Deciphering the Worlds of Hebrews

Gabriella Gelardini is Professor of Christianity, Religion, Worldview, and Ethics at Nord University, Norway. She has published various monographs, edited volumes, and numerous articles on the New Testament, including Hebrews in Contexts (edited with Harold W. Attridge; Brill, 2016).

"She [Gelardini] ably summarizes and engages with broader currents such as the linguistic turn or spatiality, with wider ancient contexts such as discussions of synagogue practice or Roman fides and brings these to bear in the detail of her exegetical or structural discussions of the text of Hebrews. While some details may not persuade […] her wider project of attending to the detail of what it means to locate Hebrews within Second Temple Judaism is both important and convincing." – Nicholas J. Moore, Durham University, in: Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist 2022 44.5, August 2022

• ContentsIntroduction1 Hebrews Scholarship in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries2 Hebrews Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century3 Arrangement and Content of This CollectionPart 1: The World of Hebrews’s Text1 “As if by Paul?” Some Remarks on the Textual Strategy of Anonymity in Hebrews1 Introduction—Hebrews: Pauline or not Pauline, or “Somehow” Connected to a Pauline Environment2 Anonymity as a Literary Strategy3 Habakkuk 2:4 in Hebrews and Paul4 Jesus as Mercy Seat (ἱλαστήριον) in Heb 9:5 and in Rom 3:25?5 Once for All (ἐφάπαξ) in Hebrews and Paul6 Brief Conclusion2 From “Linguistic Turn” and Hebrews Scholarship to Anadiplosis Iterata: The Enigma of a Structure1 History of Ideas2 Hebrews Scholarship in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries3 Structural Analysis: A New Proposal3 Hebrews, Homiletics, and Liturgical Scripture Interpretation1 The Ancient Synagogue and its Liturgy2 The Ancient Synagogue Homily3 The Two Readings Underlying Hebrews, or its Two Central Scriptural Quotations4 Hebrews, an Ancient Synagogue Homily and its Remaining Scriptural Quotations5 Hebrews in the Context of Ancient Synagogue Liturgy4 Hebrews, an Ancient Synagogue Homily for Tisha be-Av: Its Function, Its Basis, Its Theological Interpretation1 Introduction2 The Ancient Synagogue Homily in Its Liturgical Context3 Hebrews, an Ancient Synagogue Homily for Tisha be-Av4 Conclusion5 Rhetorical Criticism in Hebrews Scholarship: Avenues and Aporias1 A Brief History2 Exemplary and Theoretical Analysis3 Summary and ProspectsPart 2: The World behind Hebrews’s Text6 Frei von Blut und Fleisch, Sündenbewusstsein und Todesfurcht: Die Hoffnung auf einen vollkommenen Menschen im Hebräer1 Einleitung2 Der kosmische Horizont des Menschenbilds im Hebräer3 Jesus Christus ist der Mensch—die “christologische” Anthropologie4 Blut und Fleisch, Seele und Geist, Tod und Leben5 Geheiligtes Menschsein muss noch im Glauben der Erprobung im Leiden standhalten6 Versuch einer historischen Kontextualisierung7 Schluss7 Charting “Outside the Camp” with Edward W. Soja: Critical Spatiality and Hebrews 131 Introduction2 Hebrews 13 in Scholarship: Riddles about a Key Space3 Critical Spatiality: An Apt Methodology4 The Text of Hebrews 13: Overlapping Maps5 The Primary Intertext of Hebrews 13: Exodus 32–336 How the Primary Intertext, Exodus 32–33, Reinterprets Hebrews 13 Spatially7 Conclusion and Outlook8 Useless Foods: Communal Meals in Hebrews1 Introduction2 The Epistle to the Hebrews and Communal Meals3 Context, Structure and Content4 Research History and Central Intertext5 How the Intertext Exod 32–34 Interprets Heb 136 Conclusion9 Von Bundesbruch zu Bundeserneuerung: Das sühnende Opfer im Hebräer1 Das Opfer im Neuen Testament und im Hebräer2 Der kultisch-liturgische Kontext des Hebräers3 Der theologische Kontext des Hebräers4 Die kultischen Inhalte des Hebräers5 Der sühnende Opferkult des Jom Kippur6 Der sühnende Opferkult im Hebräer7 Der historische Kontext des Hebräers10 The Inauguration of Yom Kippur according to the LXX and Its Cessation or Perpetuation according to Hebrews: A Systematic Comparison1 Introduction2 Hebrews Scholarship3 Systematic Comparison of Cultic Elements4 ConclusionPart 3: The World in Front of Hebrews’s Text11 Faith in Hebrews and Its Relationship to Soteriology: An Interpretation in the Context of the Concept of Fides in Roman Culture1 Fides quaerens intellectum?2 Bicultural Interaction, Not Syncretism3 Fides and πίστις4 The Cloud of Witnesses12 Existence beyond Borders: Hebrews and Critical Spatiality1 The Turn to Critical Spatiality2 Mapping the Ancient World with Hebrews3 “Outside the Camp”: A “Counter Space” in Hebrews 1313 “Wir haben hier keine bleibende Stadt” (Hebr 13,14): Kritische Raum- und Machtdiskurse im Hebräer1 Die Wende zur Raumsoziologie (“Critical Spatiality”)2 Eine Landkarte der Alten Welt: Nach dem Neuen Testament und dem Hebräerbrief3 “Ausserhalb des Lagers”—Ein “Gegenort” in Hebräer 1314 The Unshakeable Kingdom in Heaven: Notes on Eschatology in Hebrews1 Introduction—Eschatology and Apocalypticism2 Hellenistic and Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Epistle to the Hebrews3 The Unshakeable Kingdom of Heaven15 Ethics in Hebrews1 Introduction2 Descriptions of Hebrews’s Ethics3 Ethical-Hermeneutical Evaluations of Hebrews4 ConclusionIndex of Ancient SourcesIndex of Modern AuthorsIndex of Subjects