The Letter to the Hebrews: Some Basics

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews describes it as a "word of exhortation," a sermon (13:22). The anonymous writer was a thoroughly-Hellenized Jewish Christian steeped in the language of the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Also trained in rhetoric, he wrote some of the finest Greek to be found anywhere in the New Testament.[1] Hebrews bears a number of marks suggesting it was written to a house church in an urban setting, perhaps Rome. Like the writer, the intended audience had roots in the Hellenistic synagogues of the Jewish Diaspora. The congregation had endured persecution for their Christian faith and, in the eyes of the author, had now become spiritually sluggish. They were in danger of drifting away from their commitment.[2] The community stood in need of pastoral rebuke and encouragement, which is exactly what this sermon in written form was intended to provide.

Notes

[1] William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8, Word Biblical Commentary 47A  (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1991), xlvii-li.

[2] Ibid., liii-lx. For this reconstruction of the historical situation, Lane points to passages like Hebrews 2:1, 5:11, and 10:32-35.

Tabernacle Furnishings in Exodus and Hebrews

According to the instructions found in the Book of Exodus, the Tabernacle contained seven ceremonial items. Chapter 25 details four of these furnishings: the ark of the covenant, its atonement cover, in some translations called the mercy seat, which was graced by two cherubim, the table of the bread of presence, and the menorah, sometimes called the lampstand or candlestick). Subsequent passages describe the three remaining items: the altar of burnt offering (27:1-8), the altar of incense (30:1-10), and the brazen laver or basin (30:17-21). In the closing chapter of Exodus, the God of Israel gives Moses specific directions for setting up and consecrating the Tabernacle (40:1-33). Notably, this passage refers to each of the seven items described in the earlier sections of the book.

In the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, the author draws parallels between the Mosaic tabernacle and "the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man" (8:2, NIV). Chapter 9 mentions specifically the lampstand, the table, the altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, and the atonement cover (9:2-5), but not the two items that stood outside the tent of meeting, in the tabernacle courtyard: the brazen laver and the altar of burnt sacrifice.

The Heavenly Tabernacle in Hebrews 8 and 9

In Hebrews 4:14 through 7:28, the writer draws an extended comparison between the priests of Israel, especially the high priests, and Christ, who is portrayed as a superior high priest. 7:26 through 8:2 provides a fitting summary of the previous section and an introduction to the next. The passage refers to the superior sacrifice of Christ, the better covenant that God inaugurated through Christ, and the heavenly sanctuary in which Christ serves as the perfect high priest:

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man  (7:26--8:2, NIV).

Those verses lead directly into the discussion in chapters 8 and 9, where the author compares the literal tabernacle, constructed by the ancient Israelites under the direction of Moses, and a heavenly tabernacle. Later in this section, the author refers to the "first tabernacle," implying that there is a second (9:8). Finally, he speaks of "the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands" (9:11).

Getting a Handle on Hebrews

In the New International Version of the Bible, the New Testament contains forty-one occurrences of the word better. Of those occurrences, eleven, more than one fourth of the total, appear in the book that was known in the Early Church as To the Hebrews. The word superior occurs five times among the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Three of the five occurrences of superior are in Hebrews.[1]

The relatively high frequency of better and superior in the Epistle to the Hebrews points to the author's use of comparisons. He sets out to compare God's dealings with the human race in two different periods of time, specifically before and after the redemptive work of Christ. The first four verses of the epistle point to its before-and-after perspective:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 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. 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. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs (Heb. 1:1-4, NIV).

As the writer explains, prior to the coming of Christ, God spoke to humanity "through the prophets." But ever since the Incarnation, the same God has been speaking to humanity "by his Son." The superiority of the messenger, Jesus Christ, implies the superiority of the dispensation in which the readers are living, the Christian age.

So, if the people of God prior to the time of Christ were expected to devote themselves to the Lord and to their covenant obligations, how much more should believers living in the Christian age devote themselves to following the ways of God? To use the language of Hebrews, if the message from God before the coming of Christ "was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" (2:2-3).

These patterns of both continuity and discontinuity permeate the rhetoric of the Epistle to the Hebrews and provide a key to understanding its content.[2] 

Notes

[1] Word statistics are taken from the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, ed. Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999). Still one of the better discussions of the title of this book in the ancient church is provided by Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 2nd ed. (London: Macmillan and Company, 1892), xxvii-xxx.

[2] The discussion here of comparisons and of patterns of continuity and discontinuity in the Epistle to the Hebrews was informed mainly by Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), ch. 20 titled "The Letter to the Hebrews."