Hagner - Encountering the book of hebrews (encountering biblical studies) : an exposition

Encountering Biblical Studies

Walter A. Elwell, General Editor and New estament Editor

Eugene H. Merrill, Old estament Editor

Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey

Bill . Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer

Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study

Bill . Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer, editors

Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey

Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough

Readings from the First-Century World: Primary Sources for New Testament Study

Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, editors

Encountering the Book of Genesis: A Study of Its Content and Issues

Bill . Arnold

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction

C. Hassell Bullock

Encountering the Book of Isaiah

Bryan E. Beyer

Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective

Andreas J. Kstenberger

Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey

Douglas J. Moo

Encountering the Book of Hebrews: An Exposition

Donald A. Hagner

2002 by Donald A. Hagner

Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-0536-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE . Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture excerpts marked NAB are taken from the New American Bible. Copyright 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NJB are taken from THE NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

Scripture quotations marked REB are taken from The New English Bible. Copyright 1989 by The Delegates of Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. Reprinted by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The photographs on the following pages were taken by Donald Hagner: 24, 36, 40, 41, 56, 64, 68, 75, 83, 84, 93, 94, 99, 102, 110, 147, 163, 165, 174, 175, 181.

The photographs on the following pages were taken by Jim Yancey: 59, 78, 113, 121, 130, 131, 134, 151, 184.

Contents in Brief

Contents

Sidebars

Editors Preface

The strength of the church and the vitality of the individual Christians life are directly related to the role Scripture plays in them. Early believers knew the importance of this and spent their time in fellowship, prayer, and the study of Gods Word. The passing of two thousand years has not changed the need, but it has changed the accessibility of many of the Bibles ideas. Time has distanced us from those days, and we often need guidance back into the world of the Old and New Testaments.

To that end, Baker Book House is producing an innovative series of biblical textbooks. The design of this series is to put us back into the world of the biblical text, so that we may understand it as those early believers did and at the same time see it from and for our own day, thus facilitating the application of its truths to our contemporary situation.

Encountering Biblical Studies consists of undergraduate-level texts, and two surveys treating the Old and New Testaments provide the foundation for this series. Accompanying these survey texts are two collateral volumes of readings that illuminate the world surrounding the biblical text. Built on these basic survey texts are upper-level college texts covering the books of the Bible that are most frequently offered in the curriculum of Christian colleges.

Complementing the series is a set of standard reference books that may be consulted for answers to specific questions or more in-depth study of biblical ideas. These reference books include Baker Commentary on the Bible, Baker Topical Guide to the Bible, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible , and Evangelical Dictionary of Theology .

The Encountering Biblical Studies series is written from an evangelical point of view, in the firm conviction that the Scripture is absolutely true and never misleads us. It is the sure foundation on which our faith and life may be built because it unerringly leads willing readers to Jesus Christ.

Walter A. Elwell
General Editor

Publishers Preface

Bible courses must be considered the heart of the curriculum for Christian colleges and evangelical seminaries. For Christians, the Bible constitutes the basis for both spiritual life and intellectual lifeindeed for all of life. If these courses are fundamental to Christian education, then the textbooks used for these courses could not be more crucial.

Baker Book House is launching a series of volumes for college-level Bible courses. The textbooks for the basic college survey courses and for the more advanced college courses on individual Bible books will not be written for laypeople or pastors and seminarians, nor will they be primarily reference books. Rather, they will be pedagogically oriented textbooks written with collegians in mind.

Encountering the Book of Hebrews attempts to build on the basic survey text, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey (Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough). While the survey text is written for college freshmen, this volume is intended for upper-level collegians.

Rather than providing a sustained exegetical analysis of each verse in the Book of Hebrews, this volume surveys the entire book with an emphasis on drawing out its theological message and its practical significance for collegians. It consists of appropriate introduction and survey material with the necessary critical, historical, literary, hermeneutical, and background concerns woven into the exposition of the biblical text.

Guiding Principles

As part of the development of this volume, the series editors, author, and publisher established the following principles:

1. It must reflect the finest in evangelical scholarship of our day.