Abstract
The author of Hebrews heavily depends on the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch, for the most part, offers him material for reflection on redemptive history, and the Psalms provide his Christological material. The great debt the book of Hebrews owes to the Old Testament, however, is not simply a matter of general background and copious quotation, but also extends to fundamental Old Testament ways of thinking which are constantly presupposed and which underlie all passages in the book. The concept of hesed (“faithfulness, kindness, grace, steadfast love, solidarity” etc) is one of those. According to the Hebrew Scriptures, God revealed God self to God’s people at Sinai. This article will deal specifically with the reference to the Sinai revelation as it appears in three Psalms. This discussion will be followed by a short overview of this specific text in the Pentateuch. This article will be concludes by briefly indicating a possible influence these Old Testament texts on the book of Hebrews.
Highlights
The book of Hebrews resonates with the Old Testament (Attridge 2004:197)
The great debt the book of Hebrews owes to the Old Testament, is not a matter of general background and copious quotation, and extends to fundamental Old Testament ways of thinking which are constantly presupposed and which underlie all passages in the book
In the Old Testament we find the basis of authority, tools for rhetoric and exhortation, materials for building a structural framework, a wellspring for theology and, both a professed anticipation and a validation of the book’s Christology (Guthrie 2003:272)
Summary
The book of Hebrews resonates with the Old Testament (Attridge 2004:197). The text is an elaborate early Christian homily which was probably composed to encourage a community to remain faithful to its commitments (Punt 1997:121). In order to achieve this, the book sketches an elaborate portrait of Christ as the true high priest It focuses on the ultimate paradigm of commitment to God. Christ’s willing acceptance of the will of God earned him a place at God’s right hand. In spite of what has hitherto been said, it seems that an exact inventory of Old Testament references in Hebrews has eluded any form of consensus, due to the authors’ mix of direct quotations, allusions to specific passages, uses of biblical phrases and general references to Old Testament historical events and persons. I will conclude this article by very briefly indicating a possible influence these texts had on the book of Hebrews
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