The Jewish Annotated New Testament (290 page)

2
:
Baptisms
, “washings,” most likely not the Christian practice of baptism, but exactly what the author has in mind is not clear.
Laying on of hands
occurs during healings and the conferral of special status; it can both convey the gift of the spirit (Acts 8.17; 19.6) and initiate a commission (Acts 6.6; 1 Tim 4.14).
Resurrection of the dead
, a belief held by both Pharisees and Christians; see
m. Sot
. 9.15;
m. Sanh
. 10.1.
Eternal judgment
, an idea common in Jewish and Christians sources; see Ezek 34.17–22; Dan 7.26;
4 Ezra
7.33–44; Mt 25.31–46. The Mishnah speaks of the unrighteous going to Gehenna, but it is never described as eternal; see
m. Qidd
. 14.4;
m. Ed
. 2.10;
m. Avot
1.5; 5.19,20.

6.4
–8: Warning against apostasy. 4–6
: A baptized member who has
fallen away
has no opportunity for repentance; apostasy results in expulsion. The claim resembles the “karet” (“cut off”) punishment, where those who commit certain violations of the Torah, such as idolatry and incest, are excluded from the community (Ex 12.15,19; Lev 18.29; 20.3; 23.29). For the Qumran community, violations of the “Community Rule” sometimes resulted in expulsion (1QS 7.23–24; 8.21–24). Christians held different views on how to treat sin after baptism (cf. Mk 3.29; 1 Jn 3.6; Herm.,
Vis
. 5.7). While some later interpreters took Heb 6.4–6 literally (see also 10.26–31), others argued that apostates should be permitted to return and that Hebrews prohibits only a second baptism.

7
–8
: Cf. Isa 5.2–7.

6.9
–20:
Divine fidelity.

10
:
Love
for God is a central Tanakh idea (Deut 6.5).
Saints
, lit., “holy ones,” referring to Jesus’ followers generally in 1 Cor 1.2; 2 Cor 1.1; Phil 1.1. To whom it refers here is unclear.

12
:
Imitators of those who … inherit the promises
, see ch 11.

13
–14
:
Promise to Abraham
included progeny, land, and an eternal covenant; see Gen 12.2–3; 15.5; 17.5.

15
:
Patiently endured
, Abraham waited until he was one hundred years old for the fulfillment of the
promise
of his son Isaac.

17
:
Heirs of the promise
, the descendants of Abraham, extended to mean the members of the Christian community.
Guaranteed it by an oath
, Gen 22.17; see Philo,
Migr
. 273, for a similar argument.

18
:
Two unchangeable things
, God’s promise and oath.

19
:
Inner shrine
, the Holy of Holies, which only the high priest may enter on Yom Kippur; see 9.3; Lev 16.2. C
urtain
, see Ex 26.31–35; see also Mk 15.38, which claims the curtain tore at Jesus’ death.

20
:
Melchizedek
, see 5.6n.

7.1
–17: Melchizedek’s superiority to the Levitical priesthood. 1–2
: A paraphrase of the encounter between Abraham and the priest-king Melchizedek (Gen 14.17–20); see 5.6n.
Salem
, understood as from Heb “peace” (“shalom”), identified with Jerusalem; it may have originally been a name of a Canaanite god, Shalim. Philo also offers an etymology connected to peace (
Leg. all
. 3.15.79).
King of
, Heb “malki-,” from “melek,” “king.”
Righteousness
, from Heb “tzedek.”

3
:
Without father
, except for Gen 14 and Ps 110.4, early scripture says nothing of Melchizedek. In the apocryphal
2 En
., Melchizedek is miraculously born from his dead mother, is a priest from birth, and is kept safe from the flood in order to be the priest in the post-flood generation (23.15–41).
Son of God
, Jesus.
Priest forever
, Ps 110.4 (see 5.6).

4
:
A tenth of the spoils
, Gen 14.20; 28.22.

5
:
Descendants of Levi
are entitled
to collect tithes
, see Num 18.21–32.

7
:
Inferior is blessed by the superior
, the reverse is frequent; Melchizedek himself blesses “God Most High” (Gen 14.20).

9
–11
: As if Levi tithed to Melchizedek because Levi descended from Abraham. As Melchizedek is superior to Abraham and so to Levi, so Jesus, the priest in the
order of Melchizedek
, is superior to the Jewish priesthood.
Perfection
, see 2.10; 5.8; 7.28; 10.14; 12.2.

12
:
Change in the law
, it is unclear why the author makes this argument; perhaps he builds on the idea that priests were repositories of law (see Jer 18.18; Ezek 7.26). Like Plato, the author sees permanence as perfection and change as undesirable.

13
:
Ever served
, only Levi’s descendants could serve as priests; see Ex 32.25–29; Deut 10.8.

14
:
Judah
, Jesus was seen as of Davidic descent, and thus of the tribe of Judah; see Mt 1.6; Lk 3.31; Rom 1.3. Thus, he is here connected typologically to Melchizedek rather than genealogically to Aaron.

17
:
Forever
, here understood in reference to personal life, not to the dynasty. Ps 110.4, cited also in 5.6; 6.20; 7.21.

7.18
–28:
Jesus the high priest.

18
:
Abrogation
, because Jesus is not descended from Aaron or Levi and not appointed according to Ex 29.1–35; Lev 8–9.

19
:
The Law made nothing perfect
, although Hebrews sees the Torah as given by God, it cannot be
perfect
, because it is a human institution that exists in the material realm. Although the Tanakh rarely uses language of perfection for Torah, Ps 119 idealizes Torah as God-like. Jewish mystical traditions describe the Torah as the pre-existent blueprint for creation;
Gen. Rab
. 1.1;
Zohar
“Terumah” 61.

20
–21
: Ps 110.4. For the divine promise as
oath
see 6.17–18.

22
:
Guarantee
, promise.
Better covenant
, a theme developed in chs 8–10.

25
:
To make intercession
; see Job 33.23.

28
:
Word of the oath
, referring to Ps 110.4 (5.6; 7.17,21).
A Son
, Jesus (see 1.2). Because God speaks the oath through David in the psalm, it comes
later than the law
, the Sinaitic covenant.

8.1
–13:
Mediator of a better covenant.

1
:
Seated at the right hand … of the Majesty
alludes to Ps 110.1.

2
:
Sanctuary
, plural in Gk, “the holy places.”
Tent
, the tabernacle, Ex 25.1–27.21; 36.1–40.38. The idea that the earthly Temple has a heavenly counterpart may perhaps be found in the Tanakh (see e.g., Isa 6), and becomes common in early Jewish writings; see
1 En
. 14.9–23;
T. Levi
3.2–4;
2 Bar
. 4.5; Wis 9.8; Philo,
Heir
112. See Rev 3.12; 11.19; 15.5.

5
: Ex 25.9,40.
Shadow
, cf. 10.1. God’s instructions for the Tabernacle (Ex 25.1–27.21) suggest the divine ideal; the description of its construction (Ex 36.1–40.38) suggests the material form. Philo makes a similar argument (
Leg. all
. 3.102).

6
–7
: A supersessionist theology. Not only is Jesus the
mediator of a better covenant
, but the first covenant was faulty because it failed to create the perfect relationship between humans and God.

8
–12
: Jer 31.31–34 (Jer 38 LXX). There are some notable differences between the MT and the LXX; most significantly in 31.32, where the LXX has “I had no concern for them,” while the MT has “I was their husband” (v. 9). In its original context, Jeremiah was suggesting that the Torah would be renewed after the Babylonian exile by being implanted in people’s hearts or minds, so they could instinctively observe it; therefore they would not any longer sin, and so there would not be another exile.
Remember their sins no more;
that atonement in the new covenant is permanent is essential to the argument; see 10.26.

13
: The term for
covenant
does not appear in this verse (the Gk reads lit., “new one” and “first one”), but the author is clearly referring to the
covenant
in Jer 8.8–12, where it refers to the Mosaic covenant. Heb 9.16–18 offers an interpretation of the word “covenant” (Gk “diatheēkeē”). For the idea that the new covenant renders the old obsolete see also 2 Cor 3.7–14.

9.1
–10: Inadequacies of the first covenant. 1–5
: The description is based on Ex 25.8–31.11; 36.1–40.38.

2
:
The first one
, the sanctuary’s outer court.
Holy Place
, plural in Gk, “places.”

3
:
Holy of Holies
, see 6.19n.

4
:
Urn holding the manna
, Ex 16.33–34;
Aaron’s rod
, Num 17.25.
Tablets
, Ex 40.20; 1 Kings 8.9.

5
:
Cherubim
, composite creatures with features from eagles, lions, etc.; in the Bible, they served as God’s throne in the Temple (Ex 25.17–22).
Mercy seat
(Gk “hilasterion” in LXX for Heb “kapporet,” “cover,” e.g., Num 7.89), where atonement can be effected. The term occurs elsewhere in NT only in Rom 3.25 (“sacrifice of atonement”), and in 4 Macc 17.22 (“atoning sacrifice”).