what relationship does the temple of solomon have to sanai ?
ORIGINAL Inquiry
Mountain Sinai and Mountain Zion: Discontinuity and continuity in the book of Hebrews
Berg Sinai en Berg Sion: Diskontinuïteit en kontinuïteit in dice cursory aan die Hebreërs
Hulisani Ramantswana
Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, Unisa, Pretoria, South Africa
Correspondence
Abstract
The author of Hebrews draws pregnant contrasts between Mountain Sinai and Mount Zion which both played a major role in the old covenant. For the author of Hebrews the quondam mountain, Mount Sinai, merely had limited significance with respect to the new covenant, whereas the latter mountain, Mountain Zion, continued to have significance in the new covenant. Mount Zion was viewed as a shadow of the heavenly reality, which is the true destination for the pilgrimage community. Mount Sinai equally the locus of encounter or coming together between God and Israel only played a transitory role, whereas Mountain Zion had perpetual significance as the destination, the abode identify of God and his people.
OPSOMMING
Die skrywer van Hebreërs wys op betekenisvolle teenstellings tussen Berg Sinai en Berg Sion, wat elkeen 'n beduidende rol in die ou verbond gespeel het. Vir die Hebreërskrywer het Berg Sinai egter beperkte betekenis vir die nuwe verbond, terwyl Sion nog steeds betekenis het. Berg Sion word equally skaduwee van dice hemelse werklikheid beskou, wat die uiteindelike bestemming van die pelgrimsgemeenskap is. Berg Sinai, as die lokus van ontmoeting tussen God en Israel, speel slegs 'n oorgangsrol, terwyl Berg Sion steeds beduidende betekenis het as bestemming en woonplek van God en sy volk.
Introduction
The Book of Hebrews pictures the new covenant people or the church building as a customs on a pilgrimage. Every bit Kasemann (1984:17-20) describes it, Israel's wandering through the wilderness appears in Hebrews as a blazon for the new covenant community. This pilgrimage is one that is deeply rooted in the old covenant community and it is a continuation thereof. In the start identify, the promise of entering God's balance all the same stands. State of israel'southward wandering in the desert and their entrance into Canaan is viewed as a micro-narrative within a macro-narrative in which God's residuum, which God entered afterward he had completed his work of creation, still stands. Secondly, One-time Testament believers looked across their micro-narratives through faith; however they did not receive the promises:
• 'Abraham ... looked forward to the city with foundations, whose builder and builder is God' (Heb 11:8-12).
• '[Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob] were nevertheless living past faith when they died ... they were longing for a better country - a heavenly 1. Therefore God is not ashamed to exist chosen their God, for he has prepared a city for them' (Heb xi:8-16).
• 'By organized religion Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh'south daughter ... He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ equally of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, considering he was looking ahead to his reward' (Heb 11:23-26).
• Regarding all the heroes of faith, it is stated: 'These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that merely together with us would they exist fabricated perfect' (Heb 11:39-40).
The writer of Hebrews draws on several micro-narratives from the Old Attestation to show the points of continuity and discontinuity, and points of contrasts betwixt the former and the new covenant. In this article, I intend to focus on the contrast drawn between Mount Sinai and the heavenly Mount Zion in Hebrews 12:18-24. For some the dissimilarity between the ii mountains represents discontinuity between the old and the new covenant, which in turn represents the contrast between Judaism and Christianity (Attridge 1989:374; Gordon 2000:157; come across also Lehne 1990:103; Williamson & Allen 1989:52-55). ane Attridge (1989:374) contends that 'the two mountains and their symbolic equivalents are contrasted and go expressions of the aperture rather than the coherence of God'south activity'. The thought that the contrast between Sinai and Zion simply expresses 'contrast' and 'discontinuity' tends to undermine the correspondences and progressive relationship between the two mountains which form the basis of the contrast. I volition argue that for the author of Hebrews, Mount Sinai is transitory in grapheme and of express significance whereas Mountain Zion as a destination has perpetual significance; withal, both elements of continuity and discontinuity flow from the dissimilarity that is drawn. The elements of continuity and aperture are recognisable when the contrast drawn between Sinai and Zion in Hebrews 12:18-24 is viewed as a conceptual framework whose symbolism converges with other symbols within the writer's redemptive-historical framework that spans from creation to the eschatological earth and heavens at the climax of which stands a superior covenant mediator, Jesus. Stride Son (2005), the contrast fatigued between Sinai and Zion in Hebrews 12:18-24 is not 'the' conceptual framework from which the author of Hebrews developed his argument throughout the book; rather, the contrast drawn has its place and office within the writer's redemptive-historical framework. For the author of Hebrews, the primordial deed of cosmos set up the stage for redemptive history, which culminates in the eschatological transformation of cosmos (Heb 1:ii; 12:26-28). Information technology is within this broad redemptive-historical framework that the writer of Hebrews makes a contrast between the two mountains, Mount Sinai (or Horeb) and the heavenly Mount Zion, and inside which the pilgrimage motif is set not only equally a forrard motion but also an upward movement.
Exposition in Hebrews 12:18-24 is given by the following pattern of contrast: Ού γαρ προσεληλύθατε ' [for you have not come up] in Hebrews 12:18 in contrast with άλλα προσεληλύθατε [merely you have come up] in Hebrews 12:22. The pilgrimage motif is characterised by the 'verbs of movement' just as we find in Hebrews 12:18-24 (Käsemann 1984:22-23). In Hebrews iii-4, where the leading motif is that of 'rest' [ κατάπαυσης ], the goal of the new covenant people equally a wandering community is to enter God'south residue. The 'balance' which Israel entered into when they took possession of the land of Canaan is at present viewed as a type of God's eternal residuum, which he has made bachelor. As Johnsson (1978:239-251) points out, the tone in that section is one of expectancy - the goal has been set but non yet realised. In Hebrews 12:18-24, the goal is no longer just eschatological; information technology is in some sense realised: 'You have come.' The backdrop in this case is Israel's feel at Sinai and Israel's experience at Mountain Zion.
Mount Sinai - Mount of transition
Although Mountain Sinai is non explicitly mentioned by proper name in Hebrews 12:18-21, the author is alluding to Israel's experience surrounding the giving of the law when Israel was camped at the desert of Sinai. In this retelling of the events, the writer makes use of the Exodus account (Ex 19:one-20:23), its retelling in Deuteronomy (Dt 4:ix-5:33), and interpretive interpolations. The author's utilise of the events at Mount Sinai in this instance evoke, inter alia, 3 things: the theophany motif, the visio Dei motif, and the fear motif.
Theophany motif
The author of Hebrews introduces the contrast between Mounts Sinai and Zion by reminding his audition where their pilgrimage has non led them: 'For you have not come'; then it continues to offering a clarification of the place. The description as already noted points to Mount Sinai, the locus of the quondam covenant. The description offset of all recalls the terror associated with theophany. Mount Sinai is used elsewhere to refer to the place of theophany and the giving of the constabulary (Neh 9:xiii; in understanding with Ex 19:eighteen, 20; twenty:22; Dt iv:36; cf. four Ezr 3:17ff.; Bar 2:28; Sir 17:11ff.; 24:33; Jdg 5:xiv). Mount Sinai, due to the theophanic manifestation, could not be touched; anything that touched information technology, even if it was an animal, had to die (Ex nineteen:12). The scene was terrifying for the Israelites: the mount was on fire, darkness was over it, as were gloom and storm and in the midst of all this terror, there was the audio of a trumpet and a phonation speaking. The Israelites requested Moses to exist their mediator rather than risk their lives by directly conversing with God (Ex xx:xviii-19). As the author of Hebrews also points out, when the people heard the voice they begged that no further word be spoken to them (Heb 12:19). Then he continues to highlight the fact that nobody could approach that mountain, not even an animal.
In the Exodus narrative, the preparation for the theophanic manifestation at Mount Sinai conspicuously fix a purlieus around the mountain. For the people to partake in the meeting they had to abstain from sexual intercourse and to launder their clothes (Ex 19:10-12, 23; cf. Dt 5:1-five). This was to set God apart equally a Holy One separated from all imperfections and weakness. Information technology is evident from this theophany and from the other theophanic manifestations that a place where God reveals himself is marked every bit holy ground and protected by explicit restrictions (cf. Ex iii:ane-5; Harrington 2001:46). The burning fire on the mountain, equally Harrington (2001) points out:
[...] is a good symbol of God'south exalted, dangerous holiness. Fire separates pure from impure, creating a purlieus which cannot be bridged. For that which can stand its rut, burn down functions as purifier and perfecter. Fire is powerful, even uncontrollable; if unleashed it represents a unsafe threat which is respectable past all. (pp. 13-xiv)
In line with this, the author of Hebrews, as will become clear subsequently, stresses the fact that this mount was unapproachable.
This also needs to be understood within the broader religious context of the ancient Well-nigh E, where the mount motif played an important role (see Clifford 1972; Levenson 1985:111-137; Talmon 1978:427-447). Mountains were regarded every bit locations where the gods held their divine assemblies and as well equally the homes of the gods. For example, the Canaanite god, Baal, was thought to live on Mount Zaphon which in the Bible came to exist an epithet for Zion (Levenson 1985:68). The attachment of the aboriginal world to holy mountains, as Clements (1965:ane-2) points out, could be explained by the expectation of the aboriginal peoples for the gods to continue to reveal their presence in certain localities where a theophany occurred in the past, thereby sure localities were identified as their home places and altars were erected. Attached to this was the idea that the mountain on which a god dwelt was a chosen, a 'holy spot' or 'holy mountain'. This is axiomatic in the following Ugaritic text every bit translated by Clifford (1972):
Come, and I will seek it,
In the midst of my mountain, divine Zaphon,
In the holy place, the mountain of my heritage,
In the chosen spot, on the hill of victory. (p. 68)
When God descended on Mount Sinai information technology became a holy and unapproachable spot. However, when God descended from heaven to Mount Sinai, he did non make Mount Sinai his permanent dwelling identify. Mount Sinai was rather a temporary dwelling for God as he continued to narrow the gap between himself and the people past descending even further from the mountain to the tabernacle. God became a wanderer with his people in the desert dwelling in a tent until many generations later during the time of David and Solomon when he chose Jerusalem and Zion to be his dwelling. Mount Sinai was never intended to exist the final destination for Israel in their pilgrimage, nor did God brand information technology his permanent dwelling. Mountain Sinai rather had a transit function in State of israel's pilgrimage.
Visio Dei and Motif of Fear
The theophany goes hand in hand with the visio Dei motif. The author of Hebrews uses the verb of seeing [ φαντάζω ] in 12:21 to bring about this linkage: 'Indeed, and so fearful was the sight [ τό φανταζόµενον ]... In the Exodus narrative the two besides go paw in hand (Ex 3:3-seven; nineteen:xx-24; 20:xviii-21; 33:12-13; 40:35-38). 'To the Israelites the glory of the Lord (at Sinai) looked [äàÆøÀîÇ] like a consuming fire on pinnacle of the mount' (Ex 24:17). The forbidding vox warned the Israelites not to 'forcefulness their style through to meet the Lord and many of them perish' (Ex 19:21). The visio Dei motif is also confirmed by God's words in Exodus xx:22, 'You take seen [äàÈøÈ] for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.' The significance of the visio Dei motif is affirmed by the parallel passages, which strengthen the connection between seeing and death (see Ex 20:19; cf. Dt 5:24-27; Hague 2001:38). When Moses pleaded with God to evidence him his celebrity, God warns Moses maxim: 'You cannot meet my face, for no ane may see me and live' (Ex 33:twenty).
It should likewise be observed that the author of Hebrews relates the theophany motif with the visio Dei and the fright motif: 'indeed, so fearful [ φοβερόν ] was the sight that Moses said, "I am filled with fright and trembling"' (Heb 12:21). The fear motif, according to Exodus 20:xx, is the basis of the Sinai covenant: 'Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to examination y'all, and then that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."' As Jacob (1992:578) observes, the intent of the Sinaitic revelation 'was to restrain the people from sin'. However, the author of Hebrews expands the fear motif to include Moses as well.
The words ascribed to Moses in this regard are not recorded in the Erstwhile Attestation. The author was making use of an exegetical tradition that is attested elsewhere in the New Testament and in haggadic tradition, reproducing information technology in his own mode, as is the case with the other interpretive traditions. In Acts seven:32, Stephen describes Moses as trembling with regard to the initial theophany which Moses saw on Mount Sinai: 'and trembling, Moses did not dare look'. The textual ground was probably Exodus 3:6, 'Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God' (Hughes 1977:543; Lane 1991:464; Thurston 1979:thirty-31) and/or Deuteronomy 9:19, 'I feared the anger of and wrath of the Lord .' (Bruce 1990:354-355). As Hughes (1977:543) expresses information technology, 'Moses, who drew near to the divine presence within the fiery deject, must have been inspired with awe beyond the residuum of the people who remained below.'
It should be noted, however, that a similar motif is found in the Bayblonian Talmud: Sabbat 88b according to which Moses at Sinai declared, 'I was agape that the angels could consume me with the breath of their mouths.' The theme of 'fear of the Lord' is an important ane in the Old Testament and is fully developed in wisdom literature, where the 'fear of the Lord' was at present used in a positive sense identified with wisdom. However, the fear in this case is 1, which is associated with being in the presence of the Near Holy God. The emphasis in Hebrews 12:18-24 is on the holiness of God, in which there is no room for imperfection. The Sinai covenant, or the old covenant, is i that made man conscious of his imperfection and showed him that he needed to worship in fearfulness due to his unworthiness.
Mount Sinai as representative of the old covenant of fearfulness
We have established so far that Mount Sinai, although not explicitly mentioned by name, is identified in Hebrews 12:18-24 equally the locus of the giving of the law, the mountain of encounter between God and State of israel. Mount Sinai is the locus where God and State of israel covenantally came together to journey together to their terminal destination. The author of Hebrews is not interested here in the abolition of the significance of the covenantal encounter between God and Israel. Rather, he focuses narrowly on establishing the weakness of that encounter. The chronotopic encounter at Mount Sinai, an encounter in space and time, between God and Israel is presented as weak. It was a fearful run into. The sight was terrifying, the voice of God was also terrifying so that the people were terrified and Moses, the mediator between Israel and God, was also terrified.
In so doing, the author continues with his hermeneutical strategy that tin can already be observed in the earlier capacity of pointing out the weakness of the old covenant that was established at Sinai. The old covenant failed to bring near the perfection demanded by God: 'If perfection could have been attained ... why was there still need for another ... ?' (Heb 7:11). Once more he states:
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the police fabricated naught perfect), merely the introduction of the better hope through which we draw near to God. (Heb seven:18-19)
The same idea is repeated in Hebrews 10:
The constabulary is only a shadow of the adept things that are coming -not the realities themselves. For this reason it tin never, by the same sacrifices repeated incessantly year after year, make perfect those who depict almost to worship. If it could, would they have not stopped being offered? (vv. 1-2a)
The old covenant is characterised by imperfection: the people failed to remain inside the covenant bounds (Heb 8:vii-12, esp. vv. 7-viii). The Levitical priesthood was administered by fallible and weak men who also needed atoning for their sins (Heb vii:27-28); the gifts and sacrifices that they offered could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper (Heb nine:9); they performed their duties in a sanctuary that was a copy of that in sky (Heb 9:23-24). The law was a conscious reminder of human being's inability to attain the holiness that God demands (Heb ten:1-iv, esp. vv. 4-five).
Mount Sinai, equally Levenson (1985) describes it:
[I]south the mount of Israel's infancy, of the days of Moses, when the nation, as the story has it, was merely a few generations erstwhile. Mount Sinai is the location of only ane great event in Israel'due south history, the revelation of the Torah. (p. 89)
However, for the author of Hebrews, this keen revelatory consequence was i that was overcast in fear, the fear at Mount Sinai was cast negatively every bit it was contrasted with the joy at Mount Zion. The idea that meeting with God is dangerous and frightening recalls the mail-fall encounter between God and the first human couple, Adam and Eve. God's presence which was previously unthreatening was now perceived as threatening, and and then out of fright Adam and Eve hid from God (Gn 3:eight-ix).
However, the covenantal encounter at Mount Sinai is not simply presented as weak, information technology was also transitory in nature. At Mount Sinai, both God and the people of Israel were in transition. Mount Sinai was non to be a permanent dwelling house for God. As terrifying as the initial see was, the covenant-making procedure proceeded. God instructed Israel to build a sanctuary for him that would house him in their midst. God narrowed the gap between himself and Israel by making his abode in a tent in the midst of Israel, condign a wanderer with Israel to her final destination. The terminal destination for the tabernacle was Jerusalem, on Mount Zion (i Ki 8:1). On the other hand, Israel at Mount Sinai nevertheless looked forward to the Promised Land and there within the land for 'the place the Lord will cull' (Dt 12:5, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26; 14:23, 24, 25; 15:20; 16:ii, 6, vii, 11, 15, 16; 17:8, x; 18:half-dozen, 26, 31), that is, a place where he will 'put his name there' (Dt 12:5, 21; 14:24) or 'make his proper name dwell in that location' (Dt 12:11; 14:23; 16:2, 6, eleven; 26:2). Israel became a carrier of God to his dwelling place. For the author of Hebrews the new covenant community unlike Israel at Sinai has come to Mount Zion.
Mountain Zion - The destination
Mountain Sinai and Mount Zion both played pregnant roles within the former covenant. However, for the writer of Hebrews Mount Zion has a continual significance in the new covenant whereas the significance of Mountain Sinai does not extend beyond the boundaries of the old covenant. As we have already observed, Mount Sinai played a transitory role as a place of divine descent as God prepared to make his abode amongst men. As Levenson (1985:89) argues, as significant as the experience at Mount Sinai was in altering Israel'south religion, 'the mountain itself had no ongoing significance for the people who believed their destiny was transformed there.'
Mount Zion, a hill within the bounds of the city of Jerusalem, became the centre of Israel's cult and therefore became the highest mountain on earth, and the peripheral city of Jerusalem became the middle of the globe (Anderson 1998:187-224; Clifford 1972:154-173; Levenson 1985:111-137). Mount Zion passed into the hands of the Israelites during the reign of David, when he conquered the urban center of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, formerly known nether the proper name Jebus and besides a stronghold of Zion (2 Sm 5:6-9; two Chr eleven:5). The name Jerusalem, yet, predates the conquest of the city past David as known from the correspondences between the king of Jerusalem and the Egyptian pharaoh in the 14th century BC (Tell El-Amarna Letters 2003:COS 3.92A & 3.92B). This metropolis was too known every bit Salem (Ps 76:3), which was initially a name of a Canaanite god (Gray 1949:72-83). In the patriarchal narrative, we are told nearly the run into betwixt Abraham and Melchizedek, the priestly-king of Salem (Gn 14:eighteen). This, as Levenson (1985:93) points out, was 'perhaps in adumbration of the priestly and royal significance of the city from David's fourth dimension on'.
Jerusalem was transformed in a unique way into a city of God by two complementary events, the bringing of the Ark of God to the city by David (ii Sm 6; 1 Chr 13:1-14; fifteen:i-sixteen:43) and the construction of the temple past Solomon (i Ki 6-8; 2 Chr 2:i-vii:10) (come across also Alexander 2008:45). However, equally the story of the onetime covenant unfolded, Jerusalem, the city of God, 'gradually gave its name equally a symbol of the transcendent activeness of God in creating a people for himself in the world, that is, in bringing in his Kingdom' (Porteous 1967:109).
Mount Zion as God's Heavenly Dwelling house of Joyful Celebration
The writer of Hebrews uses Mount Zion synonymously with 'the city of the living God,' which is in turn specified as the 'heavenly Jerusalem' (Heb 12:22). Pace Westcott (1909:413) and Casey (1976:337-346), who treat Mount Zion and Jerusalem equally separate entities in order to accentuate the distinction made between the three designations - I regard the three designations to be referring to 1 and the same destination for the pilgrim customs. The synonymous use of Mountain Zion and Jerusalem is 1 that is also deeply rooted in the one-time impunity (e.yard. ii Sm five:half dozen-8; Ps 147:12f.; Am 1:2; Mi iv:ii; Isa 24:23; Zph 3:xiv-20; Zch 1:16; Jr 31:38; Jl three:17). In the cultic hymns, Mount Zion is the dwelling house place of God (Ps nine:12; 74:2), God's holy mountain (Ps 2:6; 87:one; 99:ix) and the abode of his holy firm (Ps five:7; 27:4). The tradition of the election of Zion is based upon the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem after David had captured the city from the Jebusites. 'With or without the temple, the presence of the Ark in Jerusalem meant that Yahweh was at present dwelling house there and had chosen this place for his dwelling house' (Hayes 1963:421). Thus, Mount Zion every bit God's domicile was transformed into a sacred place where no imperfection was immune.
The metropolis motif recurs in Hebrews under a variety of metaphors: 'the identify' (Heb 11:8), 'the heavenly homeland' (Heb 11:16), 'the unshakable kingdom' (Heb 12:28), and 'the constant city which is to come' (Heb thirteen:xiv). Thus, the idea of a 'urban center' in Hebrews 12:22 ties this department with Hebrews xi together, wherein the author introduces the thought of an eschatological city. The thrust of Hebrews 11 is that 'God's people throughout the OT looked beyond the nowadays life to a heavenly reward. They sighted the better country, the city of God, merely did not achieve to information technology' (Johnsson 1978:240). They regarded themselves as aliens and strangers on earth (Heb 11: xiii) because 'they were longing for a amend state - a heavenly 1' (Heb 11:xvi). Like the onetime covenant people, the new covenant people are supposed to live as aliens and strangers in the world (see too one Pt 1:2; two:11). Accordingly, for the author of Hebrews, the destination for the community of faith is heavenly, not earthly. The citizenship of this community of faith is in this heavenly city where their names are written (Heb 12:23; cf. Phlp iii:20). The heavenly Mountain Zion is the locus wherein Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, resides and continues to fulfil his duty (Heb 12:24).
The city motif should likewise be identified with God's rest, which he entered into at creation. The author of Hebrews discusses in depth the issue of God'due south rest in Chapter 4. The promise of God's rest, or the Sabbath rest, still remains open up for some to enter into (Heb iv:1, 6). Israel'south wilderness experience is analogous to and has a typological bearing on new covenant believers (I am indebted to Richard B. Gaffin with the lecture he gave at Westminster Theological Seminary). The Christian community is currently living in 'today' [ σήµερον ] which is non the situation of rest in Hebrews 4:7-viii, rather, it is the wilderness state of affairs. The balance experienced past State of israel when they entered Canaan was only a type of God'due south residue at cosmos, which believers currently seek to enter. The Christian community is still on a pilgrimage; God's rest is nonetheless available for many to enter through faith. The city has not still fully manifested itself, it is withal 'the city which is to come up' (Heb 13:fourteen), 'only the privileges of its citizenship are already enjoyed past faith' (Bruce 1990:357).
The meet of the new covenant community with God takes place at a unlike spatial location. The earthly Mount Zion or the earthly Jerusalem as significant equally information technology was in the old covenant, is no longer the locus of encounter between God and the new covenant community. The earthly Mount Zion like Mount Sinai also represents the sometime society. At Qumran - although they rejected the Zion cult, the temple - its priesthood and rulers continued to employ the Zion symbolism for both the present reality and the future reality (Knibb 1987:3-6; Vermes 1995:19-35). The Qumranian customs in the acting regarded itself equally the temple until such time when the earthly Zion or the temple would exist restored (1Q32; 2Q24; 5Q15; 11QT, esp. 29:2-10; 4QFlor one i.2-9; cf. Apoc. Abr. 29:17-18; Sib. Or. 5.249-255, 420-427; see Hughes 1977:546; Isaacs 2002:69). The author of Hebrews rather shares a view like to Paul's. Paul, in his allegory in Galatians 4:21-34 regarding Hagar and Sarah, takes the two every bit representing 2 covenants: Hagar represents the covenant of Mount Sinai, and Sarah represents the covenant of the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul regards the present (earthly) metropolis of Jerusalem to correspond with Mount Sinai. Equally Hughes points out, nosotros accept in Paul two concepts of Jerusalem: the nowadays or earthly Jerusalem representing bondage and the heavenly Jerusalem representing freedom. The old covenant is junior due to spatial location - it is earthly and finds expression in terms of the world, whereas the new covenant has its centre in heaven and finds its expression in heavenly forms (Vos 1956:62). As Adams (2009) notes:
The sky-world duality is not for our writer an antithetical dualism: sky and globe are not polarised. In [Hebrews] 11:thirteen-36, the globe is depicted as a place of sojourn, non the final settlement of the people of God. The 'heavenly' country is valued above the existing world, but the stardom is hierarchical ('ameliorate') not oppositional. (p. 134)
Furthermore, Mount Zion unlike Mount Sinai, is an inhabited city. The writer of Hebrews gives a welcoming picture show of Mount Zion, comparing information technology favourably to the darkness, gloom, tempest, trumpets and voice coming from the midst of it all, which terrified the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. On the heavenly Mount Zion there is life, and multitudes of angels are to be seen, all in 'festal array [ πανήγυρις ].' The term πανήγυρις , as some commentators (Hughes 1977:547; Attridge 1989:375; Ellingworth 1993:220) have suggested, gives the associates of angels a festive character - joy, celebration and worship (cf. Is 66:10), [ πανηγυρίσατε ]. However, in their company is the 'assembly [ εκκλησία ] of the outset-built-in who are enrolled in sky' and 'to the spirits of righteous men made perfect' (Heb 12:23). The covenant people of God are given a title of award, which in Hebrews 1:half dozen is attributed to Jesus, 'firstborn' [ πρωτότοκος ] (Lane 1991; Samuel 1998:68), thus, indicating that the enrolment in heaven is through union with Jesus, who is the firstborn par excellence. Furthermore, every bit DeSilva (2000) argues:
The fact that these 'firstborn' were 'inscribed in heaven' recalls the Jewish notion of the names of the righteous being written in the 'books' of heaven (Dan 12:ane; Rev 13:8). Here, however, since no books are actually mentioned, the prototype may remember more strongly in the hearers' mind 'enrollment' (i.east. as a citizen) in the urban center of the living God, the enjoyment of full participation for which the people of faith, now dead, had sought ([Heb] 11:13-xvi) and for which the hearers at present are themselves existence trained ([Heb] 12:5-11). (p. 467)
The heavenly Mount Zion is pictured positively equally a identify of joy in contrast to the fearfulness that was experienced at Mount Sinai. The motif of joyous celebration also recalls the joyous occasion when David 'brought the Ark of God from the house of Edom to the urban center of David with rejoicing [ החָמְשִׂבְּ ]'' (2 Sm six:12). However, in this case it is not God who is received in the metropolis of David with joy, but the pilgrim community that is received in the city of the living God with joyous commemoration. The atmosphere at the heavenly Mount Zion is inviting and welcoming, whereas the picture of Mount Sinai is uninviting. To come up to heavenly Mount Zion is to come to a populated mountain in dissimilarity to the uninhabited Mount Sinai; it is to come into the visitor of the other worldly, the company of angels; it is to come into contact once more with the familiar, God'south firstborn children, whose names are written in sky, the righteous ones; information technology is to come into the presence of his majesty, Rex Jesus, who sits in the place of honour at the right hand of God as a mediator of the new covenant.
Already and non yet
For the author of Hebrews, the church building as a pilgrim community 'has come to Mount Zion' (Heb 12:22). On the one hand, this pilgrim community, unlike Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, has come to its destination, Mount Zion; and on the other manus, like Israel at Mountain Sinai, they have not still reached their final destination. The latter is axiomatic from the warnings and exhortation sounded to the new covenant community: they were to run with perseverance (Heb 12:1), not to grow weary or fainthearted (Heb 12:iii), beware of the 'root of bitterness' (Heb 12:fifteen) and irreligion (Heb 12:xvi-17), and non refuse him who was speaking (Heb 12:25; Johnsson 1978:241). The pilgrimage has not even so culminated in Mount Zion, in the urban center of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. However, we should ask ourselves in what sense this new covenant customs had 'come up' to the heavenly Mountain Zion and yet was still non in that location?
For the author, the answer to this question lies in the fact that this is a community of organized religion, a faith that characterises those in the one-time covenant and those in the new covenant. This is a organized religion which is non simply directed toward the future, but too toward the unseen realities that already exist, though they will not be manifested till the consummation (Barrett 1956:380). Yet, the new covenant pilgrim community has an advantage over those in the former dispensation because 'for them the unseen truth which God will one twenty-four hours enact is no longer entirely unseen; it has been manifested in Jesus' (Barrett 1956:380). Every bit Barrett (1956) points out, it is so because:
He [Jesus] himself is our forerunner ([Heb.] six.20), and it is precisely because he has passed through the veil ([Heb] half-dozen. 20; 10. twenty) and entered now into the holy identify in the city of God that nosotros tin can be confident ([Heb.] 10. 22) that in due class nosotros shall endure the time of shaking ([Heb] xii. 26) and reach the metropolis that is to come up ([Heb.] thirteen. 14). (p. 383)
For the author of Hebrews, the new covenant people already tasted the heavenly reality through their representative caput and blood brother, Jesus, who had travelled the route on their behalf and he was there making the preparations for their arrival. Thus, the new covenant community in terms of their marriage and solidarity with the ascended Christ, believers 'have come' to the heavenly Jerusalem. Equally Samuel (1998:56) points out, the verb προσέρχοµαι [to come or to approach] [Heb 12:18, 22]) is the aforementioned verb used with regard to the call for believers to approach the throne of grace (Heb 4:xvi); with regard to those who approach God through Jesus, who intercede for them (Heb 7:25); with regard to those who had to approach to worship in the old covenant through sacrifices that had to be repeated endlessly (Heb ten:1); with regard to the conviction of the believers in budgeted God through Jesus, who entered the Almost Holy Place (Heb 10:22); and to bear witness the impossibility of approaching God without religion (Heb 11:6; Samuel 1998:567). The new covenant people were already able to approach the Most Holy Place through Jesus, who went alee of them every bit their loftier priest.
The pilgrim community is ane that walks by religion, which for the writer of Hebrews entails 2 things: being sure of what they hope for and being certain of that which they exercise not come across. The two go hand in hand: religion entails expectancy, which is the expectancy of the unseen things hoped for. On the other mitt, the unseen has go a reality through faith. Believers 'have "already tasted the powers of the age to come up," though the full glory of that life is non still' (Robinson 1961:43). The heavenly Mount Zion, which has existed eternally in sky, is now realised in and through Christ, all the same it is still to come.
Notwithstanding, the author of Hebrews projects three comings to the heavenly Mount Zion. Firstly, the new covenant community through faith has already come up to the heavenly Mount Zion (Heb 11:1; 12:22); secondly when they dice they come into the assembly of God'due south firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven (Heb 12:22); and thirdly they volition finally come when God shakes the globe and also the heavens (Heb 12:25). The final coming is in line with the writer of Hebrews' view that the earth is the place of sojourn in the expectation of a city that is to come up. The formulation in Hebrews xi:x 'for he [Abraham] looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose builder and architect is God' and Hebrews 13:14 'for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come', 'suggests a future "earthly" manifestation of the city that currently exists equally a heavenly reality' (Adams 2009:138). Thus, the author of Hebrews seems to project on the one hand an ascending of flesh to make their dwelling with God, and on the other paw, a coming or a descent of Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem (cf. Rv 21:1-2). The final, climactic moment of inbound the heavenly Mount Zion is still to come.
Warning and Blessing
The heavenly Mount Zion is presented in Hebrews equally both the throne of judgement and the throne of grace. Every bit the author of Hebrews 12 tells his audience:
[Y]ou have come up to God, the judge of all men, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a improve give-and-take than the blood of Abel. (vv. 23b-24)
There is an intimate human relationship between the ii, even in the mode that the author juxtaposes God every bit judge and the spirits of the righteous men fabricated perfect on the one hand, and Jesus as mediator of the new covenant, whose blood speaks better than the blood of Abel, on the other. God's justice and mercy go hand in manus, there is no mercy without justice. However, God'southward justice has been satisfied through a perfect mediator who stands between God and man, Jesus who 'by means of one sacrifice perfected [ τετελείωκεν ] forever those who are beingness consecrated to God' (Heb 10:14). Man tin can have confidence to enter the holy of holies only through the claret of Jesus, the 'smashing priest of the business firm of God' (Heb 10:21).
The phrase 'spirits of the righteous ones fabricated perfect' gives the impression of 'consummate divine favour and acceptance' of God as guess (Dumbrell 1976:158-59).
It would be wrong, however, to suppose that the fearfulness motif no longer plays a pregnant part in the new covenant. Many of the exhortations in the book of Hebrews carry a negative slant of warning. For the author of Hebrews, God has again spoken, all the same, this time he has spoken through an even greater theophany, the Son, 'who is the radiance of [God'south] glory and the exact representation of his being [ δς ών απαύγασµα της δόξης και χαρακτήρ της υποστάσεως αύτοΰ ]' (Heb one:3a). The Son, on the other mitt, continues to speak, he speaks through his blood, which speaks better than the claret of Abel. In Hebrews 12, the writer of Hebrews sounds a warning regarding this voice:
See to it that you practise not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less volition we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! (v. 25)
This serves as a warning to the new covenant community not to be similar the Israelites who begged not to hear the voice of God by refusing to take heed of the gracious vocalisation which proceeds from the blood of Christ (Hughes 1977:556; Oberholtzer 1989:71). The voice that proceeds from the heavenly Mount Zion is more powerful than that which proceeded from Mount Sinai. At Mountain Sinai, the phonation 'shook the globe' (Ex xix:18), whereas in the eschaton the voice of God will shake heaven and world (Oberholtzer 1989:71-72). The shaking of the earth and the heavens is one which would issue in the 'removal' [ µετάθεσιν ] of the 'things which can be shaken' [ των σαλευοµένων ] (Heb 12:27); only those things which are unshakable will remain in the eschatological new heaven and new earth. The coming judgement is ane which is inescapable for those who neglect to agree fast and fall away (Thompson 1975:580-587).
The pilgrim community is especially warned confronting apostasy (Heb half dozen:4-6; 10:26-31; 12:xv-17). For those who wilfully sin and pass up God's truth, having been aware by God'southward theophany through his Son, are warned to await with 'fearful expectation of judgment' [ φοβερα δέ τις εκδοχή κρίσεως ] considering they have trampled the Son of God underfoot, undermined the blood of the covenant, and insulted the Spirit of God (Heb 10:27; cf. Ex 24:17; Dt 4:24; 5:25; Ps 21:ix; Is 30:27, xxx; 33:10). To drive this point habitation, the author states, 'it is a fearful affair to autumn into the hands of the living God' (Heb 10:31). The fear motif, with regard to the new covenant, is not the basis for the worship of God but a terror which follows those who go on in unbelief: 'No sacrifice for sins is left, but just a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging burn down that will consume the enemies of God' (Heb 10:26-27). Those who believe in Jesus the high priest arroyo the most holy place boldly and with assurance of faith (Heb iv:16; x:19, 22). Still, God expects those who draw near to him to pursue holiness 'without which no one can encounter God' (Heb 12:14). The heavenly Mountain Zion, as Kasemann (1984:53) notes, is viewed:
As a site of the proclamation and the diathëkë established and guaranteed in Jesus' claret is the primal datum of the people of God and its wandering, just equally in the shape of the 'inheritance' to exist won it will be the final datum of the wandering people of God, and simply as Jesus is both 'pioneer and perfecter of our faith. (Heb 12:one, [Author'due south own emphasis])
To come to Mount Zion is to escape God'south judgement - the fearful theophanic manifestation that will exist revealed when God appears every bit the raging fire that will consume his enemies.
Concluding observations
The hermeneutical strategy that the author of Hebrews employs is one of contrasting the old covenant with the new covenant. In the instance of Hebrews 12:eighteen-24, the onetime covenant is contrasted unfavourably with the new covenant, however, the deficiency of the former tin can simply be realised through the optic lens of the new. Thus, the old is reinterpreted in light of the Christ event, that is, the coming, death, resurrection, and rising of Jesus, as an event that ushered in a new age. For the author of Hebrews, God has spoken in 'these last days' through his Son, a Son who currently sits at the right hand of God in the heavenly Mount Zion (Heb one:1-3). The author of Hebrews, like Paul, discovered that the Christ event was the means through which the new age was inaugurated (Hooker 2009:209).
The dissimilarity between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion forms part of the broader redemptive-historical framework that spans from creation to the eschatological shaking of the earth and heavens. For the author of Hebrews, the micro-narrative of the pilgrimage to Mount Sinai and ultimately to Mountain Zion has its place and function within the broader redemptive-historical framework, which climaxes with the Son. For the author of Hebrews, the new covenant continues God'due south g plan for humanity to enter into his 'Sabbath residue' (Heb 4:4, 11), alternatively identified with the 'true tabernacle' (Heb 8:ii; nine:eleven); 'the urban center to come' (Heb 11:10; xiii:14); Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God (Heb 12:22). The Mosaic cult established at Mount Sinai simply functioned on the 1 paw as 'a copy and a shadow' [ ύποδείγµατι και σκιά ] of the heavenly reality (Heb viii:5), that is, a 'shadowing downward,' and on the other mitt, as 'symbol' [ παραβολή ] of the new age that is realised in Jesus Christ (Heb ix:9), a 'shadowing forwards' to the time of the true loftier priest, and the truthful sacrifice (see Attridge 2009:101). However, the realised new age is no mere shadow of the heavenly reality only the bodily substance of the heavenly reality. As the writer of Hebrews confidently states it, 'yous have come up to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem' (Heb 12:22).
Mount Sinai is presented as the locus of the old covenant, which has limited significance in relation to the new covenant. Mount Sinai was not the final destination both for God and Israel - information technology was a temporary stopping place for God equally he made his descent to dwell amongst State of israel and information technology was a temporary stopping place for State of israel equally they journeyed to the Promised Land. Mount Sinai was the identify of encounter between God and State of israel as they came together to keep together the journey to the Promised Land. Mount Sinai was indeed the mount of God's descent where Israel experienced great theophany. Still, the experience at Mount Sinai is presented as one that terrified the people of Israel and Moses, their mediator. The theophanic manifestation was and so terrifying that Mount Sinai may be described as the mountain of terror.
The earthly Mount Zion, on the other hand, was the destination, the chosen site and dwelling of God, and a cultic middle for the worshiping community. Mount Zion as the site of the new covenant is superior to Mount Sinai because information technology is abiding rather than transitory. The earthly Mount Zion is viewed as a blazon or a shadow of the heavenly Mount Zion, the true dwelling of God. The experience at the heavenly Mount Zion is presented as a joyful i so that Mountain Zion may be described equally the mountain of joy. Heavenly Mount Zion - unlike the unpopulated Mount Sinai - is a populated mountain. For the author of Hebrews the new covenant people through religion already experienced the heavenly reality, however, for as long every bit it is yet 'today' the new covenant customs, is still a pilgrim community pending the total manifestation of the heavenly Mountain Zion, the journey continues.
For the author of Hebrews, the new covenant stands in continuity with the old covenant in its discontinuity of the old. The new covenant supersedes the quondam covenant and replaces it. The supersession of the one-time is non the obliteration of the former, the new and the sometime are interrelated inter alia in terms of hope-fulfilment, redemptive history, law-gospel, erstwhile-new, typology as these various perspectives offer alternative ways of establishing the human relationship. In the example of Hebrews 12:18-24, the former covenant every bit represented by Mountain Sinai is superseded by the new covenant as represented by the heavenly Mount Zion on the basis of a number of motifs: the terror-joy motif, uninhabited-habited motif, transit-arrival motif, Moses-Jesus mediator motif, Abel's blood-Jesus' blood motif, earthly-heavenly motif. Thus, the new covenant as represented by heavenly Mount Zion is in some cases oppositionally improve (terror-joy motif, uninhabited-habited motif) whereas in some cases it is superior or hierarchically better (transit-inflow motif, Moses-Jesus mediator motif, Abel'due south blood-Jesus' blood motif, earthly-heavenly).
Furthermore, similar hierarchical and oppositional contrast tin exist observed elsewhere in Hebrews. The sometime cult nether the leadership of God's faithful retainer, Moses, is superseded and drawn to a close past the new cult under the leadership of Jesus, God's faithful servant, in continuity of God's programme to bring his people into his balance, sky (Heb 3-4). The rest achieved nether Joshua is superseded past the true rest that is achieved under the leadership of Jesus (Heb 4:1-sixteen). The Levitical-Aaronic priesthood is superseded and replaced by the new priesthood in the guild of Melchizedek with Jesus every bit the high priest (Heb four:xiv-5:10; vii:1-eight:half dozen). The ministry of Levitical-Aaronic priesthood that took place in the earthly tabernacle is superseded by the ministry of Jesus who ministers in the heavenly tabernacle (Heb 8:1-half dozen). The sacrificial arrangement of the quondam cult failed to cleanse the conscious, to wash away sin and to brand perfect (Heb 7:19; 9:9, xiii; x:iv) and so it is superseded by a new perfect sacrificial system that effectively deals with sin one time and for all (Heb 9:14-fifteen, 27-28). Thus, the cultic society established at Mount Sinai gives way to the new cultic order established on the earthly Mount Zion through the expiry and resurrection of Jesus. The 2 do non stand up side past side in continuity - the old gives way to the new. The new renders the onetime non-functional. Equally Goppelt (1981:255) points out, this is non merely a chronological replacement of the old by the new but a fading away of the sometime with the time frame of the world. The former gives fashion to the new, which is substantially superior (Heb 9:10).
Information technology should also be noted that the earthly Mount Zion as the sight of the establishment of the new cultic gild is non the spatial location for the continual service of Jesus as loftier priest and destination for the pilgrim community, rather, it is the heavenly Mountain Zion - the heavenly Jerusalem, the true tabernacle not ready by man, but past God. The author, by cartoon the attention of his audition to the heavenly Mount Zion, probably wanted to avoid the distress acquired past the destruction of the Temple in AD seventy (Isaacs 2002:12-xiii; Hooker 2009:191). The destroyed earthly re-create and shadow did non mean the stop of the new covenantal club - the heavenly reality remains functional. It is there where Christ, the firstborn, sits at the right hand of God and mediates for them every bit high priest; information technology is there where the covenantal people are registered; and it is this reality, which they by religion have experienced already through their matrimony and solidarity with Christ. It is surprising, however, that the author does not mention the destruction of the temple and the end of the sacrificial system there, equally this would have supported his merits that Christ had fulfilled one time and for all the demands of the old covenant sacrificial system (Hooker 2009:191).
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
The writer declares that he has no fiscal or personal relationship(due south) which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
References
Adams, E., 2009, 'The Cosmology of Hebrews', in R. Bauckham, D.R. Driver, T.A. Hart & N. MacDonald (eds.), The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology, pp. 122-139, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. PMid:19119232 [ Links ]
Alexander, T.D., 2008, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology, Kregel, Grand Rapids. [ Links ]
Anderson, Yard.A., 1998, 'The Cosmic Mount: Eden and its Early Interpreters in Syriac Christianity' in Grand.A. Robins (ed.), Genesis 1-three in the History of Exegesis: Intrigue in the Garden, pp. 187-224, The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston. [ Links ]
Attridge, H.W., 1989, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Fortress Press, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Attridge, H.Westward., 2009, 'God in Hebrews', in R. Bauckham, D.R. Driver, T.A. Hart, & Northward. MacDonald (eds.), The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology, pp. 95-110, Eerdmans, G Rapids. [ Links ]
Barrett, C.K., 1956, 'The Eschatology of the Epistle to the Hebrews', in W.D. Davies & W. Daube (eds.), The Groundwork of the New Testament and its Eschatology, pp. 363-393, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [ Links ]
Bruce, F.F., 1990, The Epistle to the Hebrew, rev. edn., Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. [ Links ]
Casey, J.Thou., 1976, 'Eschatology in Heb 12:xiv-29: An Exegetical Written report', S.S.T. dissertation, Kinesthesia of Theology and Religious Studies, Katholieke Universitat te Leuven, Leuven. [ Links ]
Chilton, B. & Neusner, J., 1995, Judaism in the New Testament: Practices and Beliefs, Routledge, London. [ Links ]
Clements, R.B., 1965, God and Temple, Fortress Press, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Clifford, R.J., 1972, The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Onetime Testament, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. [ Links ]
DeSilva, D.A., 2000, Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle 'to the Hebrews, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. PMCid:18822 [ Links ]
Dumbrell, W.J., 1976, 'The Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect', Evangelical Quarterly 48(3), 154-159. [ Links ]
Ellingworth, P., 1993, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, Eerdmans, Chiliad Rapids. [ Links ]
Fischer, J., 1989, 'Covenant, Fulfilment and Judaism in Hebrews', Evangelical Review of Theology thirteen(2), 175-187. [ Links ]
Goppelt, Fifty., 1981, Theology of the New Testament, vol. 2, Eerdmans, One thousand Rapids. [ Links ]
Gordon, R.P., 2000, Hebrews, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield. (A New Biblical Commentary). [ Links ]
Gray, J., 1949, 'The Desert God 'Attr in the Literature and Religions of Canaan', Journal of Near Eastern Studies eight(2), 72-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/370915 [ Links ]
Hague, M.R., 2001, The Descent from the Mountain: Narrative Patterns in Exodus 19-forty, Sheffield Bookish Printing, Sheffield. [ Links ]
Harrington, H.Thou., 2001, Holiness: Rabbinic Judaism and the Graeco-Roman World, Routledge, New York. [ Links ]
Hayes, J.H. 1963. 'The Tradition of Zion's Inviolability', Journal of Biblical Literature 82, 419-426. http://dx.doi.org/x.2307/3264697 [ Links ]
Hooker, M.D., 2009, 'Christ, the "End" of the Cult' in R. Bauckham, D.R. Driver, T.A. Hart & North. MacDonald (eds.), The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology, pp. 189-212, Eerdmans, M Rapids. [ Links ]
Hughes, P.E., 1977, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Eerdmans, M Rapids. [ Links ]
Isaacs, M.E., 2002, Reading Hebrews & James: A Literary and Theological Commentary, Smyth & Helwys, Macon. [ Links ]
Jacob, B., 1992, The Second Volume of the Bible: Exodus, transl. W. Jacob, KTAV Publishing House, Hoboken. [ Links ]
Johnsson, W.M., 1978, 'The Pilgrimage Motif in the Volume of Hebrews', Journal of Biblical Literature 97, 239-251. http://dx.doi.org/ten.2307/3265621 [ Links ]
Kásemann, E., 1984, The Wandering People of God: An Investigation of the Alphabetic character to the Hebrews, transl. R.A. Harrisville & I.L. Sandberg, Augsburg, Minneapolis. [ Links ]
Klassen, W., 1986, 'Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity: The Country of the Question', in P. Richardson & D. Grankson(eds.), Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity, pp. 1-19, Wilfrid Laurier Academy Printing, Waterloo. PMid:3517627. [ Links ]
Knibb, M.A., 1987, The Qumran Community, Cambridge Commentaries on Writings of the Jewish & Christian World 200 BC to Advertisement 200, Cambridge Academy Press, Cambridge.PMid:3144479. [ Links ]
Lane, W.L., 1991, Hebrews ix-xiii, Give-and-take Biblical Commentary, vol. 47B, Word Books, Dallas. [ Links ]
Lehne, S., 1990, 'The New Covenant in Hebrews', Journal for the Report of the New Attestation Suppl. 44, JSOT Press, Sheffield. PMid:2185802. [ Links ]
Levenson, J.D., 1985, Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Earth of the Jewish Bible, Harper Collins, New York. [ Links ]
Oberholtzer, T.M., 1989, 'The Failure to Heed His Speaking in Hebrews 12:25-29', Bibliotheca Sacra 146, 67-75. [ Links ]
Porteous, N.W., 1967, 'Jerusalem-Zion: The Growth of a Symbol', in Due north.W. Porteous (ed.), Living the Mystery: Collected Essays, pp. 93-111, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. [ Links ]
Robinson, W., 1961, 'The Eschatology of the Epistle to the Hebrews', See 22, 34-51. [ Links ]
Samuel, C.J., 1998, 'A Mountain of Burn down and Smoke: Sinai and Zion in Hebrews 12:14-29', ThM thesis, Dept. of Hermeneutics and Biblical Interpretation, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Son, Chiliad., 2005, Zion Symbolism in Hebrews: Hebrews 12:18-254 as a Hermeneutical Key to the Epistle, Paternoster, Milton Keynes. [ Links ]
Talmon, Due south.H., 1978, s.v. 'har' in Yard.J. Botterweck & H. Ringgren (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the Old Attestation, vol. three, pp. 427-447, Eerdmans, Chiliad Rapids. [ Links ]
Tell El-Amarna Messages, 2003, in W.H. Hallo & M.50. Younger Jr., The Context of Scripture: The Archival Documents from the Biblical World, vol. 3, Brill, Leiden. [ Links ]
Theissen, G., 1993, Social Reality and the Early Christianity: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament, T & T Clark, Edinburgh. PMCid:311206 [ Links ]
Thompson, J.W., 1975, '"That Which Cannot Be Shaken": Some Metaphysical Assumptions in Heb. 12:27', Journal of Biblical Literature 94, 580-587. http://dx.doi.org/x.2307/3265438 [ Links ]
Thurston, W., 1979, 'Midrash and "Magnet Words" in the New Testament', Evangelical Quarterly 51(1), 22-39. [ Links ]
Vermes, Chiliad., 1995, The Dead Bounding main Scrolls in English language, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield. PMCid:2365613 [ Links ]
Vos, G., 1956, The Education of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. [ Links ]
Wall, R.W. & William, 50.Fifty., 1993, 'Polemic in Hebrews and the Cosmic Epistles', in C.A. Evans & D.A. Hagner (eds.), Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity: Problems of Polemic and Religion, pp. 166-198, Fortress, Minneapolis. PMCid:196110 [ Links ]
Westcott, B.F., 1909, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Macmillan, London. [ Links ]
Williamson, C.M. & Allen, R.J., 1989, Interpreting Hard Texts: Anti-Judaism and Christian Preaching, SCM Press, London. [ Links ]
Hulisani Ramantswana
PO Box 392
UNISA 0003, South Africa
Email: ramanh1@unisa.ac.za
Received: 11 July 2011
Accepted: 31 Jan. 2012
Published: 08 May 2013
1. The view that the contrast between Sinai and Zion represents the contrast between Judaism and Christianity will not exist subject of discussion in the article. For arguments against this view (see Theissen 1993:203-206; Chilton & Neusner 1995; Kasemann 1984:24-25; Fischer 1989:175-187; Klassen 1986:19; Wall & William 1993:184-185).
Source: http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2305-08532013000100014
0 Response to "what relationship does the temple of solomon have to sanai ?"
Post a Comment