Notes on Hebrews - New Testament notes

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New Testament Notes

The Epistle to the Hebrews

The following notes are intended to supplement, not replace, the readings from the Bible and the text book.
Comments or questions should be sent to: Dr. Rollinson.

Hebrews

The date and authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews are not known with certainty. The Epistle does not begin with the customary greetings naming the author(s) and the recipients. The style, and the Greek, are not those of the known Pauline epistles. However, Hebrews 13:23 refers to "brother Timothy" being set free, so the author appears to be one of the group of Paul's associates.
Much of the epistle deals with the superiority of Christ to the Levitical priesthood and their sacrifices - this is sometimes regarded as evidence that the Temple in Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed by the Romans. If this is so, the date would be prior to AD 70.
Hebrews 2:3 ("it was attested to us by those who heard him") indicates that the author had not known Jesus directly, or heard Him speak - which would seem to rule out Paul and indicate a later generation.
The epistle was obviously written to a group of people to whom the Old Testament was very important and familiar, and who probably held a high view of the Jewish priesthood and the old sacrificial system. It is thought that they were Christian Jews who were coming under persecution and were tempted to slide back into the Jewish system of reliance on sacrifice and good works (Hebrews 10:32-36).
The epistle does not address the problems of conduct, ethics, and organization in the early churches which are a feature of many of Paul's epistles, but is more concerned with theology - particularly the Lordship of Christ and the necessity for faith in Him rather than in ourselves.

Structure of The Epistle to the Hebrews

Commentary

Hebrews 1:5 - see Ps. 2:7 and 2 Sam. 7:14
Hebrews 1:6 - the quotation is from the Septuagint version of Deut. 32:43. A similar verse is found at Ps. 97:7
Hebrews 1:7 - see Ps. 104:4
Hebrews 1:8-9 - see Ps. 45:6-7
Hebrews 1:10-12 - see Ps. 102:25-27
Hebrews 1:3 - see Ps. 110:1
Hebrews 1:14 - the angels are spirits, whom God sends to serve us
Hebrews 2:2 - Jewish tradition held that angels brought the tablets of the Ten Commandments to Moses
Hebrews 2:6-8 - quotes the Septuagint version of Ps. 8:4-6
Hebrews 2:6-8 - NOTE - some Bible translations, e.g. NRSV, mis-translate this passage in the interests of inclusive language. The Greek text of the NT and the Hebrew text of the OT both use a singular ("he", "him") throughout, and say "son of man" rather than "human beings". The inclusive version obscures the relation of the passage to the term "son of man" as used by Jesus when referring to himself.
Hebrews 2:9 - Christ became "a little lower than the angels" when He took on human flesh and became subject to suffering and death.
Hebrews 2:12 - see Ps. 22:22
Hebrews 2:13 - see Isaiah 8:17-18
Hebrews 3:7-11 & 15, and 4:3 - see Ps. 95:7-11
Hebrews 3:8 - "Meribah" is the Hebrew word for "rebellion, quarrel". "Massah" is the Hebrew word for "testing". See Exodus 17:1-8 and Numbers 20:2-13
Hebrews 3:16-19 - the questions refer to the Israelites' disobedience and failure to trust God, and the consequent sentence of 40 years' wandering in the wilderness, see Numbers 14:1-25
Hebrews 4:4 - see Genesis 2:2. The original meaning of "rest from" was "stop doing". When God "rested from his works" it means that He stopped creating things - He had made everything that He wanted, and had found that it was "very good" - so He stopped making anything more. It does not mean that He was tired and had to take a rest.
Hebrews 4:5 - see Ps. 95:11
Hebrews 4:8 - It was Joshua who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, see Joshua 1:1-11
Hebrews 5:3 - see Leviticus 9:1-2, 7-8 and Leviticus 16:3, 6
Hebrews 5:4 - see Exodus 28:1 & 40:12-15, and Leviticus, chapter 8
Hebrews 5:5 - see Ps. 2:7
Hebrews 5:6 - see Ps. 110:4. Melchizedek, whose name meant "King of righteousness" was not an Israelite. He was King and "Priest of the Most High God" at Salem (which might be an early name for Jerusalem) at the time of Abraham. Abraham gave him tithes and offerings, thereby recognizing his superiority; see Genesis 14:18-20
Hebrews 6:13-14 - see Gen. 12:1-3 and Gen. 22:15-18
Hebrews 6:15 - it was twenty-five years between God's first promise of a son to Abraham, and the birth of Isaac, see Gen. 12:2,4 and Gen. 21:1-7
Hebrews 7:1-3 - see Genesis, chapter 14
Hebrews 7:3 - there is no record of the genealogy or birth of Melchizedek, and no record of his death or posterity.
Hebrews 7:5 - see Numbers 18:8-32
Hebrews 7:17 & 21 - see Ps. 110:4
Hebrews 8:4-5 - seems to indicate that the Temple was still in existence at the time of writing.
Hebrews 8:5 - see Exodus 25:40
Hebrews 8:8-12 - see Jer. 31:34
Hebrews 9:1 - see Exodus 25:10-40
Hebrews 9:2 - see Lev. 24:5-9
Hebrews 9:3 - see Exodus 26:31-33
Hebrews 9:4 - see Exodus 30:6, 25:10-22, 16:32-34, Num. 17:1-10
Hebrews 9:5 - see Exodus 25:17-22
Hebrews 9:6-7 - see Leviticus, chapter 16
Hebrews 9:18-22 - see Exodus 24:6-8
Hebrews 10:5-9 - quotes the Septuagint version of Psalm 40:6-8
Hebrews 10:12 - see Mark 16:19
Hebrews 10:13 - see Ps. 110:1
Hebrews 10:16-17 - see Jer. 31:33-34
Hebrews 10:28 - see Deut. 17:2-6
Hebrews 10:30 - see Deut. 32:35-36
Hebrews 10:37-38 - see Hab. 2:3-4
Hebrews 11:4 - see Genesis 4:3-10
Hebrews 11:5-6 - see Genesis 5:21-24
Hebrews 11:7 - see Genesis 6:9 - 8:22
Hebrews 11:8 - see Genesis 12:1-8
Hebrews 11:9 - see Genesis 26:24, 28:13-15, 35:9-12
Hebrews 11:11 - see Genesis 17:1-8, 15-17 and Genesis 18:1, 9-17, 21:1-7
Hebrews 11:12 - see Genesis 15:5-8
Hebrews 11:17 - see Genesis 22:1-10
Hebrews 11:18 - see Genesis 21:12
Hebrews 11:20 - see Genesis 27:27-20 & 39-40
Hebrews 11:21 - see Genesis, chapter 48, and the Septuagint version of 47:31
Hebrews 11:22 - see Genesis 50:24-25 & Exodus 13:19
Hebrews 11:23 - see Exodus 1:22 - 2:10
Hebrews 11:24-27 - see Exodus 2:11-15
Hebrews 11:28 - see Exodus 12:21-30
Hebrews 11:29 - see Exodus 14:21-31
Hebrews 11:30 - see Joshua 6:12-21
Hebrews 11:31 - see Joshua 2:1-21 & 6:22-25
Hebrews 11:32 - Gideon, see Judges, 6:11-8:28; Barak, see Judges, chapter 4; Samson, see Judges 13:2-16:31; Jephthah, see Judges, 11:1-12:7, David, see I Sam. 16:1 - I Kings 2:11; Samuel, see I Sam. 1:1-16:13
Hebrews 11:33 - lions - see Daniel, chapter 6
Hebrews 11:34 - fire - see Daniel, chapter 3
Hebrews 11:35 - dead restored to life - see I Kings 17:17-24, II Kings 4:17-37, II Maccabees 7:9, 14
Hebrews 11:35 - torture - see II Maccabees, chapters 6-7, & IV Maccabees, chapters 5-18
Hebrews 11:37 - stoning - see II Chron. 24:20-22
Hebrews 11:37 - killed with a sword - see Jer. 26:20-23; I Maccabees 2:29-38; II Maccabees 5:11-14, 24-26
Hebrews 12:5-6 - see Proverbs 3:11-12
Hebrews 12:16 - see Genesis 25:29-34
Hebrews 12:17 - see Genesis 25:30-40
Hebrews 12:18-21 - the reference is to Mount Sinai, and the giving of the Law - see Exodus, chapters 19-20
Hebrews 12:24 - see Genesis 4:10
Hebrews 12:26 - see Haggai 2:6
Hebrews 13:2 - see Genesis 18:1-8, 19:1-3
Hebrews 13:5 - see Joshua 1:5
Hebrews 13:6 - see Psalm 118:6
Hebrews 13:11 - see Lev. 16:27

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