Review in: Interpretation
2008 62: 198
Review door: David
A. deSilvaGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/62/2/198.full.pdf+html
Hebrews: A Commentary
by Luke Timothy
Johnson New Testament Library. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2006.
430 pp. $49.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-664-22118-1.
IN THIS NEW VOLUME,
the celebrated author of many commentaries on NT writings (Luke, Acts, James, 1
Timothy, and Titus) brings his considerable skills and winsome writing style to
bear on one of the more elusive NT books. The form is that of a standard
commentary. An introduction treats matters of historical setting, literary
issues, prominent influences, and the like. The commentary itself divides the
text into sections and proceeds in a linear fashion through the text (though,
notably, in a more flowing fashion that the atomistic verse-by-verse format of
many commentaries). Within each section, the reader finds the author's original
translation with an able treatment of text-critical issues, discussion of key
terms and phrases on the basis of parallels in Jewish and Greco-Roman
literature, explorations of how older traditions (both biblical and
extrabiblical) have informed the argument, and a close analysis of the argument
itself.
Johnson approaches Hebrews first through
the history of its reception and the ways in which it was valued and used within
the Christian tradition of the first five centuries in both the East and West.
This is one of the gifts that Johnson brings as a Roman Catholic biblical
scholar, who values the witness of the tradition of the "fathers."
This provides, in turn, a foundation and, indeed, justification for the
historical-critical investigations and conclusions (e.g., concerning
authorship) that follow, as well as for what Johnson will himself hold up as
the primary contributions of Hebrews to Christian thought and practice.
This approach is well
informed not only by historical- and literary-critical methods, but also by
rhetorical criticism and cultural anthropological studies of Hebrews and the
first-century environment. Notably, honor and reciprocity are highlighted as key
values available to be harnessed rhetorically in the argument. Johnson presents
Hebrews as a specimen of deliberative rhetoric that seeks to dissuade the
audience from one course of action (giving up their Christian associations) in
favor of another (persevering in the process of spiritual maturation that
Christ pioneered and that they have begun). The introduction provides an
orientation to what becomes a prominent feature of the entire commentary,
namely Hebrews' location in regard to currents of thought in Greco-Roman,
Jewish, and Christian culture, with appropriate balance in terms of
analyzing both similarities and differences (e.g., in terms of Platonism or the
form of Judaism associated with Qumran). What Hebrews shares with other early Christian teaching and practice is all too often
overlooked in terms of "backgrounds," but proves especially fruitful
for locating Hebrews, often viewed as "so distinctive" (p. 28),
within the larger Christian landscape. Johnson is especially attentive, as one
would expect, to issues surrounding the interpretation of the OT (the LXX, in
particular) in Hebrews.
The
discussion of setting is appropriately (and necessarily) honest about the
limits of historical investigation of the situation of Hebrews and the identity
of its author. Johnson develops a fairly full portrait of the rhetorical
situation of the hearers. They are seasoned Christians, perhaps more likely of
Jewish heritage than Gentile, who, in the face of society's shaming and
marginalization, are faced constantly with the decision about whether or not to
persist in their Christian confession, associations, and practice. He argues
from a number of sensible angles that the composition predates the destruction
of the second Temple, and may even stand among the earliest NT texts. Closing
the gap between plausible and probable authorship, Johnson makes a spirited and
suggestive case for Apollos as the author, although he frankly admits the
difficulties of this claim.
Perhaps
the most valuable feature of Johnson's commentary, however, is his commitment
not to choose between a focus on historical study and contemporary application,
but to pursue both with excellence and without apology. He does not pursue the
latter in a facile manner, for he is astutely alert to the fundamental change
in consciousness that separates many modern readers from the discourse of
Hebrews with regard to cosmology (especially viewing the "invisible"
world as more real, more true, and more valuable than the "visible"
world and the dynamics of living within a materialist world view), view of
Scripture (that is, as artifact to be excavated rather than as living voice of
the living God), and the "slow erosion of Christian belief and practice
itself" (p. 7) in the world of modern readers.
Perhaps precisely because it speaks from outside our world,
Hebrews is able to challenge modern readers who have been shaped too much by
that world. Johnson argues that the Christology of Hebrews gives sustained
attention to both Christ's divinity and humanity, and makes the case that
Christ's process of learning and being shaped through suffering was the means
by which "the human Jesus grew progressively into the full stature of
being God's Son" (p. 54). This Christology challenges contemporary models
of discipleship that suggest freedom from pain and the enjoyment of temporal
goods as the gifts God seeks to give Christ-followers, as well as the
alternative vision of discipleship that focuses on socio-political
transformation for the purpose of removing suffering without grasping the
personal transformation that only suffering enables. Finally, Hebrews' rigorous
demands upon the recipient of God's gifts challenge the contemporary Zeitgeist
that makes "moral ambiguity and tolerance for wrongdoing the mark of
maturity" (p. 2). The essence of Hebrews is captured in the image of
discipleship as a pilgrimage, a journey through the process of maturation
specifically by means of the challenges that produce emotional, intellectual,
spiritual, and physical suffering.
The commentary is not as
"critical" as several other recent volumes in terms of engaging
secondary literature and weighing every major alternative interpretation.
However, this also becomes a strength of this work, as the focus remains far
more squarely on the interpretation of the text rather than the history of
scholarship. The researcher who wishes to enter into the latter always has Attridge, Lane, and Koester
to consult; the reader seeking to engage a coherent and focused interpretation
of Hebrews now has Johnson. This commentary will also not provide much guidance
for those seeking additional reading on particular questions, backgrounds, or
passages, but ample resources in this vein already exist.
One could, of course, quibble here and there about
exegetical details in the commentary and their pastoral application. For
example, Johnson suggests that "entering God's rest" (when God has,
in fact, kept working throughout all time), signals that human beings who
become more and more open to the divine existence no longer work in order to
fill some personal need, but out of "an outpouring of abundant love"
(p. 130). This reading seems to violate the overall eschatological orientation
of the passage (indeed, the book) that regards "the Sabbath rest" as
an image of entering God's realm alongside other images such as arriving at the
"abiding" city "that has foundations." The author's use of
all such images impels the hearers forward in their pilgrimage, that isy to
maintain their association with the Christian group. At the same time, however,
one cannot deny that Johnson's pastoral sensitivity and spiritual acuity here
capture a larger truth of the Scriptures—even if it is suspect on the basis of this
passage—and that is also a gift of his location in the tradition of
Catholic scholarship going back to Augustine. One might also wish for a more
consistently precise analysis of the rhetorical argument. For example, it is
not only the case that both the expository and hortatory sections of Hebrews
manifest the same strategy of "lesser to greater" (p. 32). Rather,
the expository sections establish the relationship of the "lesser"
and the "greater" that becomes a premise supporting the primary
hortatory enthymemes (e.g., 2:1-4; 10:26-31; 12:25-26).
But these minor reservations
should not obscure Johnson's achievement: the creation of an insightful and
reliable vade mecum to lead the pastor or teacher through the intricate
arguments of Hebrews to contemporary application, from a teacher who is himself
capable both as a scholar and a spiritual director.
David
A. deSilva
ASHLAND
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
ASHLAND,
OHIO
Zie ook:
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten