A brief note on Hebrews 13.11-13 (camp and gate).

[Ben C. Smith]

But what would be that camp in the early first century?

Hebrews 13.11-13:

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Accordingly, let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.

If we assume both (A) that suffering outside the camp equals death (the shedding of blood) in this passage and (B) that the author of Hebrews has inherited the idea (whether historical or mythical) that Jesus was crucified (that is, the author is not the ultimate source of the notion of the crucifixion), I see two options:

1. The author knew of a tradition that Jesus was crucified outside of a city or town, so s/he decided to force a parallel between the carcasses of sacrificial animals being burned and Jesus being crucified.
2. The author knew that crucifixions in general most often take place outside of cities or towns, so s/he decided to force a parallel between the carcasses of sacrificial animals being burned and Jesus being crucified.

(I would, incidentally, be interested in seeing a full interpretation of the text that does not make those assumptions, just to see what it would look like.)

Ben.

[Tenorikuma]

Jerusalem is often symbolic for the "Jerusalem above" as someone (Justin?) calls it. One of the heavenly realms.

So for Jesus to be crucified outside the gate of the true Jerusalem may simply mean that he had to die outside the heavenly realm where the true temple is in order to recapitulate the Red Heifer sacrifice. And to exist in our lower earthly realm, he had to take on human form. But he had to do it in secret, as is attested by Paul and Ignatius and others, so the devil (the Prince of the Air, which is the lowest realm) wouldn't know.

And so, as Ignatius plainly says, Jesus came into the world secretly and died secretly (Letter to the Ephesians 19), thus defeating wickedness (Ignatius) and the devil (Hebrews), after which he shone as a star in the sky (the ascension?) to manifest his accomplishment to the world.

The real challenge is equating any of this early Christian mythology with a historical event.

[Blood]

Here are Harold Attridge's remarks on these verses (w/footnotes) in case anyone's interested.

13:11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.(NRSV)

The verse describes the tabernacle ritual with which the sacrifice of Christ will be compared. The description consists of a generalizing paraphrase of Lev 16:27 ("The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire."), part of the ritual of Yom Kippur. Instead of specifying the calf and the goat sacrificed on that day, Hebrews simply refers to “animals” (ζῴων).96 Their “blood” (αἷμα), an offering “for sin” (περὶ ἁμαρτίας),97 is brought (εἰσφέρεται)98 by the high priest into the “sanctuary” (τὰ ἅγια), the term regularly used in Hebrews for the inner portion of the tabernacle.99 While other sin offerings were treated similarly,100 these details indicate clearly the primary referent.

The fact that the bodies (σωμάτων)101 of these animals (τούτων)102 are “burnt” (κατακαίεται)103 explains why they cannot be eaten. There may be some hint that the body of Christ is similarly destroyed in his sacrifice, and hence unavailable for consumption, but neither point is made explicitly.104 The detail in the ancient ritual in which our author finds special significance is that the incineration takes place “outside the camp” (ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς).105 What becomes important for the paraenetic application of the imagery from the Old Testament is not what happens to the sacrificial victims, but the situation or circumstances in which a key action takes place.

96 The noun is used only here in Hebrews, and only here in the NT for sacrificial animals.
97 Both the calf and the goat are described in Lev 16:27* as “a sin offering” (τὸν περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας). For this technical expression for a guilt offering, cf. 1:3* and 5:3*.
98 Lev 16:27*: εἰσηνέχθη. The verb is used only here in Hebrews.
99 Lev 16:27*: ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ. In Hebrews, cf. 9:2–3*, 8*, 12*, 25*.
100 Cf. Lev 4:11*, 21*; 9:11*; Exod 29:14*.
101 Lev 16:27* specifies more precisely the skins (δέρματα), meats (κρέα), and offal (κόπρον).
102 The resumption of a relative with a demonstrative, cf. Rom 9:8*; Phil 4:9*; Gal 2:18*; 2 Tim 2:2*; Jas 1:25*.
103 Lev 16:27* uses the future active with indefinite subject: κατακαύσουσιν. The verb is used only here in the NT of holocausts.
104 Braun (p. 465) maintains that the verse suggests that neither Christians nor Christ has any resurrection body, but that exegesis is quite unwarranted.
105 Cf. Lev 16:27*: ἐξοίσουσιν αὐτὰ ἔξω τῆς παραεμβολῆς. For the phrase, cf. also Exod 29:14*; Lev 9:11*.



13:12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.


The application106 to Jesus indicates that his sacrifice had an aim similar but superior to that of the Old Testament prototype, and that significance is indicated in familiar categories. “Through his own blood” (διά τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος) contrasts with the “blood of animals” in the previous verse, much as it did in the central exposition.107 Likewise, that Christ might “sanctify” (ἁγιάσῃ) has frequently been declared to be the aim of his sacrifice.108 The reference to the “people” (λάον) may derive from the account of the Yom Kippur ritual in Leviticus,109 but the term has also figured as a designation for the new covenant community in Hebrews.110
The purpose clause thus anchors the reference to Christ’s death in the argument of the main body of the text. The central point111 of the current exposition appears in the remark that Christ “suffered” (ἔπαθεν)112 “outside the gate” (ἔξω τῆς πυλῆς).113 The final detail, which equates an event in the story of Jesus with a feature of the prototype in the Old Testament, is one of Hebrews’s rare allusions to traditions about the historical Jesus.114 Such a tradition is found in John 19:17–20*, where Jesus “went out” (ἐξῆλθεν) to Golgotha, a place “near the city” (ἐγγὺς ἦν ὁ τόπος τῆς πόλεως), and it may be involved in allegorical form in the Matthean and Lukan versions of the parable of the wicked husband-man.115

At this point the expository portion of the pericope closes. The affirmation that Christians have an “altar” has been restated as an affirmation about Christ’s sacrificial death. That, above all, is what Christians “have.” The typological argument that has led to this point has suggested numerous inferences that could be drawn from the character of Christ’s death and that could be relevant to the problem of strange teachings and foods, but Hebrews avoids any further polemical argument and moves instead to paraenesis.

106 For the introductory διό, cf. 3:7*; 10:5*.
107 Cf. 9:12*; 10:19*. Liturgical formulas may lie in the background. Cf. Eph 1:7*; Col 1:20*.
108 Cf. 2:11*; 9:13–14*; 10:10*, 14*, 29*. Cf. also Eph 5:26*.
109 Cf. Lev 16:24*; and Heb 5:3*; 9:7*, 19*, for the OT “people.”
110 Cf. 4:9*; 8:10*; 10:30*.
111 See Lührmann, “Hohepriester,” 178–86.
112 Cf. 2:18*; 5:8*; 9:26*.
113 The phrase appears in an unrelated context at Acts 16:13*.
114 Cf. 7:14*; and see Spicq 2.428; and Erich Grässer, “Der historische Jesus im Hebräerbrief,” ZNW 56 (1965) 82–88. For doubts, see Lührmann, “Hohepriester,” 179.
115 Cf. Matt 21:39*; Luke 20:15*, where the son is cast out before being slain. In Mark 12:8*, he is slain first. The detail is not found in what is probably the more original version of the parable in Gos. Thom. 65.

13:13 Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured.(NRSV)

The application, introduced with an unusual particle (τοίνυν),116 focuses on the detail that Christ suffered outside the gate. The appropriate exhortation to “go out” (ἐξερχώμεθα) recalls other appeals to movement in Hebrews. Yet the imagery has shifted. Where previous appeals had called for entry (4:11 "Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs."), in imitation of Christ who entered the true sanctuary,117 or for approach to the High Priest enthroned at God’s right hand,118 the present appeal is for movement in the opposite direction. Yet the goal of the movement is the same, “to him” (πρός αὐτόν). The shift in the direction of the requisite movement parallels the significant shift in the antitheses of the central exposition, where the essential element in the “heavenly” sacrifice resulted not from a passage through the planetary spheres or chambers of a heavenly temple, but with entry (εἰσερχόμενος) into the cosmos (10:5 "Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;"). So here, approach to Christ is seen to involve not entry into a special sacral sphere, but, in imitation of “faith’s inaugurator,” it involves movement “outside the camp” (ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς).119

The repetition of the key prepositional phrase in this paraenetic context invites a metaphorical reading. The suggested interpretations usually follow the analysis of the problem uncovered in vs. 9*. Thus the “camp” is frequently seen to be Judaism120 and the summons to go out understood as a call to leave behind the tempting security of the ancestral religion. This interpretation would be compatible with the understanding of “strange foods and teachings” of vs. 9* as Jewish or Jewish-Christian doctrines and practices. The most common alternative121 finds a parallel in Philo’s allegorical interpretations of biblical language about “going out” as extrication of the soul from the world of sense.122 Neither interpretation is convincing. If our author was aware of the sort of symbolism represented by Philo,123 he exploits it for quite different purposes. Neither is there anything specific about the camp that indicates that it symbolizes Jewish tradition. It is likely that the image of the camp is designed to be evocative rather than definitive. What it suggests is the realm of security and traditional holiness, however that is grounded or understood.

The significance of the call to go to Jesus “outside the camp” is finally indicated by the participial phrase “bearing his reproach” (τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτοῦ φέροντες). The character of the realm “outside” is its shamefulness, where carcasses were disposed and criminals were executed.124 The Christian addressees then are called upon to do what exemplars of faith such as Moses (11:26*) and Christ himself (12:2*) did. In this equivalent of the call to take up the cross,125 Hebrews suggests where it is that true participation in the Christian altar is to be found—in accepting the “reproach of Christ.”

116 Elsewhere in the NT, it is used only at Luke 20:25*; 1 Cor 9:26*. Cf. also 1 Clem. 15.1.
117 Cf. 6:19–20*; 9:12*, 24*.
118 Cf. 4:16*; 10:22*.
119 The tradition that the tabernacle was outside the camp (Exod 33:7–11*) is of marginal significance here. See Thurén, Lobopfer, 101.
120 For a review of the many commentators holding this opinion, see Schröger, “Gottesdienst,” 179; Anthony T. Hanson, “The Reproach of the Messiah in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” in Elizabeth A. Livingstone, ed., StEv VII (TU 126; Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1982) 231–40; and Loader, Sohn, 181.
121 See Windisch, p. 119; Schierse, Verheissung, 193; Theissen, Untersuchungen, 104; Filson, “Yesterday,”, 14; Braun, p. 467.
122 Cf. Leg. all. 2.54–55; 3.46; Det. pot. ins. 160; Ebr. 15, 95–100; Gig. 54; Rer. div. her. 68. Cf. also 2 Clem. 5.1.
123 The opposition of the two cities in the following verse might be taken as evidence of this.
124 Braun (p. 466) usefully notes Lev 24:14*, 23*; Num 15:35–36*; Deut 22:24*; 3 Kgdms 20(21):13*; Josephus Bell. 4.6.1 § 360; Ant. 4.7.24 § 264; b. San. 42b, and see Str.-B. 2.684.
125 Cf. Mark 8:34*; Matt 10:38*; Luke 14:26–27*; and see Spicq 2.428; and Thurén, Lobopfer, 91.

Attridge, H. W., & Koester, H. (1989). The Epistle to the Hebrews : A commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

[Blood]

The author of Hebrews appears to have studied the works of Philo, and has read Lev 16:27 in the LXX about suffering/dying outside the camp. There is no need to assume anything further.

[Blood]

But what would be that camp in the early first century?

Hebrews 13.11-13:

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Accordingly, let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.

If we assume both (A) that suffering outside the camp equals death (the shedding of blood) in this passage and (B) that the author of Hebrews has inherited the idea (whether historical or mythical) that Jesus was crucified (that is, the author is not the ultimate source of the notion of the crucifixion), I see two options:

1. The author knew of a tradition that Jesus was crucified outside of a city or town, so s/he decided to force a parallel between the carcasses of sacrificial animals being burned and Jesus being crucified.
2. The author knew that crucifixions in general most often take place outside of cities or towns, so s/he decided to force a parallel between the carcasses of sacrificial animals being burned and Jesus being crucified.

(I would, incidentally, be interested in seeing a full interpretation of the text that does not make those assumptions, just to see what it would look like.)

Ben.

Hebrews 10:5-7 quotes Psalm 39:7-9 LXX as a saying of Christ, substituting "body" for "ears."

The author has zero knowledge of an historical "Christ." His "Jesus" wrote the Psalms.

[Peter Kirby]

Thank you, Tenorikuma. I am continually amazed at the beautiful, stunning, and indeed genuinely surprising things you can see in the early Christian writings when you look at everything with fresh eyes and a willingness to consider adopting a different vantage point.

Jerusalem is often symbolic for the "Jerusalem above" as someone (Justin?) calls it.

That would be Galatians (and, in the New Testament, clearly also Revelation and Hebrews) -

Galatians 4:25-26
for Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother

As for Hebrews -

Hebrews 8:13, 11:16
"On the basis of Jeremiah’s prediction of the new covenant in which sins will be dealt with once and for all, the author asserts that the temple is ‘obsolete and growing old’, and ‘will soon disappear’ (8:13), rendering redundant the regular sacrificial system. Not surprisingly, then, he portrays the heroes of faith from the Old Testament as seeking ‘a better country, that is, a heavenly one’; ‘therefore’, he asserts, ‘God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them’ (11:16)." (N.T. Wright)

Hebrews 10:19-21
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, ...

Hebrews 12:18, 22
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, . . .But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.

Hebrews 13:7-19 (yes, apparently chiastic)

• (A) 7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.
• ... (B) For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. {avoid food sacrificed in earthly temples, which is of no benefit}
• ... ... (C) 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. {a heavenly altar}
• ... .... ... (D) 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. {but as they 'serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things' [Heb 8:5]...}
• ... ... ... (D') 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood {spilled as a sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary as high priest--see PS}, suffered outside the gate {humiliation, crucifixion, and burial below by spirits not recognizing Him?--per the Pauline myth}.
• ... ... (C') 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach {look towards arrival of the heavenly city, where Jesus suffered, by the power of his blood and his sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary; and suffering as he suffered while waiting, when reproached because we do not eat food sacrificed by recognized earthly temple priests}. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
• ... (B') 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. {perform spiritual sacrifices, not earthly ones}
• (A') 17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

(I have not yet written my planned article on Hebrews yet, so I am not offering to fight over it right now. I am currently involved in an article showing that the passage on John the Baptist in Josephus is authentic. By way of that, I am also tinkering a little with a general-purpose web-based Greek stylometric analysis engine.)

PS---- That said, everyone should read this very carefully. And if it doesn't strike you, waste no time: walk away from all this and never look back. But if it does, tread humbly in any attempt to "prove" that "there were no people in antiquity that put the sacrifice of a Christ in a heavenly place." Every time you think it would be a good idea to try to do that, read Hebrews 8-9 again (with as wide a context and deep an understanding as you can muster--the more, the better, in fact), and shudder at your own very human fallibility and arrogance.

Hebrews 8:1-5, 9:1,11-12,23-26
8 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things ... Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. ...

Hebrews 9:11-12,23-26
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ... 23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

[Stephan Huller]

The burnt offering might be related to the empty tomb (= reduced to nothing)

[Tenorikuma]

Thank you for doing the leg-work on those passages, Peter. That's a very nice presentation of how the theology hangs together. And it's parsimonious — we don't have to read much into it besides what's already there, hiding in plain sight.

It's amazing what the Gospel message becomes when you stop thinking about all that strange (to us) symbolism as theological window-dressing to jazz up a mundane story about a criminal getting executed, and instead ask what if it's the other way around.

[Tenorikuma]

Mark's theology fits in quite well, too — even though he's transposed the post-ascension reality into the life and ministry of Jesus. After all, Mark is just a parable. About parables. (Parable-ception)

Take the parable of the strong man. Jesus has invaded his house (Satan's kingdom) and bound him, so now the kingdom can be plundered — meaning that those enslaved to Satan and his minions can be freed. This forms the basis for Christian exorcism practices and presupposes that Jesus has already completed his death-conquering sacrifice; but it's concealed in the metaphor of Jesus himself conducting exorcisms.

At least, that's how I would interpret it. Maybe I'm way off.

[Bernard Muller]

24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.

That tells me that Christ enters God's heaven after he sacrificed himself below it.
And because of Christ being from the tribe of Judah (Heb 7:14 "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.", the place of the sacrifice has to be on earth.
More here on the same topic: http://historical-jesus.info/96.html
and http://historical-jesus.info/45.html
and http://historical-jesus.info/40.html

Cordially, Bernard