The Genre of Hebrews

The Genre of Hebrews

An Epistle?

Generic Conventions of an Epistle:

• Salutation including the sender, recipients, and greetings: X
• Opening thanksgiving, prayer, or report of circumstances:  X
• Body of the letter including specific arguments relating to the occasion, scriptural interpretation, and paraenesis or ethical argumentation (1:1-13:19) ✔️
• Postscript including a benediction, personal remarks, and a farewell (13:20-25): ✔️

Text critical arguments that the epistolary prescript has been lost early on in the transmission process (e.g. damage to the manuscript or intentional omission by a scribe) or that the postscript was interpolated to conform to Paul’s epistles has not persuaded most text critics and exegetes.

The superscription “to the Hebrews” was added and the text was included in a collection of Pauline epistles by later scribes.

A Sermon or Exposition

The author describes his work as a “word of exhortation” (λόγος τῆς παρακλήσεως) (13:22)

An orally communicated speech: the use of either deliberative rhetoric to persuade the readers to adopt the course of faithfulness in response to the threats of persecution and backsliding or epideictic rhetoric to reinforce their present convictions about the praiseworthiness of Christ’s person and ministry and the value of faith. It has several rhetorical features that suggest that the text was designed to be read aloud and heard. Ben Witherington III has a useful summary of the text’s use of Greco-Roman rhetorical categories and other literary features here.

A synagogue homily: given the parallel with how Paul’s speech in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch is described as a word of exhortation (Acts 13:15), some scholars specify that the text is an example of a homily delivered in a diaspora synagogue and relate it to the Jewish liturgical calendar or note the presence of Jewish midrashic (midrash means “inquiry” or “interpretation”) techniques. For example, see Gabriella Gelardini, “Hebrews, an Ancient Synagogue Homily for Tisha be-Av: Its Function, Its Basis, Its Theological Interpretation” in Hebrews: Contemporary Methods – New Insights (Leiden: Brill, 2005).