James Swetnam 106 middle third (pavnta de; gumna; kai; tetrachlismevna toi`~ ojfqalmoi`~ auj- tou) is about a sacrifice, with the sacrificial victim stretched out with the ` neck ‘naked and laid bare’ 26 and exposed to the knife. It alludes to Christ as victim and implicitly serves as an introduction to the final third of the verse which speaks of Christ as lovgo~. He is acting as priestly intercessor as the result of his sacrifice of self. This two-fold use of mavcaira is alluded to by the word divstomo~ (‘two-edged’): the mavcaira has two functions: it serves for circumcision in v. 12 and for sacrifice in v. 13. And, like the knife, the verses speaking of these two functions look in opposite directions. 4) The language becomes consistent. Taking the expression oJ lovgo~ as referring to Jesus as high priestly intercessor explains why the word ou\n is used at v. 14; v. 13, with its portrayal of the lovgo~ as intercessor pro;~ ton qeovn, has given the occasion to refer to Jesus as high priest in the ; verse immediately following. The underlying supposition of Jesus as inter- cessor contained in the phrase pro;~ to;n qeovn is confirmed by the men- tion of Jesus’ intercessory role in 4,16 27. Further, the word zw`n assumes a usage consonant with Heb 7,25 and 10,20 28. 26 Cf. Ellingworth, Hebrews, 264-265. There is a Jewish tradition, reflected in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and the Targum Neofiti on Genesis, that Isaac in v. 10 of both targums ‘stretches out his neck’ (hyrvvi eyep in Pseudo-Jonathan, hyravi eyep in Neofiti) after freely offering himself in sacrifice. Cf. M. Maher, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible [The Targums] 1B; Edinburgh 1992), 8, and M. McNamara, Targum Neofiti 1: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible [The Targums] 1A; Edinburgh 1992), 118. For the text cf.: E. G. Clarke, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of the Pentateuch: Text and Concordance (Hoboken 1984), 24 (for Pseudo-Jonathan) and A. Díaz Macho, Neophyti 1. Targum palestinense ms de la Biblioteca Vaticana. Tomo 1. Genesis (Madrid–Barcelona 1968), 127 (for Neofiti). This is not to suggest, of course, that these two targums date in their present form from the same period as Hebrews. But the fact that there was a tradition, even at a later date, about Isaac ‘stretching forth his neck’ at the moment of his sacrifice in Genesis, is striking, given the other allusions in Hebrews to this sacrifice, not to mention the explic- it reference to it at Heb 11,17. Cf. the views of P. S. Alexander, «Targum, Targumim», ABD, 6 (D. N. Freedman [ed.]; NewYork–London–Toronto–Syndey-Auckland 1992), 323: «There are no good grounds for dating anything in Neof. later than the 3rd/4th cent. C.E.»; «. . . Ps.-J. can be seen as the ultimate stage in the evolution of the PT, which in its latest strata betrays the influence of early medieval midrash». 27 For the present writer 4,15-16 are key elements for the understanding of the word logo~ in 4,13. For vv. 15-16 show in what sense Jesus as high priest is to be understood v in the context of v. 14, and v. 14 shows, by reason of the inferential particle ou\n, in what sense the phrase pro;~ to;n qeovn is to be understood. 28 The interpretation advanced here that the lovgo~ of Heb 4,12-13 is a designation of Jesus does not mean that the same word does not have a connection in Hebrews with Scripture. At Heb 2,2 the word lovgo~ refers to the Law, and at Heb 4,2 it seems to allude to the ‘word’ of Scripture in the citation Shvmeron eja;n th`~ fwnh`~ aujtou` ajkouvshte from Ps 95,7 at Heb 3,7. (Cf.: Attridge, Hebrews, 125; Ellingworth, Hebrews, 242). Thus when lovgo~ is used to refer to Christ himself at Heb 4,12-13 it there serves as a prime analogate with reference to God’s communications past and present. These communications are alluded to at the very beginning of the epistle (1,1-2) and referred to constantly in the course of the work. (The fact that at Heb 2,2 the author of Hebrews uses the word lovgo~ to refer to the Law [which in Hebrews is understood as the Book