ἐ ρωτάω....... —....... 31......... 7..... 37
εὐχόμαι —......... 3......... 6....... 2
Total........... 57........... 410........... 47........... 93
While St. Matthew habitually designates heavenly things by the plural (gen. or dat.) of οὐρανός, and is somewhat followed by the other writers, the author of Hebrews and St. Paul employ these forms very little and are almost alone in availing themselves of the compound adjective ἐ πουράνιος for the same purpose. St. Luke uses this word only once; Hebrews, six times; St. Paul, twelve times; all others, twice. On the other hand, the simple οὐράνιος is not used at all in Hebrews and St. Paul, but occurs twice in St. Luke, and four times elsewhere.
The words λαλεῖν and λέγειν are both common enough, and the distinction between them is well recognized. The point to be noticed is the frequency of their use relatively to each other. Hebrews uses them in the proportion of 1:2; St. Paul the same; St. Luke, 1:3½; all others, 1:7 nearly. St. Luke here varies considerably from Hebrews and St. Paul, but far less than the others.
The Hebraistic πρόσωπον, so frequent in the LXX, is found but once in Hebrews, and then in an allusion to the LXX; but curiously occurs 27 times in St. Luke, as many in St. Paul, and in all others 22. So also ῥ ῆ μα is a common enough word; but in its Hebraistic sense, corresponding to dabar, a thing, the subject-matter of speech or command, its use is confined to St. Luke, and it does not occur either in Hebrews or elsewhere. Both ὑ πάρχω and ὑ ποστρέφω are favorite words with St. Luke. The former occurs in his writings 34 times, is not found at all in Hebrews; is used by St. Paul 11 times, and only four times elsewhere; the latter is used by St. Luke 31 times, and elsewhere only once each in Hebrews, St. Paul, and St. Mark. Κατεργάζομαι is a Pauline word (21 times), never used in Hebrews, and but three times elsewhere (Jas. 2, Pet. 1). On the other hand, the use of the comparatives κρείσσων and πλείων, with the superlative πλεῖστος, is far more common in Hebrews. The comparative numbers are: for κρείσσων, Hebrews, 150; St. Luke, ; St. Paul, 7 (he also used the adverb κρεῖσσον once); all others, 2. For πλείων πλεῖστος, Heb., 46; St. Luke, 42; St. Paul, 19; all others, 17.
I do not recall any other words of this kind, the usage of which affects our enquiry. Such inferences as may be drawn from this examination are somewhat contradictory. They certainly do not point to the author of this Epistle as either St. Paul or St. Luke, as they might be expected to do if such were the fact. There are some striking similarities of diction; but the differences are, at least, quite as important.
It is time now to turn to those adverbs, particles and prepositions, which bring out the grammatical form in which a writer is accustomed to clothe his ideas. But before speaking of these, mention must be made of one grammatical form peculiarly characteristic of the nicety and subtlety of thought of the classic Greek writers—the optative mood. This subject has been investigated by Dr. Harman with great care. He finds that this mode is used in the whole New Testament 66 times, 32 of them in the Pauline Epistles, 28 in the writings of St. Luke, once in Hebrews, and five times in all other writers. “In nearly all the cases in which the optative occurs in the New Testament it is used to express a wish or prayer, except in the writings of Luke.” “In the Epistle to the Hebrews we find one instance of the optative, καταρτίσαι, ‘ May God make you perfect’ ( xiii. 21 ). This is presumptive proof that an Alexandrian did not write this Epistle, as it is not likely that the use of this mode in but one instance would have satisfied his fine Greek taste.”
The usage of the particles, adverbs and prepositions, require so much detail that only a summary can here be given with a reference to the paper on the “Language of the Epistles to the Hebrews,” already mentioned.
The particles μέν and δέ would naturally be more common in narrative; but as between Hebrews, St. Paul, and the other Epistles, they are relatively most frequent in Hebrews. The same is true of the conjunction τε, which is more common in St. Luke and St. Paul than in other New Testament writers. The adversative ἀ λλά is common enough everywhere, not even the shortest epistle being without more than one instance of its use. St. Luke and Hebrews employ it very much more seldom; but again, St. Luke uses it far less than Hebrews. The three writers, St. Luke, St. Paul, and the author of Hebrews, are distinguished from the other writers by the (comparatively) sparing use of ἄ ν and ἐ ά ν , but of the three, St. Luke employs it most, and St. Paul least. Hebrews alone uses ἐ ά νπερ, but never ἐ ά ν μή, which is employed in St. Luke with moderate freedom, by St. Paul twice as often, and still more frequently by the other writers. In the case of διό, St. Paul uses it relatively only half as often as Hebrews, but three times as often as St. Luke, and the last more than twice as often as the other writers. In the use of διότι, a much less common word, there is a less difference, but still a marked one and in the same order.
The pronouns of the first and second person are used, as might be expected, most abundantly by St. Paul; but Hebrews is singularly shy of them. This fact has been noticed and an explanation offered on the ground that the work has more the character of a treatise than of a personal epistle; but this explains too much, since these personal pronouns, though relatively infrequent, are still very common in our epistle. The author was not disposed to bring forward the personality of either himself or his hearers. St. Paul, on the contrary, used these pronouns more than twice as often as our author, and indeed far more frequently than any other New Testament writer.
The case of the third person of the pronoun is peculiar, since its frequent redundant use is one of the marked characteristics of the New Testament diction; yet St. Paul uses it less than half as often as Hebrews. The same is true of the demonstrative ἐ κεῖνος ; but in the use of the reflective ἑ αυτός, St. Paul is largely in excess. The difference in the use of these pronouns between Hebrews and St. Luke is not very great; but, in regard to the two first particularly, the difference from the other writers is marked, and St. Paul’s usage of all of them is very different. On the other hand, in the use of οὗτος, Hebrews is strongly separated from St. Luke and less so from St. Paul.
The words ἀ λλήλων, ἄ λλος, ἕ τερος, τίς (interrog.), and τις (indef.) have marked peculiarities in their frequency of employment by the different writers, but it is enough to instance here ἄ λλος, employed oftener by St. Paul than by St. Luke and Hebrews put together, and yet by the other writers collectively twice as often as by him; and ἕ τερος used with exactly the same frequency by St. Luke and St. Paul, less than one quarter as often by other writers, but far oftener in Hebrews than in any of them. So also with ἕ καστος, τοιοῦτος, and τοσοῦτος : they are all used with exactly the same frequency in Hebrews; but while the first is used by St. Paul much oftener, the last is used only one-fourteenth as often. The usage of St. Luke is markedly different from that of either.
Further and more detailed examination of words of this class would be out of place here. Suffice it to say that such an examination shows a marked individuality in the usage of the several writers; and it is to be remembered that Hebrews, Acts, and the latter Epistles of St. Paul must have been written with no great interval of time between them.
The same things are true in whatever way we test the forms of expression of these writers. If we take the particle εἰ with its various combinations εἰ καί, εἰ μή, εἴγε, εἰ δὲ μή, εἰ μή τε, εἴ περ, εἴ πῶς, εἴ τε, εἴ τις, we shall find that only the first two of these combinations occur in Hebrews at all, and those only once each, while all of them are found in the Pauline Epistles, and all but three of them in the writings of St. Luke. The whole group together is used more than twice as often by St. Paul as by any other writer.
Adverbs of space are very sparingly used by St. Paul, with an approach to equality between Hebrews and St. Luke, but twice as often by other writers. In the various particles and adverbs of negation, there do not seem to be, on the whole, very noticeable peculiarities, although υηδείς and μηδέ occur but once each in Hebrews, while the former is everywhere else common, and the latter also in St. Paul and other writers, though less frequent in St. Luke. But the word χωρίς is frequent enough in Hebrews to be considered characteristic, is used far less by St. Paul, only once by St. Luke, and comparatively seldom by other writers. Πάλιν is quite rare in St. Luke, equally common in Hebrews and St. Paul, and a little less so in the other writers. The use of ἤ is very rare in Hebrews whether as a disjunctive conjunction, or as a term of comparison. In the latter sense it occurs but once, and in the former only four times, two of which are in quotations from the LXX, and a third in a more than doubtful reading. In all the other New Testament writers it is very common, but most of all in St. Paul. In the use of μᾶλλον, however, though St. Paul still exceeds, Hebrews most nearly approaches his usage. The causal ἐ πεί is five times as frequent in Hebrews as in St. Paul, and yet four times more frequent in his writings than in the others, and is still less common in St. Luke than in them. The word πῶς is used but once in Hebrews (interrogatively), while it is common enough everywhere else. Both ἵ να and ὅ τι are used very often by St. Paul and the other writers, and much more sparingly in Hebrews; but St. Luke uses ἵ να much less than half as often as Hebrews, while he employs ὅ τι much more than half as often again. The un-Attic particle καθώς, the adverbs οὕτως, ὡ σεί, ὥ σπερ, and the conjunction ὥ στε, are all appropriate to trains of reasoning, but their usage in the different writers, particularly in the three we are especially considering, is very various. The same may be said of the prepositions, among which σύν is never used in Hebrews (except in composition), while it is employed much oftener by St. Luke than by St. Paul or any other writer.
It may be thought that all this examination—still tedious, though much condensed—is not worth the trouble. It goes to show, what has always been noticed by every reader, that the style of this Epistle is unlike that of St. Paul; but if it show, as it seems to do quite as clearly, that it is unlike that of St. Luke as well, something has been gained. It makes it at least improbable that St. Luke wrote the Epistle to give expression to the ideas of St. Paul.
It remains to examine some words of another class. There are many words and groups of words so peculiarly appropriated to certain ideas or shades of thought, that the use or non-use of them becomes a fair index of the habitual tone of thought of the writer. If he use them frequently, the phase of truth which they represent must have been prominent in his mind; or if he seldom employ them, then that aspect of truth was not the predominant one from his point of view. Such words or groups of words may be of different degrees of importance; but even those of inferior significance help to complete the picture of the writer’s mental habits, and it is therefore well to examine all that are at all characteristic. As the force of the evidence from these words can only be brought out by a more careful examination of them, I venture to copy some pages of the paper referred to above.
The group ἀ γαπάω, ἀ γάπη, and ἀ γαπήτος is noteworthy. They are very common in the Pauline writings, but are rare both in St. Luke and in Hebrews. In fact only one of them, ἀ γαπήτος, occurs at all in the Acts, and none of them are ever used by St. Luke except in recording the words of others. So also of the Hebrews. Of the five instances of their use, two are in quotations from the LXX. They are common enough in other writers, but are special favorites of St. John. Of the 154 instances in “other writers,” 109 are in St. John, so that the words may be called Pauline and Johannean. Their rarity in St. Luke and Hebrews may be partly explained by the fact that ἀ γάπη is an exclusively biblical word, and that ἀ γαπάω also is used in a higher sense in the sacred than in profane writings. Still they were common words in the Christian community, and they mark a distinction in thought between St. Luke and Hebrews on the one side, and St. Paul and the rest of the new Testament on the other. The actual number of instances of their use is: Hebrews, 5 times; St. Luke, 15; St. Paul, 135; all others (John, 109), 154; but if we exclude from the enumeration all quotations from the LXX, and all record of the words of others, the numbers become: Hebrews, 3; St. Luke, ; St. Paul, 132; all others (John, 43), 87. The comparison is too obvious to call for proportionate numbers. As an appendix to this group it may be mentioned that φιλέω never occurs in Hebrews, is used only twice by St. Luke, twice by St. Paul, and 21 times elsewhere, 15 of which are in St. John.
A word especially appropriate to Hebrews, and one which might have been expected there very often, ἁ γιασμός, occurs but once, while it is used eight times by St. Paul, and is not found in the rest of the New Testament. On the other hand, αἷμα, which we might have expected frequently in St. Paul as well as in Hebrews, is very common in the latter and not at all so in the former. Proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 231 times; St. Luke, 31; St. Paul, 24; all others, 44. Here, from the nature of the writings, we may not be surprised at the commonness of the word in Hebrews; but its comparative rarity in St. Paul is remarkable. His subjects led to it, and had it come to his mind as readily as it did to that of the author of Hebrews, it must have occurred in his writings much oftener.
The group of words, ἀ λήθεια, ἀ ληθής, ἀ ληθινός, ἀ ληθῶς, and ἀ ληθεύω, which we are accustomed to consider peculiarly Johannean, is also very frequent in St. Paul, but comparatively rare in St. Luke and Hebrews. The actual numbers are: Hebrews, 4 (ἀ ληθινός three times, ἀ λήθεια once); St. Luke, 12; St. Paul, 55; all others, 114 (of which St. John, 95).
Of the group ἀ σθενεία, ἀ σθενέω, ἀ σθένημα, and ἀ σθενής, only two occur in Hebrews— ἀ σθενεία (four times) and ἀ σθενής (once). The actual occurrences of the whole together are: Hebrews, 5 times; St. Luke, 15; St. Paul, 43; all others, 21; or proportionately, Hebrews, 58; St. Luke, 23; St. Paul, 90; all others, 21. This is evidently an especially Pauline class of words.
The words of opposite signification, βέβαιος, βεβαιόω, βεβαίωσις,—very infrequent in the LXX,—do not occur at all in St. Luke, and are relatively far more frequent in Hebrews than anywhere else. The proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 92 times; St. Luke, ; St. Paul, 15; elsewhere, 3. Evidently St. Paul preferred to dwell upon weakness, the author of Hebrews upon strength.
There is a similar contrast between the verb ἐ λπίζω and the noun ἐ λπίς on the one hand, and the verb ἐ παγγέλλομαι and the noun ἐ παγγελία on the other. Κληρονομέω, κληρονομία, and κληρονόμος are most common in Hebrews. The proportionate numbers are:—
Hebrews. St. Luke. St. Paul. All Others.
ἐ λπίζω and ἐ λπίς. 69................... 20................. 100................. 10
ἐ παγγέλλομαι and ἐ παγγελία.. 208................... 16................... 57................... 9
κληρονομέω, κληρονομία, κληρονόμος.. 104................... 11................... 33................... 8
Together........... 381........... 47........... 190........... 27
It is plain that while the author of Hebrews dwelt much more upon the brightness of the future than any other writer, he preferred to speak of it in the light of promise and of inheritance, while it rested in St. Paul’s mind more as a hope. This is the more noteworthy because the ideas of sonship and of adoption are very common in St. Paul. He alone uses the word υἱοθεσία five times.
The words ἡ μέρα and σήμερον are curiously infrequent in a writer of the present urgency of St. Paul, and are relatively most common in St. Luke and Hebrews, but most so in the last. In proportion the numbers are: Hebrews, 278; St. Luke, 207; St. Paul, 100; all others, 153. That is, Hebrews uses them nearly three times as often as St. Paul.
The names for God and for our Lord are used by the various writers with much difference, and with an evident preference in each of them for his own accustomed word. The proportionate numbers (which can take no note of periphrases) are as follows:—
Hebrews. St. Luke. St. Paul. All Others.
θεός................. 774................. 463............... 1016............... 419
Κύριος............. 185................. 335................. 524............... 213
̓ Ιησοῦς.......... 150................. 255................. 405............... 519
Χριστός......... 150................... 69................. 562............... 102
In all cases St. Paul uses these words most freely (about twice as often as anybody else), except that in the case of ᾽ Ιησοῦς he is exceeded by “other writers” as a result of the large amount of narrative contained in them. Θεός is used in Hebrews next in frequency to St. Paul, but with a long interval between them, and very much more often than elsewhere. Κύριος is used least frequently in Hebrews, while ᾽ Ιησοῦς and Χριστός are employed there, one with exactly the same frequency as the other, though St. Luke, St. Paul, and the other writers employ them very unequally, one preferring one and another the other. The use of these words is so much a matter of habit, habit alike of writing and of mode of thinking, that these go far to differentiate the writers.
Κήρυγμα, κήρυξ, and κηρύσσω are none of them ever used in Hebrews. For the others proportionate numbers are: St. Luke, 27 times; St. Paul, 35; all others, 20.
The group καυχάομαι, καύχημα, and καύχησις is almost exclusively Pauline, occurring in his writings 58 times, while it is nearly absent from Hebrews, only καύχημα being used, and that but once. These words do not occur in the other New Testament writers except three times in James. So also λογίζομαι and μακροθυμία are especially Pauline. They each occur only once in Hebrews. The first is found twice, the second not at all in St. Luke; but λογίζομαι occurs 34 times in St. Paul, four times in other writers, while μακροθυμία is used by St. Paul ten times, and only three times elsewhere.
Μανθάνω is used 16 times by St. Paul, only once each by Hebrews and St. Luke, and seven times elsewhere. Παρακαλέω and παράκλησις are much more frequent in St. Paul’s writings than elsewhere, but in this case he is more nearly approached by Hebrews than by others—yet with a great difference. Proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 81; St. Luke, 54; St. Paul, 137; all others, 22. The word προσεύχή occurs in Hebrews but once, and προσεύχομαι not at all. This is a noteworthy omission in our epistle, although it is also true that they are not used by St. John, except προσευχή three times in Revelation. The two words are found in St. Luke and St. Paul each 33 times, and in the other writers 43 times. The words σάρξ and σαρκικός are favorites of St. Paul. They occur seven times in Hebrews, six times in St. Luke, 102 times in St. Paul, and 46 times (of which one-half are in St. John) elsewhere. Proportionately Hebrews uses them about two-thirds as often as St. Paul, and nearly twice as often as all other writers together. The group φρονέω, φρόνημα, and φρόνησις is characteristic. None of them are found at all in Hebrews, and they occur but twice in St. Luke, and twice in the other writers (Matthew, 1, Mark, 1, in parallel passages), both in the record of the words of others; but St. Paul uses them 31 times. (He uses φρόνημα, however, only in Romans—four times.) A word used in a figurative sense especially characteristic of St. John (31 times), φῶς, never occurs in Hebrews. It is used 16 times by St. Luke, 12 times by St. Paul, and ten times by other writers. It is more or less used by every New Testament writer except the author of Hebrews, and St. Jude in his very short epistle. Χαίρω is also used by every other writer (St. Luke, 19 times; St. Paul, 27 times), except Hebrews and St. Jude. St. Paul greatly delights in the word χάρις, and in the idea conveyed by it; he never wrote an epistle without it, and uses it 101 times. In Hebrews it is found eight times, in St. Luke 24, and in all others 22, not occurring in the first two Gospels.
The foregoing list is somewhat long of words characteristic of phases of thought which are especially favorite with St. Paul, and either wholly unused or much less frequently employed in Hebrews. A corresponding list may be made of other words especially common in Hebrews, but less used by St. Luke and St. Paul. Before going to this, however, a few words are to be considered which in their frequency of usage are characteristic of all three, or of two of these writers as distinguished from others, although with some differences between them.
Most prominent in this latter class is νόμος, which we are accustomed to think especially Pauline. It is indeed used much oftener by St. Paul than by any other writer, yet it also occurs in Hebrews with a frequency distinguishing that Epistle from any other writing. The proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 162; St. Luke, 44; St. Paul, 227; all others, 33. Nevertheless, the assimilation here is more apparent than real; for St. Paul employs it chiefly of a method of salvation, while it refers in Hebrews mostly to a definite collection of statutes. In the same way πίστις is usually regarded as a characteristically Pauline word. It is relatively much more common in Hebrews; for the proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 369; St. Luke, 42; St. Paul, 262; all others, 43. But here also there is a shade of distinction in the force of the word as used by the two writers; St. Paul’s πίστις is reliance upon Christ as the means of salvation in opposition to the law and the works of the law, while in the Hebrews it is only a general reliance on God’s grace and promises. Of course, it is not denied that St. Paul sometimes uses a word, so common, in such varied shades of meaning, in a more general way as in 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 13; xvi. 13; 2 Cor. v. 7 , etc.; but the distinction in the shade of meaning between his habitual employment of the word, and that common in the Epistle to the Hebrews is easily recognized. In this connection πιστεύω must be mentioned, though belonging in the former category. The proportionate instances of its use are: Hebrews, 23; St. Luke, 76; St. Paul, 100; all others (of which St. John, 99), 143. It is therefore a comparatively rare word in Hebrews. The adjective πιστός, which ought perhaps hardly to be considered in this connection, is used proportionately, in Hebrews, 58 times; St. Luke, 6; St. Paul, 61; all others, 23. Πείθω somewhat associates the three writers together, although most frequent in Hebrews, occurring proportionately, in Hebrews, 58 times; St. Luke, 33; St. Paul, 43; all others, 6. Συνειδέω and συνείδησις are used proportionately: Hebrews, 58; St. Luke, 8 (all in Acts); St. Paul, 37 (but συνειδέω only once); all others, 4. The word σωτήρ, though used by St. Luke four times, St. Paul 12, and by others eight times, never occurs in Hebrews; but this is not remarkable, as it is not found in the much larger books of Matthew, Mark, and Revelation; moreover, it should be taken in connection with σωτηρία and σωτήριον, which also do not occur in the first two Gospels, but are found in Hebrews 7 times, St. Luke 13, St. Paul 19, and all others 9 times. This would give them a relatively greater frequency in Hebrews; but they are also common words in St. Luke and St. Paul. The word ψυχή, while a little more common relatively in Hebrews, is yet frequent enough in St. Luke and other writers, though not a favorite with St. Paul. Proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 69; St. Luke, 57; St. Paul, 29; all others, 54.
This leads to the third class of words—those which, embodying certain sets of ideas, are characteristic of Hebrews in distinction from other writers, especially St. Luke and St. Paul. One of these is the idea of witness, expressed by μάρτυρ, μάρτυς, μαρτυρία, μαρτύριον, μαρτυρέω, and μαρτύρομαι. This group of words is especially common in Hebrews, and much less frequent in St. Luke and St. Paul. It is also very common in St. John. The proportionate numbers are: Hebrews, 127; St. Luke, 45; St. Paul, 50; all others (of which St. John, 80), 96. The word τάξις is so naturally called for in the argument of Hebrews that there is nothing remarkable in its occurring there seven times, while in all the rest of the New Testament it is found but three times (St. Paul twice, St. Luke once). The perfection and finality of Christian truth as set forth in this epistle comes out in the frequency of the use of these words as clearly as in its general scope; it is difficult to suppose that the Epistle to the Galatians, e.g., which does not contain any of these words, could have been written by the same author.
But by far the most important word in this connection is ἱ ερεύς, with its various derivatives, ἀ ρχιερεύς, ἱ ερατεία, ἱ εράτευμα, and ἀ ρχιερατικός. The last two of these are of little importance, as ἱ εράτευμα occurs only twice, in St. Peter, and ἀ ρχιερατικός only once, in Acts; also ἱ ερατεία occurs only once each in St. Luke and Hebrews, and nowhere else. Altogether, ἱ ερεύς and its compounds and derivatives occur 159 times, but are never once used by St. Paul. The actual numbers are, for ἱ ερεύς : Hebrews, 14 times; St. Luke, 9; St. Paul, ; all others, 9; for ἀ ρχιερεύς, Hebrews, 17; St. Luke, 37; St. Paul, ; the other Gospels, 68, but never elsewhere. This is a remarkable fact. In view of St. Paul’s arguments in the epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians, and in view of the frequency and emphasis with which he insists in all his Epistles, upon the sacrificial character of Christ’s death, it seems to show that his mind was so absorbed in dwelling upon the value and power of the sacrifice that he was not in the habit of thinking or speaking of Christ as also Himself the Sacrificer. Redemption came to his thought through the medium of the Victim by whom it was obtained, but not through that of the Priest who offered the Victim. This is the more striking from the fact that he often speaks of Christ as giving Himself, offering Himself, and the like; but always for the purpose of bringing out the voluntariness and the love of the act, and never with any allusion to its priestly character. The line of reasoning in the Epistle to the Hebrews was thus quite foreign to the habitual thought of St. Paul. Such similarity of language to his acknowledged writings as exists must be accounted for in some other way.