In search of the Hebrews 9,2 grail

Abstract

For some forty years the present writer has been engaged in an arduous (some would say quixotic) search for an interpretation of the Greek text of Heb 9,2 which would be consistent with its immediate and general context. Making the search all the more adventuresome was and is the conviction of said writer that such an interpretation would be related to the Eucharist.A major breakthrough, it would seem, took place when a footnote in a student's seminar paper led to the writer's discovery of the Jewish ceremony of the toda. This breakthrough led to a plausible interpretation of Heb 13,1-21 in terms of the Eucharist.This use of the toda to arrive at a plausible interpretation of Heb 13 seems to be confirmed by the usefulness of the toda in interpreting Heb 2,12 independently of Chapter 13.