THE GENERAL EPISTLES: HEBREWS, I AND II PETER, JUDE

Hebrews

The religio-historical matrix of the idea of pre-existence in the New Testament has already been set out, and so we can proceed without repetition of the evidence. Hebrews essentially provides confirmation of the structures of the idea proposed so far, and so our discussion will be brief.

It is well known that the opening verses proclaim the pre-existence of Christ in terms of the Wisdom myth (Wisd. 7: 27): the message given by the prophets in the course of the history of salvation comes to final and definitive expression in the Son, in these last days (1: 1–2). He is the one through whom God created the universe and towards whom everything moves for fulfilment.

In verse 3 the same attributes are applied to Christ as are applied to Wisdom in the tradition. The same word, ἁπαύγασμα, is applied to Wisdom in Wisd. 7: 26, and the general description of Wisdom in Wisd. 7: 25 – 8: 1 corresponds closely to Heb. 1–3. The attributes of Philo's Logos are also similar to those of the Christ of Hebrews (Quod Deus 31, Conf. 97, Spec. Leg. I. 81, Somn. I. 239, Det. 83).