Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 67:2 (NA 2016)
Article: Hebrews 1:10–12 And The Renewal Of The Cosmos
Author: Philip A. F. Church

TynBull 67:2 (2016) p. 269

Hebrews 1:10–12 And The Renewal Of The Cosmos

Philip Church

([email protected])

Summary

The suggestion that the author of Hebrews is indebted to Philo sometimes leads to the assertion that he has a negative bias against the creation. One text where scholars have detected this bias is Hebrews 1:10–12, quoting Psalm 102:25–27, seemingly to predict the dissolution of the cosmos. The text is part of a Psalm that predicts the restoration of Zion and the gathering of the nations there to worship, and expresses the confidence that the descendants of the servants of Yahweh will live securely in Yahweh’s presence. This makes it unlikely that verses 25–26 predict the dissolution of the cosmos, and exegesis of the verses in question indicates not dissolution, but renewal after the destruction resulting from the exile. Attention to the context of the quotation in Hebrews indicates that dissolution there is also unlikely. The text supports the claim that the exalted Son upholds all things (Heb. 1:3) and sits alongside a discussion of the dominion of humanity over the world to come (2:5–9). A more remote co-text refers to the gathering of the nations to Zion (12:22–24), itself a further echo of the Psalm. The Psalm quotation functions to predict not the dissolution, but the renewal of the decaying cosmos.

1. Introduction

One hundred and twenty years ago, French Lutheran theologian and Sorbonne professor Eugène Ménégoz proposed that Philo of Alexandria was a major influence on the writer of Hebrews,1 a notion

TynBull 67:2 (2016) p. 270

that dominated studies of Hebrews throughout most of the twentieth century, persisting until today. To be sure, Ménégoz did not see the author as a thoroughgoing Philonist and he argued for other influences on Hebrews, but he did suggest that he received his primary education in Alexandria and finished it off in Jerusalem.2 He also suggested that the author of Hebrews was ‘un philonien converti au christianisme’,3 a suggestion with which Spicq concurs.4 According to Spicq, Ménégoz speculated that the author of Hebrews probably knew Philo personally and had heard him preach in a synagogue in Alexandria.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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