author’s actual discussion of Christ’s role as a covenantal mediator, he does not explicitly mention angels, but his use of λειτουργία in reference to Christ’s mediation (8:6) echoes what he has said about them in the catena (1:14). The inner dynamic of Hebrews’ thought world connects angels with the later argument even though they are not mentioned explicitly. In ch. 1, as the author is drawing the audience into his “rhetorical world,” he pits Christ against the angels in the most general way—as