Anthony Clinkscales

Dr. Wallace Hartsfield

ICAM845 Intro to Preaching
7 May 2009

Biblical Interpretation for Preaching

I. Pre-Critical Interpretation (Hebrews 10:19-25)
A. Whenever humankind is given freedom to function without
universal principles, or given the freedom to establish subjective principles
for which to impose, we seemingly have a tendency toward violating others.
Without standards, humankind tends toward violations such as racism,
sexism, ageism, militarism, elitism, harassment, disenfranchisement, and
marginalization. Ethics of compromise are essential so that everyone
remains in a perpetual state of contentment in our pursuit of happiness.
Everyone has to be accountable to each other according to the gift of virtue
that is posited in each one by God. This has been a challenge because too
many people neglect humankinds collective values and common good. The
expectation that God has of Gods people has not been fully portrayed
because of the many distractions including on one side, people who are
narcissistic, materialistic, and oppressive. On the other side, the distraction
of hardened hearts and troubled minds of the many victims who lack
forgiveness and reconciliation cripple children of God. I contend that
common good, forgiveness, reconciliation, accountability are the
prerequisites for the ideal society. The ideal world requires everyone to
embrace the universal truths uniting us, and dispel the myths dividing us.
Hebrews is a discourse intent on moving first-century hearers into an
awareness and acknowledgement of Jesus sacrifice and priestly authority in
restoring us to a place where we can be accountable to one another as his
brothers and sisters, Gods children. This pericope is about persevering and
it is about being accountable in life each day we live.

II. Critical Interpretation

A. Text and Translation Issues

1. Limits of the text Hebrews 10:19-39 within the homiletical presentation

of the Letter to the Hebrews.
2. Confidence (10:19). The Greek word originally referred to the citizens
right to speak freely in democratic assemblies. It means freedom to speak
unreservedly and cheerful courage, boldness, and assurance.
3. New (10:20). Among the Greeks, this word originally meant freshly
slaughtered or newly slain. Jesus is the new way, or the freshly
slaughtered sacrifice.
4. Thereforesince (10:19, 21). These connecting words indicate that
these verses are the basis for the exhortations in 10:22-25.
5. The Day approaching (10:25). Some scholars believe this refers to the
imminent destruction of the Temple (just a few years after Hebrews was
written). Others think it may be a reference to the Second Coming of Christ.

B. Historical Issues
1. Having declared the ministry of Jesus as the supreme high priest, the
author now forcefully points readers/hearers to the implications of this truth.
Hebrews 10, and the book in general, deconstructs the hearers perceived
notion of honor and shame, personality, limited good, envy, kinship, and
cleanliness. Jesus sacrifice and Jesus teachings are emphasized and
unpacked as a rebuttal to the doubt and conflicting interests that debunk the
faith of the first-century believers.
Hebrews 10 deals with the first-century personality. The first-century
believers personality was highly influenced by their theological convictions.
Personal and social criticism was based on collective perceptions of
honorable or dishonorable actions. The first-century personality wrestled
with maintaining a good conscience and rectifying a bad conscience.
Hebrews emphasizes that Jesus blood was the perfect sacrifice, and this
acknowledgement along with obedience to Christian authority is essential in
order to have peace of mind.
The notion of kinship through Gods adoption reframes the traditional notion
of kinship through biological and legal means. The traditional paradigm of
legal and blood relationship has been deconstructed by the theological
implication of Jesus as high priest and elder brother.

The social and religious theory of cleanliness greatly impacted the beliefs of
the ancient Israelite. Under the new paradigm, there is nothing outside of a
person which by going inside can defile that person. But, things which come
out of a person are what defile the person.
This homily was dealing with the apostatizing threat of a vast majority of
believers; these hearers were in need of encouragement. The author was
aware of the social status of listeners who were among the victimized and
underprivileged status of society, which fostered social resentment and
hostility. Collectively, they lived a life characterized by marginalization and
stigmatization as a result of the hierarchical social interactions and
exploitative structures of the Roman Empire.
In our contemporary society, we have a theory of unlimited good. We
ascribe honor to individuals, and declare that our actions do not take honor
from others. Within the context of Hebrews the honorable person is a limited
good because the context is a closed, small society where everyone knows
everyone. Social lines assimilated in the enculturation process provided a
socially shared map, which helped and urged the situating of persons, things,
and events within boundaries.1 The authors claim is that this audience and
all other believers can overcome their cultural circumstance through
ascribed honor by God.
Ascribed honor calls for accountability to one another. We are to provoke
one another to love and good deeds; we should be accountable for our gifts.

III. Post-Critical Interpretation (Hebrews 10:19-25)

A. Study questions for Post Modern Issues
1. What confidence do believers now have as a result of what Christ
accomplished at the cross (10:19)?
2. Why does Jesus blood give us this confidence?
3. Which Most Holy Place do we have confidence to enter (10:19) the
heavenly or the earthly one? What are the implications of this?
4. What kept worshipers from having the confidence of 10:19 before Christ
came (9:9, 10:1-4)?
1

Bruce J Malina, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology, 3 rd edition,
(Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2001), 28.

5. In view of what we know about the old covenant, how is it significant that
Christ is a living way into the Most Holy Place (10:20)?
6. What does the author mean by calling Christs body the curtain (10:20)?
7. The house of God was a Jewish expression for the Temple. What does
the author mean by the house of God in 10:21? (see 3:6.)
8. Verses 22-25 contain five important exhortations. List these.
9. How should we relate to God, according to 10:22-23?
10. How should we relate to fellow Christians (10:24-25)?
11. The triad of faith, hope, and love is mentioned over and over in
Scripture. How does the author use this triad to address the needs of his
readers under persecution? (10:22-24)
12. Compare the exhortation to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess
(10:23) to 3:6 and 4:14. Practically speaking, how do you think one goes
about maintaining such an unswerving stand?
13. Why do you think these persecuted Christians were tempted to give up
meeting together (10:25)?
14. What influences tempt modern Christians to give up meeting together
(10:25)?
15. Why should the Day approaching motivate believers to meet together
and encourage each other?
Optional application: a. Take a brief spiritual inventory of your life based on
10:22-25.
Prayerfully consider how well you are
Drawing near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith
(10:22).
Holding unswerving to the hope you profess (10:23).
Spurring others on toward love and good deeds (10:24).
Meeting together with other Christians (10:25).
Encouraging others (10:25).

b. What commitments does this self-examination move you to make? Pray

about this also.

Note: Questions taken from Life Changing Series A NavPress Bible study on
the book of Hebrews, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1989), pp. 137-140.

B. Commentary Consultation
Comment
This section represents a high point in the writers message to his friends.
In a climactic parenetic passage he summarizes his thematic exposition of
Christ as priest and sacrifice and earnestly appeals for the community to
apply the blessings of Christs high priestly ministry to its own daily life. The
preceding christological discussion motivates this powerful appeal and
underscores its urgency (Dahl, Int 5 [1951] 401). A loyal response to Christ is
the logical correlate of the magnitude of Christs redemptive
accomplishment.
The section consists of four paragraphs, each of which possesses its own
distinctive characteristics. The first paragraph (vv 1925) is cast in the form
of a periodic sentence. After defining the basis for the appeal in vv 1921,
the exhortation is organized around three cohortatives: let us continue to
draw near (v 22), let us continue to hold fast (v 23), and let us keep on
caring (v 24). Each of these verbs is qualified by reference to the triad of
Christian virtues: fullness of faith (v 22), the hope we profess (v 23), and
the stimulation of love (v 24). The warning to be faithful as the Day of the
Lord approaches (v 25) furnishes a transition to the next paragraph.
Form/Structure/Setting
A consideration of genre clearly indicates that 10:1939 constitutes a
distinct unit within the structural format of Hebrews. The beginning of a new
section is announced by the direct address to the community in 10:19
(Therefore, brothers) and by the intricate transition from exposition (7:1
10:18) to exhortation (10:1939). Succinctly summarizing in 10:1921 the
argument developed in 8:110:18, the writer provides a firm christological
basis for the series of admonitions that follow in this section. With 11:1 there
is a fresh shift in genre. It is no longer appropriate to speak of exhortation,
but of exposition of the character of faith as a present grasp upon unseen
and future reality. The unit of exhortation introduced in 10:19 thus extends to
10:39.

Formal literary considerations substantiate this analysis based upon the

alternation between exposition and exhortation throughout Hebrews. The
opening and close of the unit are defined more precisely by the verbal
repetition of the key term parrhsivan, which has an objective nuance in v 19
(authorization) and a subjective nuance in v 35 (boldness):
v 19 e[conte" ou\n parrhsivan
Therefore, since we have authorization
v 35 mh; ajpobavlhte ou\n th;n parrhsivan
Therefore, do not throw away your boldness
These phrases function as an inclusio that frames the unit. The repetition of
the key term parrhsivan with the change in nuance is purposeful. It served to
alert the auditors that the final paragraph of the section (vv 3639) was a
transitional unit used to announce the subjects to be developed in the fourth
major division of the sermon: steadfast endurance (v 36) and confident faith
(v 39) (so Vanhoye, La structure, 4446, 17582; Spicq, 2:314; Thyen, Stil,
59, 106; Michel, NovT 6 [1963] 18990; McCown, O LOGOS THS
PARAKLHSEWS, 6869; among others).
With 10:1939 the great central division of the sermon (5:1110:39) is
drawn to a conclusion. Viewed from the perspective of the homiletical and
literary structure of Hebrews, this concluding exhortation is symmetrical with
the preliminary exhortation found in 5:116:20 (see Introduction to 5:11
10:39). There the writer enlisted the attention of the auditors and laid the
groundwork for the extended exposition in 7:110:18. Here he addresses the
community directly again, drawing upon the exposition of Christs high
priestly office and sacrifice as a source of motivation for the urgency of
loyalty to Jesus. The great exposition of Christ as priest and sacrifice is thus
framed by parallel parenetic units (cf. Vanhoye, La structure, 173).
A resemblance between 5:116:20 and 10:1939 extends to content as
well as function. McCown (O LOGOS THS PARAKLHSEWS, 50, 69, 158, 299)
has observed that the parenetic sequence found in 5:116:12 can be
recognized in 10:1939 as well:
first, a reminder to the community of their privileged status, and its
implications for their actual practice (5:116:3/10:1925);
then, a severe warning concerning the danger of apostasy, with stress on
the divine punishment apostasy deserves (6:48/10:2631);
finally, pastoral encouragement based upon past performance, together
with an appeal focused upon future expectations (6:912/10:3239).

The pattern of stern warning followed by loving encouragement (e.g., 5:11

6:8/6:920; 10:2631/10:3239) was characteristic of Jewish synagogue
homilies, as attested in the old rabbinic midrashim (cf. E. Stein, Die
homiletische Peroratio im Midrasch, HUCA 89 [193132] 35371). It clearly
has influenced the pastoral style of the writer of Hebrews (so Mora, La Carta

a los Hebreos, 61, n. 182; 63, n. 192; Swetnam, Bib 55 [1974] 338, n. 2). The
formal resemblance of 5:116:20 and 10:1939, of course, must not obscure
the fact that the preliminary exhortation and the concluding exhortation are
distinct both in content and function (cf. A. Descamps, La structure de
lptre aux Hbreux, RDT 9 [1954] 335; Vanhoye, La structure, 4546, 228
30).
The exhortation in 10:1939 plays a central role in relationship to all of
the other hortatory sections in Hebrews. It contains recognizable echoes of
earlier parenetic units in its argumentation (e.g., 2:14/10:2831; 6:4
8/10:2631) and in the repetition of characteristic expressions (e.g.,
3:6b/10:23; 3:17/10:26; other details in Vanhoye, La structure, 22830, 256
57). On the other hand, the triad of Christian qualities to which the writer
alludes in 10:2225 anticipates the development of the remainder of the
sermon: faith (10:22) is celebrated in 11:140; hope (10:23) is expressed
through perseverance in 12:113; and love (10:2425) furnishes the key to
the conclusion of the sermon in 12:1413:21. As a summary of the preceding
parenetic sections and the announcement of the development to follow,
10:1939 marks a major turning point in the unfolding structure of the
sermon.
The writer intends 10:1939 to be a climactic parenetic section of the
sermon.2

John Nolland, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 47b: Hebrews 9-13, (Dallas, Texas: Word
Books, Publisher, 1998).