Hebrews Part One Dive

WHO WROTE HEBREWS – THE GREAT MYSTERY!

From the beginning, you can see something is missing in this 1st Century letter – did you notice it when you first started reading Hebrews? Let’s have a look at some other books so we can see what is missing in this one, we’ll jump back to Colossians. How does Colossians begin? Author, quick intro, who it is meant for, grace and peace. Now check out James: author, who it is meant for, greetings. Now jump back to Hebrews: no author, no intro, not even a greeting, just straight into the body of the letter. Aren’t we missing a key part?! Aren’t we missing the beginning part that tells us who wrote this letter? Some people say that the beginning part of the letter has been lost and we only have the ‘body’ of the letter, some say that the person was so well known they didn’t need to say who wrote it. I mean, it is a letter after all, so the person who gave it to them probably told them who it was from. But 2000 years later, the missing first section has dire consequences for us, we have to state the letter of Hebrews as ‘anonymous’ – no-one really knows who wrote it.

So how do we get to know the author if we don’t have a name? The best way to get to know someone is look at the clues that they leave within their writing. We look for things they love, if they mention friends in the letter, the writing style they use, whether it sounds like Paul’s other letters. We look at language, whether they are familiar with Jewish customs, the sort of Greek they writing in, whether it was a common language or academic? Let’s do some investigating.

potentially paul?

First, let’s look at the evidence that suggests Paul wrote it. The first clue is to jump to the end (jump there now!), Hebrews 13:23 says ‘l want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you’. As Paul was close to Timothy, some say that this proves Paul is the author. Timothy is referenced in most of Paul’s letters, but as you read this letter, this doesn’t sound like Paul, and Paul never wrote directly to the Jews, his mission was to the Gentiles. So some scholars have some doubts.

With Paul a possibility, let’s look at some others, and find out what we can tell about the author, suing the points above. He is clearly Jewish. This book is not written from an outsider’s point of view, this author is well versed in Jewish tradition and scriptures, he systematically unravels their beliefs and shows how Jesus is superior to them all. He also says ‘we’ when referring to the Jews, including himself as a Jewish person.

The next thing we notice is that he is a great debater, author and writer. The way he systematically goes through each area of the Jewish belief and show’s how Christ is ‘superior’ or ‘better’ is an amazing read and a debate that would have been hard to win.

He is well educated; Hebrews is written in classical Greek not just the common Greek language. So we know he is Jewish, highly educated, particularly in the Old Testament, and able to write in classical Greek. Now I’m saying ‘he’ but we don’t know for sure if it’s a ‘he’.

So, let’s have a look at some candidates that this might be.

Apollos?

Some say it might be Apollos, a church leader who is mentioned in Acts 18:24-28.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Barnabas?

Some say perhaps it was Barnabas, first mentioned in Acts 4:36 he is described as the son of encouragement. ‘Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”) – sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet’. Then we find him again a little further down the track in Acts.

A 11:22 ‘News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true in the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord'.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people’.

How cool is that! Maybe it was one of the women and they were not able to put their name on it because they were female. The only objection to this would be, would a woman be able to be this highly educated in the 1st Century culture?

Origen, a 3rd Century writer stated, ‘Who wrote the epistle in truth, God alone knows’.  When we go to heaven on my list of questions to ask is “Who wrote Hebrews?!”. But we are going to have a lot of fun trying to figure it out. Write in the margins any clues you get of who it might be as you read the book. Have a ball reading this anonymous letter and discovering all this incredible author has to say.

recommended

The Message of Isaiah

Hebrews part one

Colossians part two