Bible Commentaries
Hebrews

The book of Hebrews has been called the "riddle" of the New Testament.^(F1) We do not know who wrote it, from where it was written, to whom it was written, or even when it was written. Some in the early church ascribed the work to Paul but over the centuries, and especially in modern times, this possibility has been almost wholly discounted.^(F2) In early times the book was not only ascribed to Paul, but to Barnabas and even to Aquila or Priscilla. It is obvious in 2:3, that the writer was a second-generation Christian (which was certainly not true of Paul). The writer, like Apollos (Acts 18:24-27), was eloquent in the Greek language and extremely well-versed in the Greek version of the Old Testament or the Septuagint (LXX).

Perhaps the most reasonable answer to the riddle of authorship was given by the church father Origen (c.185-254). He remarked that only God knows for sure who wrote Hebrews.^(F3) The notable English pastor and expositor F. B. Meyer said of Hebrews, "This Epistle bears no name of author, or designation of church. But it needs neither. In every sentence we can detect the Authorship of the Holy Ghost."^(F4)

Now we ask to whom was the book written? Scholars have made their guesses over the centuries regarding this subject. The only hint in the book is found in 13:24, where we read, "Those from Italy send you their greetings." Obviously, this statement could be interpreted in two ways – that it was written from Italy or that it was written to Italy, in which case the author was simply sending greetings from all the Roman expatriates at his location.

Today many scholars feel that it was written to a Hellenistic Jewish/Christian group in Rome, or somewhere in Italy. Regarding the make-up of this group William Barclay concludes that they had been long established (5:12); had at some point suffered persecution (10:32-34); and had experienced great days and great leaders (13:7).^(F5)

We might now wonder when this enigmatic epistle was written. Many opinions regarding the date of writing vary from AD 60 – 69. Some date it much later, even in the 80s, but there is nothing in the epistle indicating that the Temple in Jerusalem was yet destroyed, and that event in AD 70 would surely have been of great importance to the writer. The earliest evidence of what seems to be the epistle's actual use in the church is found in a letter written by Clement of Rome to the church of Corinth and dated around AD 95. Obviously Hebrews would have needed to be in circulation among the churches several years before this usage.

There is one more important question we need to answer as we look at this epistle and that is "why" it was written. As we have said, many scholars feel it was written to a Hellenistic Jewish/Christian assembly. Union Seminary professor, Frances Taylor Gench, says of this, "Both the author and his audience appear to have been nurtured upon the scripture and traditions of Hellenistic Judaism, that is, the form of Judaism that emerged in urban centers throughout the Greek-speaking world."^(F6) It was likely a Judaism very similar to that of the early Christian martyr Stephen, and that which was found among the other "Grecian Jews" of the Jerusalem church in Acts 6:1ff

The urgent problem with the recipients is that they were "drifting away" from their first love and confession. Perhaps this was due to the gravitational-type pull of their original faith of Judaism or due to the approaching threat of persecution, maybe under Nero. It was to this situation that our writer offered his "word of exhortation" (13:22).