‘In the Midst of the Assembly I Will Praise You’: Hebrews 2.12 and Its Contribution to the Argument of the Epistle

Introduction

The Epistle to the Hebrews is well known for its abundant use of Old Testament quotations throughout its discourse. Numerous studies have examined all aspects of this feature, and each individual quotation has been scrutinized in various monographs, articles and commentaries. ¹ This article studies one of these quotations, Ps. 21.23 LXX in Heb. 2.12, and zeroes in on the fascinating image that is presents: Jesus worshipping within the Christian community. This image is sometimes lost as it appears in the second half of a quotation in which the first part seems to make the more significant point (Jesus’ solidarity with his siblings). Yet this striking image of Jesus praising God makes an important theological and sociological contribution to the epistle’s argument. As this article will argue, this image contributes to a larger attempt by the author to solidify commitment to the community and ground the group’s identity in Jesus.

The image of Jesus singing a hymn in the midst of a religious community is rare within Christian literature but does have precedent in the Synoptic tradition. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark both describe Jesus and his disciples singing a hymn after the Last Supper (Mt. 26.30; Mk 14.26: ‘Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives’). Both authors place the episode within the context of the Passover. As such, it is likely that Jesus was following the custom of concluding the Passover meal with a hymn from the Hallel (Pss. 113–18) (Pitre 2015: 321-22). The early church picked up on this image of Jesus and his disciples singing a hymn together. The late-second-century writing Acts of John includes a supposed Johannine account of the Last Supper (94–96). In a section commonly labeled ‘the hymn of Jesus’, Jesus dances and sings a lengthy hymn with his disciples. ² In the early fifth century, Augustine points to the example of Jesus singing a hymn to support the use of hymns in the Christian community: ‘as in the singing of hymns and psalms, for which we have on record both the example and the precepts of the Lord and of His apostles’ (Letters 55.18.34). ³

It is not clear that the author of Hebrews knew of any tradition of Jesus singing with his disciples, although he does use the same term to refer to ‘singing a hymn’ (ὑμνέω) as the Synoptics. Unlike those passages, the image of Jesus singing a hymn in Heb. 2.12 does not share a context of the Passover. Rather, the author of Hebrews seems to organically arrive at this image through his creative interpretation of Ps. 21 LXX. The quotation appears in the middle of Heb. 2, amidst a discussion of the Son’s solidarity with humanity. It is the first of three quotations in Heb. 2.12-13 that the author places on the lips of Jesus. This set of quotations serves as a response to the catena of LXX quotations, which are spoken by God, in Heb. 1.5-13 (Cockerill 2012: 142).

The Author’s Use of the Old Testament

Before looking at the particular use of Ps. 21.23 LXX in Heb. 2.12, we should consider the author’s hermeneutic of quoting from the Old Testament in his discourse. ⁴ Three prominent features are significant for our study. ⁵ First, as recent studies have demonstrated, the author’s practice of placing quotations on the lips of new speakers is best understood as the rhetorical technique of prosopological exegesis. ⁶ This rhetorical device allows the author to have God, the Son and the Spirit speak words from the Hebrew Bible directly to each other. Second, by placing the quoted passage within a new co-text, the author can shift the meaning of key words from the text – a technique found in later rabbinic texts. ⁷ Third, the author sometimes quotes a text with the intention of evoking its larger context for the reader.

Prosopological exegesis is well attested in antiquity – particularly in Greek writings and Hellenistic literature. ⁸ The technique can trace its origins back to the use of prosopopoeia, or ‘speech-in-character’, in the ancient rhetorical books and the Progymnasmata. ⁹ Unlike a ‘speech-in-character’, in which the author writes under the identity of another speaker, prosopological exegesis interprets texts by assigning characters to ambiguous passages. ¹⁰ By doing so, the author allows their audience to reread an old text in a new way – with a new character identified as the speaker. As others have shown, there are identifiable features of both the base text being quoted and the prosopological exegesis itself that can assist in identifying its use (Bates 2012; Pierce 2020). The base text is usually a canonical text using first-person speech in which the assigned participants are ambiguous. The prosopological exegesis introduces a new interpretation in which the speaker of the base text is identified as a specific character (Bates 2012: 219-20; Pierce 2020: 20-22). Sometimes such exegesis is introduced by a formula including the word προσώπον, although this is not always the case. Bates (2012: 220) argues that, especially in the instances of unmarked prosopological exegesis, finding similar interpretations in other early Christian texts help strengthen its use in the text under investigation.

The catena of quotations in Heb. 1.5-13 provide excellent illustrations of prosopological exegesis. ¹¹ In these verses, the author quotes the Old Testament seven times, each time identifying God the Father as the speaker. In many of these citations, God would already have been identified as the speaker. The text from Ps. 2.7, cited in Heb. 1.5, was understood as direct speech from God in its original context. Similarly, the quotation in Heb. 1.5 from 2 Sam. 7.14 are God’s words to David when establishing his covenant with him. However, the unique contribution of the author of Hebrews’ prosopological exegesis is in his identification of the Son as the addressee. Psalm 2.7, originally spoken to the psalmist, is now spoken to the Son. Similarly, the words spoken to David about his son Solomon in 2 Samuel are now spoken to Jesus, the Son. In both cases, however, the identity of the addressee is never made explicit in the base text – the psalmist nor David’s offspring are never named.

The second feature of the author’s use of the Old Testament somewhat overlaps with the first. While prosopological exegesis focuses primarily on the changed identity of the speaker of a quoted text, although Pierce (2020: 4) includes the addresses and subjects as well, a similar hermeneutical move can impact the meaning of key words in the text. By bringing the quoted text into a new co-text, the author can alter the meaning of specific terms. The author of Hebrews commonly chooses to quote Old Testament passages based upon key words that connect them to his argument. The choice of Ps. 2.7 and 2 Sam. 7.14 in Heb. 1.5 seems to be instigated by those passages’ use of ‘Son’ – now applied to Jesus in the co-text of Hebrews’ opening chapter. Similarly, the key word ‘rest’ drives the use of Gen. 2.2 in Heb. 4.4 as the author picks up the term from Ps. 94.11 LXX in Heb. 3.11 and 4.3, 5. As a result, the ‘rest’ of Gen. 2.2, which originally referred to God resting from creating, is now understood as the rest not obtained by the wilderness generation. As Susan Docherty (2009: 195) has pointed out, ‘the isolating of short sections of scripture from their original co-text, the heavy stressing of certain words or phrases within them, and the provision of new surrounding text are very important steps in the author’s exegetical method’. Docherty (2009: 83-120), drawing on the work of Alexander Samely and Philip Alexander, traces this same hermeneutical method in later rabbinic literature.

Third, it is important to take the surrounding linguistic co-text of a base text into account when interpreting its citation in Hebrews. In a famous study, C.H. Dodd (1953) argues that when New Testament writers quoted a verse or text from the Old Testament, the larger context of the passage was intended to be evoked. Dodd (1953: 126) demonstrates that New Testament writers did not quote from the Old Testament as proof-texts, but rather ‘particular verses or sentences were quoted from [large sections of the Old Testament] rather as pointers to the whole context than as constituting testimonies in and for themselves’. An author may cite a single verse from a psalm but, according to Dodd, the readers are meant to bring that entire psalm or larger sub-unit to mind. This is certainly not the case in every instance, but it does appear to be a technique utilized by the author of Hebrews. ¹² When the author quotes Deut. 32.43 LXX in Heb. 1.6 (‘Let all God’s angels worship him’), for example, the larger context of Deut. 32 is likely intended to be evoked. In this way, the brief quotation brings forth the imagery of the new promised land of the original passage and the promise of God’s vindication of his suffering people – themes which fit into the larger argument of Hebrews (Allen 2008: 52-58; Cockerill 1999; Docherty 2009: 159-60).

Psalm 21.23 LXX in Hebrews 2.12

The author’s quotation from Ps. 21 LXX continues his extensive quoting from the Psalms up until this point in the discourse (Ps. 2.7 in Heb. 1.5; Ps. 103.4 LXX in Heb. 1.7; Ps. 44.7-8 LXX in Heb. 1.8-9; Ps. 101.26-28 LXX in Heb. 1.10-12; Ps. 109.1 in Heb. 1.13; Ps. 8.4-6 in Heb. 2.6-8). The Psalms play an important role in the argument and structure of Hebrews. ¹³ Psalm 21 LXX is quoted in the Synoptic tradition where Matthew and Mark place the words from its second verse upon the lips of Jesus on the cross (Mt. 27.46; Mk 15.34: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Ps. 21.2 LXX). As such, the psalm was likely understood among early Christians as correctly applied to Jesus as the speaker. ¹⁴ This lends credence to our understanding of Hebrews’ engagement with the text as prosopological exegesis. The author of Hebrews draws from the latter half of Ps. 21 LXX, which shifts from cries of lament to a more positive declaration of trust in God. ¹⁵

The quotation appears in the epistle within a discussion of Jesus’ familial relationship with his followers. Beginning in Heb. 2.5, the author argues that the world is not subjected to angels but to humans. It is in Jesus that one begins to see this reality. Hebrews 2.9 is a point of emphasis in the discourse as it builds to the proclamation ‘but we see Jesus’ – the first mention of Jesus’ name (Westfall 2005: 106-107). Jesus is to be understood as a member of humanity and not just spiritual like the angels (Moffitt 2011a). The author stresses this fact by establishing the solidarity that Jesus maintains with his human brothers and sisters. In 2.11, the author writes that both Jesus and those he sanctifies have one Father. Because of this, Jesus is not ashamed to call them his siblings (ἀδελϕοὶ). To validate this, the author quotes Ps. 21.23 LXX, in which the speaker calls his surrounding community his ἀδελϕοὶ. This is followed by two quotations, likely drawn from Isa. 8, which are also placed on Jesus’ lips.

The author of Hebrews closely follows Ps. 21 LXX in his quotation. The two texts differ only by the presence of διηγήσομαι in place of ἀπαγγέλλω. ¹⁶ These terms convey roughly the same thing, although the sense of ‘proclaiming’ may better fit Christ’s mission (Attridge 1989: 90). ¹⁷ Both of these Greek terms were used in the LXX to translate the same word (piel of ספר‎) within the Psalms, so the change may have appeared in the author’s version of the LXX. ¹⁸ However, it is the term ἀδελϕός that likely explains why the author of Hebrews chose this verse. Through prosopological exegesis, the author can put the words of this psalm on the lips of Jesus to provide an example of him not being ashamed to call his followers his ἀδελϕοὶ. Making this connection seems to be the main point of the author’s quotation (Ellingworth 1993: 166; Lane 1991: 59; Steyn 2011: 155).

Yet the author does not limit his quotation to this first phrase. He goes on to quote the second half of the verse: ‘in the midst of the congregation (ἐκκλησία) I will praise you’. If the connection to Jesus’ ἀδελϕοὶ is already established, the question remains why the author included the second half of the verse. The addition of this phrase speaks to its significance for the author, who elsewhere in the epistle is content to quote just those phrases or verses that suit his purposes (Attridge 1989: 90; Ellingworth 1993: 167). Two examples of this immediately follow in Heb. 2.13, where the author quotes selectively from Isa 8. Having already made the point of Jesus’ solidarity with his siblings by using this passage, the author of Hebrews intentionally includes the second half of the verse because it offers an additional contribution to his argument. Jesus not only calls his followers his brothers and sisters, but he also worships alongside them within the ἐκκλησία.

What Is Jesus Doing? Where and When Is he Doing it?

While the choice to quote Ps. 21.23 LXX may have been driven by its use of ἀδελϕός, the picture of Jesus that the quotation presents is highly significant. As previously pointed out, Jesus is clearly presented as the speaker of the quotation, and the actions described within it are his. With this understood, Jesus is said to do two actions: he ‘proclaims’ (ἀπαγγέλλω) God’s name to his siblings, and he ‘praises’ (ὑμνέω) God. Ἀπαγγέλλω is used frequently in the New Testament with the sense of announcing something or making something publicly known. The content of the proclamation can range from the mundane to a message of repentance through God (Acts 26.20; 1 Cor. 14.25; 1 Thess. 1.9; cf. 1 Jn 1.2-3). Here Jesus proclaims God’s name to his brothers and sisters – that is, Jesus performs his ministry of making God known directly to his siblings. It is a public action, taking place ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας, in which Jesus boldly reveals God to his siblings.

Additionally, Jesus is said to ‘praise’ or ‘sing a hymn’ to God. ‘Yμνέω is often used to convey the singing of praise within a religious setting. It appears just three times in the New Testament outside of Hebrews; two of these uses occur in the Synoptic account of Jesus and his disciples singing a hymn after the Passover meal (Mt. 26.30; Mk 14.26). The other use appears in Acts when Paul and Silas are singing (ὕμνουν) hymns to God while in prison. The word appears often in the LXX with this same connotation (cf. 1 Chron. 16.9; Wis. 10.20; Isa. 12.5). While ὑμνέω does not necessitate a hymn or song, there is no reason to think that the act of singing is not being conveyed here. ¹⁹ Jesus, like the psalmist, vows to engage in an act of worship by singing God’s praise.

Regarding where Jesus is proclaiming and singing praise to God, the key term is ἐκκλησία. This is a loaded term, as early Christians eventually adopted it to refer to their community (cf. Mt. 16.18; Acts 5.11; Rom. 16.16; 1 Cor. 12.28; 3 Jn 6; Rev. 1.4). In the LXX, ἐκκλησία is frequently used to refer to the people, or assembly, of Israel – either the whole or a part (Deut. 23.1; Judg. 20.2; 1 Kgs 8.22; Ezra 10.12; 1 Macc. 14.19). Its use in Ps. 21.23 LXX likely carries this same notion of an assembly of the people of God. When the author of Hebrews inserts this term into a new co-text with Jesus the speaker, the ἐκκλησία becomes the Christian community. The author will use the term again in Heb. 12.23 to refer to the assembly of God in heaven.

While the term could simply refer to any assembly, ἐκκλησία in Hebrews signifies an assembly of God’s people – the Christian community. This conclusion is strengthened by the meaning of ἀδελϕός when placed within the new co-text of Jesus’ speech in Heb. 2.12. The ‘siblings’ of Ps. 21 LXX refers to humanity in Heb. 2 (2.14) but specifically to members of the Christ community (2.10, 11, 16). They are those brought to glory by Christ (2.10) and those sanctified through him (2.11). After this designation is clear, the author addresses his audience directly as ἀδελϕοὶ (3.1, 12; 10.19; 13.22). The ἐκκλησία, then, is the assembly of ἀδελϕοὶ, understood as the Christian community.

The temporal question is twofold: when does Jesus speak these words, and when do the actions of the utterances take place? To address the first question, it is important to consider the larger context of the psalm that is quoted. As we saw, the author takes a psalm that was likely familiar to the early Christian audience and draws from a different section than those other uses. The speaker of Ps. 21 LXX cries out in agony to God (vv. 1-18), pleads for rescue (vv. 19-22) and vows to praise God (vv. 23-32). The Synoptic tradition quotes from the first section in its portrayal of Jesus’ suffering and passion. However, the context of Jesus’ suffering also fits Heb. 2, which describes Jesus’ suffering and death (2.9, 10, 14, 18). In using this psalm, the author can continue his discussion of Jesus’ suffering while making the important connection to Jesus’ siblings. As Pierce (2020: 101) writes, ‘While a number of citations could have been selected to recall Christ in the midst of suffering, this particular text serves the author’s argument because, in the midst of suffering, he lays claim to his brothers and sisters’.

The author of Hebrews quotes from the section of Ps. 21 LXX in which the speaker vows to praise God while awaiting rescue. Within Heb. 2, then, Jesus speaks these words amid suffering while on earth. The author retains the use of the future tense in Jesus’ speech. He is awaiting rescue and vows to praise God when that rescue occurs. When Jesus speaks these words, he is still suffering; when he is rescued, he will praise God. For now, as the next quotations in Heb. 2.13 express, Jesus will put his trust in God. Some have argued that Jesus speaks these words at his exaltation, but that does not fit either the context of the psalm or of Heb. 2. ²⁰

The question of when the action of the quotation takes place is more difficult to pin down. Given the previous discussion, we can say with confidence: after Jesus’ rescue. The third quotation in this set of citations, of Isa. 8.18 in Heb. 2.13, may offer some guidance. After Jesus vows to praise God (2.12) and affirms his trust in God (2.13a), he declares: ‘Here I am and the children whom God has given me’ (2.13b). Jesus and his siblings standing together before God appears to take place at a different time than the previous two quotations. A temporal change may be signified by the insertion of an introductory formula between the two citations from Isaiah in Heb. 2.13 and the shift away from the future tense. ²¹ If so, then the action of Jesus and his siblings before God – possibly including his worshipping God – occurs after they have all been rescued, possibly at the Parousia (Lane 1991: 59). If so, then Jesus standing with his siblings at the Parousia could be understood as the fulfilment of his promise to worship God after his rescue. This interpretation is strengthened if one understands the author’s use of ἐκκλησία in 12.23 to refer to a future assembly. However, a shift in tense does not necessarily indicate a temporal change, and it may be that Jesus and his siblings, in 2.13b, together declare their trust in God while awaiting rescue on earth. ²²

While Jesus’ actions of proclaiming God’s name and singing praise within the Christian community should be understood as occurring at some point in time after his suffering and death, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly when it is understood as taking place. It may be that the author intentionally left this ambiguous. However, I would like to put forward as a possible scenario that Jesus is understood as doing these actions after he has been exalted and seated at the right hand of the Father but while the community remains on earth. In short, Jesus is presented as ministering to his people in the present time. ²³ Several things make such a scenario plausible. First, it should be emphasized that in Heb. 2.12 Jesus speaks of a future time after his suffering and death on earth – any point after Jesus’ exaltation could fit this description. ²⁴

Second, the notion of Jesus proclaiming God’s name to his siblings assumes a time prior to the Parousia. It recalls Jesus’ present and ongoing ministry of making the Father known to the people of God. This ministry is described in Heb. 2 as Jesus’ message of salvation (2.3), his bringing people to glory (2.10) and sanctifying his siblings (2.11). When Jesus declares that he will proclaim God’s name to his siblings in 2.12, he is referring to those very things that are accomplished by his death. These are not things accomplished in the future but are understood as having been accomplished by Jesus’s death and exaltation. Further, this ministry is ongoing. As a great high priest, Jesus continues to minister and help those that he represents (2.17-18; cf. 5.1-10). If it stands that Jesus’ proclamation of God’s name to his siblings occurs in the time between his death and the future Parousia, then there is every reason to believe that his worshipping God in the assembly does as well. There are no linguistic or temporal markers to indicate that the two actions described in Heb. 2.12 occur at different times. Instead, they are presented as happening at the same time and at the same place.

Finally, and most importantly, the reference to the ἐκκλησία establishes the sphere in which response to the proclamation of God’s name is to take place (Attridge 2004: 208). Jesus models the proper response to the proclamation of God’s name by worshipping within the assembly. In this way he serves as an exemplar for the readers. They are not to wait for the Parousia before they respond in worship to Jesus’ proclamation. Even if the author envisions Jesus worshipping at the Parousia, the parenetic function of the image is for the present community to follow Jesus’ example in their present context.

Whether one understands Jesus’ actions as occurring in the present time or at the Parousia, the same powerful image emerges. In either case, the imperative is established for the worshipping community in their present context. In a dialogue between the Son and the Father, Jesus is presented as speaking during his time of suffering on earth. From that vantage point, he looks ahead to his rescue and vows to proclaim God’s name and sing his praise to his brothers and sisters while in the assembly of God’s people.

Christological Significance

In addition to the ways in which the author uses the Old Testament in the epistle, this passage clearly presents a Christological interpretation of Ps. 21.23 LXX. As we have seen, from very early on Christian interpreters identified Jesus as the speaker of Ps. 21 LXX. The author of Hebrews continues this reading by placing the words directly on Jesus’ lips. In doing so, the author contributes to the priestly Christology developed over the discourse.

In Jewish literature, the Levites frequently sang songs and played music. ²⁵ This tradition is often connected back to King David (Neh. 12.24; Sir. 47.8-10; 1 Esdr. 1.15). In 2 Chron. 29, King Hezekiah orders all the Levites and priests to play instruments ‘according to the commandment of David’ (v. 25). As the burnt offering begins, a song to the Lord rises up. The Chronicler concludes: ‘King Hezekiah and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of the seer Asaph. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped’ (v. 30). In 1 Esdras, when the Temple is rebuilt the Levites lead the people by ‘praising the LORD and blessing him, according to the directions of King David of Israel; they sang hymns, giving thanks to the LORD’ (5.60-61).

In Heb. 2.12, Jesus takes on this role, although within the context of the Christian community and practice. Jesus is not a Levite, his priesthood is in the line of Melchizedek, but he is presented throughout the epistle as taking on priestly responsibilities (esp. 5.1-10; 7.26-28; 8.1-6; 9.11-14; 10.11-14). In addition to ministering in the sanctuary, entering the Holy Place with his own blood and interceding for his people, Jesus also takes on the priestly role of leading the community in song.

Additionally, this passage contributes to the author’s presentation of Jesus as a supreme exemplar for the recipients to emulate. ²⁶ At several points in the discourse, the author encourages his readers to ‘look to’ and ‘consider’ Jesus (Heb. 2.9; 5.7-10; 12.2-3; 13.12-13). This is made explicit in Heb. 12.3 where the audience is told to ‘consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart’. In 2.12, Jesus models a proper response to God through worship. This is supported by 13.15 where the author encourages his audience to ‘continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God’. This is said to be done through Jesus – whom the author had just exhorted his audience to emulate by enduring the same type of abuse that he suffered (13.13).

The Sociological Significance of this Image

The social situation of the recipients of Hebrews is a debated issue with a variety of suggestions offered in contemporary scholarship. ²⁷ Since we know so little about the epistle itself – who wrote it, when, where and to whom – most insight into the social context must come from the text itself. It is not my intention to put forth a theory regarding the audience of Hebrews but rather to focus on a couple of features made explicit in the text. ²⁸ First, the recipients were second-generation Christians. They did not hear the gospel from Jesus himself or, as seems likely, directly from one of the apostles (Heb. 2.3-4). In fact, the community’s initial leaders have passed away (13.7), so the community may be in its second (or greater) iteration of leadership. Second, the author points to the unfortunate reality that some in the community have abandoned the group (10.25). Whether due to persecution, social ostracism, theological uncertainty or some other reason, members of the group have stopped meeting with the community. Further, the author indicates that those addressed are themselves in danger of leaving the community (6.4-6; 10.35).

Taking just these two elements of the audience’s reality that the text identifies – that they were second-generation believers who were in danger of falling away from the community – we can begin to understand how the author responds. With the community fracturing, the author attempts to strengthen the group’s commitment while issuing warnings for those tempted to leave. As David deSilva (2012: 149) has argued, ‘The presenting issue in the situation addressed by the author of Hebrews can be formulated as, essentially, a crisis of commitment’.

One way to address such a crisis is to nurture the experience of communion among the members of a group. ²⁹ The author accomplishes this by drawing heavily from the community’s past to strengthen their bond. In Heb. 6.9-12, for example, the author motivates his audience to faithfulness by appealing to their previous behavior: ‘We desire for each of you to exhibit the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises’ (vv. 11-12). Similarly, the author encourages the audience to ‘remember’ (ἀναμιμνῄσκω) a previous time of suffering shortly after their initial conversion (10.32). They endured this trial while keeping an attitude of compassion and joy (10.32-34). The remembrance of this ordeal is the foundation for the author’s exhortation to demonstrate the same endurance in the present. ³⁰ These examples from the audience’s recent past serve to strengthen the bonds of the community and deter them from the temptation to abandon the group.

In addition to looking to a community’s past, the author seeks to establish community within the group by placing their identity squarely within the group. The familial language applied to the recipients, addressing them as siblings of one heavenly father, contributes to this sense of community. ³¹ Although the community members never met him while he was on earth, Jesus is not a distant leader or absent figure. He is their brother, and they are his siblings. They are united by having the same heavenly father (2.11). This positive assessment strengthens the bonds of their community and cements the readers’ identity within the community.

The quotation found in Heb. 2.12 contributes to the author’s attempt to build community among his recipients within his discourse. The first half of the quotation confirms the familial identity while the second half places a strong emphasis on the actual meeting of the group, the ἐκκλησία. The importance of being a part of the worshipping community is stressed by the image of Jesus himself being among them in active worship. Whether one understands the image to be a present or future reality, in some sense the promise made in 2.12b finds fulfillment in the community’s hearing the message and meeting together (Heil 2011: 43). It is within the ἐκκλησία that Jesus proclaims the Father’s name and offers him praise. As such, the importance of the community and their worship gathering finds elevated significance. Further, the fact that Jesus leads the community in worship suggests his leadership role in the ἐκκλησία (Small 2014: 198). The author will go on to establish Jesus as the people’s great high priest who serves on their behalf at the true altar of God (2.17; 5.1-10; 7.24-25). The community, then, is more than a religious gathering. It is an assembly of family with its leading participant being Jesus himself.

Connected to this sociological strategy is what deSilva describes as the establishment of a ‘court of opinion’ that is defined by a group’s values and ideals. This is created within a grouping of important persons by whom an individual seeks approval and esteem – and alternatively can feel shame. What constitutes ‘shame’ and ‘esteem’ are defined within the community, often against how they are construed in the larger culture. The individual finds honor or shame within this community based upon the group’s values and beliefs. As deSilva (2012: 140) points out, a way to validate a group’s ‘court of opinion’ is to include the divine among the group’s members. This explains why the author of Hebrews frequently calls for his audience to consider God’s evaluation of them (4.12-13; 6.10; 10.17, 29-31; 13.20-21).

The author moves beyond including the divine within the community in some abstract way by depicting Jesus as an active member of the worshipping community in Heb. 2.12. He is among them within the assembly as they gather together to praise God’s name. The community joins with Jesus in song and meets together with him within the ἐκκλησία. This legitimizes the assembly and sets its ‘court of opinion’ above that of the outside society.

A second way to address the crisis facing the community is, in a sense, the inverse of the previous strategy. In addition to building up the community bond and establishing its ‘court of opinion’, the author warns against abandoning the group and uses harsh language against those who have left. It is easy to see how these two strategies build off each other: when the recipients correctly view their identity within the Christian community, the choice to abandon the group becomes particularly troublesome. Those who have left are seen as shameful according to the group’s ‘court of opinion’. The author repeatedly reminds the readers what they would be leaving behind if they were to stop meeting together.

Those who have left the group and turned away from God are often described as actively offending or abusing Jesus himself. Those that have fallen away are, according to the author, crucifying Jesus again (ἀνασταθρόω) and publicly shaming him (παραδειγματίζω) (6.6). They have ‘shown utter distain’ (καταπατέω) toward the Son of God and ‘profaned’ (κοινός) his blood (10.29). Those that have fallen away have not only abandoned the community and brought judgment on themselves, but they have directly shamed and abused Jesus.

The quotation in Heb. 2.12 also contributes to this strategy. By elevating the significance of the ἐκκλησία by envisioning Jesus himself praising God there, the author seeks to make the notion of abandoning the assembly unthinkable. Further, if Jesus is present within their assembly and an active member of the community, then the choice to abandon the group is a choice to abandon Jesus. Those who have chosen to abandon the group have forfeited the opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus. To reject the community is to reject Jesus himself.

Conclusion

Through a variety of hermeneutical methods, the author of Hebrews incorporates a text from Ps. 21 LXX into his discourse to motivate his audience toward faithfulness to their community. The most prominent method is prosopological exegesis, which allows the author to place the words of the psalmist onto the lips of Jesus. The image that this creates is a powerful one: Jesus standing among the assembly and engaging in corporate worship. The image is intentional and contributes to a larger argument meant to motivate the audience toward group community and identity. If Jesus is active in the midst of the assembly, then the assembly itself is given significance and value. This strengthens the bonds of community and encourages the audience to find their identity in relation to Jesus and the group. Inversely, those that choose to abandon the assembly must understand that they are leaving behind the family of God and Jesus, the Son of God, himself.