Relapsing,Reverting,or Rejecting? The Purpose of Hebrews and Early Jewish Religion

Abstract

For far too long, many interpreters of Hebrews have held the view that the author wrote to dissuade the audience from a return to Judaism—the so-called ‘relapse theory’. This article demonstrates the ways in which this theory does not cohere with current scholarship on Hebrews or on the New Testament more broadly. The ‘relapse theory’ assumes a clear ‘parting of the ways’ or separation between Judaism and Christianity in the first century as well as a rather negative outlook on Jewish rituals by the author of Hebrews. But as this article shows, evidence that this is the primary concern of the author is scarce, and the interpretations of various passages used to illustrate the author’s supposed supersessionism or replacement ideologies are at best overstated or hyperbolic and at worst misguided caricatures of Judaism in the first century. I begin with brief histories of interpretation regarding both the purpose of Hebrews and then put forward alternative readings for six texts often used to substantiate the idea that the author of Hebrews writes to critique Jewish religion (Heb 3.12; 7.11, 18–19; 8.13; 10.1–10; 9.9–10; 13.9–10).