HEAVEN According to Heb., Jesus' exaltation (1 : 3; 8:1; -+ Height) signifies the fulfilment of his high priestly office. He has passed through the heavens and has been raised higher than they (4: 14; 7: 26; 9: 11, 23 f.), since he has reached the very throne of God. There he has performed his real, true priestly service (8: 1 0, at the same time fulfilling and surpassing that of the aT. One cannot say in detail what cosmological perspectives underlie this statement. However, it seems clear that God is thought of here as not dwelling in heaven, i.e. not within his creation to which heaven of course belongs, but above or beyond the heavens. This idea is the outcome of reflection, although even here God's transcendence over his creation is still expressed in spatial terms. (c) Certain special emphases are to be found in Eph. and Col. Christ is not only the agent of -+ creation (cf. 1 Cor. 8: 6): primitive Christianity had no special belief in creation apart from belief in Christ. Christ was before anything created came to be, and he himself was not created (Col. 1 :16). Christ is the instrument, the agent and the goal of creation; without him nothing can exist. Special emphasis is laid on the fact that everything, including the heavenly powers, was created "in Christ" and has been reconciled through him (Col. 1 :15-23). The very heavenly powers were created solely for Christ (Col. 1 :16; cf. 1 Cor. 15:24: Christ will destroy the heavenly powers). Christ is -+ head over all principalities and powers (cf. Col. 2:20). (On the background ideas see R. P. Martin, Colossians: The Church's Lord and the Christian's Liberty, 1972, 4-20.) It is the exalted Christ who has penetrated all the heavenly spheres and come down to earth. He has broken through the barrier erected by the evil powers which isolated men from God (Eph. 1 :10; 4:9; cf. Pss. 67:18[LXX]; 68:18[MT]; Rom. 9: 5). Similarly Eph. 1 : 23 and 4: 10 apply to Christ the aT statement that Yahweh fills heaven and earth. This is a consequence of the thought of Eph. 1:10 (cf. Col. 1 : 16, 20) that every created thing has its goal in Christ and has no independent existence apart from him. -+ Creation is strictly related to the redeemer and to -+ redemption. Creation and redemption, therefore, cannot be sundered in the gnostic fashion. Admittedly there are echoes of gnostic thought in the statement that heaven is filled with demonic powers which enslave men (Eph. 1: 10-23; Col. 1 :16 0. The passages quoted, however, show equally that everything is understood as referring strictly to Christ (Col. 1: 20), and creation is envisaged from the standpoint of redemptive history (Col. 1 :16 0. Christ's exaltation (Phil. 2: 9 f.) is expressed in Eph. 1:10 by means of the image of the primal man with -+ body and -+ head. Everything is bound together under Christ as head, whether on earth or in heaven (i.e. all the members of the body, the complete -+ "all"). There is no other realm but that of Christ. Eph. 3: 15 puts it somewhat differently: heaven and earth are realms in which there are races or tribes (cf. Eth. Enoch 69: 4; 71: 1; 106: 5; cf. the Rab. expression "higher families" for the angelic world) whose Father is God. 3. (a) In In. the word ouranos, heaven, only occurs in the sing. This is an indication that both gnostic and Jewish speculations about the heaven are absent. God's will to save and the salvation effected by Jesus Christ determine the statements about heaven. Jesus comes from heaven and returns there. In principle the Son of man who has come down from heaven has much to say about heaven (epourania) and the plans of God concealed there. But such statements would call forth an 195
HEAVEN even smaller response of faith than those he makes about God's present activity on earth (In. 3:12 f., 310. (b) 1 Cor. 15: 40 refers to the bodily form of heavenly beings - whether stars or angelic powers. Christ, the pre-existent, risen and coming One, is the heavenly --+ man, whose image, i.e. whose bodily form, Christians will receive at the parousia (1 Cor. 15: 48 f.). All beings, even the heavenly ones, will bow the knee before the risen and exalted Jesus Christ (Phil. 2: 10 f.). God has raised Jesus to his right hand, en tois epouraniois (from ta epourania, a circumlocution for heaven), i.e. in heaven, and thus blessed Christians with spiritual blessing (Eph. 1 : 3, 20). For spiritually they have already risen with Christ and been exalted to heaven (Eph. 2: 6; cf. Ps. 110: 1). The manifold wisdom of God will be made known to the principalities and powers in heaven (Eph. 3: 10; the same phrase as above): the saving work of Christ has cosmic significance. According to 2 Tim. 4: 18, Christ's kingdom is epouranios, i.e. it possesses heavenly authority and glory, and it is therefore superior to every temptation and persecution which the apostle has to suffer. H. Bietenhard --+ Angel, --+ Demon, --+ Hand, --+ Height, --+ Hell, --+ Kingdom, --+ Myth, --+ Satan (a). K. Barth, CD III 3, 369-531; J. S. Bonnell, Heaven and Hell, 1956; P. G. Bretscher, "Exodus 4:22-23 and the Voice from Heaven", JBL 87, 1968,301-11; R. Bultmann, The Gospel of John, 1971; J. G. Davies, He Ascended into Heaven: A Study in the History of Doctrine (Bampton Lectures, 1958),1958; W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, I, 1967, 186-209; T. H. Gaster, "Heaven", lDB II 551 f.; D. K. Innes, "Heaven and Sky in the Old Testament", EQ 43,1971, 144-48; J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 1951; R. Koch, "Ascension", EBTI 37-42; K. Lake, "The Ascension" and "The Mount of Olives and Bethany" in F. J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, eds., The Beginnings of Christianity, V, 1923, 16-22,475 f.; A. T. Lincoln, "A Re-Examination of 'the Heavenlies' in Ephesians", NTS 19, 1972-73, 468-83; W. A. Meeks, "The Man from Heaven in Johannine Sectarianism", JBL 91, 1972,44-72; J. Michl, "Heaven", EBT 1363-69; W. Milligan, The Ascension and Heavenly Priesthood of our Lord, 1898; H. Odeberg, The View of the Universe in the Epistle to the Ephesians, Lunds Universitets Arsskrift N. F. Avd. 1, Band 29, Nr. 6, 1934; G. von Rad and H. Traub, ouranos, TDNTV 497-543; J. Schneider, baino, TDNT 1518-23; C. Schoonhoven, The Wrath of Heaven, 1966; U. Simon, Heaven in the Christian Tradition, 1958; W. M. Smith, The Biblical Doctrine of Heaven, 1968; and "Heaven", ZPEB III 60-64; L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 1970, 37-125; H. B. Swete, The Ascended Christ: A Study in the Earliest Christian Teaching, 1910; G. Widengren, The Ascension of the Apostle and the Heavenly Book, 1950. (b). G. Bertram, "Die Himmelfahrt Jesu vom Kreuz", Festgabe fur A. Deissmann, 1927, 187-217; H. Bietenhard, Die himmlische Welt im Urchristentum und Spiitjudentum, WUNT 2, 1951; H. Diels, "Himmels- und Hollenfahrten von Homer bis Dante", Neue Jahrbucher des klassischen Altertums, 50, 1922, 239-52; R. Eisler, Weltman telund Himmelszelt, 1910; T. Fliigge, Die Vorstellung uber den Himmel im Alten Testament 1937; G. K. Frank, Himmelund Holle, 1970; H. Gebhardt, "Der Himmel im Neuen Testament", Zeitschrift fur kirchliche Wissenschaft und kirchliches Leben 7, 1886, 555-75; H. Grass, Ostergeschehen und Osterberichte, 1970'; J. Haecke, J. Schmid, J. Ratzinger, LTK V 352-58; J. Heller, "Himmelund MOlIenfahrt nach Romer 10, 6-7", EuTh 5,1972,478 ff.; R. Holland, "Ziir Typik der Himmelfahrt", ARW23, 1925,207-220; F. H. Kettler, "Enderwartung und himmlischer Stufenbau im Kirchenbegriff des nachapostoIischen Zeitalters", TLZ 79, 1954, 358 ff.; A. Klawek, "Der Himmel als Wohnung der Seligen im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter", Collectanea Theologica, 13, 1932, 111-24; G. Lohfink, "Der historische Ansatz der Himmelfahrt Christi", Catholica, 17, 1963, 44 ff.; E. Lohmeyer, Das Evangelium nach Matthiius, KEK Sonderband, 19623, 75 ff.; W. Michaelis, "Zur Uberlieferung der Himmelfahrtgeschichte", ThBI4, 1925, 101-109; A. Oepke, "U nser G laube an die Himmelfahrt Christi", Luthertum, 5, 1938, 161-86; G. Schille, "Die Himmelfahrt", ZNW 57, 1966, 183 ff.; H. Schlier, Christus und die Kirche im Epherbrief, BHTh 6, 1930; H. Westphal, "Jahves Wohnstatten", ZAW Beiheft 25, 1908,251-73. 196
HEIGHT Height, Depth, Exalt ___ p_a_e_O~ __ -----,1 paeo~ (bathos), depth; paev~ (bathys), deep. CL 1. bathos is related linguistically to bessa (Doric bassa), valley floor, cleft. There is also a close connection with abyssos, bottomless (lit. unfathomable; --+ Hell). 2. bathos expresses distance from the speaker, but not only downwards. It can be horizontal or even upwards. bathos, therefore, denotes the extension of a thing in any spatial dimension (cf. bathos trichOn, length of hair). In military usage bathos indicates the number of men standing behind one another. It is frequently used in conjunction with --+ hypsos to denote the full extent of an object in every dimension. Figuratively, bathos expresses: (a) the completeness, intensity, fullness or greatness of an object (especially in conjunction with hypsos), or of a human quality (wisdom, understanding, soul); and (b) inscrutability and hiddenness. The derived adj. bathys has the same shades of meaning as the noun. The neut. form used as a noun, to bathy, means that which is deep-seated, that which comes from the bottom of the heart. 3. He!. and especially gnostic religion took up the figurative meaning in speaking of the depth of deity and of --+ God as depth (Tert., Adv. Val. 1; Iren., Haer. 1, 21, 2; Hippo!., Haer. 5,6,4; cf. H. Schlier, TDNT 1517). This last expression indicates that God was thought of primarily as a-personal and not as "Thou" or "He", as something static and inscrutable and not as the Living One, the Self-Revealing. OT 1. In the aT (LXX) bathos is used chiefly as equivalent of Heb. me~i1lah. In its lit. meaning bathos is used only of the depth of the sea (Exod. 15: 5; Neh. 9: 11 ; Zech. 10:11). In its fig. sense bathos always denotes that which is separated from God. bathos, therefore, stands for the inner need of the man troubled by guilt and --+ sin (Ps. 130[129] :1) and for the external need of pressing circumstances (Ps. 69: 2,14[68: 3,15]). bathos expresses the most extreme separation from God (the depths of the sea, Jon. 2:4; Mic. 7:19) in passages where the frontier between literal and figurative meanings is fluid. In Ezek. bathos stands for tabt! and thus for the underworld (cf. 26: 20; 31: 14, 18; 32: 18 f., 24). Here, too, bathos expresses separation from God. Heb. ma'amaqqim, depths, is also rendered in the LXX bathos (Isa. 51:10 etc.), while the adj. bathys is used for the words in the 'iimoq group (cf. Job 11:8; 12:22; Ps. 63[64]:6; Provo 18:4). 2. It is significant that Heb. tehOm is not rendered bathos but abyssos (--+ Hell). English versions nevertheless translate it by deep (cf. Gen. 1 :2; Job 28:14). While bathos always contains the idea of separation from God, abyssos suggests a final, primeval, terrible and mysterious depth. 3. The Qumran texts speak of the depth of the mysteries of God (lQS 11 :19; 1QM 10:11). NT bathos appears 8 times in the NT; the adj. bathys 4. The literal sense occurs only in the Synoptics: depth of soil (Matt. 13: 5 par. Mk. 4: 5), the depth of the sea (Lk. 5:4). bathys is used figuratively in 2 Cor. 8:2 (deep poverty) to underline the extremity of the poverty. Elsewhere we find a figurative meaning related, not to the aT, but to HeI. and Rab. usage. 197
HEIGHT 1. Rom. 11: 33 and 1 Cor. 2: 10 speak of the depth of God or the depth of the knowledge of God. This refers to the unfathomable nature of the ways and judgments of God, as opposed to the mere superficiality of human insight. But it also suggests the richness of the ways and means available to God in the pursuit of his plan of salvation. It is important that God is not reduced here to an impersonal "It". God is not described as the ultimate ground of all being, but as the One who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ in whom are hidden the ultimate mysteries. bathos reflects, therefore, the paradox of unveiling and veiling which is Christian ->- revelation. 2. Similarly, in Eph. 3:18 bathos occurs in conjunction with other spatial terms in order to express the comprehensiveness of God's grace and of salvation in Christ. Christian faith should not be satisfied with the fragmentary or the superficial. 3. On the other hand, in Rom. 8: 39 bathos is linked with hypsoma (cf. Isa. 7 :11), and clearly describes some kind of power which oppresses mankind. In astrology bathos is the part of heaven below the horizon from which the stars rise. Powers emanating from the stars are perhaps intended here. What is theologically decisive, however, is the statement that even the powers (of the stars) of the deep have been defeated by the power of the love of God in Jesus Christ - a statement of great relevance even today. 4. Of the four occurrences of the adj. bathys in the NT, only Rev. 2: 24 is of theological significance (cf. Lk. 24: 1; In. 4: 11; Acts 20: 9). Here the deep things of Satan are referred to, in parallel with the deep things of God. This takes up a slogan from a gnosticizing movement. What is meant is participation in all the ungodliness of this world (in order to "prove" the more effectively the power of grace and of salvation in Christ). To plunge into such depths, however, does not mean control over these powers but surrender to them and the consequent loss of salvation. J. Blunck " I Vlf/OC; (hypsos), high; vlf/'lMC; (hypselos), high, exalted, Vlf/OC; . proud; Vlf/wj.,W (hypsoma), height, the exalted; Vlf/UHOC; (hypsistos), highest, most exalted. CL 1. hypsos, attested from Aeschylus on, denotes primarily extension upwards in space, height (only of things, not of people); figuratively (a) the superiority and exaltation of a thing or person over another; (b) unattainability. In the case of people hypsos could take the negative sense of ->- pride. In conjunction with ->- bathos, it denotes the complete dimensions and aspects of an object. 2. The adj. hypselos, attested from Homer on, was also originally spatial in meaning: high (buildings, plants, position), and was used figuratively in both a positive (sublime) and a negative sense (pompous, high-sounding). Secular Gk. had many compounds of hypselos, but none came into the NT. Instead, there is a new formation, hypse/ophroneo, to think highly (of oneself), to be proud (only 1 Tim. 6:17). 3. hypsoma is first attested in late Gk. after the translation of the LXX, meaning height, exaltation, what is exalted. It was always used in figurative senses, e.g. in Plutarch as an astrological term for the closest approach of a star to the zenith (opposite, tapeinoma) (Arndt, 858). 198