"With loud cries and tears"

: sin and the consecration of the incarnate son in the Epistle to the Hebrews

Abstract

The Epistle to the Hebrews is often appraised as an experiment in early Christian “supersessionism.” Various sacrificial rituals prescribed in the Greek Pentateuch are supposedly criticized and discarded in the course of Hebrews’ Christological case. One subject of particular critique is the Levitical high priest’s obligation to offer a gift on behalf of his own “weakness” and “sin” (5:1–4, 7:27–28). Since Jesus was “morally” sinless throughout life, he is exempted from offering a similar gift. Through close examination of Septuagint texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls, this historical-critical study challenges the narrow understanding of “sin” presupposed by this view and the consequent account of Hebrews’ Christology. I argue that Jesus’s reverent cry for salvation from the realm of death offered during the process of his high priestly consecration is featured as a sacrificial gift that addresses the incarnate Son’s subjection to sinful, corruptible flesh. The sacrificial analogy does not implicate the incarnate Son in a misdeed against the Father, but rather proves that as the incarnate Son, he was for a time clothed in mortal “weakness” and participated in the mortal human condition “in every respect” (2:1–18, 4:14–5:10, 7:28).

First, I argue that the term ἁµαρτία is not reducible to categories of “morality” in Second Temple Jewish sacrificial contexts. The sacrifice “concerning sin” in Greek Leviticus often concerns “mortality,” or contexts of what I define as “somatic sin.” Second, I argue that righteous speech often functioned “as” a sacrificial gift in the late Second Temple Period. I then explore the logic of resurrection in Hebrews with reference to Greek Ezekiel 37 before analysing the righteous prayers of Christ in Hebrews. I argue that the incarnate Son’s righteous cry for salvation is identified “as” an inaugural sacrificial gift that is “heard,” resulting in the glorification and consecration of Jesus’s flesh to the high priesthood after Melchizedek’s order. Various positive analogies between the sacrificial ministries of the first and new covenant are accentuated in order to exalt Jesus as a high priestly Messiah who meets the various requirements of the Mosaic Law. As a result, attending to this specific analogy in Hebrews advances historical understanding of the term “sin” in ancient Jewish sacrificial contexts, clarifies the high priestly Christology of Hebrews, and underscores Hebrews’ concern with maintaining continuity between the sacrificial operations of the first and new covenants.

Date of Award	30 Jul 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	David M. Moffitt (Supervisor)