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is parallel to that in Hebrews. Hebrews, of course, uses ἀρχηγός,but it is similar to εὑρετής. In Hebrews, though, both terms apply to Jesus. He is both the founder and perfecter of faith.
As the “founder/pioneer/originator,” it is not that he was the first to exercise faith. Rather, “he is the first person to have obtained faith’s ultimate goal, the inheritance of the divine promise, which the ancients only saw from afar.”257 “For the joy set before him,” Jesus endured the cross and despised its shame, with the result that he “has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). Through this process of suffering, Jesus was himself perfected (2:10; 5:8-9). Through his singular sacrificial death and glorification at God’s right hand, he has also perfected believers (10:10-14) and
inaugurated a new and living way to God (10:19-20). Therefore, he is also the “perfecter”
of faith. Though he is a model of faith, he is no mere model. His perfect act of obedience implemented the new covenant and made possible a “true heart-obedience” in God’s people.258 He has given faith “a perfect basis by His high-priestly work.” “Through this,”
Delling writes, “πίστις, which is firm confidence in the fulfillment of God’s promise (11:13, 33), has become full assurance.”259 His faith and what it achieved is, for the readers of Hebrews, a greater incentive for faith than the faith demonstrated by the cloud of witnesses.260
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consists of the final warning passage of the letter (12:12-29) in which the author exhorts them to pursue holiness (12:14), avoid the godlessness of Esau (12:16-17), heed God’s voice (12:25), and serve God with reverence and awe (12:28), lest they incur the same judgment as Esau (12:17) and the rebellious children of Israel (12:25). For the purposes of this chapter, it remains to address the final text that speaks of the perfection of believers and which is embedded in the warning: 12:18-24.261
The author presents a contrast in 12:18-24, arguing again for the superiority of the new covenant over the old. As awesome as the circumstances were in which the people of Israel received the law, “more awesome by far are the privileges associated with the gospel.”262 The γάρ of verse 18 indicates that verses 18-24 serve as the ground for the warning of verses 12-17. The privileges of the Christian experience show why the readers must diligently guard against apostasy.263
A detailed exposition of the passage is not necessary. For our purposes, it will be sufficient to consider what is meant by the “spirits of the righteous made perfect”
(πνεύµασι δικαίων τετελειωµένων) in 12:23. The identity of this group, as well as the
“assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” (ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων
ἀπογεγραµµένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς) in the same verse, has been a matter of some dispute among interpreters.264 However it seems best to understand the “assembly” as referring to all of
261I will also consider the use of two remaining occurrences of words based on the τελει- root:
the adjective τέλειος in 5:14 and the noun τελειότης in 6:1. See below.
262Bruce, Hebrews, 354.
263Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 459.
264A minority view is to see the “assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” as another reference to angels, following the “myriads of angels in festal gathering” of v. 22 (see, e.g., Käsemann, The Wandering People of God, 50; Montefiore, Hebrews, 231). However, most commentators have rightly discredited this view because of the difficulty of describing angels as having their names enrolled in a heavenly book—an image regularly used of God’s people (see Exod 32:32; Ps 69:28; Isa 4:3;
Dan 12:1; Luke 10:20; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8). Others have suggested that the phrase refers to the faithful of the old covenant (e.g., Juliana M. Casey, “Assembly in Hebrews: A Fantasy Island?” Theology Digest 30 [1982]: 329), but it seems unjustified to restrict the language of “firstborn” whose names are “enrolled in heaven” to OT believers. As noted above, the concept of names written in a heavenly book is an image carried over from the OT and applied to NT believers. Furthermore, while the OT describes Israel as God’s
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God’s people throughout the ages.265 What, though, of the “spirits of the righteous made perfect”? Some believe it refers to the dead saints of the OT.266 But there seems to be no need to restrict the group in this way.267 Many other commentators understand the phrase as describing the righteous of God under both covenants who have died.268
That the author uses the phrase πνεύµασι δικαίων as an idiom for the godly dead is certainly possible, though not indisputable.269 Regardless, these righteous spirits
“firstborn,” the NT in general, and Hebrews in particular, recognizes Jesus as the firstborn (Rom 8:29; Col 1:15, 18; Heb; 1:6; Rev 1:5). Through their union with Christ, “the Firstborn par excellence” (Bruce, Hebrews, 359), believers—who are described in Hebrews as God’s “children” and “sons” and as Jesus’
“brothers” (2:10-17; 12:5-8)—are also the “firstborn” of God.
265So, e.g., Larry R. Helyer, “The Prōtotokos Title in Hebrews,” Studia Biblica et Theologica 6, no. 2 (1976): 3-28; Bruce, Hebrews, 358; Hughes, Hebrews, 548-49; Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 468-69;
Attridge, Hebrews, 375; Koester, Hebrews, 545. Peterson writes, “By becoming members of this supernal ἐκκλησία through faith, the recipients of Hebrews have approached God in the company of a vast multitude of believers in all ages” (Hebrews and Perfection, 276 n. 235).
266See, e.g., Davidson, Hebrews, 248; Bruce, Hebrews, 359-60; Hagner, Hebrews, 226.
267The author had quoted Hab 2:3-4 earlier, showing that the Lord’s “righteous one” (ὁ δίκαιός) will live by faith (10:38), and then describes his readers as people of faith (10:39). So it is difficult to see why the righteous ones (δικαίων) of 12:23 would not include all the believing dead (see Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 164).
268See, e.g., Delitzsch, Hebrews, 352; Westcott, Hebrews, 418; Moffatt, Hebrews, 218; Spicq, L’Épitre aux Hébreux, 2:408; Hughes, Hebrews, 549-50; Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 470; Attridge, Hebrews, 376; Guthrie, Hebrews, 421; Allen, Hebrews, 592. Cf. BDAG, s.v. “πνεῦµα,” 832.
269Lane notes, “In Jewish apocalyptic literature the expression ‘spirits [or souls] of righteous persons’ is an idiom for the godly dead (e.g., Jub. 23:30-31; 1 Enoch 22:9; 102:4; 103:3-4; 2 Apoc. Bar.
30:2)” (Hebrews 9-13, 470). Attridge cites additional passages (Hebrews, 376 ns. 81, 82). Yet, the evidence does not appear conclusive. Consider the following: (1) Of the texts Lane cites, only 1 Enoch 22:9 includes the actual phrase τὰ πνεύµατα τῶν δικαίων. The other texts either use “spirits” and “righteous ones” in the same context, or they use the expression “the souls [αἱ ψυχαὶ] of the righteous.” Thus, it seems tenuous to argue that the phrase is idiomatic based on limited occurrences of the actual phrase used in this way. (2) There appears to be contrary evidence in early Jewish and Christian literature: The Shepherd of Hermas uses the phrase πνεύµατα δικαίων to refer to living believers (43:15) (noted by Bruce, Hebrews, 359 n.
171). Dan 3:86 (LXX) uses the phrase πνεύµατα καὶ ψυχαὶ δικαίων in the exhortation, “bless the Lord, you spirits and souls of the righteous.” It appears in a lengthy exhortation to all creation to praise God. The portion that addresses human beings (vv. 82-87) repeats the same exhortation for the following groups:
“children of men” (v. 82), “Israel” (v. 83), “priests of the Lord” (v. 84), “servants of the Lord” (v. 85),
“spirits and souls of the righteous” (v. 86), “holy and humble men of heart” (v. 87). It is not evident that this group in v. 86 is referring to the dead (as BDAG seems to imply; see p. 832). (3) The word pneu/ma occurs twelve times in Hebrews. Two references are to angels (1:7, 14), and seven are to the Holy Spirit (2:4; 3:7; 6:4; 9:8, 14; 10:15, 29). The remaining three appear to be clear anthropological uses (4:12; 12:9, 23). One of these, Heb 12:9, occurs in the prior immediate context. The author encourages his readers to be subject to “the Father of spirits” (τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευµάτων). Commentators, though, do not argue that this
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“have been perfected.” DeSilva contends that, consistent with his view of perfection as glorification or heavenly exaltation, their perfection means they have “finally entered into God’s presence.”270 But, again, as with his interpretation of 11:40, this view of the
perfection of believers is not in harmony with what has gone before. Responding to Käsemann, who also argues that the perfection of the righteous occurs “through entry into heaven,”271 Peterson does not deny that glorification is an essential element in the
author’s concept of perfection. “However,” he writes, “the emphasis in previous passages falls on the realisation of the New Covenant relationship between man and God. This is something to be experienced by believers in this age, with glorification as its logical outcome.”272 Moreover, while Hebrews 12:18-24 is an eschatological scene, it does not follow that the perfection of the spirits of the righteous must refer to their arrival at their heavenly destination. That it refers to that same perfection experienced by believers in the present through Christ’s offering (10:14) is evidenced by 12:24, which speaks of the final participant in this scene: “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” The verse also speaks of his “sprinkled blood” (αἵµατι ῥαντισµοῦ) a covenant ratification reference (see 9:12- 21) that brings to mind 10:22, in which the author describes the application of Christ’s new covenant sacrifice to believers, whose hearts are “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” 273—that is, they are perfected. Therefore, attempts to see perfection in 12:23
refers exclusively to dead human beings—nor would such an interpretation fit the context. (4) Dumbrell and Peterson argue that the “spirits of the righteous made perfect” should be understood as a reference to the “total redeemed community” (W. J. Dumbrell, “The Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect,” Evangelical Quarterly 48 [1976]: 158-59), “all who have died manifesting true faith,” and the “saints of all ages … who have been perfected by the work of Christ” (Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 164).
270DeSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude, 467.
271Käsemann, Wandering People of God, 141.
272Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 165. “The perfecting of believers is not simply a future concept, equivalent to glorification, though the relationship that the writer describes clearly has eternal consequences” (ibid., 129).
273See Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 473. “The ratification of the new covenant on the ground of Jesus’
death secured for the Church the promised blessings attached to that covenant (8:6, 10-12; 10:15-18)”
(ibid.).
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as a future eschatological condition are inconsistent with the emphasis in Hebrews that the perfection of believers is a present (eschatological) reality that fulfills LXX Jeremiah 38:31-34.274
Two final uses of words based on the τελει- root appear in 5:14 and 6:1. In 5:1-10, the author begins his discussion of Jesus as high priest. He returns to this in 7:1 after an intervening warning and exhortation to his readers in 5:11-6:20. The author chastens them for being sluggish and needing to be taught rather than being teachers themselves (5:11-12). Instead of eating solid food, they are like infants who need milk (5:12-13). But solid food, he tells them, is for the τελείων—the “mature” (5:14).
Understanding the adjective τέλειος as meaning “mature,” “adults,” or those “full grown”
seems evident given the context and the clear contrast with “infant” (νήπιος).275
“Therefore,” he urges in 6:1, let us leave behind the elementary teaching of Christ and move on to “maturity.” Here, the author employs the noun τελειότης. Though some offer a different rendering in 6:1,276 many see τελειότης as denoting the spiritual maturity that the author desires of his readers, so that they will no longer be “sluggish” (6:12; cf. 5:11).
274“There is no escaping the fact that τελειοῦν describes an eschatological event in Hebrews, but I have argued from its close association with the fulfillment of Jer. 31:31-4 that the terminology is used by our writer to stress the realised aspect of man’s salvation, from the view-point of the Christian era”
(Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 273 n. 202).
275This sense for τέλειος is clearly attested outside the Bible (see Delling, “τελειόω,” 68-69) and in the NT (1 Cor 14:20; Eph 4:13; and probably 1 Cor 2:6; Phil 3:15). In 5:14 English translations render it
“mature” (RSV, NIV, NASB, ESV, HCSB), “grown men” (NEB), and “those of full age” (NKJV).
276See, e.g., DuPlessis, who suggests, “let us apply ourselves to considering what perfection is”
(TELEIOS, 209). He is skeptical about translating it “maturity” since, he argues, (1) there are no examples of the word expressing this meaning, and (2) the use of a passive verb form (φερώµεθα) to exhort the readers to higher standards “would not be a very skillful move” (ibid.). However, regarding (1), see Delling, “τελειόω,” 78; Ellingworth, Hebrews, 312; Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 184-85. With respect to (2), Attridge observes that the verb φέρω is used commonly in the passive form in classical sources to mean “move” without reference to agency (Hebrews, 162, also n. 97).
Spicq argues that τελειότης is “la perfection de la doctrine” (L’Épitre aux Hébreux, 2:146).
Yet, while the author certainly wants them to move on from milk to solid food, τελειότης should not be seen as contrasting solely with the “elementary teaching of Christ” of 6:1. He desires that they advance beyond the elementary teaching so that they will no longer be “sluggish” (6:12; cf. 5:11), showing earnestness in realizing the assurance of hope and imitating those who inherit the promises (6:11-12). In other words, he desires their spiritual maturity.
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As a result, they will show earnestness in having the full assurance of hope and be imitators of those who inherit the promises (6:11-12).277 In order to attain this maturity, they need to comprehend the author’s exposition of Christ’s high priestly work and the perfection of believers that results from it (7:1-10:18). This teaching on the perfecting of believers is designed to give “confidence about their relationship with God and to encourage them to persevere in that confidence.”278 While the spiritual “maturity” the author urges and the “perfection” he describes are related, they ought not be equated.279
The danger of making the two equivalent seems to be the problem with Cockerill’s interpretation. While discussing the recipients’ immaturity, as well as the maturity to which the author exhorts them, Cockerill contends that the writer exploits the fact that τελειότης can mean both “maturity” and “perfection.” By the use of the related verb τελειόω, he adds, the author “gives content to this ‘maturity/perfection.’” Those who experience the provision of the “perfected” savior and live in faithful obedience have been “perfected” and live in “maturity.” According to Cockerill,
a contextual understanding of the “maturity/perfection” of Hebrews 6:1 reinforces our contention that the appropriation of the preacher’s word about Christ’s high priesthood (7:1-10:18) and accompanying benefits (10:19-25) is the
“maturity/perfection” that he urges. Therefore, going “on in maturity” is the opposite of “neglecting” the Christ-provided “great salvation” (2:3) and the only means of entering the heavenly homeland.280
I agree that heeding the author’s exhortation to move on to maturity is necessary for the recipients’ perseverance in salvation. By doing this they will not be sluggish but imitate those who inherit the promises (6:12). However, the “maturity” the author urges is not the
277For recent interpreters who understand τελειότης in 6:1 as maturity, see, e.g., Hughes, Hebrews, 193-94; Bruce, Hebrews, 138; Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 185; Attridge, Hebrews, 163;
Ellingworth, Hebrews, 312; Guthrie, Hebrews, 204; Johnson, Hebrews, 157; O’Brien, Hebrews, 212; Allen, Hebrews, 340.
278Peterson, Hebrews and Perfection, 186 (emphasis in original).
279Cf. Attridge, Hebrews, 163.
280Cockerill, “Wesleyan Arminian Response,” 279-80.
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same as the “perfection” they receive through Christ. Cockerill’s argument blurs the distinction between the two. Believer’s must press on in maturity. But “perfection” is something done to them through the sacrifice of Christ (10:10, 14), not something they attain for themselves or strive after.281