A Teacher's Commentary on Hebrews

By Dan R. Owen

A Teacher's Commentary on Hebrews is especially designed as a practical tool for those who preach from Hebrews or teach Bible studies from this book. The reflective questions at the end of each chapter as well as the appendices at the end of the book are designed to help the teacher in both personal understanding and instruction. Our prayer is that this book will help users teach the message of Hebrews as it was originally intended to spur Christians on to enduring and diligent service to Jesus, our High Priest and King.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886440652

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A Teacher's Commentary on Hebrews

Dan R. Owen PhD

ISBN 979-8-88644-259-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88644-064-5 (Hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88644-065-2 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Dan R. Owen PhD

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

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Table of Contents

A Teacher's Commentary on Hebrews

Acknowledgment

Author's Note

How to Use this Book Effectively

Introduction

God Has Spoken… Again

The Word Spoken Through the Son Is Greater than the Word Spoken Through the Angels!

Consider the Faithfulness of Christ

Will We Enter the Promised Rest?

Our High Priest and the Levitical Priests

Can We Now Move On to Christian Maturity?

The Superiority of Christ's Priesthood

Will We Accept the Proof that Christ Is Our High Priest?

Tabernacles and Sacrifices: Compared Differences between the Two Covenants

Ineffective Sacrifices and the Perfect Sacrifice

Recounting the Righteousness of the Faithful

Exhortation to Faithful Endurance Based on the Examples of the Ancients

Closing Admonitions

References

Appendices

Appendix A

Words Used in Hebrews to Show Symbolism or Spiritual Correspondence

Appendix B

Allegorical or Symbolic Correspondence in Hebrews

Appendix C

Let Us Admonitions: Hortatory Subjunctives in Hebrews

Appendix D

Front Page of Hebrews in Third-Century Papyrus

Appendix E

The Better Things in Hebrews

Appendix F

References to the Messianic Age in Hebrews

Appendix G

Παρρησια

Confidence, Boldness

Appendix H

References to Perfection, Completion, Maturity in Hebrews

Appendix I

God's Two Great Revelations in Hebrews

Appendix J

Descriptions of the Book of Hebrews

Appendix K

Tabernacle and Age Comparisons

Appendix L

Hebrews and Jewish Angelology

About the Author

A Teacher's Commentary on Hebrews

To Cindy, my sweet wife of forty-eight years, my true partner in life, who always stands by me, no matter what.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks go to Courtney Brown, whose work in helping me edit my books makes me look good. Through her skill and administration, she takes care of so many things that make my work better!

Author's Note

This little commentary is the culmination of several years' work in the Greek text of Hebrews. For the last forty-two years, I have spent countless hours uncovering and teaching the major themes that can be clearly demonstrated in the biblical books. In training others to preach and teach, my main goal has been to be dedicated to the strict, literary, contextual understanding of the ancient writings, uncovering the demonstrable themes in the ancient text. This little commentary attempts to point out what is actually present in the text, then apply that clear understanding to modern life and ministry. Included in the book are some appendices that shed light on some of the obvious themes and patterns in the book. Major ideas are highlighted at the end of each chapter, and discussion questions are provided to give teachers a basis for discussion with those they teach. The translation of Hebrews used in this commentary is my own translation of the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament. It is my hope that this work will provide readers with some basic insights and will increase their faith in our great Priest and King, Jesus.

Dan R. Owen, December 2021

How to Use this Book Effectively

Those who want to use this book most effectively as a tool for teaching should consider several suggestions. First, find two fairly literal translations you can read along with the translation provided in this book. When you read a passage in the author's translation, compare it with a translation like the ASV, NASB, ESV, NKJV, or the NIV 1984 editions. This will help you to understand what is being said and some different, legitimate possibilities for the wording. Secondly, look up the scriptures and historical references provided in the commentary and read them for yourself. This will help you greatly to understand the author's reasoning for his explanation of the text. Next, be sure to go through the suggestions for teaching at the end of each chapter and answer the discussion questions that go with each chapter. Finally, go to the end of the book and look at the individual charts that go along with this commentary. Copy them and use them for handouts when particular handouts are helpful to the lesson you are teaching. May this tool be helpful to each reader in understanding and teaching this great, inspired book of Scripture.

Introduction

The book called To the Hebrews is unique in the New Testament library. It is the only book that does not name its author either in the title or in the body of the work. It cannot be classified as Gospel, Epistle, Historical Narrative, or Apocalyptic. This book, by its own classification, is an exhortation (Hebrews 13:22). It is more of a sermon than a letter. Phrases like we ought to pay more careful attention (Hebrews 2:1), See to it brothers (Hebrews 3:12), Let us fear therefore (Hebrews 4:1), Let us give diligence to enter that rest (Hebrews 4:11), Let us hold fast our confession (Hebrews 4:14), Let us draw near with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), let us draw near with a true heart (Hebrews 10:22), let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (Hebrews 10:23), Let us consider one another (Hebrews 10:24), do not throw away your confidence (Hebrews 10:35), Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1) and See that you do not refuse him that is speaking (Hebrews 12:25)—these demonstrate the sermonic, hortatory character of To the Hebrews.

Though the placement of this message of exhortation in early manuscripts was often somewhere among the epistles of Paul, and though it was universally associated with the Pauline circle, the book is likely not the work of the apostle himself. According to Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria ascribed it to Paul, but said it was probably written in Hebrew by Paul and translated into good Greek by Luke, the companion of Paul (Ecclesiastical History, VI. Xiv. 2–3). Eusebius also cites Origen, who says the Greek in Hebrews is better than Paul's, and though the thoughts may be Paul's, the composition is from someone else (Ecclesiastical History, VI. XXV. 13–14). Tertullian wrote that he believed the book to have been written by Barnabas, the mentor and companion of Paul (On Modesty, 20). The fact is, as stated by Origen in the third century, only God knows who the author was. That being said, the ancient church readily accepted the book as canonical, even as early as the end of the first century when Clement of Rome was citing it as Scripture (1 Clement XXXVI. 1–5). Therefore, it must have been known to key leaders that it was written by an inspired prophet of God. The wording of Hebrews 2:3–4 seems to place the writer outside the ranks of those who heard the Lord Jesus personally and outside of those who confirmed his message by miracles and signs.

It seems to this writer very likely that the book of Hebrews was destined for Hellenistic Jews in the wider Roman world. To be sure, the writer is familiar with Jerusalem and the temple rituals, but the letter is presented in a Greek style different than Paul's and the Scripture citations are from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. This in itself seems to negate the idea that it is destined for Aramaic/Hebrew speaking people in Palestine.

It is appropriate to say something here about the translation of Hebrews cited in this little commentary. All of the passages cited from Hebrews are my own translation from the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament and represent my best attempt to translate the language in the context of this specific message of exhortation. My translations, like those of any translator, are surely imperfect and may be in need of due correction whenever those with experience in the language and the context find it necessary.

The Hebrew Scriptures According to Hebrews

The book of Hebrews is presented as a succession of commentaries on a series of key texts from the Hebrew Bible. As interpreted, all of these texts have some application to Jesus and the message brought to mankind through Him. In Luke's Gospel, the risen Lord explains to his apostles those passages in the Hebrew Bible that applied to Jesus. He opened their minds so they could see these passages in a new light through faith in Christ (Luke 24:44–45). Paul himself said that when the Hebrew Bible was being read, the Jews had a veil over their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14–15). It was only when a person turned to the Lord Jesus that he/she was able to see the spiritual meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures that spoke about Christ (2 Corinthians 3:16). Paul said that the Lord Jesus is the spirit or spiritual meaning of the Hebrew Bible as opposed to the letter or literal contextual meaning (2 Corinthians 3:6, 17–18). From childhood, Timothy had known the Hebrew Scriptures, which Paul said "are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15; emphasis mine). It is precisely this spiritual meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures as applied to Christ that the writer of Hebrews wishes to convey. Some of his readers were slow or reluctant" to hear the Scriptures taught this way (Hebrews 5:11; 6:12). By explaining a succession of these passages and showing the compelling, cumulative effect of them, the writer presents a strong proof of Christianity and instills great confidence in the open-hearted reader.

The major passages discussed and the locations of those discussions in the text are as follows. These provide the basic structure of the book.

1

God Has Spoken… Again

Hebrews 1:1–2

In many parts and in many ways in ancient times God spoke to the fathers by the prophets. In these last days he spoke to us by a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the universe.

As the text of Hebrews begins, there is a basic assertion to which the writer returns again and again throughout the book. That assertion is that God has spoken to mankind, not only in the revelations of the past recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, but he has spoken definitively again through a son. In the past, he spoke to the people of the past, the fathers. The vehicle by which he spoke to the fathers was the prophets, men who received and passed on direct revelations from God (1 Samuel 9:9). In these last days, in the age of the Messiah, he has spoken to us. This message is directly applicable. He has spoken by a son. The possessive pronoun his is not present in verse 2, nor is the definite article. This name son is the name Christ inherited after his suffering, death, and resurrection (Hebrews 1:4).

There follows a poetic section of short strophes very similar to the Christ hymn of Philippians 2:6–11 in Hebrews 1:2c–4. Following the major assertion about God's revelation through the Son, there comes a series of little statements in poetic form about the Son.

The line about making him heir of all things may refer to the statements of Psalm 8, discussed in Hebrews 2:5ff, where God crowned him with glory and honor and put all things in subjection under his feet. When God enthroned him as King, he effectively became the heir of all things. The writer discusses that in detail in Hebrews 1:5–13. He asserts that through him or through the Son, God made tous aionas. This is not the normally used terminology for the natural world. This term was used by pagans to describe spiritual beings in the spiritual realm. But the writer uses the same term in Hebrews 11:3 where he is clearly speaking of the creation of the natural universe. So it is probably right to understand it as through whom he also made the universe. This is exactly what both John and Paul taught about the eternal Christ being the divine Creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:17–17). The divinity of the Son is clearly in view, especially when we consider Hebrews 1:8–12 where he is called God and said to be the Creator.

Hebrews 1:3–4

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the exact representation of his substance, while upholding all things by his powerful word, when he had accomplished the cleansing of sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty in the highest realms. He became by so much better than the angels, by so much as he inherited a more excellent name than they.

The writer continues his characterization of the Son in Hebrews 1:3. The Son reflects the glory of God. He, in his spiritual nature, exactly depicts the character of God. It is the word character which is used here. As John said, he was God and the unique one who was in the bosom of the Father has revealed him and he that has seen me has seen the Father (John 1:2, 18; 14:9). Colossians 1:17 is similar to the statement about upholding all things by his powerful word when it says, In him all things hold together. The little Christ-hymn continues, When he had accomplished the cleansing of sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty in the highest realms. This seems to be an allusion to Psalm 110:1, 4 to which the writer returns in Hebrews 1:13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 8:1, etc. The sequence of events in this hymnic section is that Christ made purification for sins by offering himself, then was exalted by God to rule at his right hand. This is the same sequence reflected in Hebrews 2:5ff where he was made for a little while lower than the angels, then crowned with glory and honor so that God placed all things in subjection under his feet (Psalm 8:4–6). The fact that God has not only spoken definitively by the Son but has provided eternal redemption through him is central to the message of Hebrews. It was only