The Epistle to the Hebrews (New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT)) Hardcover – April 12, 2012

This exposition is premised on two themes. (1) The ultimate self-revelation of God's word in the Son was anticipated in the OT; the final word in the Son was a fulfilment of all that God has said before under the rubric of the prophets. (2) The promise of the Gospel is obtained through Christ by a pilgrimage to the heavenly "city", for those who hear, embrace and persevere in the word of God.Hebrews is presented as a pastoral sermon. The message assumes the validity of OT passages. God has spoken in Psalms and other OT passages. Moses bears witness to things that would be spoken. The finality of Christ is shown by how Christ fulfils God's covenant in the Pentateuch. Through His word in the Son, God invites his people into a life based on the certainty of His promise of future salvation.Gareth Cockerill's prose mirrors the powerful rhetoric of Hebrews. There is a certain hymnic quality about it, his twin themes pounding like a Gregorian chant. Cockerill's exposition shifts in three movements from the all sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, through freedom from a broken old covenant, to the sanctuary of the new and better covenant.I cannot pare down a single superfluous clause or word anywhere; it is a very crisp and intense read. A highlighter is superfluous, unless you are hunting for the many gems in the exegetical footnotes and helpful remarks in smaller print pacing the text, which reads like a parallel book explaining exhaustive secondary literature. Consider the whole commentary underlined, unless you are colour coding your own themes.Cockerill's focus on his two main themes and tight structure leaves no room for familiar troublesome controversies, for which one has to fall back on other works. No Calvin versus Arminian debate etc. This is a new work, but hardly a "new edition" and it would be wrong to call this a "replacement edition". FF Bruce's 1988 NICNT should be considered Volume 1 and Cockerill's 2012 Hebrews Volume 2 because there is virtually no repetition of material, as hard as this is to achieve. At double the size of 1988 Bruce, Gareth's Volume 2 also shrinks basics covered by Bruce, which frees ample space for post-1988 academic works and more discussion.Harold Attridge, Hermeneia 1989 and Paul Ellingworth, NIGTC 1993 are indispensable technical works; the list of 154 unique Greek words is set out in full in NIGTC. Peter O'Brien, Pillar 2010 has a devotional flavour. Luke Timothy Johnson, New Testament Library 2006 is a fascinating read, and its compressed print contains more material per page than the well-spaced and larger print of 2012 NICNT. LT Johnson's NTL has a fairly different slant, e.g. OT passages being considered metaphors in Hebrews. It is no surprise that Johnson is rarely quoted in 2012 NICNT, but cited with approval in "moral purity in the Son is in his obedience to his father". Moffatt's 1924 ICC reads quirky nowadays, but he might eventually be proven right.Most expositions, like Word, IVP, NIVAC,etc follow the Melchisedec overture until its crescendo at Hebrews 11:1, but the two books with distinctive views are LT Johnson's and Gareth's on the same book of Hebrews. I knocked my brains out with 2006 LT Johnson's Catholic angle, only to have an encore opposite knocking from Gareth's Southern Protestant perspective, the concussions resulting in "Synoptic Headache with double vision". Koester is arguably more conventional.Gareth Cockerill did his dissertation and doctoral thesis on Hebrews 7 (the chapter heavy on Melchisedec). I initially thought he was a young theologian in academic purgatory, but his photo (Eerdmans blog) looks like a cantankerous grandpa who will put you down with a cynical observation. Gordon Fee says in his preface that this is his last editorial effort; frankly revealing he has incipient Alzheimer's. Incidentally, Fee's 2007 "Pauline Christology", now in its third printing, does not discuss Hebrews. An interviewer asked Gareth about the authorship of Hebrews, and he says Hebrews is by a pastor familiar with Paul's works, but deftly adds that most scholarship excludes Paul as the author. Gareth's 2012 Hebrews notes Eta Linnemann's recent attempt to revive Pauline authorship. Eta writes incisively and sensibly, so I am with Eta on Paul. She said elsewhere (Is there a Synoptic Problem?) that a massive collection of scholarly opinions does not make a position more valid.No digest of Spicq's work - relevant Spicq appears in footnotes. Almost nil on Shepherd of Hermas or Ignatius of Antioch. Jeremiah 31:31 not belaboured. No Holocaust theory. Warning passages not over-emphasized and worked subtly into text. Weak on 11Q13 (11QMelchizedek). No scalometric links to Petrine authorship or Silvanus of 1 Peter. Index at the end is skeletal and perfunctory, wisely leaving Biblical word order to point to corresponding text. There is a full discussion of extant Codices, Chester Beatty II p46, other papyri, but curiously omitting Codex Vaticanus B03 having Galatians ending on Chapter 58, and Hebrews beginning as Chapter 59 in B03. The Galatians-Hebrews nexus has mind-boggling implications, if explored.2012 NICNT gives explicit critiques of the Suffering Son and the Mercy Seat. Esau is given a lengthy treatment not found elsewhere. Every reader will find sweet spots in this text. I lost a few weekends on the web looking for a proper exposition of 4QDeut32 (4Q44) until the arrival of this book. 2012 NICNT shows the superiority of the traditional book. I was happy to find an authoritative multi-page discussion of 4QDeut32, covering, inter alia, the MT, other Hebrew text and LXX translations. There are a large number of Hebrew passages and references. The Hebrew typeface in this volume of the New Testament is bold and very clear, with the letter "shin" especially well rendered.Clearly, 2012 NICNT should not be used as a beginner's guide to Hebrews. Nothing in FF Bruce's 1988 Hebrews "Volume 1" is dated. Bruce's enduring relevance is preserved as a cheaper paperback edition, like John Murray's 1965 NICNT pre-Douglas Moo Romans surfacing as a current paperback reprint. As far as commentaries go, 2012 NICNT Hebrews is a bargain at below 5 cents per page of high quality paper. Even cheaper logistically than a "free" download. It is exquisitely bound and printed in the USA. The cover board hinges are tougher and more robust than previous NICNT volumes. The sewn-down binding merits the cost.Justification for this new NICNT volume is surely by faithful works of the author. Gordon Fee says it best: The reader will quickly recognize that the author is well acquainted with the secondary literature on this great biblical book. He has brought his own deep love for Hebrews...this love shines throughout these pages. I am glad to be able to commend it to one and all.Gordon Fee manifestly understated his recommendation.

I was looking forward to this commentary. I appreciated the in-depth look at Hebrews. The author is definitely well acquainted with the subject and does a fine job in sharing his excitement of the material. This book of the Bible is one that we do not focus enough on in our churches today. Cockerill does his best when showing how the author uses the OT to explain the need for Christ, and the need for the people of that day to persevere in the face of the pressures upon them to renounce their faith, or to go on to accept the "faith" of the culture around them. He excels in bringing the OT system of Law, Tabernacle, Priest, and Sacrifice to life, thus showing how Jesus Christ became our high priest, wrote the law on our hearts, became our ultimate sacrifice, ushering us into the true tabernacle of God, through the veil of His own body.My problem with Cockerill is mostly one of style. I have felt that he is a cheerleader for the author of Hebrews, rather than a scholar who is educating his readers. Foe example, on Hebrew 13:18-25, he states that these are not typical closing remarks (though they appear to be so) but are actually "carefully crafted" and "integral" to the rest of the letter. Even the question of what the word "for", or "therefore", even an "and" means in the context becomes a matter of joy and exclamation, with Cockerill asserting that the author is being quite brilliant with their usage and placement. Over time this becomes a problem. One wearies of the breathtaking announcement of each word usage, and word placement given page by page.One of the greatest criticisms I have had, not only of this volume but of the series, (I have read 2 others so far, John and Romans), is that they focus more on proving a certain belief, i.e., that each author of each book wrote independently of each other, with only the Holy Spirit as guide and inspirer. Cockerill goes out of his way to insist that the author's work is unique, completely devoid of any other literary inspirations other than the Holy Spirit. An example is the list of men and women of faith found in the 11th chapter. Cockerill believes that while such lists may have been common during that time, we must assume that the author did not know of such lists, and that despite seeming similarities, those are coincidental at best. He uses this argument throughout his analysis, assuming that the author, as brilliant as he is, simply did not use conventions used by other non-canonical writers. Unfortunately, this assumption stretches the limits of credulity.One more brief comment: while I have enjoyed the literary insights, I would have liked to see more on the cultural/sociological/historical insights that Cockerill must have to offer after such intensive scholarship.

I am a seminarian. Please, keep me in your prayers!

One of the outstanding commentaries in the series .The author clearly has an outstanding theological grasp of the book and shows great enthusiasm for its teaching.Rarely have I seen combined such great scholarship and pastoral insights, which are woven together in a single ' heavy' commentary.One of the great things in reading this work is his openness to just let the text speak for itself.A lot of current commentaries are coming now from the reform Calvinist school and so they tend to focus in their writings with doctrinal sunglasses on. But rarely does this author feel the need to toe such a party line; he seems to much prefer to concentrate his time on what the author of Hebrews is emphasizing as important. Repeatedly then he draws our focus onto Jesus, as the great saviour of our faith .I do have two or three of the other major commentaries on Hebrews which are helpful; but this one defiantly is a work of excellence

This is a well written and compelling interpretation of Hebrews. I used it as a mainstay in a four-month study of Hebrews with some college men. Gareth writes clearly and compellingly. Even though the commentary contains full discussion of the scholarly literature and full engagement with the Greek text, it is easy to read and useful for pastoral purposes and for teaching from the epistle to the Hebrews. Warmly recommended!

The NICNT remains at the forefront of modern Christian commentaries, and is currently edited by Gordon Fee. This replacement for FF Bruce's legendary 1990 commentary in the same series is larger (742 pages vs. 426) and very scholarly, being suitable for a Masters student or a serious amateur. This is also Fee's last outing as editor of the series.Cockerill places a lot of emphasis on Hebrews use of the Old Testament, and the reader will learn a lot about the sense of the book, its thrust and its nuances.Like most commentaries this is not really a book for reading in one go, but rather a lifelong reference. Whereas one can just look up a verse or a passage, it has to be said that a greater understanding is achieved by a thorough reading of the volume.Cockerill is not preaching in this volume, he is leading the reader by hand through a comprehensive exegesis with reference to all the best modern scholarship. You will feel able to disagree with Cockerill without having to close the book in shame, but this is a comprehensive work and to disagree too much is to approach the work with a closed mind.There is something here for every Christian believer and theology student, and along with Lane this shares the spot of best Hebrews commentary in my library.

Nearly finished reading cover to cover, good solid commentary , but not for the faint hearted reader. I love this series and have bought most of them , Gareth's is in more detail than Bruce's and twice the length . Bottom line is it has helped me to worship our amazing High priest more , so that's 4 stars from me !🌅

I like this book.