Hebrews

An Introduction and Study Guide

Patrick Gray and Amy Peeler

LONDON · NEW YORK · OXFORD · NEW DELHI · SYDNEY

T&T CLARK

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in Great Britain 2020

Copyright © Patrick Gray and Amy Peeler, 2020

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ISBN: HB: 978-0-5676-9481-2

PB: 978-0-5676-7475-3

ePDF: 978-0-5676-7476-0

ePUB: 978-0-5676-7477-7

Series: T&T Clark’s Study Guides to the New Testament

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T&T CLARK STUDY GUIDES TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

Series Editor

Tat-siong Benny Liew, College of the Holy Cross, USA

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1 The Argument of Hebrews: God Speaks

2 The Argument of Hebrews: Priesthood and Covenant

3 The Holy Spirit in Hebrews

4 The Reception History of Hebrews

For Further Study

Bibliography

Index

Preface

This volume offers a concise introduction to one of the most daunting texts in the New Testament. The Letter (or Sermon?) to the Hebrews has inspired many readers with its encomium or tribute to faith, troubled others with its hard sayings on the impossibility of a second repentance, and perplexed still others with its exegetical assumptions and operations drawn from a cultural matrix that is largely alien to modern sensibilities. Long thought to be Paul, the anonymous author of Hebrews exhibits points of continuity with the apostle and other New Testament writers in the letter’s (or sermon’s) vision of life in the light of the crucified Messiah, but one also finds distinctive perspectives in such areas as Christology, eschatology, and atonement.

The introduction surveys the salient historical, social, and rhetorical factors to be considered in the interpretation of Hebrews. Chapter 1 provides a brief commentary on the text. Chapter 2 discusses recent scholarship on the teaching of Hebrews ...