Re: Studying the Book of Hebrews

From: James Trimm (jstrimm@swbell.net)
Date: Sun Mar 21 1999 - 01:14:52 EST


        The "church fathers" have testified to the Semitic origin of at least one
of Paul's epistles. These "church fathers" claim that Paul's Epistle to
the Hebrews was translated into Greek from a Hebrew original, as the
following quotes demonstrate:

        Clement of Alexandria (150 - 212 C.E.)
        In the work called Hypotyposes, to sum up the matter briefly
        he [Clement of Alexandria] has given us abridged accounts of
        all the canonical Scriptures,... the Epistle to the Hebrews he
        asserts was written by Paul, to the Hebrews, in the Hebrew
        tongue; but that it was carefully translated by Luke, and
        published among the Greeks.
        (Clement of Alexandria; Hypotyposes; refered to by Eusebius in Eccl. Hist.
6:14:2)

                 Eusebius (315 C.E.)
         For as Paul had addressed the Hebrews in the language of his
        country; some say that the evangelist Luke, others that
        Clement, translated the epistle.
        (Eusebius; Eccl. Hist. 3:38:2-3)

        "He (Paul) being a Hebrew wrote in Hebrew, that is, his own
        tongue and most fluently while things which were eloquently
        written in Hebrew were more eloquently turned into Greek"
        (Jerome; Lives of Illustrious Men, Book V)

For more on the Hebrew/Aramaic origin of the NT, including the Pauline
epistles see my book THE SEMITIC ORIGIN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT which can be
obtained from the ONLINE CATALOG at the HEBREW/ARAMAIC NT RESEARCH
INSTITUTE WEBSITE at http://www.nazarene.net/hantri . Also you might want
to check out the website for the b-aramaic list at
http://www.nazarene.net/aramaic

James Trimm

.At 11:40 PM 3/20/99, you wrote:
>I am currently studying Hebrews and am wondering if it is better to examine
>the book from a Hebrew perspective or a Greek persepective. The style of
>the Greek seems to be different than what I have studied in the past. If
>it is true that the writer was most likely schooled in Alexandria, and was
>a Jew himself, would it be better to look for Hebraic patterns of
>thought/rhetoric or Greek patterns of thought/rhetoric? I am still working
>on the discourse analysis of chapters one and two and the style is eluding
>me!
>
>Also, does anyone know of any books on Hebrew thought/rhetoric?
>
>Sorry if this is off-topic, but I am dealing with the Greek text.
>
>John Contabile
>Student of New Testament Greek
>jcontabile@earthlink.net
>
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James Trimm
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