Hebrews

This fresh and readable commentary exposes theological meaning in Hebrews by tracing its use of rhetorical strategies from the ancient cultural and educational context. Hebrews, part of the eighteen-volume Paideia commentary series, brings the insight of a veteran teacher and writer to bear on a New Testament book whose rich imagery and memorable phrases have long shaped Christian discourse. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by: • Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs • Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits • Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book • Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text • Making judicious use of photos and sidebars in a reader-friendly format "A carefully crafted work like Hebrews deserves a commentary that concentrates on the text itself, not on opinions and arguments about it; that provides necessary historical information reliably and concisely (here, ancient rhetoric); that stimulates the user to think about matters raised by the text. Thompson's commentary does all these things well because he has thought about Hebrews judiciously and deeply."-- Leander E. Keck, Winkley Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Yale Divinity School "With a firm grasp on the theological, ecclesial, historical, social, and literary issues, James W. Thompson has produced a commentary on Hebrews that is clear, compelling, and helpful. In Thompson's hands, this often difficult biblical book breaks open with new power and meaning."-- Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University Hebrews, the second of eighteen volumes in the Paideia commentary series, brings the insight of a veteran teacher and writer to bear on a New Testament book whose rich imagery and memorable phrases have long shaped Christian discourse. The Paideia series approaches each text in its final, canonical form, proceeding by sense units rather than word-by-word or verse-by-verse. Each sense unit is explored in three sections: (1) introductory matters, (2) tracing the train of thought, (3) key hermeneutical and theological questions. The commentaries shed fresh light on the text while avoiding idiosyncratic readings, attend to theological meaning without presuming a specific theological stance in the reader, and show how the text uses narrative and rhetorical strategies from the ancient educational context to form and shape the reader.