106 JAMES SWETNAM Heb 2,15 is realized. With its statement that Jesus came in order to free from the fear of death all children of Abraham who lived in fear of death, Heb 2,15 is a claim without substantiation in conventional exegesis of the epistle. It is a claim seeking explanation. Heb 2,9 gives the explanation. II. A Re-reading of Heb 2,8b-14 The proposed solution to the crux at Heb 2,9 would seem to open the way for a re-reading of Heb 2,8b-14. In the above analysis Heb 2,9 is the answer to Heb 2,15. It explains how the goal expressed in Heb 2,15 is realized. That is to say, there seems to be a correspondence between the two verses. Further, if one divides 2,8b-9 from what follows 14 and 2,13b-16 from what follows, one finds that each passage is centered on the death of Jesus: dia to pauhma toy ùù¥ ˜ uanatoy (2,9) and dia toy uanatoy (2,14). ¥ ù ˜ ¥ Other indications of a pattern within 2,8b-12 and 2,13b-18 seem to present themselves. Following the two sections 2,8b-9 / 2,13b-16 which center on what Jesus suffered — death — the two following sections center on what Jesus did. In 2,10-12 God is the subject of 2,10, but only in order to prepare Jesus for the action of 2,11, in which he “calls” those who share his faith-trust his “brothers”, an act which introduces the Christian tôdâ (2,12) 15 and in the Christian tôdâ he “announces” to these brothers the Christian name of God 16. Given these apparent patterns, what seems to suggest itself is that 2,8b-9 / 2,14-16 are about Jesus as victim, and 2,10-12 / 2,17-18 are about Jesus as priest. As earthly victim Jesus “through death” — his own death — annihilates the power of the devil and frees man from fear of death; as heavenly victim Jesus, as a result of his having suffered death as an earthly victim and then being crowned with honor and glory in the resurrection, can taste death for each and every person who trusts as he trusted and who as a result can experience his death and resurrection as he did 17. This is a commonly accepted division. Cf.: 27 N-A ; LANE, Hebrews 1–8, 14 52-53 (there is a connection between what precedes 2,10 and what follows, but a break is justified); H.W. ATTRIDGE, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia ; Philadelphia, PA 1989) 69 and 78. Cf. SWETNAM, “ÃEj enov in Hebrews 2,11”, 523. Ω¥ 15 Cf. SWETNAM, “o apostolov in Hebrews 3,1”, 256-261. Ωß ¥ 16 It is instructive to note that the word uanatov appears three times in 2,14- ¥ 17 16 but not at all in 2,17-18, and once in 2,8b-9, but not at all in 2,10-12. But where it could be reasonably expected to occur (in 2,10) it is only alluded to (by means of the word pauhmatwn. ¥