AUTHOR

Several books in the New Testament stress Christ’s death, but the book of Hebrews is especially known for its emphasis on the doctrine of Christ as both high priest and sacrificial offering to atone for sin. No other book in the New Testament so masterfully combines teaching from both the old and new covenants.

The author of Hebrews, though not named, was almost certainly known to the original recipients of this letter. In the centuries since its writing, the letter’s anonymity has fueled speculation. Scholars have suggested a variety of early Christians as the author, including Paul, Luke, Apollos, Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Silvanus, Philip, and Priscilla. No one, however, is sure who wrote this biblical book. Origen, an early church father, said it best: Only God knows who wrote Hebrews.

The evidence from Hebrews, including the title—“Hebrews”—strongly indicates that the letter was written to Jewish Christians. The writer appealed throughout the book to the Old Testament, assumed that his readers knew Jewish sacrificial rituals (e.g., 10:1-2) and warned against relying on rituals that only point to Christ but are not Christ himself (10:1-4,11-18). Ascertaining an exact date for Hebrews is impossible, but the evidence suggests it was written sometime prior to AD 70. First, the author and his readers belonged to the second generation of Christians. They neither saw nor heard Jesus in person (2:3). Second, if the Timothy mentioned in 13:23 was Paul’s younger associate, then the letter requires a date sometime during his lifetime. Third, the reference to sacrifices in 10:1-2 seems to indicate sacrifices were still being offered. Some point to the writer’s use of the present tense to describe the sacrifices (7:8; 9:6-7,9,13; 13:10) as evidence that the temple was still standing in Jerusalem. Finally, the use of Hebrews in 1 Clement (36:1-6), a document usually dated around AD 95 or 96, shows that the author wrote it before this time. To repeat, then, though a date anytime between AD 60–96 is possible for Hebrews, the book was likely written sometime prior to AD 70.

THEMES IN HEBREWS

The recipients of Hebrews clearly had been undergoing persecution for their faith (10:32-34; 12:4). They were also giving of themselves, busy serving others (6:10). And yet they were immature (5:11–6:12) and needed to be taught again the elementary truths of God’s Word (5:12). The warnings issued in this book show that many of these Christians were wavering in their faith and tempted to desert it altogether (2:1-4; 4:12-13; 6:4-8; 10:26-31; 12:25-29). They stood in danger of falling away from Christ, probably to avoid persecution.

A recurring theme throughout the letter is Christ’s superiority over everything in the Jewish religion to which they wanted to return. Jesus is far above and beyond the Old Testament prophets, the angels, Moses, Joshua, and the Aaronic priesthood. So why would the Hebrews ever want to go back to that old system when the new had come?