., 1:5-13; 5:5-6; 7:17, 21), it is possible that the phrase may actually signify 'in the prophets' writings', namely, the Old Testament Scriptures themselves. There is no exact New Testament parallel to the use of the prophets alone to refer to Scripture as a whole, and the corresponding by his Son, as indicated, may suggest the phrase is instrumental, meaning 'by or through the prophets'. But for the author of Hebrews what God said through the prophets is to be found in the Old Testament Scriptures. The distinction between the persons and their writings in this context should not be pressed: 'The term in the plural may also refer to the very texts of Scripture that report all these acts of revelation, and thereby also reveal them'.

Moreover, the divine revelation of old came 'in fragmentary and varied fashion' (NEB). The two Greek adverbs polymeros and polytropos have a powerful rhetorical effect in the original: they are emphatic by their position, length, and alliteration with the initial letter 'p'. Some translations and interpreters understand the first adverb in a temporal sense (e.g., at many times, TNIV), but polymeros, in fact, means 'in many parts or pieces', indicating that God spoke to the ancestors in a piecemeal or fragmentary fashion. (The only temporal adverb in v. 1 is palai, in the past, and it stands in contrast to the temporal and eschatological expression of v. 2a, in these last days). Polytropos means 'in many ways', and suggests the variety of ways in which God spoke. The opening paragraph does not spell out how this revelation in Old Testament times was fragmentary and diverse, but it would presumably include God's address in mighty works of mercy and judgment, the meaning and purpose of which he made known through his prophets; his word in storm and thunder to Moses (Exod. 19:17-25; Deut. 5:22-27; to which allusion is made in Heb. 12:18-24); the still small voice to Elijah (1 Kings 19:12); along with his speaking through priest and prophet, sage and singer.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Letter to the HEBREWSby PETER T. O'BRIEN Copyright © 2010 by Peter T. O'Brien. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802837298
• ISBN 13: 9780802837295
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 630