The Ethos of God in Hebrews (original) (raw)

O ̀qeo.j lalh,saj evla,lhsen. God after speaking, spoke. The artfully crafted beginning of this letter confirms for us that at least these two things about the Epistle to the Hebrews are certain: it has much to say about God because God has much to say and it is concerned with the art of speaking.1 In the ancient world, the persuasive power of a speech faltered if it rested on logic alone. The speech also had to convince the audience of the reliable and amenable character of the speaker and work to move them in a certain direction. The author of Hebrews, as has been consistently recognized, was no stranger to the conventions of ancient rhetoric. Conseqently, Hebrews presents itself as an excellent specimen for a rhetorical study of its theology proper and does so in two ways. First, like other advocates in the Roman era, at times the author expounds upon the character of the one he represents, in this case, God. At other times, however, the