Besser und doch gleich - Zur doppelten Hermeneutik des Hebräerbriefes

Abstract

Abstract Better but still Equal: On the Double Hermeneutic of the Epistle to the Hebrews This article explores the hermeneutical approach of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the letter two forms of correlation between old and new, times past and present can be observed: superiority and analogy. Through rhetorical analysis, this article attempts to demonstrate that analogy is equally as important to the author of Hebrews as superiority. It is shown, that both hermeneutical forms have corresponding rhetorical figures: superiority utilizes comparatio and the inference a minore ad maius and analogy employs exemplum. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that superiority and analogy and their corresponding rhetorical figures are linked to the 'not yet' of the eschatological tension on the one hand and 'the already' on the other. Building on these observations, the article proposes to complement Hebrews' hermeneutic of antithetical parallelisation (E. Graser) with a hermeneutic of analogical parallelis...