The author of Hebrews has been referred to as “an expert in rhetoric and style,” a fitting description considering the many rhetorical devices employed throughout the book.[1] Although it is far beyond the scope of this essay to examine the author’s entire rhetorical approach thoroughly, it is helpful to explore some of the techniques he employed in the third warning passage (5:11–6:12). The focus on his rhetorical approach in the third warning passage is pertinent because it is designed to awaken his audience from their apathy and dullness of hearing. Consequently, it serves as a useful model for contemporary preachers and teachers of God’s Word.
A Deliberate Digression: Pausing the Discourse on Melchizedek
The third warning passage contains numerous rhetorical features that contribute to the author’s goal. In fact, the entire warning passage functions as a digression. Ron Guzman and Michael Martin write that an ancient “digressio is essentially a departure from the basic structure of the speech.”[2] The abrupt shift in content in Hebrews 5:11 marks an “emotionally preparatory digressio” designed to rebuke the author’s audience.[3] The author of Hebrews paused his discussion on Melchizedek in Hebrews 5:10 until Hebrews 7:1 so that he could issue a serious warning. I believe the author employed this technique intentionally to capture the attention of his audience.[4]
Shaming His Audience: You Are Children Who Need Milk
Another intriguing aspect of the author’s rhetorical strategy is his use of shame to affect his audience.[5] Craig Koester notes that shame, according to Greek philosophers, was “a kind of pain or uneasiness in respect of misdeeds, past, present, or future, which seem to tend to bring dishonor.”[6] The use of shame is prominent at the beginning of this warning passage, seeing that the author equates his audience to immature children (5:11–14).[7] By referring to them as children (5:13), the author intentionally shames them to arrest their attention for an important message.[8]
The author underscores the sense of shame that his audience should feel by showing that their condition is the opposite of what it should be. They should be teaching others but instead need to be taught again themselves (5:12). Before he directly asserts that his audience are like children, the author utilizes the metaphors of milk and meat to expose their immaturity.[9]
In the Greco-Roman world, milk and meat were common metaphors used to contrast rudimentary instruction with advanced teaching.[10] The reference to milk (5:12) seems to correspond to the elementary teachings of Christianity (6:1–2). On the other hand, meat or solid food (5:12, 14) corresponds to “Christ’s Melchizedekian priesthood.”[11] Interestingly, the use of the perfect tense verb have become (5:12) seems to indicate that they have “actually regressed to the stage of babes in the faith who can only consume easily digestible doctrine (milk) and not what is more difficult (solid food).”[12]
What has been implied in Hebrews 5:11–12 is made plain in 5:13—that is, the recipients of Hebrews are like immature children (5:13). By comparing them to children and using the metaphors of milk and meat, the author seeks to provoke them “to greater zeal for understanding.”[13] Their issue is that they have become dull of hearing and lapsed into immaturity and lack discernment (5:14). The author wants them to feel the shame of being like children because it puts them in danger of drifting into doctrinal and moral error.[14]
Invoking Fear: Falling Away and Impossible Repentance
This feeling of shame leads naturally to the next important rhetorical feature employed by the author of Hebrews, namely, fear. Like shame, orators in the first century would sometimes utilize fear as a rhetorical device to “move” or “awaken” audiences.[15] Hebrews 6:4–8 contains one of the most fearful warnings in all of Scripture. The author uses shame to drive his audience to fear God in order to avoid his judgment.[16]
As the author shifts his argument to invoke fear in his audience, one of the techniques he employs is a severe warning that is comprised of one long sentence (6:4–6).[17] In this warning, the author’s “central assertion” is that it is impossible for certain ones to be renewed to repentance; however, he structures the sentence in such a way that the main components are separated by “five intervening clauses . . . for rhetorical effect.”[18] The author puts the word “impossible” first in the long sentence (6:4) to signal its importance, but he does not reveal what is impossible until Hebrews 6:6.[19] This construction “builds suspense.”[20]
The substance of the fearful warning is that it is impossible (6:4) to renew to repentance the ones who have fallen away (6:6). It is noteworthy that this “harsh caution” was “meant to put fear into the hearts of those drifting from the faith.”[21] The severity and finality of this peril is also conveyed by the author’s statement that those who fall away “are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own shame and holding him up to contempt” (6:6). In all, the writer to the Hebrews aims to awaken his audience to “the seriousness of their situation,” especially that “apostasy is where their ‘sluggishness’ could lead.”[22]
Finally, in relation to the emotion of fear invoked by the author, it is noteworthy that he concludes this warning with a vivid agricultural illustration (6:7–8).[23] The illustration foreshadows what will be the result if apostasy is committed.[24] The example he uses concerns a one piece of land that receives frequent rain and has two possible outcomes: negative and positive.[25]
In the positive outcome, the land produces vegetation that is useful for the one who cultivated it. In the negative outcome, the land has received rain, but instead of producing a crop, it bears thorns and thistles. It is worthless land, near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.[26] The author’s sobering illustration is undoubtedly designed to elicit a healthy fear of fiery judgment in his audience and a renewed attentiveness to God’s Word.
Confidence: “We Feel Sure of Better Things”
Several commentators point out that Greek rhetoricians would frequently follow severe words of warning (6:4–8) with comforting and assuring words (6:9–20).[27] When used effectively, the combination of fear and confidence is a powerful rhetorical tool, seeing that they produce “opposite” emotions.[28]
For the author of Hebrews, his intent is not merely to frighten his audience but also to motivate them to action.[29] By moving from fear to confidence, he seeks to “prevent fear from debilitating the listeners.”[30] His true aim is that, by interspersing fear and confidence, his audience might be awakened to the “‘real’ dangers to avoid and the ‘real’ advantages to preserve.”[31] Furthermore, his confidence is well founded, considering not only their past service (6:10) but more importantly, the unchangeable character of God and His promises (6:13–20).[32]
In summary, the author of Hebrews has many meaningful truths to convey to his audience, but they are apathetic and dull of hearing (5:11). Consequently, they are unprepared to hear God’s Word through His Son, especially His high priestly ministry (5:5–10). In order to capture their attention, the writer employs numerous rhetorical devices. The digression (5:11–6:20) functions as an abrupt shift that leads into the third warning passage, moving from shame (5:11–6:3) to fear (6:4–8) to confidence (6:9–12).
The purpose of this exegetical and rhetorical analysis is to highlight the intentional methodology employed by the author of Hebrews to awaken his apathetic audience. This deliberate strategy is designed to awaken the dull ears of his audience, motivating them to action so that they avoid God’s judgment and persevere in faithfulness. Since he is concerned about their potential drift (2:1–4), the threat of slowly developing hardened hearts (3:7–13), and their inattentive ears (5:11), the writer to the Hebrews sought an effective approach for arresting their attention.
Present Application
Although it is likely that most ministers of the Word do not enjoy proclaiming passages that issue sharp rebukes, the reality is that these passages are necessary for every congregation. At times, every congregation needs to feel the sharp sting of shame and fear that is communicated through passages such as Hebrews 5:11–6:12. Like the author of Hebrews, we want to allow the Holy Spirit to use us as we help our congregations move through these emotions of fear and shame; however, we must not leave them to wallow in despair. God’s gracious purpose for these weighty rebukes is to prepare our hearts to receive the comfort and assurance that He provides in His promises.
[1] David A. deSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000), 35.
[2] Ron Guzman and Michael W. Martin, “Is Hebrews 5:11–6:20 Really A Digression?” Novum Testamentum 57 (2015): 298.
[3] Ibid., 299–310. See also George Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 185–86.
[4] Guthrie, Hebrews, 185–86.
[5] Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible Commentary (New Haven and London: The Anchor Yale Bible, 2001), 80–82; Douglas J. Moo, Hebrews, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 2–3; David L. Allen, Hebrews, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishers, 2010), 90.
[6] Koester, Hebrews, 90.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Peter S. Perry, “Making Fear Personal: Hebrews 5.11–6:12 and the Argument from Shame,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.1 (2009): 99–103.
[9] Koester, Hebrews, 303. See also Perry, “Making Fear Personal,” 104–05.
[10] Guthrie, Hebrews, 202–03; Thomas R. Schreiner, Commentary on Hebrews, Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2015), 169–70; Koester, Hebrews, 302; Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 302.
[11] Schreiner, Hebrews, 171–72.
[12] Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1989), 159.
[13] Koester, Hebrews, 303. See also Perry, “Making Fear Personal,” 104–05.
[14] David L. Allen, Hebrews, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2010), 338.
[15] Koester, Hebrews, 90.
[16] Perry, “Making Fear Personal,” 100. See also Guthrie, Hebrews, 216.
[17] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 161; Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter To The Hebrews, The Pillar New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 204; Allen, Hebrews, 345.
[18] Guthrie, Hebrews, 217.
[19] Moo, Hebrews, 188–89.
[20] Johnson, Hebrews, 161.
[21] Guthrie, Hebrews, 216.
[22] Attridge, Hebrews, 171. See also Schreiner, Hebrews, 188.
[23] Allen, Hebrews. 345; O’Brien, Hebrews, 204.
[24] William Lane, Hebrews 1–8, Word Biblical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 143.
[25] Allen, Hebrews, 378; Stanley Outlaw, The Book of Hebrews, The Randall House Bible Commentary (Nashville: Randall House, 2005), 131–32; J. Paul Tanner, “‘But If It Yields Thorns and Thistles’: An Exposition of Hebrews 5:11–6:12,” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 14:1 (2001): 16.
[26] Thomas Kem Oberholtzer, “The Thorn-Infested Ground in Hebrews 6:4–12,” Bibliotheca Sacra (1988): 324–25.
[27] Moo, Hebrews, 187. See also Guthrie, Hebrews, 216–17; Koester, Hebrews, 319–24; deSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude, 244–47; and Attridge, Hebrews, 174.
[28] Koester, Hebrews, 324.
[29] Ibid., 321
[30] Ibid., 324.
[31] deSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude, 245.
[32] Ibid.
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