The New Covenant in Hebrews

In Enabling Fidelity to God, Jason Whitlark has produced a stunningly fresh reading of Hebrews in its larger Greco-Roman context. Recent scholarship tends to read the soteriology of Hebrews as reflecting, indeed embracing, the Greco-Roman practice of benefaction and the assumptions of reciprocity that undergird it. In the reading of Hebrews, humans respond in gratitude to God's merciful and beneficent acts in an interdependent, mutually reinforcing circle of salvation. Through a remarkable mastery of primary and secondary sources, Whitlark shows rather that Hebrews, in a direct challenge to the reciprocity system, argues that human fidelity to God is utterly and absolutely predicated upon God's divine enablement.

Chapter 1 - Introduction
                    Two Means of Fidelity: Reciprocity and Enablement
                    Benefaction and Partronage: Previous Applications to Interpretation
                    Method: Reading with the Authorial Audience                 
Chapter 2 - The Historical Context of Hebrews
                    A Characterization of Reciprocity
                    The Anthropological Assumption of Reciprocity
Chapter 3 - The Religious Background of Hebrews
                      Divine -Human Reciprocity Relationship in the Jewish Milieu
                      Consequences of Anthropological Assumptions in the Jewish Milieu
Chapter 4 - Fidelity in Hebrews
                      Hebrews and Its Milieu: Echoes of Benefaction in Hebrews
                      The Religious Appropriation of Benefaction/Patronage: Two Models
                      Interpreting Fidelity in Hebrews: A Critique of the Reciprocity Model
                      Interpreting Fidelity in Hebrews: Divine Enablement and Anthropological
                          Assumption in Hebrews
Chapter 5 - Conclusion

Laws, Rules, regulations or something more personal. Something more intimate? After four hundred years of residence which the Septuagint records as about 150 years (more or less) of slavery in Egypt, Yahweh began to prepare the Hebrews to leave Egypt. To do so, he first vanquished not only the Egyptian gods (Exodus Chapters 7 to 12 also Psalms 78) but also many other gods that were worshiped in other cultures from around the world.

This article published in Master's Seminary Journal explores the notion of covenant within biblical theology and answers questions raised concerning Christ's relationship to the biblical covenants. While most interpretations favor Christ serving a single fulfillment or typological role to the covenants, this article defends the only option consistent with a literal methodology: Christ relates to each of the biblical covenants "dynamically" as recipient, fulfillment, and/or mediator-and does so without collapsing any promised future for national Israel.

Author/Attorney: JAMES P. SIMMONS, WAR IN HEAVEN. А DISQUISITION, BIBLICAL AND RATIONAL, CONCERNING Angels, Devils, and Men, AND THE CREATION, FALL, AND REDEMPTION OF THE HUMAN SOUL. Cincinnati:1871

“Many shall run to and fro , and knowledge shall be increased. ” —DANIEL, 12: 4. “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed ; and hid, that shall not be known ." - MATT, 10; 26 .

This is a very unusual book that will challenge your most basic beliefs and concepts of who we are.  Many faceted are the faces of a Diamond - but yet it is only One Diamond.  The interpretations of the Old and New Testament go beyond what is written on the pages of any book.  Books are merely tools to help us remember the past, experience the present and reflect on the future.

The concept of New Covenant, as Sussanne Lehne notes, is not only a major theme in Hebrews but a linchpin without which the structure of the author’s thinking would fall apart and lose its coherence.  Consequent upon the establishment of a new covenant--or the promise thereof, the old is rendered obsolete, outdated, and no longer valid. This new covenant language of Hebrews—based on the new covenant promises in Jeremiah chapter 31, and instituted by Christ’s Last Supper Verba—begs the question: which of the biblical covenants does this ‘New Covenant’ replace? Also, what are the better promises of this New Covenant on the grounds of which, the writer of Hebrews affirmatively says, makes the new covenant better than old? These better promises of the new—in comparison to those of the old—are what this paper seeks to highlight.

This bibliographic entry gives a general overview of the definition of "covenant" in the Bible, and the different scholarly issues that are raised in the study of biblical covenants.  The bulk of the entry reviews over a hundred of the most important scholarly publications on covenant in Biblical scholarship from the late nineteenth century to the present, including encyclopedia entries, journal articles, essays from collections, full monographs, and others.

In this book Steve Johnstone brings together the Reformed doctrines of Covenant Theology and the subject of evangelism. How should the covenants of Scripture, and their insights into God's single plan of redemption throughout history, inform the actual content of an evangelist's Gospel today? And how can our preaching as evangelists be enriched by the covenants of Scripture?

In his book entitled Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews, general editor Herbert W. Bateman IV moderates a written debate between four well-known Bible scholars concerning the warning passages that play a significant role in the interpretation of the book of Hebrews. Although the debate has many facets, the identity and spiritual condition of the authors audience is a major factor. The debate is fairly balanced as two of the scholars represent the Arminian view (Grant Osborn / Classical Arminian and Gareth Lee Cockerill / Wesleyan Arminian) and two scholars the Reformed view (Buist M. Fanning / Classical Reformed and Randall C. Gleason / Moderate Reformed). In each chapter, an author makes his case and the other three provide a response.
Bateman sets the stage for the debate by providing a “contextual orientation” through his introduction. Perhaps more than any other New Testament Epistle, the Book of Hebrews has served as fertile soil for strong opinions and deep disagreements concerning its key interpretational points. Questions of authorship, intended audience, purpose, and primary message have challenged scholars since the second century. Bateman quotes Hughes who describes the introductory issues in Hebrews as “the battleground of discordant opinion and conjecture.”  Equally problematic are the questions around the meaning of the warning passages, which force readers to deal with important theological concepts like “the issue of assurance and the doctrine of eternal security.”  Is the audience made up of genuine believers who are in danger of losing their salvation if they do not persevere to the end? Is his main emphasis the dangers of apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-6, ESV), or the sufficiency of the salvation that Jesus Christ provides as the “Perfect High Priest” (Hebrews 7:28, ESV) . The four scholars wrestle with these difficult issues and provide important insights on how to navigate this powerful text. Bateman summarizes the book’s purpose when he writes, “Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews seeks to expose existing tensions and provide various ways in which four scholars with differing theological grids interpret them in the literary and historical context of Hebrews.”

The authors of the Book of Jeremiah know the Torah’s establishment structures of diaspora and nation. They know the respective theologies associated with each of those establishment structures and in the face of the nation’s destruction by the Babylonians they envision a future in which the entire dispersed population will assume the roles of both the conquered warrior class and the disappointed priestly class by returning to the pastoral theology of Genesis and “writing the Law on their hearts.”
The author(s) of Jeremiah have the Lord promise the beleaguered population that the days are coming when they will embody their oral traditions in the absence of their national institutions: the temple, the priesthood, and the written law.
The author(s) consideration of the circumstances is entirely within the framework of the Torah loop foreshadowing the theology and ministry of Jesus Christ in the Gospels as argued by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews who replicates Jeremiah's "Gospel before the Gospels" in his letter.

Note: Since the theological argument of the Letter to the Hebrews is the same theological argument of the Book of Jeremiah, and also the pastoral theology of Genesis, the Letter to the Hebrews cannot be anti-Semitic. It is an internal argument within Judaism over the abandonment of the Torah loop which prescribes "writing the Law on your heart" when the nation's institutions are destroyed and its people forced into diaspora...

The present volume contains a collection of fourteen essays applying the latest and neglected methods and offering new and innovative insights into the interpretation of the New Testament book To the Hebrews.
The excitingly diverse contributions, which stem from an intriguing international group of senior and younger Hebrews, New Testament, and Old Testament scholars, are presented in three parts: Part One focuses on cultic language, concepts, and practice in Hebrews; Part Two on sociology, ethics, and rhetoric in Hebrews; and Part Three on textual-historical, comparative, and intertextual approaches to Hebrews.
As the first ever compilation of essays on Hebrews by a range of authors, this volume presents an important contribution to the field of New Testament studies. It will particularly appeal to students, teachers, and scholars interested in a variety of critical perspectives on Hebrews and on the New Testament’s third great theologian next to Paul and John. Moreover, the treatment of hermeneutical, cultic, sociological, and comparative matters in the context of biblical, Greco-Roman, and rabbinic literature will make this collection valuable to an even broader readership.

This study presents a contextualised reading of the Epistle to the Hebrews. It asks the question if Jesus the mediator between humans and God as he is presented by the writer to the Hebrews can be understood in a deeper and enhanced way when the Biblical text is read in the environment of Arab Middle-Eastern mediation, in particular the phenomenon of wasta.
The study first outlines the social phenomenon of wasta mediation in the Arab Middle-East. It is an ubiquitously present practice to access goods and services (intercessory wasta) as well as solve conflicts (mediational wasta). It links in with societal principles of collectivism, shame-orientation and tribalism. Wasta is often viewed critically because it is seen as corruption or favouritism. All criticism, however, is based on unfairness in the distribution of limited goods and services. Therefore this study argues that the use of wasta in a Christian theological framework is not hindered by its critical reception since the goods and services in the logic of wasta are paralleled with God's favour and grace, which is by definition unlimited.
Wasta can be related to the ancient practice of patronage which was a hallmark of first century Greco-Roman society. This study argues that wasta therefore, albeit being a contemporary phenomenon, is not an arbitrary but rather a related and relevant reading environment for the ancient text.
In its third chapter, this study looks at the details of how Jesus is described as mediator between humans and God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Jesus is described as superior to known mediators (Angels and Moses) due to his status as Son of God. This is argued using imagery of kinship (he is Son and Brother) and cult (he is the High Priest of the new covenant). The new covenant of which he is the mediator is superior to the old because it is more deeply internal, personal and relational in nature, more radically based on grace and the removal of sin as an obstructive force to the human- divine relationship once for all.
247
The claims about Jesus' supreme mediatorship lead into the argument for the proper response to his mediation; namely an attitude of faith and loyalty of the addressees towards God, their patron, and Jesus, God's chosen mediator.
In chapter four, this study reviews the previously outlined theology of mediation in Hebrews in light of wasta. The categories and principles used to understand wasta in the first step of the analysis are now used to show how the wasta phenomenon can enhance the understanding of mediation in Hebrews. The wasta reading environment underlines the biblical author's desire to present Jesus as superior and supreme mediator. It shows that mediation is perceived as something that can be weak or strong and the analogous assertions of Hebrews come out as a main strand of the overall message of the document.
The use of wasta as a reading environment shows that the efficiency of the mediation is a function of the quality of the relationships involved. In light of this it stands out how Hebrews presents Jesus as the mediator who can work so efficiently because he relates to humans (the supplicants) as well as God (the source of the favour or harmed party in the reconciliation process) on a kinship level. Mediation between kinsmen is the most efficient form or mediation because of three factors, as wasta practice shows. First, the relationships are more intimate than relationships of friendship and thus more conducive to requests for benefits, positive answers and grateful responses. Second, wasta between family is taken for granted and no reciprocation is expected, while between friends reciprocation in kind is the rule and among strangers even money may be taken. Third, mediation in the family is free from notions of shame that could keep the mediator from mediating or the supplicant from asking. The superiority argument and the kinship imagery constitute two main pillars of Hebrews' description of mediation. Analogously to the logic of wasta, the writer to the Hebrews presents Jesus as the Son, but also Brother who relates to humans as brethren without any hint of shame (2:11).
248
Considerations of honour and shame play a big part in a wasta reading of mediation in Hebrews too. The author points out Jesus the mediator's honour in order to argue his great efficiency. There appears to be a break with wasta logic at first, however, because Jesus the great honourable mediator dies a shameful death on the cross. But within the wasta framework this can be interpreted as an investment of Jesus' the mediator's honour. Just like a wasta has to invest wealth and bring honour and status to the mediation process, so Jesus has to invest his honour as divine Son up to dying a shameful death.
Only through his death can Jesus become the supreme mediator who is deeply rooted in both realms between which he mediates, the human and the divine. This deep connection with both sides of a triadic mediation “chain” as an essential ingredient for successful mediation parallels wasta logic.
Another apparent discontinuity between the argument of mediation in Hebrews and wasta logic is the fact that wasta is usually initiated by the supplicant (intercessory wasta) or perpetrator (mediational wasta), never the source of the favour or the harmed party respectively. In Hebrews, however, it is God who establishes the saving kinship relationship between Jesus and his brethren (he “gives” the children, 2:13). Jesus is God's envoy (apostle, 3:1). Contrary to the typical dynamics of wasta, God is described as the one who initiates the mediation process. This study argues that this apparent discontinuity is not a mere break with the logic or categorical error, but rather occurs out of theological necessity. God himself has to act as initiator of the eschatologically final, supreme act of mediation between himself and humanity because humans could not possibly initiate their own salvation.
In chapter five this study analyses the findings of the previous chapters and attempts an application to a topic of Muslim-Christian dialogue; the debate around the God-Sonship of Jesus. Sura 112 and Hebrews 1:1-4,5+8 are read alongside each other and found to hold much of the potential for conflict inherent to the debate. The verses from Hebrews affirm Jesus as Son, seated at God's right
249
hand, begotten by God himself, and even name him “God” through applying the words of Psalm 45:6,7 to Jesus. Sura 112 confesses that God is “not begotten and does not beget” and has no equal.
While the wasta reading of Hebrews cannot solve this conflict as such, this study argues that it can help communicate in a better way the God-Sonship of Jesus and take away certain tensions and irritations present in Muslim-Christian dialogue through a shift in perspective. When read in the light of wasta and the logic of Middle Eastern mediation, Hebrews appears as an argument for the supreme mediating power of Jesus between humans and God. The kinship aspect plays a crucial role in the argument. Only as Son and brother can Jesus mediate effectively because only kinship ties guarantee most efficient mediation. When viewed against the backdrop of the Middle Eastern culture of mediation, notions of the God-Sonship of Jesus which are very controversial between Christians and Muslims appear in the light of mended and enhanced relationships between humans and God. Wasta, a phenomenon from the Arab Middle-East and thus the heartlands of Islam, can facilitate such a reading.

This study recovers the voice of Johannes Oecolampadius (1482-1531) as a major contributor in the history of biblical interpretation.  Jeff Fisher focuses on Oecolampadius’s Hebrews commentary (1534) derived from his theology lectures at the University of Basel in 1529–1530, and compares it with the exegesis of more than twenty-five of the most relevant interpreters from the early church to the Reformation.  He labels Oecolampadius’s reading of Scripture as Christoscopic, demonstrating how it adapted the Alexandrian interpretive notion of Christ as the goal (scopus) of all Scripture.  Fisher shows that when describing the shifts in biblical interpretation at the time of the Reformation, it can no longer be overlooked that Oecolampadius’s approach served as an essential step in the development of the interpretative approaches used by John Calvin and others, and that Oecolampadius remains influential to the way the Bible is interpreted today.

In its interactions with the beneficiaries of the new covenant, the Epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates that not all of these covenant people will necessarily reach the final rest. This is done primarily through warning passages and by a strong reliance on the Israelites in exodus—who did not all even achieve the land of Canaan due to disobedience, let alone ultimate rest in God—as a foreshadow of the new covenant community. The demonstration of this has wide-reaching implications, but in this paper I will explore its implications particularly for the baptism of infants.

Inventing Hebrews examines a perennial topic in the study of the Letter to the Hebrews, its structure and purpose. Michael Wade Martin and Jason A. Whitlark undertake at thorough synthesis of the ancient theory of invention and arrangement, providing a new account of Hebrews' design. The key to the speech's outline, the authors argue, is in its use of 'disjointed' arrangement, a template ubiquitous in antiquity but little discussed in modern biblical studies. This method of arrangement accounts for the long-observed pattern of alternating epideictic and deliberative units in Hebrews as blocks of narratio and argumentatiorespectively. Thus the 'letter' may be seen as a conventional speech arranged according to the expectations of ancient rhetoric (exordium, narratio, argumentatio, peroratio), with epideictic comparisons of old and new covenant representatives (narratio) repeatedly enlisted in amplification of what may be viewed as the central argument of the speech (argumentatio), the recurring deliberative summons for perseverance. Resolving a long-standing conundrum, this volume offers a hermeneutical tool necessary for interpreting Hebrews, as well as countless other speeches from Greco-Roman antiquity.
Read more at


1. Structuring Hebrews: modern approaches to an ancient text

Part I. Laying the Foundation – Syncrisis in Hebrew:
2. Comparing covenants: the syncritical backbone of Hebrews
3. Choosing the advantageous: deliberative syncrisis and epideictic syncrisis in Hebrews

Part II. Arranging the Speech – The Ancient Rhetorical Design of Hebrews:
4. Arranging an ancient speech: ancient compositional theory and a proposal for modern analysis
5. Proving the case: argumentatio in Hebrews
6. Presenting the facts relevant to the case: narratio in Hebrews
7. Beginning with favor: exordium in Hebrews
8. Ending with recapitulation and emotion: Peroratio in Hebrews
9. Putting it all together: the rhetorical arrangement and aim of Hebrews
10. Examining implications: Early Christian sermons and apostasy in Hebrews.

Since the Church is not a party to the New Covenant and not currently participating in the blessings promised in the New Covenant, spiritual or otherwise, does this render the New Covenant unimportant to the Church? Since the Church is not a party to the New Covenant, directly or indirectly, does this make the New Covenant irrelevant in the life and ministry of the Church today? On the contrary, the New Covenant is an important exegetical key to understanding the relationship of the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) of the Church to the “hope of Israel” (Acts 26:15) at the time of the return of Christ.

Covenant denotes a promissory agreement establishing a kinship bond between two parties by a verbal or ritual oath or its equivalent. Between unrelated parties, a covenant creates a kinship bond (Ps 89:26–28; cf. Ps 2:7); between blood relations, it renews or reconfigures it (Gen 31:43–54). The specific kinship obligations undertaken by the parties are often stated verbally or in writing, in the form of promises, conditions, and/or laws, which can be brief (e.g., Gen 31:49–53) or extensive (e.g., Deut 12–26).  This encyclopedic entry surveys the terminology associated with covenant in the HB/OT and NT, some of the scholarly debates concerning the translation and meaning of "covenant" in Scripture, and the appropriation of the reality and concept of covenant in the major books and genre divisions of the Bible.

Der so genannte Brief an die Hebräer ist vor allem für seine Lobrede auf den Glauben im 11. Kapitel bekannt. Dass allerdings auch dieses Kapitel wie nahezu der ganze Text im Dienste eines den Tod Jesu als sühnendes Opfer zu Jom Kippur deutendes Ereignis steht, ist weniger offensichtlich. Dies legt sich jedoch nahe, wenn man den Hebräer konsequent als antike Syna- gogenpredigt vor dem Hintergrund synagogaler Liturgie liest. Auch eröffnen sich überraschende und lang vermisste historische Bezüge, etwa derjenige, dass der Autor mit seinen Ausführungen den Verlust des Zweiten Tempels zu kompensieren sucht.

This essay examines the soteriology of “getting in” and “staying in” in Hebrews. What will be demonstrated is that “getting in” is grounded in God’s gracious election while “staying in” is grounded in God’s enablement of fidelity foretold in Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new covenant. Hebrews, however, interprets the accomplishment of the inward empowerment promised in the new covenant through Jesus’ purification of the conscience that brings the believer into God’s presence where he or she finds ongoing grace and mercy. The association of divine enablement for faithfulness with inward purification is not new in Hebrews but is grounded in the Jewish scriptures that are central to the thought world of Hebrews.

Hebraikos; (heb-rah-ee-kos'), a Hebrew word that refers to “Hebrews” and so let us take our journey keeping this thought in mind that God's expression of the love for you and I is found by, in, and through Jesus the Christ; a love that brings us into intimacy of worshiping God to the fullest; a love, a love story that does say to you and I:

Having become by so much better than the angels, as the name which is his heritage is nobler than theirs. To which of the angels did God say at any time, you are my Son, this day I have given you being? Or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?

This volume offers the first in-depth analysis of the literary structure of Hebrews against the background of its most frequently mentioned Sitz im Leben, the ancient synagogue. In the context of the liturgical year and its reconstructed cycle of readings, the text is newly interpreted on the basis of Exod 31:18–32:35 and Jer 31:31–34, so as to demonstrate that Hebrews was an ancient homily for the most important fast-day, Tisha be-Av, on which the destruction of the two temples was commemorated.
The first part presents 20th- and 21st-century scholarship on Hebrews and a new structural analysis. The second part offers a detailed discussion of the ancient synagogue and its liturgy. This allows the reconstruction of the readings on which the text of Hebrews is based and a positioning within the liturgical year. The resulting thesis, that Hebrews is an exhortative homily for Tisha be-Av, is confirmed through a motivic analysis of all the biblical texts read on this fast-day. On the basis of the hermeneutical key thereby established, the third part offers seven cumulative readings of the entire text: structural, contextual, intertextual, rhetorical, theological, socio-historical, and hermeneutical-critical. These generate new interpretations and insights within the horizon of current Hebrews scholarship.
The present monograph is the first to connect research on the ancient synagogue and its liturgy with a comprehensive interpretation of Hebrews that also discusses alternative form-critical avenues and establishes intertextual connections, especially to relevant rabbinic texts. The examination is directed not only to those with a specific interest in Hebrews, but also to scholars and students of the New Testament, Theology, Jewish Studies, and Religious Studies.

*****

Der vorliegende Band bietet erstmals eine fundierte Analyse der literarischen Struktur des Hebräers vor dem Hintergrund seines meistgenannten Sitzes im Leben, der antiken Synagoge. Im Kontext des liturgischen Jahres sowie des rekonstruierten Lesezyklus’ wird die Schrift neu auf der Basis der Lesungen aus Ex 31,18–32,35 und Jer 31,31–34 als antike Homilie zum wichtigsten Fasttag von Tischa be-Aw, an dem der Zerstörung der beiden Tempel gedacht wurde, erschlossen.
Die Untersuchung stellt im ersten Teil die Hebräerforschung des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts sowie eine neue Strukturanalyse vor. Der zweite Teil fügt eine profunde Untersuchung der antiken Synagoge sowie der antiken Synagogenhomilie im liturgischen Kontext hinzu. Diese erlaubt die Rekonstruktion der dem Hebräertext zugrunde liegenden Lesungen und eine Positionierung innerhalb des liturgischen Jahres. Die resultierende These, dass der Hebräer eine mahnende Homilie zu Tischa be-Aw sei, wird im Rahmen einer Motivanalyse sämtlicher zu diesem Fasttag gelesenen biblischen Texte bekräftigt. Im dritten Teil wird der gesamte Text auf der Basis des etablierten hermeneutischen Schlüssels sieben kumulativen Lesungen unterzogen, einer strukturellen, kontextuellen, intertextuellen, rhetorischen, theologischen, sozio-historischen sowie einer hermeneutisch-kritischen. Diese generieren vor dem Horizont der aktuellen Hebräerforschung neue Interpretationsmöglichkeiten und Einsichten.
Die vorliegende Monographie verbindet zum ersten Mal Forschungen zur antiken Synagoge und ihrer Liturgie mit einer kohärenten Interpretation des Hebräertextes, die auch alternative formkritische Ansätze thematisiert sowie intertextuelle Bezüge insbesondere zu relevanten rabbinischen Texten benennt. Die Ausführungen richten sich somit nicht nur an solche mit einem spezifischen Interesse am Hebräer, sondern auch an ForscherInnen und StudentInnen des Neuen Testaments, der Theologie, der Judaistik sowie der Religionswissenschaften.

Historians of biblical interpretation have in the past overlooked the seventeenth century, and when attention has been given to it, it has been seen as a dull and repetitive period when exegesis was supposedly derivative of the work of the 16th century Reformers, or indicative of a dry scholastic tendency, or simply pious musings on the text. By unpacking key features and sections of the commentary by John Owen (1616-1683) on the epistle to the Hebrews, this thesis demonstrates that this is an inaccurate characterisation. By placing Owen’s work in historical context, it shows how Owen was at the leading edge of biblical studies in his day, interacting vigorously with the humanistic and anti-dogmatic interpretative methods of Grotius and the Socinians, as well as applying Jewish sources (such as the Talmud, Targums, and medieval rabbinical commentaries) to the study of the New Testament.

An excursus in his commentary on the controversial subject of covenant theology is shown to be sensitive to the details of the Greek text of Hebrews notwithstanding the fact that his conclusions pit Owen against the majority of Reformed theologians on this score and are more in line with those he elsewhere opposes. By examining Owen’s interaction with Roman Catholic commentators and Roman Catholic exegesis, it also shows that he was not more interested in dogma than exegesis, but professed to be attempting to allow Scripture to speak for itself rather than imposing alien dogmatic frameworks upon it for the sake of inter- confessional polemics.

Owen is seen, therefore, as an example not of someone imposing their pre- conceived doctrinal straitjacket onto the text of Scripture, but as an innovative interpreter within the Western exegetical tradition. He attempted to refute significant and unorthodox opponents from the details of the scriptural text itself, using the best exegetical tools at his disposal, for the sake of contemporary application. By extension, therefore, since his work is neither entirely derivative, detached, or pietistic, the danger of neglecting the exegetical works of the seventeenth century on those grounds is highlighted, as is the need for further work to be done to provide a more adequate assessment of other seventeenth-century interpreters.