Jesus’ Coming to the Deceased Faithful: An Alternative to a Parousia Reading of Hebrews 9:28 and 10:37 By: Matthew Easter INTRODUCTION At first glance, Hebrews 9:28 and 10:37 appear to be texts representing the early church’s expectation of Jesus’ second coming to Earth. The texts are on your handout. In 9:28, the author of Hebrews expects Jesus to “appear a second time”: “So Christ, having once been offered to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time without reference to sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting him.” In Hebrews 10:37-38, the author of Hebrews quotes Habakkuk 2:3-4 (with some alterations): “For yet a very little while, the coming one will come and will not delay. And my righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” There is little doubt that o` ev rco, menoj (the coming one) in 10:37 is a reference to the Messiah, 1 as it is in other Jewish 2 and early Christian 3 traditions. Furthermore, the text of Hab 2:3 in Hebrews also includes the article with evrco,menoj (which is absent in most LXX versions), suggesting that a specific person is in view. 4 Jesus, therefore, is o` ev rco, menoj. 1 See also Heliso, who suggests that o` ev rco, menoj as Christ is “beyond dispute” (Desta Heliso, Pistis and the Righteous One, WUNT, vol. 2/238 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007).63). 2 For o` evrco, menoj as the Messiah in the LXX, see Ps 118:26 (applied to Jesus in Matthew 23:29 and Luke 19:38). 3 Within the NT, see Matt 3:11, 11:3, 21:9; Luke 7:19, 19:38; John 1:15, 1:27, 11:27; and Rev 1:4. 4 Interpreters widely agree on this point. See Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989).302; Herbert Braun, An Die Hebräer, Hnt, vol. 14 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1984).332; Douglas A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009).614; Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Nigtc (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993).554; Joseph A. Fitzmyer, To Advance the Gospel: New Testament Studies (New York: Crossroad, 1981). 243; Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, Studies in Paul's Technique and Theology (London: SPCK, 1974).45; William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, Wbc, vol. 47B (Dallas: Word, 1991).304; Gert J. Steyn, “A Quest for the Assumed Lxx Vorlage of the Explicit Quotations in Hebrews” (D.Litt. diss., Stellenbosch University, 2009). 320; Kenneth J. Thomas, "The Old Testament Citations in Hebrews," NTS 11, no. 4 (1965).316; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2001).348. Further, Attridge argues that the translators of the LXX probably took ev rco, menoj as personal, “since the masculine participle cannot modify what should be the subject of h[xei, namely, the noun ‘vision’ (o[ rasij), which is feminine in Greek” (Attridge.302). Furthermore, the LXX translates the Hebrew wl hkx (“wait for it”) with u`po, meinon auvto, n (“wait for him”). The masculine pronoun in Hebrew (w) refers to !wzx, which the LXX renders as the feminine noun, o[ rasij, which cannot be the antecedent for auvto,n (ibid.302 n 70).