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Prolegomenon to the study of Hebrews’ use of scripture : a methodological, textual, and bibliographic inquiry

University of British Columbia

This thesis is principally an examination of modern research concerning the author of Hebrews' use of Scripture.lt focuses on how recent interpreters of this letter have supported their theories. The paper's intent is to show that modern research in a variety of fields is making it increasingly more difficult for the interprete to arrive at conclusions that can be confidently backed. This study covers the areas that are considered to be important for understanding Hebrews' use of Scripture. Chapter two examines the attempts made to determine the precise Biblical text(s) that the author of Hebrews used as a basis for his exegesis. The evidence indicates that it is becoming more and more difficult to determine what the original text(s) could have been. We do not even know whether the author of Hebrews had before him a version of the Bible-be it Greek or Hebrew--or a collection of pre-arranged Biblical texts be it a set of testimonia or a list of liturgical passages. Chapter three reviews the exegetical practices of Hebrews' contemporaries, insofar as they bear on Hebrews, as well as the terms now used to describe some of these practices. The conclusion is that Hebrews' contemporaries, represented in part by the rabbinic and targumic works, as well as by the Apocryphal literature and the writings of Phi 1o and the Qumran sectaries, appear to help us very little in better understanding his use of Scripture. Furthermore we see that under close scrutiny the seemingly simple terms "midrash, "allegory," and "typology" become difficult to accurately delimit. The interpreter of Hebrews who wishes to use these terms must then either define them precisely, or refrain from using them altogether.

Text

2010-02-09

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/19895

Religious Studies

University of British Columbia

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