Pre-existence, Naming, and Investiture in the Similitudes of Enoch and in Hebrews
[Article]
Robert G. Hall
Leiden
Brill
Understanding longings of readers of Wisdom, Philo, and the Similitudes of Enoch, can clarify how to respond to a classic conundrum in Hebrews: how can Hebrews conceive God requiting Jesus' loud cries and tears (Heb 5:7) by instating him as pre-existent divine Son through whom God created the world? Such readers long to conform to what God knows them to be. Hebrews interprets Psalms to assuage this longing, revealing the Son conformed to God's knowledge and themselves following their forerunner to perfection. Understanding longings of readers of Wisdom, Philo, and the Similitudes of Enoch, can clarify how to respond to a classic conundrum in Hebrews: how can Hebrews conceive God requiting Jesus' loud cries and tears (Heb 5:7) by instating him as pre-existent divine Son through whom God created the world? Such readers long to conform to what God knows them to be. Hebrews interprets Psalms to assuage this longing, revealing the Son conformed to God's knowledge and themselves following their forerunner to perfection.