L'épître aux Hébreux by Jean Massonet

Abstract

Reviewed by: L'épître aux Hébreux by Jean Massonet James Swetnam S.J. jean massonet, L'épître aux Hébreux (Commentaire biblique: Nouveau Testament 15; Paris: Cerf, 2016). Pp. 493 + xviii. €39. Jean Massonet is a priest of the diocese of Lyons and emeritus instructor of the Theological Faculty of the Catholic University of Lyons. The massive, carefully researched tome under consideration is probably the most detailed commentary on Hebrews ever published. Thousands of secondary sources are cited, all carefully indexed. There is an index of subject matter with dozens of topics carefully listed. There are nine excursuses, all indexed. In brief, if one is interested in getting information on Hebrews, this is the book to be consulted. For M., the "central theme" of the epistle is the reconciliation achieved by Christ (p. 211). M. (who is a specialist in the study of Judaism) makes a great deal of the celebration of Yom Kippur (pp. 227-38 and many other places) for the understanding of the epistle. His mastery of Jewish exegesis is impressive, but perhaps this mastery is a partial reason for his failing to see in Hebrews a radically Christian work, For this reviewer, the discussion about the faith of Jesus (pp. 357-58) was M.'s most helpful contribution for the understanding of Hebrews. The pages brought to life the central mystery of Hebrews, the mystery of Jesus Christ. Inevitably, for the reader with knowledge of the history of the interpretation of Scripture, the pages brought to mind the Council of Chalcedon in 451. M. does not mention Chalcedon any more than he does any other aspect of the magisterium of the church, and this is, for this reviewer, a negative aspect for any Catholic approach to understanding the epistle. For Hebrews is a witness to the construction of that magisterium. Hebrews was written by a person of faith about persons of faith and for persons of faith, and to ignore this is to ignore a massive indication of what Hebrews is saying. Massonet expresses with an exclamation point (!) his amazement that the present reviewer in Heb 5:7 should express the view that Jesus is here asking not to be spared death as Isaac was in the testing of Abraham in Genesis 22. That is, that Jesus was asking to die. [End Page 148] A reason for M.'s incredulity would seem to lie in his preference for exploring interpretations of Isaac in Jewish literature and ignoring the long and impressive history in Christian tradition of seeing such a relation. He prefers to see in Heb 11:18-19 an indication of Abraham's faith in resurrection from the dead (see his discussion on pp. 329-30). For this reviewer, a major flaw in M.'s exegesis of the epistle occurs at Heb 2:16 (p. 96). M. follows the usual interpretation of exegetes by assuming that the Greek word "seed" (sperma) of Abraham means physical descendants (postérité, p. 84). Such an interpretation would not make it possible for gentiles to be part of the "seed" of Abraham and, in addition, would make impossible the solution of the famous crux involving this "seed" in Heb 11:11. See the floundering of M. and many other exegetes (pp. 324-25) regarding this crux. But the real challenge of Hebrews leaves M. also on the outside looking in. It is the vexed question of the place of the Eucharist in the epistle. M. devotes an entire excursus to this question (pp. 417-18) and comes to a negative conclusion about eucharistic relevance (see p. 418). In doing so, M. leaves hanging in a void what he himself admits is an unmistakable allusion to the Eucharist in Heb 9:20 (pp. 248 and 251). When placed in the context of the magisterium of the Catholic Church this conundrum becomes all the more incomprehensible, for it is clear that Christ is present in the Eucharist of the church as Priest and Victim. To assume that the mention of Christ in Hebrews as high priest is without eucharistic relevance is to assume a dissonance in the formation of the church's magisterium that is unintelligible. Massonet has...