George Wesley Buchanan – författare

How fitting it is that after some thirty-five years since the appearance of his original Anchor Bible Commentary on Hebrews Professor George WesleyBuchanan again turns his hand to this challenging document of early Christianity--now as an intertextual commentary. Here he further elaboratesupon his novel thesis that Hebrews 1-12 is a midrashic sermon based on Psalm 110, giving special attention throughout to its frequent use of scripture. The commentary in a way represents vintage Buchanan. It is at once fresh, bold, provocative, suggestive, learned, and filled with helpful insight. Buchanan is equally conversant with ancient sources and modern scholarship, including recent archaeology. His masterful knowledge of Judaism, displayed in many publications over the years, pays rich dividends in the commentary. Buchanan is never dull, never predictable. Never does one have the feeling that one is getting things second hand; on the contrary, it is continually evident that one is reading the result of a direct, fresh encounter with the text. Above all, Buchanan does what he also asks his readers to do: Think for yourself! Knowledge, after all, will not progress if one accepts only traditional and settled opinions on everything. This is anything but just another commentary on Hebrews. It will engage and challenge readers as very few commentaries do! Therefore, I am happy to recommend it!Donald A. HagnerGeorge Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

Buchanan has unlocked an interesting conflict that took place in Scripture and has important ethical implications that continue until today. There are only two passages in Scripture that report something that God reckoned to anyone as righteousness. One of these is the covenant made with Abraham that included the promises of prosperity, posterity, and the land if the people obeyed, but curses of famine, disease, wild beasts, and the sword, if they disobeyed. The other covenant was made with Phineas. It also expected to receive the promises but demanded different behavior. It was designed to repudiate the covenant made with Abraham. Buchanan has traced the results of these covenants as they were followed by the parties to the contracts from Abraham to Jesus, Paul, and Marcion in antiquity, and as far as Martin Luther King today. Originally these conflicts were played out within the borders of Palestine and according to the character of life that the contracts directed and the righteousness associated with their fulfillment.