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Hebrews

About this book
Chapter 2

1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels⁠ proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. 5 For he did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels. 6 Instead someone testified somewhere: “What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him? 7 You made him lower than the angels for a little while. You crowned him with glory and honor. 8 You put all things under his control.” For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control, 9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone. 10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” 13 Again he says, “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am, with the children God has given me.” 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death⁠ (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. 16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 2:1 and Hebrews 2:2

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · New Testament

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Summary

Hebrews follows a later Jewish tradition that the Torah was delivered or mediated through angels, a view not found in the Hebrew Bible but found in texts such as Jubilees, where an angel communicates with Moses.

Passages

Jubilees 2:1

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 And the angel of the presence spoke to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and made it holy for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

Hebrews 2:2

New Testament
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hebrews

References

"... One difference between the 'angels and the law' tradition and these other examples listed here is that the latter all have demonstrably extrabiblical parallels in overtly interpretive literature (i.e., not simply translations like the LXX, although that, too, is by no means devoid of interpretive characteristics). It is possible, however, that Jubilees can offer some assistance, since there the revelation given to Moses is mediated through 'the angel of the presence.' ... In 2:1, it is the angel who speaks to Moses the words he is to record, beginning with creation. Whether this theme in Jubilees reflects in any way a general understanding of angelic mediation of the law is, frankly, impossible to say. But, even though only one angel is mentioned, at least here there is a reference to concrete angelic activity on Mount Sinai. Regardless, what is clear to me is that Acts 7, Galatians 3, and Hebrews 2 are better understood within the context of early translations and Second Temple interpretive traditions ..."
Peter Enns, “Fuller Meaning, Single Goal,” in Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, ed. Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 197.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Jubilees 2:1 and Hebrews 2:2

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