Hot answers tagged hebrews
17
The author of Hebrews is quoting Habakkuk 2:4 from the Septuagint (as opposed to the Hebrew.)
In the Hebrew, this part of the verse would literally translate something like this:
"Behold the scornful; his mind shall not be happy" (Stuart)
(Part of the difficulty in translating Heb. 10:38 is that this is an English translation of a Greek interpretation ...
8
I believe the reason for that is because the author of Hebrews was quoting Psalm 8:6, which uses the plural pronoun, and the NIV 2011 translation committee likely was attempting to line the quote up with the original verse. However, the singular pronoun is used in the Greek for this passage in Hebrews 2:8. It appears that all of the pronouns are singular ...
8
Several techniques that people use to establish literary dependence include:
Identical passages of several words or more
Unusual or unexpected words matching (especially usages that are idiosyncratic to one of the authors)
Overal structure matching
Matches in narrative or parenthetical material (this precludes the possibility that both are just quoting the ...
7
Hebrews 5:8 does not imply that Jesus was disobedient. Philippians 2:8 (ESV) reads,
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Both of these verses teach us that it was God the Son who had no need of obedience before becoming a man. Once he did become a man there were things ...
7
(I wrote this in an essay on Hebrews a few years back, and this was also asked here)
Origen (185-254 CE) in the East has been quoted as saying that God only knows who wrote the Epistle although he also suggested that Paul was the author (Robertson, 1932). Hippolytus (170-236 CE) from Rome denied it was written by Paul. Tertullian (160-220 CE) in North ...
7
Authorship of Hebrews
Expansion of Pauline Authorship
The only overt clue as to the authorship is the reference to Timothy in Hebrews 13:23. This, in addition to the Eastern/Alexandrian tradition of Pauline authorship, led many to believe that Paul was the author. This is supported by significant uncial evidence that places Hebrews with other Pauline works ...
6
I like Origen's comment on the authorship of Hebrews:
But as for myself, if I were to state my own opinion, I should say
that the thoughts are those of the apostle [Paul], but that the
diction and phraseology are those of someone who wrote down at his
leisure what had been said by his teacher. Therefore, if any church
holds that this epistle is ...
5
I would suggest that propitiation, expiation and mercy seat are all viable options. My reasoning is based on theological and linguistic insights.
I subscribe to the linguistic theory of signs and signification. Words are considered signs and their meaning is derived (signified) by the real word entities they point to. When we communicate using the word ...
5
"Propitiation" is the preferred choice of the two since it addresses both the context and the theology of the act. The meaning of propitiation is actually more forceful than how it is normally translated, as "appeasing." Instead, it's more in line with specifically being the object of the direct wrath of the deity in question (in the Greek mind) for ...
5
Let us consider first the merits of Rachab:
She was an outsider, a non-Jew, yet she recognized the God of Israel as true. It's hard enough for members of a community to act on their faith sometimes, and yet she did it from outside, without any of the usual societal support. And aligning with the people of Israel due to faith in God is quite novel at this ...
5
I Sam 12:11 in 4QSam Frg.d has only the word "Jerubal", the rest of the verse is missing.
Leningrad and Allepo have "...Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel...", same in Brenton's English LXX.
RASHI says Bedan is Samson as he was "in [the tribe of] Dan" ("b'Dan") or "of the tribe of Dan" ("ben Dan").
The targum has "...Gideon and Samson and Jephtah ...
5
Implicit in the question is another question - do the NT authors serve as a model for interpretation of OT texts?
I think the short the answer is 'not necessarily'. Both the OT and NT authors spoke from God by the Holy Spirit - they both spoke into particular contexts, and with their own particular styles, but they did not need to perform exegesis on other ...
5
The Greek word used in Hebrews 6:4 is φωτισθέντας which is pronounced "phōtisthentas." This word looks nothing like the Greek word for "baptize"-βαπτίζω. I cannot address if the Syriac words for "enlightenment" and "baptism" look alike and would be likely to cause confusion.
What I do know is that textual criticism, the art/science of determining the ...
4
As GalacticCowboy's answer suggests, the phrase seems to be related to commissioning elders. Given that Paul was a student of Gamaliel (Acts 22) and the author of Hebrews seems deeply knowledgeable about Jewish sacrificial rites and uses arguments similar to Paul's in Galatians, it seems possible that both are referencing the rabbinic practice of semikhah ...
4
This is not the standard word for fear, which would be phobos. Rather eulabeia, ultimately comes from the verb lambano, which has various meanings, but here captures the meaning of "to take."
Eulabeia has at its root the meaning of to take hold of, in the sense of devotion, taking hold of God. It is not a fear based thing, but a conscious choice. Examining ...
4
In John Owen's introduction on his commentary on Hebrews, who argues against every known argument against Paul's authorship, concluding it was Paul, list a few of the other candidates. I very briefly summarized Owen's argument for Paul's authorship here. Why Paul probably wrote Hebrews.
These are the early candidates raised under this controversy:
...
3
I think Monica has a superb answer so I do not intent to supplant her, but perhaps supplement.
Rahab has a couple of notable mentions in the New Testament: Hebrews 11 (which you've identified) and James 2. James 2 is almost more shocking than Hebrews 11 since she's held on par with Abraham as an example of saving faith.
Looking back at the actual story in ...
3
In 1 Timothy 5:22, the context (starting from verse 17) appears to be focused upon the appointment of elders (presbuteros). It seems from various passages (Acts 6:6, 13:3; 1 Timothy 4:14) that this act (laying on of hands) symbolized the dedication or commissioning of an individual to a task - in this case, leading the church.
2 Timothy 1:6 apparently ...
3
For what it's worth, Matthew uses the same approach with the Prophets.
For example:
Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."
pulls a phrase from the middle of
Isaiah ...
3
Hebrews has long been associated with Paul, though, as you say, the Greek style and the focus are different.
The combination of literary Greek and knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures indicates the author was probably a Greek-speaking Jew.
A few apostles and teachers mentioned in the book of Acts fit this profile:
Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36)
...
3
The steps for determining a solution are these:
Assume that Scripture does not contradict scripture.
Now consider what alternate solutions to the problem exist within scripture
The Scriptures do not Self-Contradict
Disobedience of parents would be sin.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the LORD thy ...
3
Internal Evidence is really hard to use to establish a claim for such a thing. It is too subjective and, as such, is most helpful for corroborating External Evidence.
The Greek in Hebrews is good - so Luke is a candidate. However, the content is decidedly Jewish, which Luke never really demonstrates as something about which he has tremendous grasp ...
3
Passages like this illustrate that hermeneutics as it is practiced is not a science, since the results are not reproducible. Determining the meaning of this (nor any) passage cannot be done in isolation of what the rest of scripture says.
If one has concluded from the rest of scripture that salvation cannot be lost, then this passage is made to support it ...
3
I hate to dump a lengthy quote here, but I have a great scholarly resource available on the meaning of this word that gives TONS of extrabiblical quotations. Here are a bunch of places it occurs in other literature:
συνείδησις, εως, ἡ (συνεῖδον)
① awareness of information about someth., consciousness (Democr.,
Fgm. 297 σ. τῆς κακοπραγμοσύνης; ...
2
Meaning of this passage
The purpose of this passage is a call, a warning, to avoid apostasy. This passage is very clearly saying that people who have received God's blessings should not turn away from God and that if they do, they will never be able to again receive God's blessings.
"Fallen Away"
This passage is a call to avoid apostasy.
The one who ...
2
Beyond all possible doubt, the context is Christ as a High Priest. This is clear by a cursory review. Therefore, As we approach the High Priest's ministry we need to identify the prayers and supplications he performed -- then how they were answered.
The day of atonement brings the high point of this ministry into view. There were three beasts to be ...
2
The λογος του θεου (word of God) here is probably referring to the message that was spoken. While at this place in the letter it could possibly be ambiguous, in 13:7 it's difficult to see how the same phrase could be understood as referring to Christ. That said, one of the major themes of Hebrews is the close relationship between God and his word, such that ...
2
According to Liddell and Scott's lexicon, ἀρχηγός can mean1:
I. beginning, originating a thing, c. gen.
II. as Subst., like ἀρχηγέτης, founder, of a tutelary hero.2
2. a prince, chief.
3. a first cause, originator.
Of particular interest is "II. founder". Founders of companies and other institutions often get an extra level of respect. For ...
2
One thing to keep in mind when drawing up a list of candidates is that we don't know the names of the vast majority of 1st century Christians. There's a very good chance that the author of Hebrews is not anyone we've ever heard of otherwise. No one thinks we know the name of the author of the Didache or 1 Clement (I'm picking non-canonical examples to avoid ...
2
The ones you have in bold are from two Psalms which were considered to have Messianic applications by the writer of Hebrews. He was arguing from the nature of Messiah that he was greater than angels. It seems that at the time the recipients of the letter had a high view of angels as above every possible person outside of God himself. As the writer really ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
