j Ex eJnov" in Hebrews 2,11 521 consecration is pressed into service by the author of Hebrews to indicate a specifically New Testament reality. Just what the function of this heavenly high priest is will be indicated in Heb 2,12. 4. A Proposed Solution to the Meaning of ejx eJnov" This is the immediate antecedent context of ejx eJnov" in Heb 2,11. In this context the precise wording of Heb 2,11 is instructive. “For both the one sanctifying (aJgiavzwn) and the ones being sanctified (aJgiazovmenoi) are all from one (ejx eJnov"); for this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers”. The illative particle “for” (gavr) seems to refer to the phrase “through sufferings” (dia; paqhmavtwn) in v. 10. The idea of the “perfecting” seems to be a given, the point being made that this perfecting had to be done through sufferings, i.e., death. The reason for this interpretation lies in the use of “it was fitting” combined with the presence of “on account of whom and for the sake of whom everything happens” and “in leading many sons to glory”. God is all-powerful and the goal for all human existence; he could have dispensed Jesus from death to achieve Jesus’ personal goal of entering into honor and glory, i.e., God’s own world of existence, for Jesus was personally without sin (Heb 7,26). But because the son involved the sons and their goals of entering into honor and glory, God had Jesus suffer death because they had to suffer death, given that death had entered their world through sin. Jesus’ role as “originator of their [i.e., the sons’] salvation” makes it fitting that the son endure what the sons have to endure to achieve their goals, i.e., death. It is on this precise point that the phrase ejx eJnov" seems to bear: both the son and the sons are “from one”. It would seem at first sight that the “one” refers to the physical body of both son and sons which permits them to die. But that is not what 2,13b-18 says. The quality which Jesus is taking in hand of the children which God has given him is their quality as members of Abraham’s seed. It is their faith-trust which links Jesus and the “children”. The fact that the children have mortal bodies is simply the basis for the exercise of this faith-trust. This emerges from the wording of 2,18: the high priest Jesus is able to help the children because he was “tested” and having passed the test, is trustworthy and thus able to help the sons pass their test. The phrase ejx eJnov" is about faith-trust. But not just the faith-trust which constituted a spiritual child of Abraham before the coming of Jesus, but the faith-trust which constitutes a spiritual child after the perfecting of Jesus. The phrase “from one” in Heb 2,11, implies that to the faith-trust of the children of Abraham which they enjoyed before the coming of Jesus must now be added the faith-trust of Jesus which they enjoy after the perfecting of Jesus. The “one” referred to in Heb 2,11 is the “seed” of Abraham but under a new formality. This spiritual seed remains the seed of Abraham, but it is now constituted not only by the faith-trust of Abraham, but by faith-trust in the risen Jesus as well. Hence the choice of the numeral “one”: it designate the unity of the two faith-trusts which results. This “Christian seed” of Abraham is composed of two realities which form a new functional unity, the faith-trust of Abraham and the faith-trust of Christ. This Christian seed of two faith-trusts is the basis for the “sanctifying” which Jesus is engaged in. In his glorified state Christ is in a position to