NT362 Exegetical Study: Letter to the Hebrews
Overview
In Exegetical Study: Letter to the Hebrews Dr. David deSilva takes an in-depth look at the sermon to the Hebrews. He sets the stage for careful exegesis by providing a solid foundation of background information that probes cultural, theological, and spiritual issues throughout the sermon. He then walks through the text, which is divided thematically into eleven units, concluding each section with a summary and challenges for application. DeSilva also explores this text as a model for preaching today.
Top Highlights
“The goal of all rhetoric—including sermon rhetoric, or homiletics—is to move an audience from where they are to where the speaker wants them.” (source)
“The third homiletical strategy that the author models, then, is to let the congregation know that you expect great things of them, hold them accountable to God for the grace that they have received, and urge them to live out a full response of gratitude.” (source)
“He spends a full ten verses getting the hearers to image the greatness of the Christ they follow once again, pulling together Scriptures that help them visualize His place in God’s realm, help them see the angels worshiping around Him, [and] help them grasp the unchangeable firmness and reliability of this Son to whom they have committed themselves. And then, after suggesting that they’d better give this Son and His message their complete and undivided attention and investment in response, he goes on yet more to talk about what this Son has done for them, what He is standing ready at hand to offer them now, and where He is taking them through all this.” (source)
“The situation of Christ’s death on their behalf and ascension now to God’s right hand secures God’s favor for them in time of need [and] reminds them of the freedom Christ has given them, the destiny of honor that awaits them, and the availability of help in the midst of their temporary distresses. By showing them Jesus, the preacher has shown them that the end of their story will be honor and glory as they keep following the Lord who first walked through the distresses they now suffer before entering Himself into honor forever. In so doing, he has taken their eyes off their own situation just long enough to give them the perspective they would need to return to that situation and persevere through it.” (source)
- Title: NT362 Exegetical Study: Letter to the Hebrews
- Author: David A. deSilva
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. Hebrews › Commentaries; Bible. N.T. Hebrews › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Education › Bible. N.T. Hebrews--Commentaries; Education › Bible. N.T. Hebrews--Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Resource ID: LLS:NT362DESILVA
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2019-06-20T22:15:35Z
Dr. David A. deSilva, PhD, is the Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s taught since 1995.
He’s written over 20 books in the areas of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism, including Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning (Hendrickson, 2013), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude (Oxford, 2012),Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (WJKP, 2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (IVP, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Eerdmans, 2000). He’s also interested in spiritual formation, having written Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation through the Book of Common Prayer (IVP, 2008) and Praying with John Wesley (Discipleship Resources, 2001).
He’s ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, and serves as director of music and organist at Christ United Methodist Church in Ashland. He and his wife, Donna Jean, have three sons.