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READING HEB 6:4-6 IN LIGHT
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
DAVE
MATHEWSON
I. Introduction
PERHAPS
the most significant, yet perplexing, feature of the book of
Hebrews
is the so-called warning passages which dot its literary land-
scape (2:1-4; 3:7-4:13;
warning passages have elicited a variety of
commentary and discussion,
Heb
6:4-6 has attracted most of the scholarly attention and remains one of
the most puzzling and enigmatic for interpreters.1
The bulk of attention
devoted to these verses has focused on the
issues of the precise identification
of the status of those in vv. 4-5 and the nature
of the sin they have committed
in v. 6. Therefore, scholars continue to debate
whether the subjects of the
warning are genuine members of the faith
community, who through falling
away (v. 6) subsequently lose this status, or
whether this falling away only
results in the loss of rewards, or whether
failure to persevere is evidence that
the initial faith was not genuine in the first place,
or whether the passage
should be understood at a corporate level, addressing
the covenant community
Dave Mathewson
is instructor in NT at Oak Hills Christian College, Bemidji, MN.
1 See the commentaries. Cf. also Herbert
H. Hohenstein, "A Study of Hebrews 6:4-8,"
CTM 27 (1956)
433-44,536-46; Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, "Hebrews
6:4-6 and the Peril of
Apostasy,"
WTJ 35 (1973) 137-55; Roger R.
Nicole, "Some Comments on Hebrews 6:4-6 and
the Doctrine of the Perseverance of God with the
Saints," in Gerald Hawthorne, ed., Current
Issues in Biblical and
Patristic Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975),
355-64; D. Barn-
hart, "The Life of No Retreat: An Exegetical
Study of Hebrews 6:1-12," Central
Biblical
Quarterly 19 (1976) 16-31; David
Gilbert Peterson, "The Situation of the Hebrews (
Reformed Theological
Review
35 (1976) 14-21; Leopold Sabourin, "'Crucifying
Afresh for One's
Repentance'
(Heb 6:4-6)," Biblical Theology
Bulletin 6 (1976), pp. 264-71; R. Schoonhaven,
"The
'Analogy of Faith' and the Intent of Hebrews," in W. Ward Gasque and William
Sanford
Lasor, eds., Scripture,Tr adition and Interpretation: Essays Presented
to
E Harrison by His
Students and Colleagues in Honor of His Seventy-fifth Birthday
(Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 191-110; Verlyn
D. Verbrugge, "Towards a New Interpretation
of Hebrews 6:4-6," CTJ 15 (1980) 61-73; R. C. Sauer, "A Critical and Exegetical
Reexamination
of Hebrews 5.11 to 6.8" (unpublished Ph.D.
thesis,
Sailer, "Hebrews 6: An Irony or Continuing
Embarrassment?," Evangelical Journal 3 (1985)
79-88;
Thomas Kern
Oberholtzer, "The Thorn Infested Ground in
Hebrews 6:4-12," BSac
145 (1988) 319-28; Scot
McKnight,
"The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclu-
sions," Trinity Journal 13 (1992) 21-59; Wayne
A. Grudem, "Perseverance of the Saints: A Case
Study
from Hebrews 6:4-6 and the Other Warning Passages in Hebrews," in Thomas
R.
Schreiner
and Bruce A. Ware, eds., The Grace of God, Bondage of the Will (
Baker,
1995), 133-82; David Brent Armistead, "The 'Believer' Who Falls Away: Heb
6:4-6
and the Perseverance of the Saints," Stulos Theological Journal 4 (1996) 139-46.
209
210
rather than individuals.2 One of the most
insightful studies to appear in
recent years is the article by Scot McKnight, who
surveys and interacts
with a variety of approaches to the interpretation
of this passage.3 McKnight
provides a fresh, detailed formal analysis of
6:4-6 and the other warning
passages in Hebrews, suggesting that the warning
passages, especially 6:4-6,
should be read synthetically in relationship to one
another rather than
individually. Based on his analysis
McKnight concludes that the warnings
address the sin of apostasy, and that although
believers experience the
reality of salvation in the present, a failure
to persevere to the end can result
in the cessation of that reality.
In this article I do not wish to solve all the
problems engendered by
Heb
6:4-6. Rather, the purpose of the present article is to suggest a further
element that has not yet sufficiently been
considered in interpreting this
section of Hebrews in hopes of providing fresh
exegetical insight into under-
standing this puzzling passage. More
specifically, I wish to propose reading
Heb
6:4-6 in light of an OT background. In fact, I would contend that
much misunderstanding of this section of Hebrews
stems from a failure to
appreciate its OT matrix.
Hermeneutically, one of the most significant
observations for interpreting
Heb
6:4-6 has been articulated by McKnight. As mentioned above, the
warning passages in Hebrews should not be read
in strict isolation from
one another, as is frequently the case, but should
be read synthetically.4
McKnight
helpfully suggests that formally each warning is comprised of
four basic components that provide a basis for
comparison with the other
warnings: audience, sin, exhortation, and
consequences.5 Based on this observa-
tion, a key feature comes
into play which points to a neglected element in
interpreting 6:4-6. Scholars have
frequently noticed that one of the com-
mon features of the warning
passages in Hebrews is that each exhibits an
OT example to illustrate the warning in
question.
The following comparison
displays the warnings found in Hebrews along with
the corresponding OT
examples contained in each warning.
Warning OT Example
2:1-4 2:2
- disobedience
to the Mosaic law
3:7-4:13
10:19-39
12:14-29
12:25-26 -failure to
listen to
God's
voice at Sinai.
2 Cf. esp. McKnight, "Warning
Passages;" Nicole, "Hebrews 6:4-6," Current Issues;
Oberholtzer,
"Hebrews 6:4-12;" Verbrugge, "New
Interpretation," respectively.
3 "Warning
Passages."
4 Ibid., 22-23.
5 Ibid., 27-29. McKnight
suggests the significance of this observation: "I will propose
that a synthesis of each component as revealed in
each warning passage provides clarity on the
meaning of a given component in a single
passage" (26).
HEB 6:4-6 IN LIGHT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 211
Consequently,
in addition to McKnight's enumeration of four components
of audience,
sin, exhortation and consequences
which comprise the warning pas-
sages, I would suggest a fifth component: OT example.
The only exception to this pattern, however,
appears to be 6:4-6. Thus, Paul
Ellingworth observes that "This passage [
able for what it does not say as for what it does.
Like 3:7-4:13, it contains
only passing mention of Christ (6:1, 6), but unlike
the earlier passage, it is
not based on any Old Testament passage either: The writer is
appealing
to his readers in his own words."6
Philip Edgcumbe Hughes admits that “the calamitous
history of the Israelites of old is repeatedly
set before the readers as a
warning against the imitation of their evil
example (2:lf; 3:12ff.; 4:1f., 11;
10:28ff.; 12:25ff.) . . .,"7 but Hughes does
not include a reference to the
warning in
in Hebrews, McKnight makes no mention of any OT
illustration in 6:4-6.
The
recent discussion of the OT background to Hebrews by R. T. France
proposes that an exposition of Psalm 110 more
broadly underlies Heb 5:5-
whether an OT illustration illuminates 6:4-6 in
particular.8 More recently,
George
H. Guthrie has discussed the use of the OT in Hebrews. Yet despite
the extensive nature of Guthrie's list of OT
parallels for Hebrews, no OT
parallels are given for 6:4-6.9
However, I would propose that, like the other
warnings in Hebrews, a
specific OT example can also be detected in the
warning of 6:4-6, and that
this constitutes one of the keys to interpreting
this warning. More specifically,
behind 6:4-6 lies a reference to the wildernes generation and the Kadesh-
barnea incident (cf. Numbers
13-14; Psalm 95) which featured prominently
in the warning in 3:7-4:13. In a footnote in his
insightful commentary on
Hebrews,
F. F. Bruce briefly entertained the possibility that in 6:4-6 "the
wilderness narrative [the failure of the Israelites
to enter
our author's mind," although he fails to offer
any substantiation for his brief
6 The
Epistle to the Hebrews (Epworth Commentaries; London: Epworth Press, 1991),
42,
italics mine. See also the comments of Erich GraBer,
who concludes that the writer describes
the state of his readers "in eigener Terminologie" (An Die Hebraer [Heb7: 1-6], EKK, XVII/I
[Benziger/Neukirchener,
1990] 347).
7 A
Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1977), 216.
8 "The Writer of
Hebrews as a Biblical Expositor," TynBul 47.2 (1996) 245-76.
proposal is a modification of the suggestion of
Richard N. Longenecker that Hebrews contains
five extended expositions of Old Testament texts
(Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period [Grand
Rapids: Eerdrnans,
1975], 178-85).
2:5-18;
Ps 95:7-11 in Heb 3:7-4:13; Ps 110 in Heb 5:5-7:28;Jer
31:31-34 in Heb 8:1-10:18;
Hab 2:3c-4 (LXX) in Heb 10:32-12:3; Prov 3:11-12 in Heb 12:4-13; the
Heb
12:18-29.
9 "Old Testament in Hebrews," in
Ralph P; Martin and Peter H. Davids, eds., Dictionary
oj the Later New Testament and Its Developments (Downers
Grove/Leicester: Inter Varsity Press,
1997), 841-50. See the helpful chart
of Old Testament references in Hebrews (846-49).
212
assertion or tease out the possible hermeneutical
implications.10 This present
article will attempt to give further
substantiation and shape to this suggestion
and briefly explore some of the implications of
reading this warning in light
of this proposed OT background.
II. The OT Background for 3:7-4:13
The exhortation articulated in 6:4-6 follows on
the heels of a previous,
lengthy warning embedded in chaps. 3-4;
therefore this section requires
brief analysis in order to provide the context for
the ensuing discussion. In
the second warning given in Heb 3:7-4:13 the Kadesh-barnea incident
from Numbers 13-14 is recalled via Psalm 95
(94):7b-11, which the writer of
Hebrews
quotes in 3:7-11 and repeatedly recalls in 3:15; 4:3, 5, 7, as the basis
for his exhortation to his readers not to become
hardened to the promise
of salvation.11 According to the
Numbers 14 narrative, the Israelites were
camped at Kadesh-barnea,
prepared to enter the
constituted the goal of their Exodus from
However,
because of unbelief and hard hearts the wilderness generation
refused to enter the promised land, and
consequently incurred God's wrath
(Num
14:11-12). Psalm 95 recalls and interprets
in the wilderness from Numbers 14, an event which
became paradigmatic
of
Kadesh-barnea. The writer of Hebrews
appropriates Psalm 95 in order to
place the same warning before the new covenant
community not to rebel
and refuse the promise of rest which lay before
them as a present reality (cf.
Sh<meron,
Heb 3:13; 4:7). According to Ceslas Spicq, the comparison between
presupposes an exact correspondence
between the successive generations
of the people of God. . .
.
relationship, as it were, designed
by God. They are recipients of the same
promises, they
10 The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 120 n. 38.
See
also implicitly Grudem, "Perseverance of the
Saints," The Grace of God,
160-61.
also Peter Enns, "The
Interpretation of Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3.1-4.13," in Craig A. Evans and
James
A Sanders, eds., Early Christian
Interpretation of the Scriptures of
and Proposals (JSNTSS, 148; SSEJC, 5;
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 352-63;
David
A. deSilva, "Exchanging Favor for Wealth:
Apostasy in Hebrews and Patron-Client Relationships,"
JBL 115 (1996) 91-116, who
understands the warning in terms of a violation of a
patron-client relationship, where the
people's response to the blessings provided by the patron
(God)
was one of distrust and failure to fulfill the obligations of the relationship.
12 See Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 85. Cf. Deut 1:19-35; Neh
9:15-17; Ps 106:21-27; CD 3:6-9;
Ps-Phil, Bib. Ant. 15; 4 Ezra 7:106; I Cor 10:5-10. Psalm 95 also recalls
Meribah and Massah
from Exod 17:1-7, although the climax of
Kadesh-barnea
incident from Numbers 14.
HEB 6:4-6 IN LIGHT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 213
go through analogous trials, they are exposed to
the same dangers of apostasy,
they are exhorted to the same faithfulness, in
identical terms.13
Thus, the relationship between the old and new
people of God in Hebrews
is a typological one, where the experience of the
wilderness generation in
Num
14 (cf. Ps 95) is recapitulated in and finds its climax in the situation
of the new people of God, the new
the wilderness generation in the Mosaic era, then,
becomes the story of the
new community and the focal lens through which they
are to view their
experience. This assumption underlies the direct
application of the Ps 95
text to the present community in Hebrews.15
Further, that the wilderness
generation plays a crucial role beyond 3:7-4:13 can
be deduced from the
fact that the tabernacle, rather than the temple,
provides the predominant
model for the author of Hebrews (8:5; 9:1-10),16
and exodus typology is
confirmed more broadly with the emphasis on the
incident at Sinai (
25, 29) and the comparison between Moses and
Christ (3:1-6).
III. The OT Background to Heb 6:4-6
Perhaps one of the basic reasons for the
hesitancy to find an OT back-
ground for 6:4-6 is the propensity of scholars to
focus attention principally
on citations and explicit OT references. However,
recent research into the
use of the OT in the NT more generally has pointed
to the importance of
giving due attention to allusions and echoes and more
implicit and subtle
uses of Scripture.17 For those whose ears
are attuned to the OT, even a
13 Ceslas Spicq, L'Epitre aux Hebreux (Paris: Gabalda,
1953),71-72. According to
Spicq, "la comparison personnelle
Moise-Jesus [3.1-6] sepoursuit
tres normalement entre
les Israelites et le peuple
chretien" (71).
14 Enns,
"The Interpretation of Psalm 95," Early
Christian Interpretation.
15 See also Ibid.,
352-53. For the typological relationship of the people of God in the Old
and New Testaments more generally see L. Goppelt, Typos
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982).
Moreover,
in keeping with the typological nature of the analogy, the comparison between
the
wilderness generation and the new community in Heb
3:7-4:13 is a fortiori ("if. ..,
how much
more"). In other words, if the wilderness
generation incurred the wrath of God for refusal to
enter the promised land under the Mosaic era, how
much more will the people of God in the
new era not escape God's wrath for refusal to
appropriate God's promises as they stand on the
verge of their fulfillment. This a fortiori logic clearly underlies 2:2-3;
16 There has been some discussion over why
the author appeals to the tabernacle rather
than the temple for his primary model. While this
could indicate that the temple is no longer
standing when Hebrews was written (based on the
recent work of Stanley E. Porter, Verbal
Aspect in the Greek of
the New Testament, with Reference to Tense and Mood [Studies in
Biblical
Greek I;
use of the present tense in the writer's
description of the cultus that the temple is still
standing), a better
explanation emerges from the observation that the
author employs the wilderness motif through-
out Hebrews. Given the prominence of the wilderness
motif the author has employed the
wilderness tabernacle as his dominant model to
depict God's dwelling place in the OT in order
to provide a contrast to the heavenly tabernacle.
17 See the discussions in Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul
(New
Haven & London, 1989); Brian S. Rosner, Paul, Scripture and Ethics: A Study of 1
Corinthians 5-7 (AGJU,
214
single word or two can activate scriptural texts in
the readers' memory. In
addition to alluding to specific texts, authors
can sometimes develop Old
Testament
concepts or themes which find expression in several OT texts.18
According
to
explicit or implicit references to the biblical
text."19 I would contend that
the author's language in 6:4-6 is colored by OT
references by means of allusion
and echo apart from direct citation. Initial
justification for finding OT
influence behind 6:4-6, especially with reference
to the wilderness genera-
tion, includes: 1) this era
from the life of
nent role in the exhortation
of 3:7-4:13; 2) this aspect of
as a model throughout Hebrews more broadly; 3) as
already observed, an OT
illustration can be detected behind
all the other major warnings in Hebrews.20
Further
substantiation comes from observing the linguistic and conceptual
parallels in the descriptive phrases in 6:4-6
(“having once for all been
enlightened," "having tasted the heavenly
gift," "having become partakers of
the Holy Spirit," "having tasted of the
good word of God and the powers
of the coming age") with descriptions of the
wilderness generation found in
the OT, associations which "bleed over"
from 3:7-4:13 into 6:4-6.21 Most
22;
JSNTS,
115;
literary concept of "intertextuality"
see J. Hollander, The Figure of Echo: A
Mode of Allusion in
Pursuit of Signs:
Semiotics, Literature, Deconstruction (
Paul, 1981), 100-18. According to the latter
work behind intertextuality lies the assumption
that any discourse is only intelligible with
reference to a prior body of discourse “which it takes
up, prolongs, cites, refutes, transforms"
(101). The recent trend among those who advocate
intertextual approaches has been to
become reader-focused rather than author-focused. How-
ever, Hays offers a more balanced approach when he
suggests that "a proposed interpretation
must be justified with reference to evidence
provided by the text's rhetorical structure and by
what can be known through critical investigation
about the author and original readers"
(Echoes of Scripture, 28).
18 See G. K. Beale, "Revelation,"
in D. A. Carson and H. G. M. Williamson, eds., It is
Written: Scripture
Citing Scripture. Essays in Honour of Barnabas Lindars (
University Press, 1988), 325-26 on the thematic
use of the OT in Revelation.
19 Hebrews 1-8, cxv.
20 For discussion of criteria for discerning
OT influence cf. Hays, Echoes of
Scripture,
29-32;
Dale C. Allison, The New Moses: A Matthean
Typology (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1993),
19-23;
M. Thompson, Clothed With Christ: The
Example and Teaching of Jesus in Romans
12:1-15:13 JSNTS, 59;
see Stanley E. Porter, "The Use of the Old
Testament in the New Testament: A Brief Comment
on Method and Terminology," in Early Christian Interpretation, 79-96.
On the other hand, it
would be methodologically illegitimate to conclude
that an OT illustration must lie behind
6:4-6
based on the fact that all the other warnings include one (kind of an 'argument
from
silence' in reverse). However, the very fact
that all the other warnings include an Old Testa-
ment example at least
invites the interpreter to explore the possibility of finding one in 6:4-6
as well.
21 For the LXX as the text-form which
underlies the author's use of the OT in Hebrews
cf.
the discussion in Paul Ellingworth, Commentary on Hebrews (NIGTC;
Eerdmans/Carlisle:
Paternoster, 1993), 37-42; Lane, Hebrews
1-8, cxvii-cxviii.
HEB 6:4-6 IN LIGHT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 215
of the parallels to the statements in 6:4-6 can be
discovered in Exodus and
Numbers
with their descriptions of the people as they traveled through the
wilderness on their way to
19-21)
and in related Psalms, where the history of God's dealing with
is rehearsed in somewhat extended fashion.22
I. 6:4a
Commentators frequently draw attention to
plausible NT parallels for
the phrase "having once been
enlightened," and several have suggested a
baptismal reference for this description.23
However, the following considera-
tions and analysis suggest
that more attention needs to be paid to the
possible light that the OT might shed on the
interpretation of this phrase.
Given
the prominence of the wilderness generation as a model for the
author, the most important parallel is the light that
God provided for the
wilderness generation in the desert. According to Exod 13:21, as the
ites traveled through the
desert following their deliverance from
along with a pillar of cloud during the day, God
provided them with a pillar
of fire to enlighten their way at night. This
specific event is recalled in
Nehemiah
9 in a section in which the author recites what God did for his
people on their trek from
offers several important linguistic and conceptual
parallels to Heb 6:4-6.
This
event is also referred to in Ps 105 (104):39, which is situated in a
catalogue of God's mighty actions on behalf of the
Israelites. With this
"wilderness generation" background in mind, it appears
that this aspect of
the Exodus narrative has provided a primary impetus
for the author's
conception here, a proposal that receives further
corroboration when the
subsequent statements in vv. 4-5 are examined. The
author's reference to
"enlightenment" here probably corresponds to
knowledge of the truth" (cf. v. 32).24
22 Nehemiah 9 constitutes a prayer by the
Levites which recites the history of
sustain his blessings upon
Nehemiah, Esther (NCBC;
Scott, 1984), 195.
23 See Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews (
Eerdmans, 1965),
148; Ellingworth, Hebrews,
320; Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 141. Cf. John
1:9,
12;
references for enlightenment as a reference to
baptism are found in Justin, Apol. 61:12;
Dial. 39:2; 122:1-2,6. Against a baptismal reference here cf. Hans Conzelmann, "fw?j
ktl.," TDNT; IX, 355; Hughes, Hebrews, 208; Hans Windisch,
Der Hebriierbrief
(HNT,
14;
2nd ed.;
Barnabas
Lindars concludes: "Their minds were
'enlightened' by the teaching which
culminated in baptism" (The Theology of the Letter to the Hebrews [
University Press, 1991J, 67).
24 For "enlightened" as
illumination from the Gospel see Lane, Hebrews
1-8, 141;
Harold
W. Attridge, A Commentary on the
Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia;
216
Heb
6:4b Neh 9: 12
tou>j a!pac
fwtisqe<ntaj tou? fwti<sai au]tou>j
Neh 9:19
fwti<zein
au]toi?j
Psalm 105 (104):39
pu?r
tou? fwti<sai au]toi?j
2.
6:4b
The second phrase in the repertoire of
statements in 6:4-6, "having
tasted the heavenly gift," also resonates with
overtones from the wilderness
incident. Although the verbal parallels are not
as precise as the previous
instance, for those whose ears were attuned to
the OT background, this
phrase, which occurs only here in the NT, would have
recalled the manna
which God provided from heaven for his people during
their sojourn in the
wilderness. According to Exod
16:4, God would rain bread down from
heaven for the Israelites' sustenance in response to
their grumbling over
their perceived misfortune in comparison to what they
had in
became important for subsequent articulations of God's
intervention on
behalf of his covenant people, and is explicitly
recalled in the historical
recital of Ps 105 (104):40. In rehearsing the events
following the incident at
Sinai,
Neh 9 also draws on this description of heavenly
bread which God
gave to his covenant people (
miah 9 reference, in Exod 16:15 and Ps 78 (77):24 the bread is described as
something which the Lord gave (LXX e@dwke[n]) to his people to eat,
sug-
gesting that the bread is a
divine gift. Moreover, according to later exege-
tical traditions there was an
expectation of a second, eschatological provision
of bread from heaven corresponding to God's
provision in the past (2 Bar.
29:8;
Eccl. R. 1:9; Sib. Or. 7:145).25 Thus, along with
the Exodus narrative,
the retrospective lists noted above, which include
mention of the provision
of heavenly bread as a gift from God to the
wilderness generation, provide
plausible parallels to the writer's second
statement in Heb 6:4, where the
readers have “tasted the heavenly gift" in
the age of eschatological fulfill-
ment.26 While the reference to "tasting"
may suggest a Eucharistic setting,27
25 See Johannes Behm,
"a@rtoj," TDNT, I, 477-78; Rudolf Meyer, "Ma<nna,"
TDNT, IV,
463-65.
This may be linked with the idea that the manna was
hidden in the ark before the
destruction