Inter-Varsity Press

Contents

Introduction

I. Authorship and Canonicity

• A. Paul
• B. An Associate of Paul

1. Barnabas

2. Apollos

3. An Unknown Author

II. The Situation of the Recipients

III. Destination

IV. Date

• A. Hostile Actions against the Community
• B. The Destruction of the Temple
• C. The Development of Early Christianity

V. Genre

VI. Structure

• A. Conceptual (or Thematic) Analysis
• B. Rhetorical Analysis
• C. Literary Analysis
• D. Discourse Analysis

1. George H. Guthrie

2. Cynthia Long Westfall

3. Our Structure

VII. Exposition, Exhortation, and Purpose

VIII. Hebrews in Its First-Century World

• A. Philo, Alexandria, and Platonism
• B. Gnosticism
• C. Palestinian Jewish Writings

IX. Christian Origins

• A. Pauline Christianity
• B. Jewish Christianity

COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS

I. Introduction: God’s Final Word to Us in His Son, 1:1-4

II. The Position of the Son in Relation to That of Angels, 1:5–2:18

• A. The Son Superior to Angels, 1:5-14
• B. Warning: Do Not Reject the Word Spoken through God’s Son, 2:1-4
• C. The Son for a Time Lower than the Angels, 2:5-9
• D. The Son Became Lower in order to Suffer for the Sons, 2:10-18

III. Fix Your Attention on Jesus — A Warning against Unbelief — A Promise of Entering God’s Rest, 3:1–4:13

• A. Jesus, the Supreme Example of the Faithful Son, 3:1-6
• B. Warning: Avoid Israel’s Example of Unbelief, 3:7-19
• C. The Promise of Rest for Those Who Persevere in Faith, 4:1-13

1. Let Us Make Every Effort to Enter God’s Rest, 4:1-11

2. Consider the Power of God’s Word, 4:12-13

IV. Since We Have a Great High Priest, Let Us Hold Fast and Draw Near, 4:14-16

V. The Son’s Appointment as Unique High Priest, 5:1–7:28

• A. Introduction: The Son, Taken from among Men and Appointed according to the Order of Melchizedek, 5:1-10

1. Qualifications for High Priesthood, 5:1-4

2. Christ’s Qualifications for High Priesthood, 5:5-10

• B. Warning and Encouragement: The Peril of Apostasy, 5:11–6:12

1. The Problem with the Community—Spiritual Immaturity, 5:11-14

2. Let Us Move On to Maturity, 6:1-3

3. A Stern Warning about the Dangers of Apostasy, 6:4-8

4. An Encouragement to Persevere, 6:9-12

• C. God’s Promise Our Basis of Hope, 6:13-20
• D. The Superiority of Melchizedek, 7:1-10
• E. The Superiority of Jesus, High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, 7:11-28

1. The Order of Melchizedek Replaces the Order of Aaron, 7:11-19

2. The Superiority of the New Priesthood: The Divine Oath, Its Permanence, and the Character of Jesus, 7:20-28

VI. The Superior Offering of the Appointed High Priest, 8:1–10:18

• A. The More Excellent Ministry of the Heavenly High Priest, 8:1-6
• B. The Superiority of the New Covenant, 8:7-13
• C. The Superiority of the New Covenant Offering, 9:1–10:18

1. The Sanctuary under the Old Covenant, 9:1-10

2. Decisive Cleansing through the Blood of Christ, 9:11-28

a. Christ’s atoning death has secured an eternal redemption, 9:11-14

b. Christ the mediator of the new covenant, 9:15-22

c. Christ’s perfect sacrifice, 9:23-28

3. The Consummate Sacrifice, 10:1-18

a. Shadow and reality, 10:1-4

b. Sacrifice versus obedience, 10:5-10

c. The finality of Christ’s priesthood, 10:11-14

d. The finality of Christ’s sacrifice, 10:15-18

VII. Since We Have Access to God through Christ’s Sacrifice, Let Us Draw Near and Hold Fast, 10:19-25

• A. Let Us Draw Near to God, 10:19-22
• B. Let Us Hold Unswervingly to the Hope We Possess, 10:23
• C. Let Us Encourage One Another, 10:24-25

VIII. A Call to Perseverance and Faith, 10:26–12:29

• A. A Warning against Apostasy and a Summons to Perseverance, 10:26-39

1. A Stern Warning: The Danger of Rejecting God’s Son, 10:26-31

2. Remember the Past and Persevere, 10:32-39

• B. Positive Old Testament Examples of Faithful Endurance, 11:1-40

1. Faith in the Unseen, 11:1-7

2. The Faith of Abraham and His Descendants, 11:8-22

3. The Faith of Moses, 11:23-31

4. Further Examples—Those Who Endured through Faith, 11:32-40

• C. Let Us Run the Race with Endurance, Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus, 12:1-2
• D. Endure Discipline as Children, 12:3-17
• E. You Have Come to the Heavenly Zion, 12:18-24
• F. A Final Warning: Do Not Reject the One Who Speaks from Heaven, 12:25-29

IX. Concluding Exhortations, Final Prayers, and Greetings, 13:1-25

• A. True Service to God Involves Serving His People, 13:1-6
• B. Instructions for the Congregation, 13:7-19
• C. Prayer and Doxology, 13:20-21
• D. Personal Notes, Greetings, and Benediction, 13:22-25

Introduction

Hebrews is a magnificent New Testament document. It is carefully constructed and beautifully written, theologically profound and powerfully argued. It challenges our understanding of reality and makes us ‘ponder a world in which the unseen is more real, more powerful, and more attractive than that which can be seen and touched and counted’. The letter that wonderfully portrays Jesus as Son of God and great high priest, who is both human and divine, the crucified and exalted one, also makes stringent demands on its readers in relation to Christian discipleship. It summons believers, just as it did the first listeners, to ‘unqualified commitment, unflagging perseverance and a willingness to suffer’ for one’s faith.

For contemporary readers, however, Hebrews is one of the most difficult New Testament books to understand, and as a result it has often been neglected. Old Testament quotations and allusions abound while details about Israel’s priesthood and sacrificial system dominate much of the book. Many of the author’s arguments employ typological similarities that are difficult to grasp — for example, between old and new, temporal and eternal, or earthly and heavenly (note the comparison between Christ and Melchizedek in Heb. 7). Further, although the arguments seem to be based on careful reasoning, they are often detailed and extensive, so that it is difficult to see how the author moves from one argument or stage to the next. The insertion of repeated exhortations seems, initially at least, to interrupt the overall flow of the discourse. At a personal level, Christians throughout history have been unsettled by the warning passages of the book (2:1-4; 3:7–4:11; 6:4-8; 10:26-31; 12:25-29]) since they seem to contradict assurances and promises elsewhere, and suggest that believers can ‘fall away’ from Christ.

Other features make Hebrews a difficult and challenging document. It is grouped among the letters of the New Testament, but its form initially suggests that it is not a letter. It begins without an opening prayer for grace or peace, and there is no introductory thanksgiving or blessing. Unlike other letters in the New Testament (except 1 John) and many epistles of the Graeco-Roman period, its author does not identify himself or the people addressed. Instead, Hebrews opens with a majestic sentence celebrating the dignity of the Son of God, through whom God has spoken his final word in these last days (1:1-2). On the other hand, the document ends like a letter, with its benediction, personal remarks, and final farewell (Heb. 13:20-25). The author speaks of his discourse as ‘a word of exhortation’ (13:22). But what is meant by this? Is it a homily or a series of homilies that has been written as a rather anomalous letter?

Further, Hebrews remains elusive because its setting in life is uncertain. We do not know who wrote the book, the location and date of its composition, or the situation of those addressed. Although there has been an amazing increase in knowledge about the Graeco-Roman and Jewish cultures in recent decades, so that we are better placed than previous generations, many of these questions cannot be answered with certainty.

COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS (Extract from Introduction)

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

1In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but 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. 3The 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. 4So 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.

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. …

Reviews

David Peterson — Moore Theological College

"Peter O'Brien has produced an engaging new commentary on Hebrews that will be of particular benefit to preachers, teachers, and students. Using insights from discourse analysis, he explains how shifts in the argument take place and clarifies the way exposition and exhortation function together to achieve the author's aim. Although there are detailed discussions of technical matters at critical points, these do not disturb the flow of the commentary."

Paul Ellingworth — University of Aberdeen

"O'Brien's commentary on the letter to the Hebrews is a balanced and comprehensive assessment of current work on the epistle, together with many fresh insights. The text of the commentary is clear, both in detail and in its general structure. . . . I cannot commend this work too highly."