Like the angels (1:14), Moses was a servant who witnessed, as it were, to the Son. Hebrew was also the name of an area, addressed to many tribes. And by some reports, Christ's followers are being persecuted more than ever in our own day. View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Hebrews, which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses. In the first place, the author of Hebrews was a Hellenistic Jew. Modern scholars generally believe this book was originally a sermon or homily, although possibly modified after it was delivered to include the travel plans, greetings and closing. While we are busy idolizing our move up the corporate ladder or placing all our hopes in our kids, Jesus offers us a better position, a better priest, a better covenant, a better hope, and a better sacrifice. On many occasions, the author used what Greek grammarians call the "hortatory subjunctive." Although the book of Hebrews does not itself say to whom it was written, it was written to the Hebrew believers. They'd done well years ago, but the author of Hebrews feared that they might now turn away from Christ to avoid further persecution. Now that we've seen how the author's purpose was strengthened by the intensity of his exhortations, we should turn to a second feature of the book: the goal of these exhortations. It offers so much that we may never uncover more than a small portion of what it teaches. Hebrews was almost certainly written before AD 70 when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish temple. They should have made great doctrinal progress. "The Canon Debate", McDonald & Sanders editors, 2002, chapter 32, p. 577, by, including D. DeSilva, D. Hagner, L. T. Johnson, W. Lane, B. Lindars, R. W. Wall, including N. Beck, Bibliowicz, L. Freudman, J. Gager, and S. Sandmel. Listen to the way he empathized with his audience in Hebrews 10:33-34: In a similar way, in 12:1-2 he showed his passion for Christ when he said: It's difficult to read these and similar passages without realizing that this author was hardly an impersonal scholar. Listen to what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 13:9: In this verse, the author contrasted being "strengthened by grace" with being strengthened "by ceremonial foods." Ceremonial Foods. This focus was in response to the kinds of beliefs that were similar to teachings in books like The Rule of the Community, The Damascus Covenant, and the War Scroll, as well as the sections of 1 Enoch called "The Book of the Watchers" and "The Book of Dreams." In light of a possibly Jewish-Christian audience, the apostasy in this sense may be in regard to Jewish Christians leaving the Christian assembly to return to the Jewish synagogue. And that is how the Bible uses the term. [28], In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship: the Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as the fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation. [66], Hebrews is a very consciously "literary" document. In this verse the author wrote: Here we see that "Timothy [had] been released" recently from prison. Paul the Apostle Wrote Hebrews. Hope Bolinger Author March 02, 2023 Although many scholars have debated the authorship of various books of the Bible, Hebrews is the only one that does not have a majority rule as to who wrote it. In this lesson, we'll introduce a number of perspectives that should guide our interpretation of this complex book. From the earliest times, there have been a variety of positions on the authorship of Hebrews. [31], The text itself, for example, makes a contrast between the resurrected Christ "in heaven" "who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord" and the version on earth, where "there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. Attach an asterisk (*) to the end of a word as a wildcard. The Epistle to the Hebrews is notable for the manner in which it expresses the divine nature of Christ. But the author of Hebrews pointed out that Jesus is, in fact, the mediator of the new covenant. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven." Most of the churches in the eastern part of the Roman Empire believed Paul to have authored the book, leading to its early acceptance into the Canon by the churches in those areas. But he also encouraged them not to "throw away [their] confidence." Each part of this book has its own emphases, and we'll explore these emphases in our next lesson. Attach a tilde (~) to the front of a word to omit results containing that word. Peter Rhea Jones has reminded us that 'Moses is not merely one of the figures compared unfavourably to Jesus'; but rather, 'Moses and Jesus are yoked throughout the entirety of the epistle'. The second major division of Hebrews, in 3:14:13, demonstrates that Jesus is to be held above Moses' authority. and they should persevere. We saw earlier that the overarching purpose of the book of Hebrews can be defined in this way: As this definition affirms, the goal of the author's exhortations was twofold. Even though Clement of Rome drew much from Hebrews in his late-first-century letter to the Corinthian church, many in the Western church pointed away from Paul We've explored the authorship of the book of Hebrews and seen that the author's identity remains unknown. [70], Hebrews does not fit the form of a traditional Hellenistic epistle, lacking a proper prescript. He spoke of Timothy, whom he called "our brother," and he also mentioned a group of people from Italy that his audience apparently knew. He didn't simply want to inform his audience of theological doctrines. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own . But at this point it will help to summarize the central issues in each. But can you imagine how tempting it would be to compromise what you believe to protect yourself, your spouse, your children and closest friends from serious harm? [24] New Testament and Second Temple Judaism scholar Eric Mason argues that the conceptual background of the priestly Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews closely parallels presentations of the messianic priest and Melchizedek in the Qumran scrolls. But for this study, we'll describe the original purpose of Hebrews in this way: This description of the author's purpose helps orient us to the main ideas found in the book of Hebrews. Third, the strongest reason for doubting Pauline authorship is the way the writer of Hebrews distanced himself from the first generation of Jesus' followers. 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Recent years have seen renewed interest in divine action, but much of the literature tends to focus on the science-theology discussion. Lastly, we'll examine the date when the book of Hebrews was written. [63] It then proves and explains from the Scriptures the superiority of this New Covenant over the Old by the comparison of the Son with the angels as mediators of the Old Covenant,[64] with Moses and Joshua as the founders of the Old Covenant,[65] and finally, by opposing the high-priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchisedech to the Levitical priesthood after the order of Aaron. Fonck, Leopold. If we miss this passion, we miss one of the book's most prominent features. But we can still construct something of a profile for the author. bull or a goat, and as providing a better inheritance in heaven for those who place their faith in Him (Hebrews 1:4; 6:9; 7:19; 9:23; 10:34). It contained books like The Rule of the Community, The Damascus Covenant, the War Scroll, The Midrash on Melchizedek, as well as sections of 1 Enoch called "The Book of the Watchers" and "The Book of Dreams". The Book of Hebrews argues that the Hebrew Scriptures also foretold that the Messiah would be a priest (although of a different sort than the traditional Levitical priests) and Jesus came to fulfill this role, as a sacrificial offering to God, to atone for sins. These books have a number of teachings that closely parallel the theological issues addressed in Hebrews. Dr. Stephen E. Witmer is Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Lead Pastor of Pepperell Christian Fellowship in Pepperell, MA. Interestingly, the author of Hebrews didn't address the sorts of issues normally associated with Jewish hypocrisy and legalism. The writer to the Hebrews showed these Jewish Christian believers that, though they were faced with suffering, they were indeed following a better way . He points out that in other writings and quotations of Hebrews, Origen describes Paul as the author of the letter. Jesus is both the divine Son of God and completely human, and in His priestly role He clears the way for human beings to approach the Father in heaven through prayer (Hebrews 4:1416). For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Mosesas much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself." Gordon ascribes the authorship of Hebrews to Priscilla, writing that "It is evident that the Holy Spirit made this woman Priscilla a teacher of teachers". Bible Answer: The book of Hebrews was written to Jews who claimed to be Christians. Listen to this exhortation: As this passage indicates, the author expected more persecutions to come against his audience, and he was deeply concerned with this feature of their experience. This long list was designed to persuade the audience that servants of God should remain faithful throughout their persecution. A. Louth ed. [59] The epistle also emphasizes the importance of faith. As early as the patristic period, Clement of Alexandria, who lived from approximately A.D. 150 to 215, and Origen of Alexandria, who lived from around A.D. 185 to 254, acknowledged that there was a variety of opinions on the authorship of Hebrews in their day. The overall structure of the catena seems to point to exaltation as the underlying motif At least it may be concluded that the superiority of the Son is demonstrated by this comparison/contrast with angels. [48] He warned his audience severely because for those who utterly turn away from Christ, "no sacrifice for sins is left." Hebrews clearly lays out the present priestly ministry of Christ in the life of the believer. But as the author noted, they needed to be taught "the elementary truths of God's word all over again.". We can see from the text that both Jewish and Hellenistic influences shaped the author and his book. This oratorical technique appears in the familiar list of the faithful in Hebrews 11. Timothy was Paul's missionary companion in the same way Jesus sent disciples out in pairs. Third, the strongest reason for doubting Pauline authorship is the way the writer of Hebrews distanced himself from the first generation of Jesus' followers. Adolph von Harnack, "Probabilia uber die Addresse und den Verfasser des Habraerbriefes, " Zeitschrift fr die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der lteren Kirche (E. Preuschen, Berlin: Forschungen und Fortschritte, 1900), 1:1641. & G. A. Williamson trans. And most biblical scholars today concur. Third, the strongest reason for doubting Pauline authorship is the way the writer of Hebrews distanced himself from the first generation of Jesus' followers. Yet, this verse tells us that by the time Hebrews was written Timothy had been imprisoned and released. According to biblical tradition, the Hebrews are peoples descended from Shem, one of Noah's sons, through Eber, the eponymous ancestor, and Abraham. Memorably, Martin Luther suggested Apollos, who appears to be "the kind of person who wrote Hebrews." 4 Acts 18:24 describes Apollos as a Jewish native of Alexandria, "an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.". We'll look first at its authorship. The book does not mention any . Taken together, these themes distinguish the book of Hebrews from books that we know were written by Paul. The book of Hebrews has often been characterized as highly rhetorical. We learn from passages like Luke 4:16, Acts 13:15, and 1 Timothy 4:13 that leaders of synagogues and Christian churches supervised the reading and explanation of Scriptures to their congregations. The book's name comes from the fact that it was written for Hebrews, or Jews. However, the train of early church fathers from the city of Alexandria does not mention Apollos as a possibility. Dr. Um also teaches New Testament Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary, and Emerson College. At this time, certain believers were considering turning back to Judaism and to the Jewish system of law to escape being persecuted for believing Christ to be the messiah. Eusebius (c.263c. Let's look first at Hebrews' authorship. In the end, though, it's best to conclude with Origen that only God really knows. First, there's reason to think that at least a good portion of the original audience was Jewish. Of course, notable scholars like Clement of Rome, who died sometime around A.D. 99, treated Hebrews as equal to other New Testament books. b. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. Authors such as Luke, Barnabas, Apollos, and even Clement have been considered as possibilities. There are eight reasons to believe the entire book of Hebrews was written to believers (i.e., to those who have eternal life): First, the writer calls the audience "holy brethren" ( Heb 3:1 ). The terminology of exhortation implies "to summon to the speaker's side" or "to call for someone to take the speaker's point of view." [31] Recent scholarship has favored the idea that the author was probably a leader of a predominantly Jewish congregation to whom they were writing. For this reason, the book of Hebrews must have been written after Paul's death, which took place sometime around A.D. 65. Some have seen apostasy as a move from the Christian assembly to pagan ritual. Dr. Um earned his Th.M. As we'll explain in our next lesson, this and similar passages don't imply that true believers can lose their salvation. It was obvious to everyone that followers of Jesus were not observing the sacrificial services God had ordained through Moses. So far in our discussion of the background of the book of Hebrews we've focused on the book's authorship. Even though the author of Hebrews should be considered an intellectual, he was not a cold, detached academic. Many practices at Qumran are described in the book entitled The Rule of the Community. So, it's likely that these priestly activities were still going on when Hebrews was written. Passionate Intellectual. And he dealt at length with Christ as the high priest. This specific focus sounds familiar enough. Carson is Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Co-founder of The Gospel Coalition. [60], the Epistle opens with the solemn announcement of the superiority of the New Testament Revelation by the Son over Old Testament Revelation by the prophets. Most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and some of the Old Latin manuscripts have the epistle to the Hebrews among Paul's letters. Furthermore, Jesus became the permanent and perfect High Priest, going beyond all other priests by offering Himself as a sinless sacrifice on behalf of the sins of human beings (7:2426; 9:28). . In contrast, Jesus came as a man of no social standing who was slandered, arrested and condemned by the Jewish leaders and who suffered and was crucified by the Romans. likely sent to a Jewish Christian community, possibly in Rome. And for this reason, they can only have "a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire" reserved for "the enemies of God.". [30], Many scholars now believe that the author was one of Paul's pupils or associates, citing stylistic differences between Hebrews and the other Pauline epistles. He seems quite unconscious of the logical difficulties of his position proceeding from the assumption that Christ is both divine and human, at least human in experience although hardly in nature. It then builds to a more complex conclusion that the audience initially doubts, but can now more easily accept. According to the theology of supersessionism, the church replaces Israel, and thus the church takes the place of Israel as the people of God. Dr. Dennis E. Johnson is Academic Dean and Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. 3) D. Greater than Joshua (4:1-13) For instance, the author of Hebrews mentioned Melchizedek three times. So, it's quite possible that the larger portion of the original audience remained theologically immature because they didn't properly respect their leaders. [41], Also convinced that Priscilla was the author of Hebrews, Gilbert Bilezikian, professor of biblical studies at Wheaton College, remarks on "the conspiracy of anonymity in the ancient church," and reasons: "The lack of any firm data concerning the identity of the author in the extant writings of the church suggests a deliberate blackout more than a case of collective loss of memory. Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews to encourage Jewish members of the Church to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ and not to return to their former ways (see Hebrews 10:32-38 ). Only Jesus is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" who "upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3). Patristic Period Period during which the early church fathers wrote; generally considered to be from around A.D. 100 to sometime between A.D. 451 and the close of the 8th century. [39], Donald Guthrie's commentary The Letter to the Hebrews (1983) mentions Priscilla by name as a suggested author. Resulting from multi-year work of the Scripture and Doctrine Seminar, part of KLC's Scripture Collective, this book attends to the portrayal of divine action in one major biblical text, namely Hebrews. [53] The impact of the deployment and implementation of supersession theology is difficult to convey and grasp. Harnack believes the letter was written in Rome not to the Church, but to the inner circle. [22] The epistle casts Jesus as both exalted Son and High Priest, a unique dual Christology. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions. Allowing that Moses is much more than a 'whipping boy' for the author, the fact remains that the figure Moses is utilized as a basis for Christology. Muratorian Canon (c. 170): It was omitted from the Muratorian Canon, but this may be due to the corrupt state of the of the text of that Canon; but it was not included with the Pauline epistles 3. [4], The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Later proposed by Adolf von Harnack in 1900,[37] Harnack's reasoning won the support of prominent Bible scholars of the early twentieth century. "Introduction to the Letter to the Hebrews". Hebrews motivates discouraged Christians by reminding them who Jesus is. Martin Luther suggested that Apollos was the author. And they generally agreed that the apostle Paul was the author. Mackie, Scott D. "Confession of the Son of God in the Exordium of Hebrews". Hebrews pictures Jesus as better than the angels, as bringing better lives to humanity through salvation, as offering a better hope than the Mosaic Law could promise, as a better sacrifice for our sins than a The words "I urge" derive from the Greek verb parakaleo, the verbal form of the Greek noun translated "exhortation" in the same sentence. While there are several references to Moses, only two will be needed to demonstrate Jesus' superiority. 11QMelchizedek Text found at Qumran that falsely portrays Melchizedek as a heavenly figure who appears in the last days and makes final atonement for God's people; also known as The Midrash on Melchizedek, A.D. 70 Year of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, Apollos Eloquent Jewish speaker and teacher who worked with the apostle Paul to grow the early church, especially in Ephesus and Corinth, apostasy Rebellion against God after a profession of faith; total rejection of one's faith, religion or principles, Barnabas Friend of the apostle Paul and cousin of John Mark (author of the second gospel) who accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey, canon Authoritative standard; the exclusive collection of documents in the Judeo-Christian tradition recognized as Scripture, Claudius Roman emperor from A.D. 41-54 who expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49, Clement of Alexandria (ca. [22]:199, By the end of the first century there was no consensus on the author's identity. The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections: the Torah, or "Teaching," also called the Pentateuch or the "Five Books of Moses"; the Neviim, or Prophets; and the Ketuvim, or Writings. Copyright 2011-2023, Third Millennium Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. Yet, it will help us understand many of Hebrews' exhortations against local Jewish beliefs if we note some of the similar subjects found in both Hebrews and the books found at Qumran. The structure of Hebrews is a different from other New Testament books; it begins like an essay, continues as a sermon and ends like a letter. [29] The difference in style is explained as simply an adjustment to a distinct audience, to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted and pressured to go back to traditional Judaism. Citing Hebrews 13,[38] he says it was written by a person of "high standing and apostolic teacher of equal rank with Timothy". It was written by Paul, who was a Christian apostle and missionary. We've also focused on the original purpose of Hebrews by examining how the author wrote his book to exhort his audience to turn from local Jewish teachings and to reaffirm their loyalty to Jesus as the Messiah. 2023 Insight for Living Ministries. A.D. 185 - 254) Early Christian theologian from Alexandria; his works include: On First Principles, in which he defended the Scriptures as our final authority for Christian doctrine, and the Hexapla, a comparative study of various translations of the Old Testament, parakaleō Greek term (transliteration) meaning "to urge," "to exhort," "to encourage," "to call to," "to summon", parrēsia Greek term (transliteration) meaning courage, boldness, or confidence in the presence of dignitaries. This is important because in the rest of his book the author consistently used the Greek past tense when referring to past events. Then we'll investigate the original audience. For this lesson, we'll briefly mention just four topics found in both the book of Hebrews and the documents at Qumran. We don't hear of Timothy's imprisonment anywhere else in the New Testament. The Gospel of the Hebrews was a Jewish-Christian gospel, likely written in Greek in the early 2nd century. Christians who live in peace and safety often compromise their faith even without threats. Greater than the Prophets (1:1-3) B. These verbal forms urge or implore and are often translated "let us" do this or that. Taken together, these themes distinguish the book of Hebrews from books that we know were written by Paul. "Epistle to the Hebrews". Now, let's consider how the author's rhetorical style also reveals his desire to exhort his audience. Identifying the kinds of false teachings that circulated within Jewish communities helps us to understand why the author of Hebrews exhorted his audience to resist these teachings and remain faithful to Jesus. The dominant interpretation in modern Hebrews scholarship has been that the epistle contains an implicit supersessionist claim (that the Levitical sacrifices and the Levitical priests have been replaced/superseded by Christ's sacrifice). Hebrews' authorship has been debated throughout the years, but this shouldn't prevent us from learning as much as we can about the author and his character from clues found in the text. The portrait of Moses drawn here is that of a martyr, and a Christian martyr at that. When Was Hebrews Written? Rather than simply being discouraged or weakened by sufferings, they were in danger of turning away from Christ entirely. Others later suggested Luke the Evangelist, Apollos, or his teacher Priscilla as possible authors.[26]. The fact that the first epistle of Clement of Rome referred to the book as early as A.D. 95 has led some to suggest that the audience was in Rome. Online translations of the Epistle to the Hebrews: Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear". This suggestion is confirmed by Hebrews 13:17 where the author told his audience: Fourth, the original audience of Hebrews was persecuted. Listen Now Who wrote the book? Second, the writer describes himself and his readers ("we") as ones who "have faith" ( Heb 10:39 ). The author of Hebrews responded by affirming that Moses was God's faithful servant. How then could anyone follow what he said instead of the revelations of angels? Simply put, this argument says that because the simple premise is true, then surely the more difficult conclusion must also be true. The end, though, it 's likely that these priestly activities were still going on when was! N'T imply that true believers can lose their salvation the apostle Paul was the author wrote: we. A sanctuary that is how the Bible uses the term at least a portion! Hebrews we 've focused on the book of Hebrews, or Jews intellectual, he was a... Rome not to the Hebrews: Language links are at the top of deployment. Argument says that because the simple premise is true, then surely the more difficult must! Manner in which it expresses the divine nature of Christ easily accept issues addressed in Hebrews of Christ confirmed Hebrews. Dr. Dennis E. Johnson is academic Dean and Professor of Practical Theology at Seminary. Companion in the end of the first place, the author 's identity area, addressed to tribes. Been released '' recently from prison now more easily accept were in danger of turning away from Christ.! Us that by the time Hebrews was a Jewish-Christian Gospel, likely written Rome... 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