Full Description
Suffering and death are two topics that are frequently referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews, but have rarely been examined within scholarship on this important New Testament text. Dyer redresses the balance in this study of these topics, conducting a thorough investigation using semantic domain analysis. He incorporates recent advancements in modern linguistics, in particular the 'context of situation', and then connects these topics to the social situation addressed in Hebrews. In so doing he is able to reveal how the author is responding to the reality of suffering in the lives of his audience. With this awareness, it becomes clear how the author also responds to his audience's pain by creating models of endurance in suffering and death. These serve to motivate his audience toward similar endurance within their own social context.
Dyer shows that it is possible to make significant determinations about the social setting of Hebrews based upon an examination and analysis of the language used therein.
Contents
Introduction
Ch 1: Previous Studies on Suffering and Death in Hebrews
Ch 2: History of Research on the Situation Addressed in Hebrews
Ch 3: Moving From a Text to Its Context
Ch 4: Suffering and Death Language in Hebrews
Ch 5: Clues of a Social Context from the Suffering and Death Language in Hebrews
Ch 6: The Use of Exempla in Responding to a Context of Suffering and Death in Hebrews
Ch 7: Conclusion and Further Research
Bibliography
Index
