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Making Fear Personal: Hebrews 5.11—6.12 and the Argument from Shame

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 1100 E 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615 USA, pperry{at}lstc.edu

The author of Hebrews directly shames his audience in 5.11-12: ‘you have become o in hearing ... you need someone to teach you ... You need milk not solid food’. Taking into account occurrences in other literature, o in Heb. 5.11 and 6.12 is best translated as ‘unambitious’, connoting a shameful failure to recognize and act on advantages. Mapping the use of emotion in Hebrews with Aristotle’s definitions reveals that this direct shaming is unique and critical to the argument of the epistle. The hearers may dismiss warnings of God’s wrath as relevant to others but not themselves. Shame in 5.11—6.12 makes this fear personal.

Key Words: Aristotle • emotion • fear • Hebrews • rhetoric • shame

Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 32, No. 1, 99-125 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X09339645


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