Friday, October 1, 2021

John M. Scholer on Hebrews 9:24

  

Heb. 9.24

 

It is generally agreed that Heb. 9.23-28 returns to the argument left off at 9.11-14 by again considering the contrasting earthly and heavenly spheres. The relationship between 9.24-28 and 9.11-14 is seen from the inclusio formed by the two sections around 9.15-22. In this sense 9.23 serves as a transitional verse which reintroduces the context of the heavenly realm and yet which continues to rely on the material content of what immediately precedes it in 9.21-22 (e.g. ουν, 9.23). The ritual purification of the tent and its appurtenances, described in 9.21-22, leads directly to the consideration of the earthly things as ‘copies’ (τα υποδειγματα) of a heavenly original (8.2, 5; 9.11, 12), and from there the discussion proceeds immediately to a consideration of Christ who ‘entered’ εις αυτον τον ουρανον (9.24) in the performance of his ‘better sacrifice’.

 

In keeping with our understanding of an earthly sanctuary and its heavenly counterpart, the heavenly sanctuary being referred to here as ‘heaven itself’ (9.24), Heb 9.23a expresses this parallelism by referring to the copies of the things which are in (the) heaven(s), i.e. the heavenly sanctuary. Thus the ‘copies of the things in heaven’ are the earthly sanctuary and its accoutrements, already introduced at 9.1-10, 21, which require purification by ‘these’ (τουτοις) rites (9.21-22). Contrasting with the material purification (cf. μεν . . . δε) is that cleansing performed by ‘better sacrifices’, the blood of Christ (e.g., 9.14, 26; 10.10, 12; 13.12), on αυτα τα επουρανια.

 

A general consensus regarding the precise meaning of τα επουρανια has proved elusive in the history of investigation, primarily because ‘our author has not expressed himself with his usual felicity, and hence the contortions of commentators at this point’ (Montefiore, p. 160). Authorial style aside, in Heb, is not nearly so obscure as the number of explanations would seem to suggest. The ‘things’ requiring a ‘better sacrifice’, the blood of Christ, are made explicit in Heb. The blood of Christ serves to purify the συνειδησις (9.14; 10.2, 22) of the worshiper, or the worshiper κατα συνειδησιν (9.9). It is precisely this ‘inner spiritual condition’ of the worshiper that has a direct access to heaven, i.e. this is the ‘heavenly’ thing, since it is ‘perfected’ and has direct access to God. (John M. Scholer, Proleptic Priests: Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews [Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 49; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991], 169-71)