with 10:19–25
5:1—7:28 Christ is high priest
5:1–10 You are a priest
(5:11—6:20 Warning, encouragement, exposition)
7:1–10 According to the order of Melchizedek
7:11–19 Forever
7:20–25 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind
7:26–28 Summary application
8:1—10:18 Christ’s high priestly ministry
8:1–6 Introduction: The tabernacles, priesthoods, and covenants
8:7–13 The better promises of the new covenant
9:1—10:10 The covenant of which Christ is mediator
9:1–10 The first covenant as copy and anticipation
9:11–14 The second covenant as accomplishment
9:15–22 The inaugural mediation of the second covenant
9:23–28 The eternal, heavenly, and final character of Christ’s ministry (divine drama)
10:1–10 The bodily offering that accomplished God’s will (human drama)
10:11–18 Conclusion: The better ministry
*10:19–25 Transition, frame with 4:14–16
10:26—12:29 Exhortations toward faith and progress
10:19–31 Exhortation to faith and warning against apostasy (reusing 10:19–25)
10:19–25 There is now forgiveness (10:18), so approach!
10:26–31 There is no other or further offering for sin (10:18), so do not refuse the one given!
10:32—12:3 Enduring in the great contest of faith in the promise
10:32–39 A call to endure based on their earlier history and the promise of Habakkuk and Isaiah
11:1–40 Examples of enduring faith from Israel’s history
11:1–2 Opening thesis: What faith does.
11:3–7 Faith and the biblical story before the patriarchs (Gen 1–11).
11:3 Faith and the word of creation.
11:4 Abel’s faith through which he was attested to be righteous.
11:5–6 Enoch’s faith by which he pleased God and because of which he did not see death.
11:7 Noah’s faith by which he became an heir of righteousness.
11:8–22 The patriarchs (Gen 12–50).
11:23–31 Moses, the exodus, and the conquest (Exodus – Joshua).
11:32–38 Faith in the remaining history of the old covenant (Judges and following).
11:39–40 Closing summary.
12:1–3 A call to endure based on the example of Jesus
12:4–17 Enduring as the genuine children of the covenantal Father
12:4–11 Developing the image: Undergoing hardship as authentic children of the covenantal Father
12:12–17 Applying the image: Live as strong-bodied, stout-hearted children of the covenant, secure in your place, pursuing its life, taking care of the family, and cherishing your birthright
12:18–29 The grand finale: closing vision of the promised inheritance, the peril of refusing the promiser, and a final warning/exhortation
12:18–24 The reason why they must endure in the great contest and as genuine children of the covenant
12:18–21 Negatively: The mountain that pointed to the goal (old covenant and present age)
12:22–24 Positively: The mountain that is the goal (new covenant and age to come)
12:25–29 Final warning and exhortation
12:25–27 Warning: Listen to the divine word for it has inaugurated the final judgment
12:28–29 Exhortation: Worship God suitably in obedience to the word spoken in the Son
13:1–17 Peroration
13:1–6 Specific applications on conventional topics
13:7–17 Restatement of the call to perseverance in connection with an endorsement of the church’s leaders
13:7 Recall the message of the former leaders
13:8 Recall who Jesus Christ is
13:9–14 Follow Jesus outside the gates
13:15–16 Render worship corresponding to faith
13:17 Submit to your leaders who share in your pilgrimage with special responsibilities
13:18–25 Closing
For the purposes of exposition, in this commentary the text has been divided into thirty-seven units.6 A few of these units group or divide within the preceding outline.
Looking Behind the Text: The Original Setting
Questions of who, where, when, and why are tangled together. The name of the human author is unknown. Origen’s oft-repeated comment, “who wrote the epistle, in truth God knows” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.25.11–13), probably refers to the pen rather than the voice of the letter, but it has served as a convenient bottom line for many. For this reason there cannot be certainty that Paul did not write the whole of the book or possibly the final verses, but there are strong arguments against such theories. That the writer was a male remains probable, partly in the light of the grammar of 11:32, though again certainty is not possible. The mere listing of other possible names (e.g., Apollos, Barnabas, Luke, Clement) supplies no reliable basis for further interpretive inferences. What we know of the author is what we gather from what he wrote. He was a highly educated, literate, eloquent person, theologically mature, pastorally hearted. He had a history with this church, but we cannot be sure he had been numbered among its “leaders.” More on his background anon.
The earliest manuscript of Hebrews in our possession, P46 (c. ad 200), carries the heading, “to the Hebrews,” a theory on the audience that must already have been established in some circles (cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.14). Allied with this was the assumption that this text had been addressed to believers in Judea. Both of these associations seem to have been grounded in inference rather than reliable traditions. There is no conclusive evidence or argument against a Judean destination, but 1) the phrase “those who come from Italy” in 13:24 can imply that Italians are sending greetings back to their homeland, 2) there are strong parallels with 1 Peter, which is another epistle associated with Rome, 3) the earliest evidence of Hebrews’ thought
