THE PURPOSE OF THE PARENTHETICAL PORTIONS OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS

BY HAL M. HALLER, JR.

The parenthetical portions of the book of Hebrews are identified as 2:1-4; 3:7-4:13;
5:11-6:12; 10:26-39; 12:3-17. The method of the writer is to contrast the present state of his
readers with what they have been, what they should be and what they are in danger of
becoming. The warnings and exhortations are not digressions to the main argument of
Hebrews (i.e. Christ is superior to anything Judaism has to offer); rather, they are applications
based on the main argument. Cf. 2:1; 4:1; 6:1; 10:19 where the word “therefore” appears. The
writer has presented truth from which a response is demanded. If there is no response, there
will be only judgment (2:2; 3:11,17-19; 6:6-8; 10:27-31).

To gain a clearer understanding of what the writer seeks to accomplish by these portions
it will be necessary to clearly discern the circumstances and spiritual condition of the recipients.

The Circumstances of the Recipients:

The recipients are a community of saved Jews who lived in proximity to Jerusalem.
They were second generation Christians. The fall of Jerusalem had not yet taken place, for the
temple and its sacrifices were still in operation (10:11). These Jewish Christians had been
raised under Pharisaic Judaism, but were converted to Christianity probably through the
preaching of the apostles. Moreover, they would have testified to their faith by water baptism.
This ordinance severed their citizenship publicly in the nation of Israel. The gap was widening
more and more between the Church and the synagogue. Hatred by the Jews resulted in
economic, political, social, and religious sanctions against those who had trusted Jesus as the
Messiah. To add to the problem, Gentile persecution could be expected because Christians
were vulnerable to the charge of treason since they believed Jesus was Lord and He would
reign upon the earth. The Jewish believers were entering the second wave of persecution.
They had successfully weathered the first one. At present, they were not prepared spiritually for
more of the same. They had need of patient endurance.

To escape persecution, these Jewish Christians were being tempted to compromise their
faith by fading back into Judaism, yet retaining Christ. No doubt there had been strong
disappointment that Christ had not yet returned (Cf. 9:28; 10:37). The majority of their fellow
Jews had decisively rejected Christ. Continued identification with Christianity would leave them
with the prospect of violent anti-Christian persecution. Retrogression into Judaism seemed the
easiest and best way out. The writer of Hebrews argues against this by demonstrating the
superiority of Christianity over Judaism. This argument is accompanied by exhortation and
balanced by warnings of what will happen to them if they turn back. The only solution to their
dilemma is for them to go on to maturity by trusting God and enduring to the end.

The Spiritual Condition of the Recipients:

1. The immediate danger they faced was that of a gradual imperceptible drift away
from the things they had heard (2:1). They were in danger of falling away in unbelief to
immaturity. If the degenerative process was not checked, they would be guilty of deliberate sin
of which there would be irrevocable consequences. Thus, they needed immediate fervent
exhortation and warning to check the drift which would eventuate in outright repudiation (3:13).
On the positive side, they needed to go on so as not to fall short of experiencing God’s promises
(4:1).

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 2. Other symptoms of spiritual decay seemed to be present:
a. They were insensitive to the teaching of the Word of God (5:11).
b. They were becoming sluggish in respect to persevering in faith (6:12).
c. They were becoming despondent in their trials (12:3,12).
d. They were losing their former enthusiasm and boldness for their faith (3:6;
4:14; 10:35).
e. They lacked spiritual discernment and understanding from their
slothfulness in using the Word of God (5:12-14).
f. They were becoming susceptible to new and strange teachings (13:9).
h. They were beginning to absent themselves from the assembly of
believers (10:25).

The Purpose of the Parentheses - Determined by the Identity of Recipients.

1. Not to win unsaved professing Jews to Christ. The recipients of the warnings
and exhortations are saved Jews, not unsaved Jewish professors who have stopped just short
of accepting Christ as C.I. Scofield, W.R. Newell, J.F. Strombeck and others assert. If they be
unsaved professors, this would make the subject matter upon which the warnings are based to
be in the form of an evangelistic tract. The purpose then of the warnings would be to stir up
these unbelievers among the Hebrews to saving faith in Christ.

Hebrews, however, is not a gospel tract. In gospel preaching, the sinner is exhorted to
receive Christ by an act of faith. The Hebrews, on the other hand, are exhorted to persevere in
faith so that they might receive God’s promise of rest for the believer and escape temporal
judgment (4:11). In the first parenthesis the warning is, “How shall we escape if we neglect so
great salvation?” (2:3). Notice that the apostle identifies himself, a saved man, with the
recipients by use of the pronoun, “we.” The “we,” therefore, must refer to Christians, not the
unsaved. In the second parenthesis, the intimation is that the recipients are saved. They are
compared with those who were redeemed out of the land of Egypt, but who failed to enjoy those
temporal promises for which they were redeemed. Their failure was due to continual
disobedience motivated by unbelief. In the third parenthesis the recipients were evidently saved
long enough so that they could be expected to be teachers. They had remained babes in Christ
(Heb. 5:12,13). The exhortation for them was to go to maturity, not salvation. In the fourth
parenthesis, the apostle states, “If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of
the truth...” Notice the “we” again, indicating believers as being in view. In 10:30 it states “The
Lord shall judge His people.” In 10:35 it says, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which
hath great recompense of reward.” Salvation is not a reward, but a free gift (Eph. 2:8,9). These
are some of the signs in the text which let us know that saved people are in view. For additional
important evidence, see comments in all three texts on Heb. 6:4-6.

2. Not to insure the final salvation of believers. There are those, however, who
identify the recipients as believers who are in danger of losing their salvation. The purpose,
then would be to keep those who are wavering from apostasizing to the point of being
irrevocably lost. The main proof text for them is Heb. 6:4-6. Here, they interpret “falling away”
as losing your salvation. However, there are other interpretations, one of which is that the falling
away refers to the final outcome of drifting, that of going back to identifying with the outmoded
system of Judaism with its sacrifices which can never take away sin. This interpretation best
explains the phrase, “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to
open shame.” (6:6b) It also illuminates our understanding of 10:29. The interpretation that a
believer can lose his salvation puts the teaching of Hebrews against the clear passages of

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Scripture (Jn. 6:37,39), especially those within the book of Hebrews (10:10,12,14) which teach a
believer can never lose his salvation!

3. To warn genuine Jewish believers against lapsing back into Judaism. The true
purpose of the parenthetical portions is to warn genuine Jewish believers against retrogression
into spiritual immaturity. The apostle wants to shake these believers out of their indifference and
apathy before they reach a worse condition from which there would be no recovery (6:4-6;
10:27; 12:17). He is trying to prevent them from returning in pretense to a nation under
judgment. If they return to Judaism they will become partakers of that great catastrophe of 70
A.D. in which hundreds of thousands of Jews were slain or taken into captivity by the Romans.

The warnings are spaced apart and become more serious as Hebrews progresses. In
Chapter 2 they are warned of neglect. They can reverse their course by taking heed. In
Chapter 4 they are warned of unbelief. This basically can be met by faith. In Chapters 5 & 6
they are warned against spiritual retrogression. The answer to this danger is “Let us go on to
maturity” (6:1). In Chapter 10 they are warned against willful sin. The antidote to their
temptation is to call to remembrance the former days when their faith was under trial and the
reward that they already have in heaven for their faithfulness. In Hebrews 12 they are warned
against lacking God’s grace lest they become bitter in their attitude towards God’s chastening,
lest like Esau they disqualify themselves from receiving God’s blessing. The antidote here is to
take heart in their discouragement, moving ahead, realizing the benefits which will accrue to
them for enduring God’s chastening (12:10-14).

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