WESTCOTT ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.* FOR many years
Canon Westcott has been recognised as one of the most profound theologians, and one of the most thorough scholars, of those who speak our mother-tongue. His is one of the best and finest types of English scholarship. Exact and accurate in his methods, a skilled grammarian, and of wide and extensive learning, he has also that tinge of mysticism, that sympathy with the ultimate mystery of things, without which a man tends to become commonplace. The extent of his work is great, and its high character is remarkable. It is not too much to say that by his labours on the Canon, on textual criticism, and on the various problems raised by the New Testament, he has given a great impulse and a more scientific character to the study of the New Testament in our country. Master of all German learning in this department, he has not allowed it to master him. He has continued to maintain the English practical sense and sobriety of thought, and the English judgment of what is likely.
He has also given proof of his capacity as an interpreter and expositor of Scripture. His Commentaries on the Gospel and the Epistles of St. John have already taken their place among the works which every student of these books must use. Their value is recognised everywhere. They are indispensable. But their worth lies not only in the results he has ascertained and set forth with vigour and clearness, but even more con- spicuously in the statement of problems which yet await solu- tion. With the caution inspired by thorough knowledge both of the nature of the problems and of what has been done by others towards their solution, Canon Westcott is sometimes doubtful where others have been sure, and in many cases points out the lines on which future research may most hopefully be attempted. These Commentaries are . thus landmarks in the history of exegesis. As regards the present work, we have found it of great value both for the proper understanding of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and for New Testament exegesis in general. Work done on any one book of the New Testament casts light on all the others. Thorough scientific exegesis of such a book as the Epistle to the Hebrews, especially in the hands of such a man as Canon Westoott, helps us to a better acquaintance with the nature and peculiarities of New Testament Greek, with the historical characteristics of the period of transition from Judaism and Paganism to Christianity, and with the peculiar features of the great creative period of Christianity. Other general statements might be made, but must not be written here, as there is so much with regard to the special book in hand which demands notice.
In any work on a book of the New Testament proceeding from the pen of Canon Westcott, we expect a thorough dis- cussion of the text. He is one of the recognised masters in this department of learning. We know what his principles of textual criticism are, and we have here an opportunity of seeing them applied to the solution of practical problems connected • The Epistle to the Hebrews: the Greek Text, with Notes and Essays. By Brook Foal Westcott, D.D , D.C.L. with the text. It is instructive to notice the instances in which no solution can be reached. The text seems to be corrupt, and the existing materials do not furnish the means necessary for its restoration. The lists of readings from the chief manuscripts are of interest in themselves, and in the light they cast on their character. We have also a useful and instructive account of the Latin versions of the Epistle, and a hint in that these have to be studied with more care than has yet been bestowed on them. On the whole, the conclusion is that the text has been fairly preserved, and that the insoluble problems do not materially affect the meaning and interpreta- tion of the Epistle.
Every student knows that the literary and historical ques- tions connected with the Epistle are numerous, and very difficult to answer. Who was its author? In what language was it written ? When, and to whom was it written P—are questions which are not readily answered, and to some of them Canon Westcott gives only a negative answer. As to the authorship, it is wisely said :—" We are left then with a negative conclusion. The Epistle cannot be the work of St. Paul, and still less the work of Clement. It may have been written by St. Luke. It may have been written by Barnabas if the 'Epistle of Barnabas' is apocryphal. The scanty evidence which is accessible to us supports no more definite judgment.'
This conclusion will command the assent of all whose judgment is ruled by evidence. On other points, the judgment of Canon Westcott is, that it was written to a congregation of Jewish Christians in the neighbourhoed of Jerusalem, or in Jerusalem itself; that its date is" in the critical interval between A.D. 64, the government of Gessius Florus, and 67, the commence- ment of the Jewish war, and more probably just before the breaking of the storm in the latter year." It was written in Greek :—" The style of the Book is characteristically Hellenistic, perhaps we may say, as far as our scanty evidence goes, Alexandrine ; but the teaching itself is, like that of St. John, characteristically Palestinian." We call attention to the comparison between "the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of Barnabas," as a piece of work which exhibits all the best qualities of Canon Westcott as a thinker and expositor. We give the conclusion of this remarkable comparison :— "We have in Hebrews i., 1-4, a view of the unfolding and in- folding of the divine counsel in creation of infinite fullness. The end is there seen to be the true consummation of the beginning. We discern that one message is conveyed by the different modes of God's communication to His people; that one voice speaks through many envoys ; that at last the spoken word is gathered up and fulfilled in the present Son. We have not yet mastered all the teaching of the pregnant words ; yet even now we can perceive how the thoughts which they convey characterise the whole Epistle ; how they rose naturally out of the circumstances of the early Church ; and by comparison with the Epistle of Barnabas„ bow far they transcended the common judgment of the time. Under this aspect the Epistle to the Hebrews, by its composition and its history, throws light upon the ideas of Inspiration and a. Canon of Scripture. On the one side we see how the Spirit of God uses special powers, tendencies, and conditions, things persona/ and things social, for the expression of a particular aspect of the- Truth ; and on the other side we see how the enlightened con- sciousness of the Church was in due time led to recognise that teaching as authoritative which was at first least in harmony with prevailing forms of thought."
The detailed exegesis of the Epistle is conducted with all the grammatical accuracy, with all the command of the resources which a wide learning gives to Canon Westcott, and with that deep insight into ethical, spiritual, and historical truth charac- teristic of the author. Sometimes we are inclined to think that the work is overdone, and that more stress is laid on gram- matical minutim than they can well bear. Canon Westcott, in his long study and minute scrutiny of the Epistle, sometimes seems to attach undue importance to small peculiarities, and to make out distinctions and differences where they are not manifest in the argument of the Epistle. We have an analysis of the whole Epistle, an analysis of each section of it,. an analysis of each paragraph, and an analysis of each verse. If there is any fault to find with the work, it is this fault of over-elaboration. But we are not disposed to find fault with the anxiety to make the meaning of the Epistle clear, which has been the source of this redundancy of work. We do not mean to dwell on the exegesis. We are attracted by the worth and merits of the "additional notes" into which the learning of Canon Westcott overflows, and which are of the very highest value. These notes are of various kinds,—some deal with critical, some with historical, and some with theological questions. They indicate the conclusions to which
science has come; they point out where research may profit- ably be directed, and where and on what lines further investiga- tion must be made. We have notes on man's destiny and position, on the origin and constitution of man, on sin, on conscience, on the priesthood of Christ, and on many other interesting and important topics.
Two of these notes stand out with great prominence, both in the importance of their subjects and the thoroughness of their treatment of them. The one is on "The Pre-Christian Priesthood," and the other is on "The Pre-Christian Idea of Sacrifice." These are topics of permanent interest, and in our own days occupy a place of the greatest importance in all dis- cussions of the origin, nature, and growth of religion. They bulk largely in the writings of such men as Dr. Tylor and Mr. Herbert Spencer, and in all works on the philosophy of religion, and we are glad to have the views of Canon Westcott on them. We hope he may return to these subjects, and give us a treatise on them worthy of himself, and suited to the time. The note on the Priesthood needs only to be expanded, and its outline filled up, in order to be one of the most im- portant contributions in our language to the true understanding of that great subject. In the brief description of what is involved in the idea of Priesthood, and in the classification of the types of natural priesthood, we have already in germ such a work as is needed.
The note on "The Pre-Christian Idea of Sacrifice" we have read with the most intense interest. The present writer has recently been occupied with the study of the theory of sacrifice set forth by Professor Robertson Smith in his recent work, and he was struck both with the resemblance and the difference between the views of these two eminent men. Professor Smith traces the origin of sacrifice to the feast which gods and men held with each other,—sacrifice began in this common meal. Canon Westcott's view seems to be somewhat similar, as appears from the following :—
" Sacrifice, in fact, in the most general form, belongs to the life of man, and in the truest sense, expresses the life of man. It is essentially the response of love to love, of the son to the Father, the rendering to God in grateful use of that which has been received from Him. Language cannot offer a more impressive example of moral degeneration in words, than the popular connection of thoughts of loss and suffering with that which is a divine service."
Canon Westcott does not write out in systematic form his view of sacrifice, but he gives us what he calls the "natural conceptions," and points out what are the general ideas of the materials, the modes, the effect of sacrifice, with references to the literature which illustrates each topic. He summarises also the Biblical teaching on sacrifice. The significance of this note is great. Taken along with scientific investigation into the nature and kind of sacrifice as practised among all races of people, we seem to be drawing near to a conclusion which must exert a great influence on our theological thinking and may compel theologians to put many received opinions to the test. Scattered throughout this volume are many hints which may prove to have a revolutionary tendency. And this hint about sacrifice may be one of them.
We must say one word of commendation with regard to the concluding essay, "On the Use of the Old Testament in the Epistle." Dr. Westcott first inquires into the range of the quotations—that is, from what books they are taken—then how they are cited, and their text, and then he proceeds to inquire into the principles on which they are interpreted by the author of the Epistle. It will be seen that this work is worthy of the author, will add to his great reputation, and is altogether a production which reflects honour on English scholarship and on English theology.
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