WORD

BIBLICAL

COMMENTARY

VOLUME 47a

Hebrews 1–8

WILLIAM L. LANE

General Editors

David A. Hubbard†

Glenn W. Barker†

Old Testament Editor

John D. W. Watts

New Testament Editor

Ralph P. Martin

WORD BOOKS, PUBLISHER • DALLAS, TEXAS

Word Biblical Commentary

Hebrews 1–8

Copyright © 1991 by Word, Incorporated

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Word biblical commentary.

Includes bibliographies.

1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected works.

BS491.2W67 220.7′7 81-71768

ISBN 0-8499-0246-0 (vol. 47A) AACR2

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary are from the New International Version of the Bible, copyright © 1973 by New York Bible Society International, or are the author’s own. The author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading “Translation.”

To

the Memory of My Mentors

Glenn W. Barker

a commanding presence in the classroom

a creative theologian

and a man radiant for God

who fashioned me as a teacher

and taught me to delight in Scripture

and

Ned B. Stonehouse

a commanding presence in the forum

an engaging teacher

and a man valiant for faith

who encouraged me to be a commentator

and taught me to listen to the text

Editor’s Note

For the convenience of the reader, page numbers for both volumes of this commentary on Hebrews (47A and 47B) are included in the Contents. Page numbers for the volume in hand are printed in boldface type, while those for the other volume are in lightface.

In addition, all of the front matter from Vol. 47A but the Introduction has been repeated in Vol. 47B so that the reader may have abbreviations, bibliography, and other pertinent information readily at hand.

Table of Contents

Editorial Preface

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations

Commentary Bibliography

Main Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The Writet

Intended Audience

Profile of the Audience

Past Stance and Present Crisis

The Social Location of the Intended Audience

Circumstances and Date of Composition

Circumstances of Composition

Date of Composition: General Considerations

The Edict of Claudius

Integrity

Genre

The Homily or Sermon Form

Defining the Genre

Reflections of the Genre

Rhetorical Analysis

Discourse Analysis

Literary Structure

Early Suggestive Approaches

The Synthetic Approach of A. Vanhoye

The Tripartite Scheme of W. Nauck

The Absence of a Consensus

Addendum: The Text-Linguistic Approach of G. H. Guthrie

Purpose and Plan

Conceptual Background

Proposals of Non-Christian Backgrounds

Proposals of Christian Backgrounds

Importance and Appropriation of the Old Testament Text

The Function of OT Texts in the Structure of Hebrews

The Extent of the Writer’s Indebtedness to the OT

Primary Sources for the Writer’s Theology

Mode of Citation

The Writer’s Preferred Text

The Writer’s Appropriation of the OT Text

Hebrews and Judaism: Faith, Polemic, And Pastoral Strategy

The Central ...