A New Covenant Hermeneutic: The Use Of Scripture In Hebrews 8-10 -- By: Steven K. Stanley

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 46:1 (NA 1995)
Article: A New Covenant Hermeneutic: The Use Of Scripture In Hebrews 8-10
Author: Steven K. Stanley


A New Covenant Hermeneutic: The Use Of Scripture In Hebrews 8-10

Steven K. Stanley1

It is impossible to study Hebrews in any depth without considering its use of Scripture. In Hebrews the relationship between the old and the new is a foundational theme, and this relationship is inextricably intertwined with the relationship between New Covenant believers and Old Covenant Scripture. The book of Hebrews speaks more directly to the question of the significance of Old Covenant Scripture in the New Covenant age than any other in the New Testament. Because of this, it is an important source for determining how (at least one leader in) the early church viewed and utilised Scripture.

The author of Hebrews (henceforth 'the author') states plainly and categorically that the Old Covenant is obsolete and that his readers are no longer under its authority. At the same time, he confidently applies Old Covenant Scripture to his readers and their New Covenant situation, accepting its authority as the word of God. This tension generates an obvious question: If the Old Covenant is obsolete in the view of the author, how can he use Old Covenant Scripture as if his readers are under its authority? Answering this question provides insight into the way the author views the Old Covenant and its institutions as well as the hermeneutic that guides his use of Scripture. (I use the word 'hermeneutic' to refer to the method used by the author in his interpretation of Scripture, including the contribution of his theology and exegetical method to his interpretive task.) This study is not the first to ask this type of question in relation to Hebrews, but it is the first to base its investigation on a detailed analysis of the

central chapters of the book, where the backbone of its theology is worked out.

For the author, Scripture is the word of God, and its message has as much authority for his Christian readers as it did for its original, Old Covenant readers, even if its application is different in the new, Christian situation. The main contributions of Hebrews to New Testament theology are easily discernible: the priesthood of Christ is developed only here in the New Testament, and, more than any other book of the New Testament, Hebrews expounds the relationship between the Old and New Covenant economies, and in this process comes nearest to defining the relevance of Old Covenant Scripture for New Covenant believers. In the structure of Hebrews, both the priestly work of Christ and the relationship between the old and new ages are developed most extensively in chapters 8-10, the three chapters that, as argued in Chap...

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