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Sebastian Fuhrmann
It is not the participium itself that causes trouble, nor its syntactical or semantical dimensions: paragivnomai is often found in Biblical literature as referring to an appearance (7), not connoting any particular appreciation, and is thus simply referring to the arrival of the high priest at the heavenly sanctuary. The noun ajrciereuv" does not need further explication at this point either. But what does the genovmenoi ajgaqoiv refer to? 1. Context: The course of events First, it is presupposed that the adventus of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, according to Hebrews, coincides with his death on the cross, which is moreover identified with his self-sacrifice once and for all (8). This setting, however, requires that Christ’s appointment as high priest precedes this very priestly act, that is, only as the appointed high priest was Christ able to sacrifice. According to Heb 8,4 Christ had not been the priest while he was on earth. Therefore, his appointment has also to be located within this culmination of events at the cross. Finally, one has to take into consideration that Christ’s appointment was understood as (the result of) his perfection (9). The conditions of logic rather than those of chronology impose a course of events that place Christ’s appointment as high priest (his perfection) first, followed by his death on the cross (his self sacrifice) and culminating in the arrival at the heavenly sanctuary. The following overview of the relevant passages will provide some support for this assumption and lead us to an appropriate understanding of the meaning of the genomevnoi ajgaqoiv in Hebr 9,11. The motif of the appointment preceding the very priestly act has left its traces all over the book, for instance in Heb 2,9: blevpomen ∆Ihsou'n dia; to; pavqhma tou' qanavtou dovxh/ kai; timh'/ ejstefanwmevnon, o{pw" cavriti [cwri;"] qeou' uJpe;r panto;" geuvshtai qanavtou.
Here the preposition o{pw" has to be understood – because of the subjunctive geuvshtai – as marking a final clause, namely: that, or: in order (7) WEIß, Hebräer, 464, overinterprets in stating that the compositum itself indicates an “exceeding the earthly high priest’s ministry” (“Überbietung des irdischen Hohenpriestertums”), for in the LXX the appearance or the arrival of (high) priests is already verbalized by paragivnesqai (cf Lev 14,48; 1 Sam 22,11; 1 Ezra 5,54; cf in the NT: Acts 5,21) without a certain quality of the ministry being connoted (cf. 2 Kgs 10,21; Bel 1,15 where it is used for priests of Baal). For further examples see H. BRAUN, An die Hebräer (HNT 14; Tübingen 1984) 265. J.W. THOMPSON, “Hebrews 9 and Hellenistic Concepts of Sacrifice”, JBL 98 (1979) 567-578, 569, proposes to understand paragenovmeno" as “reminiscent of genovmeno" elsewhere in Hebrews… for the event of Christ’s exaltation and installation as high priest”. (8) See WEIß, Hebräer, 464. (9) Some research has been conducted with regards to the character and the use of the motif and concept of ‘perfection’; see, e.g., A.A. AHERN, “The Perfection Concept in the Epistle to the Hebrews”. JBR 14 (1956) 164-167; P.J. DUPLESSIS, TELEIOS. The Idea of Perfection in the New Testament (Kampen 1959) esp. 206-232 and D. PETERSON, Hebrews and Perfection. An Examination of the Concept of Perfection in the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’ (SNTSMS 47; Cambridge et al. 1982). As far as I can see, no-one has ever directly linked Heb 9,11a to the motif of perfection.