the epistolary closing of hebrews and pauline imitation 281
similar doxologies appear in 1 peter (4:11; 5:11), Jude (vv. 24–25), and rev-
elation (1:5–6; 5:13; 7:12). unlike these other doxologies, in hebrews, glory
is assigned to Jesus Christ and not to the father.61 This coheres well with
the high Christology found elsewhere in hebrews (1:2–4; 13:8)62 and, as
attridge points out, parallels later Christian doxologies more so than
pauline ones.63
The hortatory section in paul’s letter closings are noticeably less struc-
tured than other elements. however, weima notes, they often relate
directly to concerns addressed in the body of the letter.64 The best example
of this comes in 2 Cor 13:11 where paul includes a list of five imperatives—
χαίρετε, καταρτίζεσθε, παρακαλεῖσθε, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖτε, εἰρηνεύετε—relating
to exhortations found earlier in the epistle. The imperative mood is a fairly
consistent feature of these sections, as is the use of ἀδελφοί to address the
audience.65 at some places, this hortatory section comes before the peace
benediction (rom 16:17–19; phil 4:8–9a), although it often comes after
(gal 6:17; 1 Thess 5:25, 27). it should be pointed out that some examples
of the hortatory section contain comments on the epistle itself (1 Thess
5:27; phlm 20–22; 1 pet 5:12).
The brief hortatory section in heb 13:22 follows closely several of these
common elements in other letter closings found in the new Testament.66
like many of paul’s letters, heb 13:22 contains the nominative of address
ἀδελφοί along with an imperative. Comparatively, hebrews’ hortatory sec-
tion is rather brief and contains a general appeal to “bear with” the word of
exhortation. This reference to the letter itself, as we saw, is a common fea-
ture of these sections. however, its closest parallel is not with a letter from
paul but rather 1 pet 5:12 (ὀλίγων ἔγραψα παρακαλῶν καὶ ἐπιμαρτυρῶν). The
61 Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ is the nearest antecedent to the relative pronoun ᾧ; attridge, Hebrews,
408 n.43; spicq, L’Épitre aux Hébreux, 2:437. Contra bruce, Hebrews, 389; ellingworth, Epis-
tle to the Hebrews, 731; desilva, Perseverance in Gratitude, 513; who argue that ᾧ refers back
to “god,” the subject of vv. 20–21. it is possible that the doxology in 2 Tim 4:18 also ascribes
glory to Jesus Christ, although the author uses “the lord.”
62 on hebrews’ high Christology, see richard bauckham, “The divinity of Jesus Christ
in the epistle to the hebrews,” in bauckham et al. (eds.), The Epistle to the Hebrews and
Christian Theology (grand rapids: eerdmans, 2009), 15–36. bauckham, however, does not
treat heb 13:21 in his essay.
63 2 peter 3:18 and Mart. Pol. 22.3 (attridge, Hebrews, 408 n.44).
64 weima, Neglected Endings, 147–48.
65 weima, Neglected Endings, 145.
66 since some examples of hortatory sections come before the peace benediction, it
is possible that the string of exhortations in 13:1–19 could serve the purpose alongside (or
instead of ) 13:22. however, since 13:22 contains the distinctive ἀδελφοί and reference to the
letter itself, found in many other hortatory sections, we will focus solely on this verse.