I.
Five Features of the Book of Hebrews
() This book is unlike any other in the New Testament, except for 1 John, where a teacher writer is involved. () In subject matter it is distinctive, and its picture of Jesus as our great High Priest is its own. It is not easy to see who wrote it, to whom it was written, or why. It lacks an epistolary (what you expect in a letter) opening but has such a conclusion. The deep insight of its contents gives it a significant place in the New Testament.
A.
Literary Form
1.
Though we usually call Hebrews a letter, important epistolary features are lacking for this book. But if we cannot straightforwardly label it a letter, there are at least indications that it was meant for a restricted group of readers — not for the general public or even the general Christian public. The recipients are a group who ought to be teachers (). The writer knows them and looks forward to visiting them (). He has a good opinion of them (). He can ask for their prayers () and give them news of their mutual friend Timothy (). The writer recalls "former days" () and remembers persecutions that his friends had endured (; ), their generosity to other believers (), and their cheerful attitude when their property had been confiscated (). () He knows their present attitude toward their leaders. In the light of such statements, the writer is addressing a definite, known group, and a small one at that (not many Christians would qualify for the position of teacher, which the writer of Hebrews expects of those professing Christians he writes to in the first century).
a.
() Moreover, the intended recipients were a group whose needs the writer knew. He wanted them to advance to the level of being teachers ( previously cited) and to avoid apostasy. There is a homiletic (having to do with writing a sermon) air about much that he writes, so it is not surprising that many have considered the book a sermon — one the divine author had preached earlier or one he was now composing for the benefit of his friends. (; cf. ) He himself calls his work "my word of exhortation ". It has oratorical touches, and the style makes it not unlikely that a sermon stands behind it. But as we now have it, we may call it a letter, written to biblically correct some specific erroneous tendencies the divine author sees in the recipients.
B.
Recipients
1.
() The title "To the Hebrews " is in the oldest manuscripts, though this may be a later addition (we have no knowledge of any other title). If the title is accurate, then it follows that the letter was written to a group of jews. The traditional view is that the recipients were Christians from a Jewish background.
a.
Yet some scholars argue for gentile Christians rather than Jewish Christians. One significant passage for them is the divine author's appeal to basic Christian doctrines in chapter 6. The "elementary teachings " () are listed as "repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment " (). () But while Gentiles had to be taught these doctrines, it would also have been necessary to teach Jews elementary truths, such as that Jesus is the Christ, and that God is present in the Holy Spirit.
b.
From the first, the Old Testament was the Bible of both Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians. The church saw itself as the true Israel, as the heir of the promises of the Old Testament. They were in error, for the true Israel was the seed of Israel (Jacob), Jesus. While the divine author makes a good deal of the Jewish priesthood and Jewish practices, it must be borne in mind that he does not take his information and symbolism from the temple that existed in the first century. () Rather, he refers to the much earlier tabernacle, about which all the available information is in the Old Testament books of the Law. He knew that the current temple’s priests and Levites taught that Jesus was not to be considered by them. Many Jewish teachers taught children that Jesus was a curse word.
c.
The most persuasive argument for Jewish recipients is the way the book moves so consistently within the orbit of the Old Testament Scriptures and Jewish liturgy. () The writer has much to say about the worship of the Pentateuch tabernacle, the priests and the kind of sacrifices they offered, the covenant that meant so much to the Jews, and Jewish worthies like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and a host of others mentioned in Hebrews 11. () Topics like the sufferings of the Messiah and the replacement of the Levitical priesthood by a priesthood after the order of Melchizadek would interest Jews. () The argument that Jesus is superior to Moses would have more weight with Jews than with anyone else.
d
Furthermore, if Gentiles were falling away from the faith, the Old Testament would lose its divine authority for them. But it always remained authoritative for Jewish readers (whether Christians or not). () One of the divine author's cogent arguments is that apostasy is pictured in the Israelites' rejecting Moses' leadership and their rebelling against God, again suggesting a Jewish background.
e.
On the whole, more can be said for Hebrews having been written for Jewish rather than Gentile Christians. It is hard to think that a writing that moves so much in the area of Jewish ritual was in the first instance intended for non- Jews, however readily they may have embraced the Old Testament. The most likely possibility is a group of able Jewish 'Christians' who were hesitant about cutting themselves off decisively from the Jewish religion (which was tolerated by the Romans) in favor of the Christian way (which was not that for those who fused current Judaism [which was anti-Christ] with Christianity).
f.
There also seem to be more reasons for seeing the letter directed to Christians living in Rome than in any other place. The greeting, "Those from Italy greet you " () is most naturally understood of a group of Italian origin now living elsewhere and sending greetings back home. Also, there was more hesitation at Rome to regard this book as canonical than anywhere else, and a large factor in this hesitation was doubt that Paul wrote the letter. Presumably the Romans knew who wrote it, and they knew that the divine author was not Paul (see next section).
C.
Divine Authorship
1.
The earliest reference to divine authorship is a statement of Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-215) that Paul wrote this work in Hebrew and that Luke translated it into Greek. When Hebrews was accepted as part of the New Testament, this was partly because contemporaries held Paul to be the divine author. () This view, however, appears to rest on no reliable evidence but rather is a deduction from the facts that Paul was a prolific writer of letters, and that Hebrews is a noble writing that must have had a distinguished divine author. However, both the language and thought forms in Hebrews are unlike those of Pauline books of Scripture. The Greek is polished; Paul's is rugged, though vigorous. () This book moves in the context of Levitical symbolism, about which Paul elsewhere says absolutely nothing.
a.
No early writer who cites the letter mentions its divine author. Nor does internal evidence help us much. () The divine author was plainly a teacher and a second generation Christian. Its style is unlike that of any other New Testament document; consequently, we can only conjecture who the divine author was. Many suggestions have been made, of which the most prominent are Barnabas () (he was a Levite, and this would account for the emphasis on Levitical ritual), Apollos (he was an “eloquent man,” who was "mighty in the Scriptures " []), and Priscilla (a male-dominated world would naturally have suppressed her name, though the masculine form (-menon) of the Greek participle translated "telling " in would seem to eliminate her from consideration). In the end, however, we must agree that we have no certain evidence about the divine authorship of Hebrews. Since Barnabas was a Levite and Hebrews features Levitical ritual, your fellow prospector feels he may well be the divine author chosen by God. Yet, Apollos was “mighty in the Scriptures” so those who see him as the divine author of Hebrews, praise the Lord. However, as Origen said, "Who wrote the letter, God only knows the truth.” It would appear that the divine author may have been known in the first century and considered himself God’s clay pot who focused on his Lord and did not want to take any glory from Him. Thus, his name is absent in the book.
D.
The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews
1.
There are some interesting features of the divine author's use of the Old Testament. To begin with, he uses the LXX (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) almost exclusively. Now and then he bases his argument on the LXX where that differs from the Hebrew (e.g., ). The divine author's favorite sources are the Pentateuch and the Psalms. Twenty-three out of twenty-nine quotations come from these two sections of the Old Testament. It is curious that there is so little from the Prophets, especially in view of the divine author's attitude toward the sacrifices. One would think he would have found much in the Prophets that was applicable to his purpose.
a.
The divine author has an unusual method of citation; he almost always neglects the human author of his quotations (exceptions are ), though throughout the rest of the New Testament the human author is often noted. He normally ascribes the passage he quotes to God, except, of course, where God is addressed, as in . Twice he attributes words in the Old Testament to Christ (, ) and twice to the Holy Spirit (, ). No other new testament writer shares this way of quoting the Old Testament. Thus, your fellow prospector sees evidence for someone like Barnabas being the divine author. Elsewhere in the New Testament, words from Scripture are usually ascribed to God only when God is the actual speaker. Thus, the divine author emphasizes the divine authorship of the whole Old Testament.
b.
Moreover, the divine author sees Scripture as pointing to Jesus. What the ancient writings say is fulfilled in Him. This means more than that specific prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus. Rather, the thrust of the entire Old Testament is such that it leads inescapably to Him. The divine author writes of Christianity as the final religion, not because he regards the faith of the Old Testament as mistaken, but because he sees it as God's way of pointing us to Jesus. Judaism is not so much abrogated by Christianity as brought to its climax. The fuller meaning of the Old Testament is to be seen in the person and work of Jesus. Only in Jesus are we able to discern its true meaning.
E.
Date
1.
() The mention of Timothy shows that the writing must be early, though since we know nothing about the dates of Timothy's birth and death, this reference only narrows our search to the second half of the first century. The words "you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood " () points to a date before severe persecutions began, or at least before any lives of the recipients were lost. Once again, we have an indication of an early date, but one we cannot narrowly tie down.
a.
The principal indication of the date is that the letter says nothing about the destruction of the temple but leaves the impression that the Jewish sacrificial system, with its ministry of priests and all that that involved, was a continuing reality (cf. ). The divine author is arguing that Judaism is superseded by Christianity and specifically that the sacrifices of the old system are of no avail now that the sacrifice of Jesus has been offered. It would have been a convincing climax had the divine author been able to point out that the temple and all that went with it had ceased to exist. The divine author's failure to mention this surely means that it had not yet occurred.
b.
This seems about as far as we can go. A date a few years before A.D. 70 is indicated, but how much before that we cannot be certain. (AD 66-67 is a possible date). Some passages in the letter gain in force if we think of a time not long before, when there was a compelling call to loyal Jews to cast in their lot with those fighting against Rome. So perhaps we should think of a date near the beginning of the invasion of Israel by the Romans of A.D. 66-70. In 64, Nero declared Christianity an illegal religion in Rome and executed adherents in Rome. In 66, the Roman forces put down an uprising in Jerusalem.