Re-Opening Katapetasma ("Veil") In Hebrews 6:19

Andyews University Seminary Studies, Spring 2000, Vol. 38, No. 1, 5-8 Copyright 2000 by Andrews University Press. @ RE-OPENING KA TAPETASMA ("VEIL") IN HEBREWS 6:19 ROYE. GANE Andrews University Heb 6:19-20 reads: "[19]This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil (EL< zb iocJzcpov TOG ~ara.rrcz&apazo), [20]where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (NASB). In his 1987AUSS article entitled "Hebrews 6:19: Analysis of Some Assumptions Concerning Kutapetusmu," George Rice successfully demonstrated that in the Septuagint the word ~ara.rriraopacan refer to any of three curtains/veils of the ancient Israelite sanctuary: the screen of the coun (e.g. Exod 37: 16 [ = MT & Eng. 38: 181; Num 3:26), the screen at the entrance to the sacred tent (e.g., Exod 26:37; 37:5 [ = MT & Eng. 36:37$, and the inner veil that separated the holy of holies from the outer sanctum (e.g. Exod 26:31, 33,34,35).' Having shown that ~ararrCraopa, can have a variety of meanings, Rice maintained that in Heb 6:19 the word should be freed from the generally accepted idea that it is the inner/second veil: and interpreted ~ararrCraopain this context as referring 'AUSS 25 (1987): 65-71. In his list of referencesto the courtyard veil, Rice includes Exod 37:26, which appears to be a typographical error for Exod 37:16 (67 n. 9). Rice's article has been reprinted as Appendix B in Issues in the Book ofHebrews, ed. F. Holbrook, Daniel and Revelation Committee 4 (SilverSpring, MD:Biblical Research Institute, 1989),229-234. That the LXX uses ~ara~i.ruapa for both the inner and outer curtains of the sacred Tent is well known: see Arndt and Gingrich, 416; H. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1989), 184; F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the HebrewsyNICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 199, n. 14; 250-251, n. 87; M. Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews," in The Expositor's Greek Testament, ed. W .R. Nicoll (GrandRapids: Eerdmans, 1956),4:305; 0. Michel, Der Briefan die Hebrier, Kritisch-Exegetischer Kommentar uber das Neue Testament (Giiningen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966), 254; C. Schneider, "~ara~kraupa," TDNTy3:629. *Forthe conclusionor assumption that the inner veil is meant, see Arndt and Gingrich, 416; Attridge, 184; H. Braun, An die HebrLier, Handbuch zum Neuen Testament 14 (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1984), 191; Bruce, 155,250-251, n. 87; G. W. Buchanan, To the Hebrews: Translation,Comment and Conclusions,AB 36 (New York: Doubleday, 1972), 116; P. Ellingworth, TheEpistle to the HebrewsyNIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993),347; R. P. Gordon, "Better Promises: Two Passages in Hebrews against the Background of the Old Testament Cultus," in Tmplum Amicitiue: Essays on the Second T m p k Presented to Ernst metaphorically to the heavenly sanctuary as a whole, which Christ entered at his ascension (cf. v. 2O).' While Rice did not directly identify ~araairaapain Heb 6: 19 as the heavenly equivalent of any of the three O T veils, his reading of the word here has its closest analogies in LXX references to the outedfirst veil, through which a priest would necessarily enter the sanctuary as a whole. Needless to say, Rice's view has important implications for the location of Christ's ministry in the book of Hebrews. There is no question that in the LXX ~ a ~ a a i z a o pby a itself can denote any of the three sanctuary veils. However, in Heb 6:19 the word belongs to the phrase iacjrcpov to6 ~azancroiayato<, "within the veil." In the LXX this phrase appears four times: Exod 26:33; Lev 16:2, 12, 15. Each time the meaning is the same: within the inner veil.4 This raises suspicion that the phrase may be a technical expression in which ~araairaapanecessarily refers to the inner veil of the sanctuary. This suspicion is confirmed by the fact that in each of its LXX occurrences, &xhcpov ro6 ~araacr&apa~o< renders n?i?? n93n,"within the inner veil." While Greek ~ a r a a i ~ a o p bya itself can refer to various veils, the Hebrew unambiguously denotesthe inner vei1.l Another Hebrew word, word pi? - Bammel, ed. W. Horbury JSOTSS 48 (Sheffield:JSOT, 1991), 441; E. G r a e r , An dieHebraer (Ziirich: Benziger, 1990), 383-385; D. A. Hagner, Hebrews, New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 98-99; W. Hendriksen and S. Kistemaker, Exposition of 7%essaloniuns,thePastorals,and Hebrews, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 176; T. G. Long, Hebrews, Interpretation (Louisville,KY: John Knox, 1997), 78-80; W. L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8, WBC 47 (Dallas: Word, 1991), 154; The New Intwpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1998), 12:81-82;Michel, 254; Schneider, 630. 'Rice, 70-71. Compare the metaphoricalinterpretation of the area behind the inner veil, i.e. the holy of holies, as a figure for heaven in Heb 6:19: BAGD, 416; Hendriksen and Kistemaker, 176; Long, 78-79; M. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (New York: Scribner's, 1918), 4:453. 'Cf. A. F. Ballenger, Cast Outfor the Cross of Christ (Tropico, CA: A. F. Ballenger, 1911), 28; W. G. Johnson, "Day of Atonement Allusions," in Issues in the Book ofHebrews, 112. 'John D. Livingston identified Lev 21:23 and Nurn 18:7 as ostensible exceptions, arguing that in these verses n?i? could denote the outer veil at the entrance to the tent ("A Critical Study of the Greek Words Translated 'Veils' and an Application to the Book of Hebrewsn[unpubl. M. A. thesis, Seventh-dayAdventist Theological Seminary, 1949],34-36, 39-45). But both of these instances can easily be explained as referring to the inner veil. Lev 21:23 prohibits blemished priests from coming to the inner veil (ni2 + 5n + obj. of prep. ng9) by entering the outer sanctum. Even if we were to read here with NJPS (ZTanakh), "but he shall not enter behind the curtain" (as if the curtain were an area that could be entered, as in the use of nt2 + 5n in Exod 30:20 and Lev 16:2 for entering the Tent of Meeting and [most] holy [place], respectively), n?i? could still denote the inner veil and the verse would bar defective Aaronides, including potential high priests, from the totality of the sanctuary, expressed as a merism referring to its extremes: (1) the area inside the inner veil, ~ yis ,used for the screendveils at the entrances to the tent (e.g., Exod 26:36-37) and to the court (e.g., Exod 38:18 [= LXX 37:16]).' MT can speak of the inner veil as 7 v y n?i? (Exod 35:12; 39:34; 40:21; Num 4:5) or even just 70?:! (Num 3:31)' because the n?i? served as a special kind of 7y3, "screen." 7 9 ~represents the larger semantic category of fabrics having screening or covering functions. The word can even refer to a horizontal screen (2 Sam 17:19, over a well). Within the 7pq category, n?i? designates the curtain of the sanctuary that delineated the inner apartment of the deity. This accords with its apparent etymology as a loan-word from Sumerian bara', "dais," via Akkadianparakku, "cultic base/pedestal, high seat; shrine/apartment (of deity) -. Because it divided the sacred tent into two apartments, the n?i? constituted the primary reference point for the internal geography of that structure. For example, while the ark of the covenant was placed n?i?$ n-sn, "within the veil" (= LXX &oGjt~povto6 K C I T C ~ I T E T O ~ O ~ ~ Z Exod 26:33), the table and lampstand were n?i@ ymn, "outside the veil" (= LXX &&v to6 ~atamtOiopato~; Exod 26:35; 27:21) and the altar of incense was np?;! I , "before the veil" (= LXX cEa4vavz~ roc ."' i.e. the most holy place, and (2) the (outer) altar. In Num 18:7 the prepositional compound n-2~7ensures that the text refers to entrance within/behind/inside the veil in question. But this does not rule out the normal meaning of n+. Again, since the altar and the area within the inner veil are the extreme loci of officiation by priests, including high priests, this combination can be taken as a merism embracing the entire area of priestly officiation. For other spatial merisms,cf. "near and far" (Jer 25:26) and "far and near" (Jer 48:24). Even if n?i? in Lev 21:23 and Num 18:7 could be identified conclusively as the outer veil, which it cannot, is used in the fact remains that the Greek phrase in Heb 6:19, kadrq~ovroc ~crrcrmrciaparos, the LXX exclusively to translate instances of p i ? ? n3;lnthat refer to location within the inner veil. The fact that Heb 6:19 has the abbreviated substantiveexpression rb i a d r ~ p o vroc ~asaa~rdaparos, "that which is within the veil" (separate article + unexpressed but understood noun agreeing with the article) rather than the fuller rb Zyrov i a d r ~ p o vro6 "the (most) holy (place) within the veiln (article + explicit noun Zyrov) does ~aran~roiaparoc, not affect our conclusion because it is the phrase kadrqov roc ~arawrdaparocthat identifies the veil as the inner one. Cf. the abbreviated substantive expression rb E"VGO&Vr06 ~aranerdraparos,"that which is within the veil" for n ? i ~ $ n-~nyinNum 18:7. 6Thisterminologicaldifferentiationin Hebrew has been recognized by Ballenger,20-27, 28-29; and Bruce, 199, n. 14. Cf. Attridge, 184. 7Thismust be the inner veil here because it was assigned to the care of the Kohathites, following assignment of the other two screens to the Gershonites (w.25-26). 'R. Gane and J. Milgrom, " n~i?,"TWAT, 6:755; The Sumerhn Dictionary,ed. A. Sjoberg (Philadelphia: University Museum, 1984), 2:134-143; W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handworterbuch (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1972), 2:827-828. ~arancdoparoc;30:6).9 Within the context of this range of spatial terminology, n>i?$ n93n and its Greek rendering hircpov TOO ~arancrciopato<refer to the area withidbehind the inner veil, i.e., the holy of holies, as opposed to the outer sanctum that included space "outside" or "before" that veil. Scholars who have interpreted ~araniraopain Heb 6: 19 as the inner veil have done so for various reasons, including similarity to the LXX phraseology of Lev 16in connection with the significance of the inner veil in the Day of Atonement ritual,'' comparison with other passages within the book of Hebrews (9:3; 10:20)" and in the Gospels (Matt 2751; Mark 15:38),12Philo's use of ~arantraopaexclusively for the inner veil,'' and the idea that iodzcpov is to be understood as a superlative: "innermost."14 While at least some of these arguments are susceptible to parrying,15 the most decisive element is the simple fact elucidated in the present article: exclusively renders the The LXX phrase iodtcpov TOO ~arcmctoioparo~ unambiguous Hebrew expression p i ? $ n93n, "within the inner veil." Therefore the LXX, understood as the translation that it is, provides Heb 6: 19 with only one option for ~aranirclapa:the inner veil. It remains theoretically possible that Heb 6:19 uses iodrcpov TOO ~arancrcioparocdifferently than does the LXX to point to the area behind the outer veil metaphorically with reference to the entire heavenly sanctuary. So Rice's find conclusion could turn out to be on target. But if we take LXX evidence seriously, and it appears exegetically expensive to do otherwise, we cannot discount the probability that Heb 6:19-20 includes the idea of Christ entering the inner part of the heavenly sanctuary. The LXX tends to support rather than undermine this view. 'Gane and Milgrom, 756. I0Attridge, 184; Buchanan, 115-116; Ellingworth, 347; Hagner, 98; Hendriksen and Kistemaker, 176; Lane, 154; Schneider, 629- 630. "Bruce, 250-251, n. 87; cf. Ellingworth, 347; Graer, 384. '2GrBf3er,384; Hendriksen and Kistemaker, 176; TheNew Interpreter'sBible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1998), 12:82. "Dods, 305; Michel, 254. 15SeeRice, 66-71.