Tasting the Heavenly Gift in Hebrews: God and the Senses (7)
While I will return, as promised , to the full exposition of the sensuous language in the Gospel of Philip, I just came across this rather succinct note on the sensuous language in the Epistle to the Hebrews by Luke Timothy Johnson in his commentary on Hebrews: Readers quickly become aware of Hebrews' appeal to the senses of readers/auditors. The smell of sacrifices is only implied (13:16), touch appears by way of contrast (12:18, 20), and taste is metaphorical (6:5). But the author constantly appeals to the hearing of his listeners (2:1; 3:7; 4:7; 5:11; 12:19). Most of all, the sense of sight is invoked, as the readers are asked to "behold," "consider," and "see" what the author seeks to convey (2:9; 3:1; 7:4; 12:3; 12:21). Using oral discourse to portray visual scenes (in "word-pictures") is a common rhetorical technique ( ekphrasis ), and Hebrews uses it effectively, especially in 9:1-5 and 12:18-24. (8-9) I had been slowly compil...