The Jewish Annotated New Testament (289 page)

17
:
In every respect
, for Hebrews, Jesus is both fully human and fully divine (see 4.14–15; 1 Cor 15.20–28). This thesis was debated in early Christianity but became Christian doctrine in 325 at the Council of Nicaea and was definitively formulated at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Jesus as
high priest
is unique to Hebrews (see 4.14–5.10; 7.1–8.7; 9.11–14). Paradoxically, Jesus is both perfect priest and perfect sacrifice.
Atonement
, the author accepts the traditional view that atonement requires sacrifices, and the Yom Kippur sacrifices can be offered only by the high priest (Lev 16).

18
:
Tested
, see Ex 15.25; Deut 8.2,16. Suffering was sometimes interpreted as a test from God (see Prov 3.11–12; 2 Macc 6.12–16).

3.1
–6: Jesus compared to Moses.
As with angels (1.5–14), so with Moses: Jesus is the superior intermediary.

1
:
Apostle
, “the one sent.” This is the only time the NT applies the term “apostle” to Jesus.

2
:
Faithful
, persevering. The quotation is Num 12.7–8 (LXX).

5
:
Servant
(Gk “therapon”) connotes a priest or a healer.
Testify to the things … spoken later
, Moses functions as an inferior prototype of Jesus.

3.7
–19: Leaving the wilderness and entering God’s rest. 7–11
: Ps 95.7–11.

7
:
Holy Spirit
, presumed inspiration behind the biblical authors; see 9.8; 10.15.

8
: The
rebellion
in the
wilderness
(Ex 17.1–7) was the “quarrel” (Heb “merivah”) the people had with God; the “testing” (Heb “masah”) was the demand for water (which God provided).
Testing
, same word used in 2.18.

10
:
Forty years
seen as preceding the rebellion, whereas the Tanakh reverses the order.

11
:
Rest
, for the psalm—settlement in Canaan; for Hebrews—salvation. See 4.1–11n.

12
:
Living God
, a traditional way of referring to God meant initially to contrast the God of Israel to idols; see Deut 5.26; Josh 3.10; 2 Kings 19.4,16; Isa 37.4,17; Jer 10.10; 23.36; Dan 6.20,26; 4 Macc 5.24; Acts 14.15; 2 Cor 3.3; 1 Thess 1.9; Heb 10.31; 12.22; Rev 7.2.

13
:
Today
makes the warnings immediate for the audience of Hebrews, as it was immediate for the audience of Israelites for whom the psalm was written. See 4.6–7n.

15
: Ps 95.7.

17
:
Fell in the wilderness
, see Num 14.29.

19
:
Unbelief
, lack of persevering faith.

4.1
–11: Promise of rest. 1–8
: Because Gen 2.2 uses the verb
rest
to describe God’s rest on the seventh day, the author expands its meaning in Ps 95 to include a divine utopia.

1
:
Still open
, since the promise went unfulfilled, those faithful to Christ can obtain it.

2
:
Good news
, gospel message.
Not united by faith with those who listened
, were not diligent in obeying what they heard; see Num 13.30–14.10.

3
: Again quoting Ps 95.11.
Foundation of the world
, at creation.

4
–5
: Gen 2.2 and Ps 95.11.
My rest
in the psalm is the land of Israel, God’s resting place.

6
–7
:
Today
, both David’s time and the time of the writing of Hebrews. Cf.
b. Sanh
. 98a, which evokes Ps 95.7 in the context of messianic expectation.
David
, the Psalm’s traditional author.
Much later
, David lived centuries after Joshua; therefore, the settlement of Canaan did not fulfill the promise of rest.

9
:
Sabbath rest
, Qumran’s 4QShirShabba portrays the heavenly host (together with the Dead Sea community) as celebrating a heavenly Sabbath.
M. Tamid
7.4 describes messianic age as a Sabbath.
People of God
, designating Israel in Judg 40.2; 2 Sam 14.13. Gk “laos,” “people,” often refers to Israel in the LXX (e.g., Ex 33.13,16; Deut 7.6; Hos 4.6,8,12), and is used of Christians in the NT (Acts 15.14; 18.10; Rom 9.25; 1 Pet 2.10).

4.12
–16:
Divine judgment.

12
:
Word of God
as
sword
, see Eph 6.17; Rev 1.16; 2.12.
Soul from spirit
, the word can separate what is seemingly indivisible. There may be an allusion to Prov 20.27.

13
:
Hidden
, no one can hide from God; see Ps 139.7–12;
4 Ezra
16.62–63.
Account
, Gk “logos,” rendered “word” in v. 12.

14
:
Passed through the heavens
, see 1.3–4. Special individuals like Enoch (Gen 5.24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2.1–12) experienced heavenly journeys; Ezekiel and Daniel have visions of heavenly journeys (Ezek 1; Dan 7). Heavenly journeys appear frequently in extra-biblical texts; the best-known is
1 En
. 1–36. In later Jewish mysticism, “merkavah” or “chariot” mysticism (derived from interpretations of Ezekiel’s vision) became a recognized form for the visionary to relate a heavenly journey.
Confession
, faith or confidence in Jesus; see 10.23.

15
: See 2.17; 5.2. No other NT text emphasizes Jesus’ sinlessness to the degree of Hebrews, but the idea is mentioned elsewhere; 2 Cor 5.21; 1 Pet 2.22 (citing Isa 53.9b); 1 Jn 3.5.

16
:
Throne of grace
, on the divine throne, see 1 Kings 22.19; Isa 6.1; Ezek 1.26; Dan 7.9; 4 Macc 17.18;
1 En
. 14. Here it is not clear if the
throne
belongs to God or Christ. The expression does not occur elsewhere; more usual is “throne of glory” (e.g., Jer 14.21; Mt 19.28) expressing majesty or power. It therefore may mean God’s (or Christ’s) reign as expressing merciful forgiveness.

5.1
–6:
High priestly qualifications.

1
:
Chosen
, in the first century the high priest was chosen by political authorities and served at their pleasure; thus, many were politically corrupt. See “The High Priest in Jewish Tradition,” p.
412
.

2
:
Weakness
, the Mishnah prescribes actions to guard against the high priest’s falling asleep before the time of sacrifice on Yom Kippur (
m. Yoma
1.4,7).

3
:
For his own sins
, see Lev 16.6–17 on Yom Kippur sacrifices.
Sacrifice
, after the temple was destroyed, some rabbis believed prayer, repentance, and alms-giving achieve atonement (see, e.g.,
b. Sukk
. 49b;
Avot de R. Natan
4.5). According to the Mishnah, the daily prayers substitute for the temple sacrifice (see
b. Ber
. 1.1; see also Heb 13.15–16n.).

4
:
Aaron
, Ex 29.1–30.10.

5
: Ps 2.7 (see 1.5).

6
: Ps 110.4 (see 1.13).
Order of Melchizedek
, there is no special priestly branch known as “the order of Melchizedek”; here the order includes only Melchizedek and Jesus. Jesus’ connection to Melchizedek emphasizes that Jesus is not a biological descendant of Aaron. On the connection between the two figures, see 7.1–22.

5.7
–10:
Jesus’ perfection.

7
: Most likely a reference to Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt 26.36–46; Mk 14.32–42; Lk 22.40–46).

8
:
Learned obedience … suffered
, the idea that steadfastness in suffering results in redemption appears in 2 Macc 6.12–16; 4 Macc 17.11–12. See also
b. Ta’an
. 5.11, where Moses prays that he might be redeemed by suffering for his sins; Heb 12.5–11n.

9
:
Made perfect
, see “Perfection through Suffering,” p.
408
. See also 2.10; 5.8; 7.28; 10.14; 12.2.
Source of eternal salvation
, the idea that a martyr’s death atones for others is prominent in 4 Macc, a popular text in Christian circles.
Obey him
, follow Jesus.

10
:
Order of Melchizedek
, see v. 6n.

5.11
–6.3:
Elementary teaching.

12
:
Oracles of God
, scripture; cf. Rom 3.1.
Milk … solid food
, see 1 Cor 3.1–3; Philo,
On Agriculture
9. The imagery is common in Hellenistic rhetoric.

13
–14
:
Word of righteousness
, ethical discernment.
Trained
, Gk “gymnao,” lit., “exercise naked,” commonly in Greek sources as a metaphor for education.
Distinguish good from evil
, like their Greco-Roman counterparts, Jewish Hellenistic writers believed that education was not only for the purpose of wisdom, but also for the attainment of virtue; see Philo,
Confusion
181;
On Agriculture
42.

6.1
:
Perfection
, Gk “teleiotes,” lit., “maturity” (see translators’ footnote
a
), appears only here and in Col 3.14 among NT texts. The
basic teaching
has not been discussed. The items listed collectively in vv. 1–2 show that nothing is as important as understanding the significance of Jesus.
Dead works
, activities that do not serve God.