Interpretation of Hebrews 6:13-20

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Buck Hines
6 years ago
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1 Kocak 2 Interpretation of Hebrews 6:13-20 The Text. Hebrews 6:13-20 comes at the heels of two warnings and substantiates them by utilizing the figure of Abraham as one who endured and obtained the promise. As the author does elsewhere in Hebrews, he briefly foreshadows his future arguments early in his homily. Abraham is only quickly mentioned in Hebrews 2:16 as a substantiation for why Jesus came, namely for the descendents of Abraham. This unit is essentially about the certainty of God s promise to Abraham s heirs because of the finality of God s oath and how that is to be an encouragement to the audience to seize the hope we have access to in Jesus. The boundaries of this pericope are set where they are for a variety of reasons. The first is the presence of ga,r in 6:13. This shows a substantive relationship between 6:13-20 and the preceding section (6:4-12). There is also a shift in theme that takes place at 6:13 from the perils of falling away (6:4-12) to the certainty of God s promise in Abraham (6:13-20). The addition of Abraham and the references to LXX scriptures (Gen 22 and Ps 110) also help to show the stability of this pericope. The conclusion of this pericope (6:20) comes after an echo to Jesus as a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110). This is the perfect segue back into the argument the author started in 5:1-10 about Jesus being a high priest. The same Scripture is referenced and helps to transition the audience back into Jesus as the high Priest, but this time the audience has been rebuked (5:11-6:3), warned (6:3-12), and then encouraged (6:13-20). The presence of ga,r again in 7:1 helps to give more stability to the split between 6:20 and 7:1. My personal fascination with this pericope is the presence of a particular metaphor in Hebrews 6:19: a steadfast anchor of the soul. The brief mention in one of our classroom discussions about the anchor symbol in the early church sparked my curiosity for this passage.

2 Kocak 3 The overall development of this unit consists of two movements (evidenced textually by the only two periods in this section (vs. 15, 20). The first movement (6:13-15) is to establish that God made a promise to Abraham (in Genesis 22:7) and swore by himself. The author in this first movement is showing Abraham as an example of on who patiently endured to inherit his promise and also highlights the oath God took in giving Abraham s promise. In verse 16 the author begins another movement (6:16-20) by comparing the finality of man s oaths to the finality of God s oath which sealed two unchangeable things for Abraham s descendents (that God will bless them and multiply them). The author then describes the purpose of this is to seize the hope that is set before them (19) and its connection to Jesus (20). The first movement: God s promise and oath (6:13-15). This movement picks up the mention of Abraham previous in Hebrews, but utilizes him as an example worthy to imitate (connecting it to 6:12) and as an example of the finality of God s promise. In verse 13 the emphasis seems to be on the independent clause he swore by himself but the dependent clause when God made a promise to Abraham ostensibly acts to place the time and context of the oath. What is interesting about this is that in Hebrews 6:14 it is not Genesis 22:16 that is quoted where God says I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, but Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you and multiply you. This is a quotation from the LXX and serves the purpose of connecting these two promises with the two unchangeable things that are mentioned later in Hebrews 6:18. Despite the NRSV and NASB breaking up Hebrews 6:13-15 into two sentences, there is not a period in the Greek text, but there is a second independent clause in 6:15: evpe,tucen th/j evpaggeli,aj. So the emphasis in this section can be seen as both in Abraham obtaining the promise (15) and God swearing an oath by his own name (13).

3 Kocak 4 The second movement: The unchanging promise and its effect (6:16-20). As in verses there are no periods in this section. Verse 16 acts as the cause or reason to the finality of God s oath that is sworn by his own name in verse 13. Evidence for this is again found in the presence of ga,r in verse 16 which illumines how much more God s oath is final. It is an argument that is from the lesser to the greater (if the oath of man is final, how much more final is an oath taken by God himself). In verse 17 the comparison between the oaths of man and the oath taken by God continues. The purpose of God s oath is evidenced in the i[na clause of verse 18. It helps to illumine that God promises from verse 14 to bless and multiply are sealed by his unchanging oath for the purpose of encouragement to seize hope. It is no coincidence in verse 18 that the last word before the colon (and not the period) is the word evlpi,doj. Immediately after the word evlpi,doj, the author gives a barrage of its metaphors and descriptions: an anchor of the soul, it is both sure and steadfast, and it enters within the veil. The word used here for veil (katape,tasma) is used elsewhere in the LXX to describe the holy and most holy places within the temple (Ex 26:31, Lev 21:33). This means our hope goes to the very court of heaven, into the very presence of Yahweh. Jesus, as the one who gives our hope such a place of honor is described in verse 20 as: the forerunner on our behalf, and a high priest. The Co-Text. The pericope of interest comes at the heels of two units that were used to challenge the audience. After the author begins showing how Jesus is our great high priest in 5:1-10, he stops and abruptly takes a break to correct his audience. The first correction comes in the form of a rebuke for them becoming spiritually dull (5:11-6:3) and the second comes in the form of a warning against the perils of falling away (6:4-12). This pericope is then used to build up the audience to seize and secure the hope they have in their high priest. This section connects well

4 Kocak 5 with what comes after it by the conclusion in 6:20 which is actually a clear reference to Psalm 110:4 and the perfect segue back into the main argument of this section: Jesus as a high priest. Another interpretive possibility for this section could be to integrate 6:13-20 into the larger unit of 5:11-6:20. I do see three distinct movements in this larger section (rebuke, warning, encouragement), but could see them as functioning together. The mention of the veil in the GNT is unique. Not knowing what the word was referring specifically to, I did a word search for (katape,tasma) in the GNT. Outside of the book of Hebrews, it is only used in the synoptic gospels to describe the veil in the temple that was torn after Jesus crucifixion (Mt. 27:51, Mk. 15:38, Lk. 23:45). Also the word used for anchor (a;gkura) is unique to this particular verse. It does occur three times in Acts, but references a physical anchor instead of the figurative anchor of the soul. Context. The unit of interest shows us that the socio-historical setting of the audience is one that needed encouragement to hope. Just as they needed to be rebuked for being dull (5:11-6:3) and warned against falling away(6:4-12), so too did they need to be assured of their hope being steadfast in their high priest Jesus. Also, the context tells me that the congregation would have been acquainted with temple imagery with the presence of katape,tasma and avrciereu.j. In the past two decades there has been an emergence of a prosperity gospel theology that capriciously exegetes scriptures (such as from this unit) to show that the promise blessings and prosperity of Abraham are material wealth, prestige, possessions and are a true sign of the anointed Christian. The actual text of this unit internally gives another message. The presence of the i[na clause of verse 18 illumines that the promises of God to Abraham (to bless and multiply in v. 14) are for the purpose of encouragement to seize the hope before us in Jesus. This

5 Kocak 6 is an interesting critique to the prosperity Gospel that presents the promises of Abraham as the end in itself instead of the means to be encouraged to seize hope. Intertext. As aforementioned there is one direct quotation and two very clear echoes that are taking place in this unit. The quotation I will surely bless you and multiply you is found in the LXX translation of Genesis 22:17. In Hebrews 6:14 the verbs for bless and multiply are in the future indicative but in the LXX they appear alongside their respective participles (i.e. blessing I will bless you). The first echo is in Hebrews 6:13 which echoes the preceding verse in Genesis 22:16 I have sworn by myself, says the Lord. The second echo comes at the conclusion of the unit in Hebrews 6:20 which echoes Psalm 110:4 (yet in my version of the LXX it is Psalm 109:4) you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. This is the same echo made in Hebrews 5:10 and helps to transition the audience back to his previous argument.

An Anchored Hope Hebrews 6:19-20 Part Three

Sermon Transcript An Anchored Hope Hebrews 6:19-20 Part Three We are presently studying the Book of Hebrews. This book was written by an unknown author to a group of Hebrew Christians living in Rome, who