Appropriating Hebrews's Scriptural Hermeneutic

Just published:

 

Dana M. Harris and J. David Stark. Appropriating Hebrews's Scriptural Hermeneutic for the Twenty-First Century. T&T Clark.

Description:

Twenty-first-century readers cannot interpret Israel's Scriptures identically to how the author of Hebrews did. The contours of twenty-first century worldviews are too different. That said, Hebrews invites those who “read after” it (in time) also to “reading after” it (in approach). For those who accept this invitation, this volume's essays surface four clusters in the overall mosaic of Hebrews's approach to Israel's Scriptures. First, Hebrews explicitly, if briefly and partially, states its hermeneutic orientation to Israel's Scriptures. Second, Hebrews understands history through the proclamation that the author accepts and commends about Jesus. Third, this proclamation creates numerous other implications that Hebrews may or may not explicitly state but that nonetheless shape how the author interprets his Scriptures. And fourth, Hebrews's exhortation fosters faithfulness in its audience through both encouragements and warnings drawn from Israel's Scriptures. Attention to Israel's Scriptures in light of these clusters helps readers to understand these Scriptures not identically to Hebrews's author but in the same way as that author-namely, in the way marked out by Jesus for those who would “come after” him.

 

What Is Man?

Abeneazer Urga: "What Is Man? African Traditional Religions, Christianity & Hebrews 2."

Hebrews Highlights - November 2025

Ken Schenck tries to put Hebrews into narrative form:

     Part 1: The Story of Hebrews

     Part 2: The Cast of Characters

     Part 3: Hebrews 13:22–25: The Context of Hebrews at Corinth/Ephesus

     Part 4: Hebrews Closing Clues (13:1–19) 

     Part 5: The Main Takeaway of Hebrews (4:14–16; 10:25–31) 

 

In How to Think about Hebrews's Use of Israel's Scriptures J. David Stark informs us of a forthcoming book by him and Dana M. Harris: Appropriating Hebrews's Scriptural Hermeneutic for the Twenty-First Century.

 

Cliff Kvidahl has some thoughts on Hebrews 2:17–18 in A Merciful and Faithful High Priest

Impossible to Be Restored?

I was waiting to get a copy of the book to see if it was worth posting about. Turns out this is an academic treatment of the topics of temptation and apostasy in the Book of Hebrews. 

 

Marcus A. Mininger. Impossible to Be Restored? Temptation and Warning in the Epistle of Hebrews. New Studies in Biblical Theology 64. Apollos/B&H Academic, 2025.

 

"The letter to the Hebrews contains and engages with some of the most perplexing passages of Scripture. Temptation and apostasy provide one way of reading this New Testament book. This volume in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series examines the Letter to the Hebrews, what temptation its audience was facing, and what Hebrews meant when it warned that some who fall away cannot be restored to repentance."

 

 

The Letter to the Hebrews according to the Oldest Papyrus

I want to thank Jordi Cervera for the gift of this beautiful book:

 

Rodolf Puigdollers i Noblom and Jordi Cervera i Valls. La Carta als Hebreus segons el Papir Més Antic. Centre de Pastoral Litùrgica, 2025.

 

Translation of the blurb:

"The edition of the Letter to the Hebrews that we offer in this volume was born from the conviction that biblical texts should not only be read and meditated on, but that it is also appropriate to approach them materially in their manuscripts – nowadays accessible in digital form – and to feel, if possible, the texture and shapes of the papyrus or parchment, and enjoy their studied calligraphy. Likewise, to savor the words in their sonority and their semantic content. For these reasons, we have started from a specific manuscript: Papyrus 46, dated around the year 200 AD, which is the oldest preserved of the Letter to the Hebrews. The New Testament writing is considered a brilliant homily that stands out for its literary and theological excellence, good and offering a precious content that is worthy of deeper study. It is with this enthusiasm that we offer this volume to the reader, with the conviction that 'appreciating the text directly' will discover the light of the most primitive and simple faith, which presents, according to the most original confessions of faith, Jesus, the Son of God, as the one who is God and Lord."

 

The book contains full-color pictures of the Chester Beatty Papyrus (P46) with transcriptions of the text in Greek and facing translation in Catalan. It also has notes on the Greek text and a commentary. When I have more time I will post pictures and comment further on this book.

Hebrews at the 2025 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting

2025 SBL Annual Meeting
November 22–25, 2025

Boston, MA

S22-123
Hebrews Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM
Marriott Copley Place - New Hampshire (Fifth Floor)
Open Session 1
Presider: Eric Mason (Saint Xavier University, Chicago)

Albert Coetsee, North-West University, South Africa
“Let All God’s Angels Worship Him”: The Entrance Motif in Hebrews 1:6b (30 min)

Michael Francis, The Catholic University of America
Figuring Ritual and Moral Impurity in Hebrews (30 min)
 

Carlos Garcia Alayon, University of Notre Dame
Heavenly Ritual in Hebrews: A Spectrum of Ritualized Behavior (30 min)

Biao Liu, Wheaton College
A “Heavenized” New Cosmos: Revisiting the Cosmic Eschatology of Hebrews 12:25–29 (30 min)

S22-204
Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Seminar
1:00 PM–3:30 PM

Analytical Seminar

This year’s analytical seminar features two commentators: Chris Holmes (Commentary on Hebrews) and Russ Sisson (Commentary on Q).
Presider: Donghyun Jeong (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary)
 

Christopher Holmes, First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
Commentary on Hebrews (40 min)

S22-214
Gospel of Luke Section and Hebrews Section
1:00 PM–3:30 PM
Hynes Convention Center - 104 (Plaza Level)

Hebrews and the Gospel of Luke: Exploring Common Themes
 

Amy Peeler, Wheaton College
The Humanity of the Son of God in Luke and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Nick Moore, Cranmer Hall, Durham University
The Event of the Ascension in Luke-Acts and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Chicago Theological Seminary
Mining the Maternal (30 min)
 

Julie Leyva, Duke University
Son of Adam, Son of God: Jesus the Son in Luke and Hebrews (30 min)
 

Panel Discussion (30 min)

S24-123
Homiletics and Biblical Studies Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM

 

Kyoohan Lee, Liberty University John W Rawling School of Divinity
Rabbinic Rhetoric and Crescendo of Creation: Hermeneutical Rhetorical Interpretation and Homiletical Application of the Old Testament Citation Strategy in Hebrews 1:5–14

S24-226
Nature Imagery and Conceptions of Nature in the Bible Section
1:00 PM–3:30 PM

 

William Horst, Fuller Theological Seminary
Above and Below: The Terrestrial Sphere and the Epistle to the Hebrews (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Integrating Discussion (10 min)

S24-330
Hebrews Section
4:00 PM–6:30 PM
Marriott Copley Place - Arlington (Third Floor)
Open Session
Presider: Cynthia Westfall (McMaster Divinity College)

Marlon Lahope, Wheaton College
Constructing Identity, Creating Family: A Reading of Hebrews 2:5-18 in the Greco-Roman Context (30 min)

Daniel Smith, Saint Louis University
The Israelite Wilderness Generation as (Negative) Paradigm in Hebrews 4:11 (30 min)
 

Jihyung Kim, McMaster Divinity College
Situating the Heroes of Faith within Israel’s Wilderness: Hebrews 11 through the Lens of Social Memory (30 min)
 

Rebecca Muir, Ridley College Melbourne
The Perfection and Faithfulness of Jesus in Hebrews: Joining the Dots in Recent Scholarship (30 min)

George Guthrie, Regent College
Ordination as an Interpretive Frame of Reference in Hebrews (30 min)

S25-118
Intertextuality in the New Testament Section
9:00 AM–11:30 AM

Nicholas Mariakis, University of St Andrews
The Aqedah in Hebrews 11 and the Primary Colors of Resurrection in Genesis (30 min)

Hebrews at the Evangelical Theological Society 2025 Meeting

Evangelical Theological Society

November 18–20, 2025

Boston, MA

 

Tuesday

 

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

General Epistles

 

9:50 AM - 10:30 AM
Herb Bateman
(Independent Scholar)
Is a Systematic Theological Understanding about the Holy Spirit imposed on Hebrews?

10:40 AM - 11:20 AM
Adam Harwood
(New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary)
The Relation of the Unpardonable Sin of the Gospels and Hebrews 6

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

Church History

 

10:40 AM - 11:20 AM
Arthur Rankin
(New College, Edinburgh)
Christ the Fulfiller of the Covenant: Christology and Covenant in Calvin’s Hebrews Commentary

9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

Practical Theology

 

11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
Rebecca Muir
(Ridley College)
The Christian Community as a Resource for Suffering Christians in Hebrews

 

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

Spiritual Formation/Sanctification

 

1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Christy Gonet
(California Baptist University)
Holding Fast and Drawing Near: Sancti!cation in Hebrews

 

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

Scriptural Use of Scripture

 

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM
George H. Guthrie
(Regent College)
Has Our ‘Reading Backwards’ Approach to Hebrews Been Framed?

1:30 PM - 4:40 PM

New Testament

Studies in Hebrews

Moderator: Charles Savelle
(Dallas Theological Seminary)

1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Andrew Jennings
(Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Athens Meets Jerusalem: Melchizedek and a Biblical Model for Philosophical Theology
 

2:20 PM - 3:00 PM
Jihyung Kim
(McMaster Divinity College)
Why the Tabernacle, Not the Temple? Hebrews’ Strategic Use of Wilderness Memory
 

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM
Michael Cha
(Dallas Theological Seminary)
Hebrews 7-10 and Ezekiel’s Temple: An Originalist Exposition
 

4:00 PM - 4:40 PM
James N. Beevers
(Westminster Theological Seminary)
The Root of Apostasy: Hebrews 12 and the Reception of Deuteronomy 29:18–19

Wednesday

8:30 AM - 11:40 AM

African Biblical Studies

Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter from Majority World Perspectives

 

Moderator: Elizabeth Mburu
(Africa International University; Langham Publishing)
8:30 AM - 8:50 AM
Craig Keener
(Asbury Theological Seminary)
8:50 AM - 9:10 AM
Craig Blomberg
(Denver Seminary)
9:10 AM - 9:30 AM
Ahreum Kim
(University of Cambridge)
9:40 AM - 10:00 AM
Vuyani Sindo
(George White!eld College, Cape Town, South Africa)
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Miguel Echevarría
(Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Sofanit T. Abebe
(Trinity College Bristol, UK)
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Abeneazer G. Urga
(Evangelical Theological College; Ethiopian Graduate School
of Theology)
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
Panel Discussion and Q&A

3:00 PM - 6:10 PM

New Testament Greek Language and Exegesis

 

3:00 PM - 3:40 PM
Adam Wiggins
(Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
God, Christ, and the Many Sons: A Linguistic Analysis of Sonship in Hebrews 2 and 12

Thursday

1:00 PM - 4:10 PM

A Response to Reading the General Epistles Missiologically

 

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM
Amy Peeler
(Wheaton College)
A Response to Reading Hebrews Missiologically

Encountering Jesus in the Book of Hebrews

Congrats to Mike on his recent publication:

Michael Kibbe. Life in a Lifeless World: Encountering Jesus in the Book of Hebrews. IVP Academic.

 

"Discover the Depth of the Book of Hebrews

In a world that often feels inhospitable to life, the original recipients of Hebrews found themselves struggling to maintain their faith against the pressures of doubt and despair. Likewise, modern believers face similar trials as they seek to live out their faith in a broken world.

Life in a Lifeless World is a deep exploration of the book of Hebrews, perfect for pastors, teachers, scholars, and lay readers seeking a deeper understanding of this complex epistle. Many Christians feel overwhelmed by Hebrews' intricate allusions to the Old Testament and its cryptic imagery, unsure of how to extract practical applications from its teachings. In Life in a Lifeless World, biblical scholar Michael Kibbe guides readers through these challenges with clarity and insight, bridging theological depth with meaningful, practical application.

Life in a Lifeless World demystifies Hebrews with accessible language and reflection questions ideal for sermon preparation or small group discussions. Discover how Hebrews invites us not only to survive but how to become conduits of Christ's life to those around us. This thought-provoking book promises to deepen your understanding of Hebrews and inspire you to live faithfully in today's challenging world.

What You'll Find

• Clear explanations of Hebrews’ complex themes and imagery
• Reflection questions ideal for personal study or group discussions
• Guidance for persevering in faith amid life's challenges
• Tools for applying Hebrews in sermons, small group discussions, or academic settings

Whether you're preparing a sermon, leading a class, or seeking personal spiritual growth, Life in a Lifeless World illuminates Hebrews with fresh clarity. Discover how Michael Kibbe reveals the book of Hebrews' message of perseverance and hope, and delve into this compelling epistle to explore both its meaning and powerful inspiration for living fully in a world that often feels lifeless. Begin your deep and rewarding exploration of Hebrews today!"

HT: Michael Kibbe

Review of Gelardini, Deciphering the Words of Hebrews

Christopher T. Holmes reviews Gabriella Gelardini, Deciphering the Worlds of Hebrews: Collected Essays in RBL.

Description:
"In the collection entitled Deciphering the Worlds of Hebrews Gabriella Gelardini gathers fifteen essays written in the last fifteen years, twelve of which are in English and three in German. Arranged in three parts (the world of, behind, and in front of Hebrews’s text), her articles deal with such topics as structure and intertext, sin and faith, atonement and cult, as well as space and resistance.

She reads Hebrews no longer as the enigmatic and homeless outsider within the New Testament corpus, as the “Melchizedekian being without genealogy”; rather, she reads Hebrews as one whose origin has finally been rediscovered, namely in Second Temple Judaism."

A Hypertextual Commentary on Hebrews and Revelation

Bartosz Adamczewski. Hebrews and Revelation: A Hypertextual Commentary. Peter Lang.

Summary:
"This monograph demonstrates that the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation are results of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the Acts of the Apostles. In both cases, this detailed reworking consists of around 700 strictly sequentially organized conceptual and often also linguistic correspondences to Acts. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Acts explains numerous surprising features of both Hebrews and Revelation. Critical explanations of such features, which are offered in this monograph, ensure the reliability of the new solution to the problem of the identities of Hebrews and Revelation, as well as their relationships to the Lucan, post-Pauline school of literary-theological production."

The Pauline History of Hebrews

Warren Campbell. The Pauline History of Hebrews. Oxford University Press.

"The Letter to the Hebrews is a confounding book in the New Testament. For one, it is not really a letter. Nor is the author of this indistinctly-titled letter named or identified. In fact, many of the rudimentary questions surrounding its intended audience, date, and provenance seem impermeable.

Undeterred by these gaps, critical scholars have been transfixed by the anonymity of this text for more than just a few centuries, posing solutions with no foreseeable consensus. This historical-critical tradition has produced a litany of candidates for the author of this "letter" who now live on as customarily recycled ideas in obligatory "Introductory" genres for work on Hebrews.

Rather than see anonymity as an unresolved problem, as a lack in the text that needs to be resolved, Warren Campbell embraces anonymity as a vantage point from which to observe the Pauline history of the Hebrews in a new way -- that is, how Hebrews was made to be Pauline. It moreover discusses how later readers variously configured Paul's Jewishness in light of having this epistle in their collection of Pauline letters. It also takes up a crucial point in the critical study of Hebrews by exploring how prefacing Hebrews in the manuscript tradition functions as a reading guide that predetermines the purpose and function of Hebrews. In this groundbreaking and thoroughly researched book, Campbell brings to bear new material on the memory of Paul's Jewishness, helping to start to lay the groundwork for a more nuanced and perceptive understanding of the Letter to the Hebrews."

A New and Living Way: Christ in Hebrews

Kevin B. McCruden. A New and Living Way: Christ in the Letter to the Hebrews. Paulist Press.

 

"In A New and Living Way: Christ in the Letter to the Hebrews, Kevin B. McCruden invites readers into a rich theological and pastoral reflection on one of the most distinctive portrayals of Jesus in the New Testament. With scholarly insight and accessible prose, McCruden explores how the Letter to the Hebrews presents Jesus as the eternal high priest―one who is both exalted in divine glory and deeply in solidarity with human suffering.

Drawing on contemporary biblical scholarship and ancient literary context, McCruden illuminates Hebrews' dynamic balance between Christ's divinity and humanity. He shows how the letter's priestly Christology was shaped to encourage a marginalized community struggling to remain faithful, and how its message continues to speak powerfully to the needs of Christian readers today.

This volume bridges academic rigor with pastoral sensitivity. It is ideal for students, ministers, and all who seek a deeper understanding of the theological beauty and enduring relevance of Hebrews."

Heavenly Space in Hebrews

I missed the rollout date on this. This was newly published in July:

 

Stephen C. Wunrow. Heavenly Space in Hebrews and Its Jewish and Christian Environment: Passing through the Heavens. T&T Clark.

 

Description:

"Stephen Wunrow addresses the pressing question of what the author of Hebrews meant by his descriptions of heaven, arguing that the author intended his references to heavenly space to be interpreted as realistic descriptions of a real place. Wunrow posits that language about heaven is neither metaphor nor a description of a “place” outside the creation, by examining other early Jewish and Christian texts that narrate or describe humans ascending into heaven. Given the nature and the function of heavenly space as described in these texts, Wunrow suggests it is most probable that the authors of the texts intended their descriptions of heavenly space to be understood as realistic.

Wunrow thus explores 1 and 2 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 and 3 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Testament of Levi, the Testament of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and Revelation; investigating how other roughly contemporary authors described heavenly space, and considering that the rhetorical aims of most of these authors fail unless their readers understand their descriptions of heavenly space in realistic ways. Turning then to examine Hebrews, Wunrow suggests that while the letter does contain unique features and rhetorical aims, it also fits comfortably with other early Jewish and Christian texts that describe humans ascending into heaven in a realistic manner. He concludes with reflections on how this conclusion helps to clarify other topics in Hebrews, including atonement and eschatology."

A Social Identity Commentary on Hebrews

Just published:

 

Matthew J. Marohl. Hebrews: A Social Identity Commentary. T&T Clark.

 

Description:

"In this volume, Matthew J. Marohl introduces a culturally sensitive reading of Hebrews employing a social identity approach. This allows readers to encounter a unique and powerful depiction of the faithful Jesus and a dynamic group of Christ-followers called upon to maintain their faithfulness. In the end, this social identity approach reveals a work with two strands thoroughly intertwined.

Through the lens of conceptual blending theory, Marohl examines the way in which the author combines the multiple identities of the addressees, shedding light on the community dynamics of early Christ followers. Marohl explores how the author describes ingroup boundaries, how faithfulness is held up as the ultimate ingroup norm, and how the promised rest is grounded in the language of the anticipated future. Ultimately, Marohl argues that Hebrews is a prime example of literature created out of crisis."

 

Hebrews within Judaism

The Enoch Seminar is doing a three-day virtual conference on "Reading the New Testament within Judaism?" The "conference will discuss the following questions: Why do you think that text x should or should not be within Judaism? What are the criteria for determining that a text is or is not within Judaism? What changes when a text is read within Judaism?"

For our purposes the Hebrews session is on:

Tuesday September 16, 2025
11:30 am – 1:45 pm EST 

Presenters: 

Madison Pierce | University of St. Andrews, Scotland
Amy Peeler | Wheaton College, USA
Eric Noffke | Facoltà Valdese, Italy
Jean-Claude Verrecchia | Newbold College, UK
John Goodrich | Compass Bible Institute, USA
Simon J. Joseph | UCLA, USA

Discussants: 

Gabriella Gelardini | Nord University, Norway
Eric F. Mason | Saint Xavier University, Chicago, USA
David deSilva | Ashland Theological Seminary, USA

New Article on the Tabernacle in Hebrews

Greene, Judson D. “Reading the Tabernacle in Hebrews 9:6–10.” Novum Testamentum 67 (2025): 58–78.

Abstract:

"While some argue the tabernacle in Hebrews 9:6–10 represents limited access to God, this article argues the tabernacle represents both the old covenant’s limitations and the new covenant’s privileges. The holy place and tamid represent the old covenant era and its sacrifices, while the holy of holies and Yom Kippur represent the new covenant and Jesus’ sacrifice. Further, Hebrews 9:8 alludes to Leviticus 16:17, which stipulates that the priests cannot perform tamid while the high priest performs Yom Kippur. Analogously, while Jesus ministers as the new covenant high priest, the old covenant sacrifices cannot be performed. In this way, the biblical author can illustrate the superiority of Jesus’s sacrifice and the end of the old covenant’s sacrifices by capitalizing on the logic of the old covenant’s sacrificial system."

Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews

Just published:

Seth Whitaker. Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews: Songs for the Last Days. Bloomsbury T&T Clark.

Description

Seth Whitaker argues that the Psalm texts function as the structural and theological backbone of Hebrews from start to finish, and that few scholars have examined the use of Psalms outside of quotations or connected the author of Hebrews' use of Psalms with his broader eschatological outlook. Whitaker suggests that the author's eschatology is his dominating exegetical assumption, allowing numerous psalms to be read with multiple meanings.

Whitaker further suggests that Psalms, for the author of Hebrews, not only provide messianic material for his exegetical commentary, but also speak to a deeper interpretive tradition that is detectable through scriptural allusions, shared motifs, and narrative structures. Whitaker examines three passages of Hebrews, 1:5–13, 12:18–28 and 13:15, which correspond to three perceived gaps in scholarship: the relationship between quoted texts, the author's cultural encyclopedia, and the function of scriptural allusions. By focusing on Psalms and the eschatological nature of the author of Hebrews' exegesis, Whitaker concludes that readers will be better suited to situate Hebrews in relation to other Second Temple and early Jewish interpretive traditions.

A New Dissertation on the Warning Passage in Hebrews 5:11–6:8

A new dissertation:

Carruthers, Ross J. “The Warning Passage in Hebrews 5:11–6:8: A Paradigm Shift in Interpretation and Its Ramifications.” PhD diss., Australian University of Theology, 2025.

New Articles and Dissertation Added

Thanks to the bibliography provided by Abeneazer Urga, I am able to add several new articles and a dissertation to my pages:

Coetsee, Albert J. “Deuteronomy’s Concept of Life in Hebrews.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 75.3 (September 19, 2019): art. #5374.

Coetsee, Albert J. “A More Comprehensive Comprehension and Appropriate Application: An Answer to Dwindling Faith Commitment from the Book of Hebrews.” In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 55.2 (2021) art. #2704.

Coetsee, Albert. “The Unfolding of God’s Revelation in Hebrews 1:1-2a.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72.3 (July 2016): art. #3221.

Myers, Travis L. “Jésus prōtotokos dans l’Épître aux Hébreux et le phénomène africain du grand-frère: analyse d’une illustration potentielle.” Journal du Christianisme Mondial 5.1 (2019): 50–63.

Myers, Travis L. “Jesus as Prototokos in Hebrews and the African Phenomenon of Eldest Brother: An Analysis of a Potential Illustration.” Journal of Global Christianity 5.1 (2019): 50–63.

Nyende, Peter. “Law and Gospel in Hebrews: SomeParadigms for Christianity in Africa.” AICMAR Bulletin 3 (2004): 28–39.

Nyende, Peter Thomas Naliaka. “Jesus, the Greatest Ancestor: A Typology-Based Theological Interpretation of Hebrews’ Christology in Africa.” PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 2006. 

Steyn, Gert J. “The Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Study of the Explicit Quotations in Ad Hebraeos.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72.4 (November 18, 2016): art. #3410.