Who Wrote the Letter to the Hebrews?

Who Wrote the Letter to the Hebrews? To whom was it addressed?

In this article I shall endeavor to answer the two following questions: Who wrote the letter to the Hebrews? To whom was it addressed?

Who Wrote the Letter?

Various opinions are held by conservative scholars as to who the human author of this epistle was. Some think Paul wrote it, but others are of the opinion that Barnabas did it. Still others think that Apollos was the author. No one can be dogmatic on this point. For years I was in a quandary as to who the human author was. Of late, however, I have arrived at what I think is the correct conclusion.

I am now of the opinion that the Apostle Paul was the author. There are two reasons which have led me to this decision. The salutation of the recognized Pauline epistles is practically the same in each letter. The Book of Hebrews ends with a similar salutation. My second reason for believing that Paul probably was the author is found in Peter's statement (II Peter 3:15), in which passage the Apostle said that Paul had written a letter to those to whom he sent his epistle. From II Peter 3:1 we see that this is a second epistle sent to this group. From I Peter 1:1,2 we learn that the Apostle's first epistle was sent to Hebrew Christians in the Dispersion scattered throughout certain provinces in central Asia Minor. We therefore know that Peter's epistles were sent to these Hebrew believers.

Peter says that the Apostle Paul wrote in an epistle to these same people things that were hard to be understood. From this statement, we see that Paul wrote a special letter to the Hebrews and that these Jewish believers to whom Peter wrote likewise were the recipients of an epistle from Paul. Everyone who studies the letter to the Hebrews knows that it contains many things hard to be understood. All of the Pauline epistles were directed to certain definite groups or persons concerning whom we have definite knowledge. Since the Lord sent an epistle through Paul to the Hebrews, since our present epistle contains things that are hard to understand, since it was written to Hebrews, and since there are no other known epistles of the Apostle that would meet these conditions, I conclude that the Holy Spirit chose Paul to write this one. Though the evidence is not absolute and positive, it is very strong; and, in the absence of negative evidence, one can entertain logically the thought that probably the Apostle Paul wrote this letter.

After all, it does not matter so very much as to who was chosen by the Spirit as the human author (though we do like to know). When we know that a document was written by the Holy Spirit, as we are confident this one was, we receive it with all gratitude and endeavor by God's grace to understand its message.

To Whom Was the Letter Addressed?

To whom was the letter addressed? This question is answered differently by various scholars. The consensus of opinion, however, so far as I am able to ascertain is that it was sent to a given community of Hebrew believers who were discouraged and who were at the point of abandoning Christianity and going back to Judaism. There is much in the epistle that favors this view. On the other hand, there is much evidence which points to a different conclusion. There are those who are of the opinion that the epistle was addressed to the entire Jewish nation in the late sixties of the first century and constituted an appeal to the Jewish race to accept Christ immediately. There is much in favor of this position. All the evidence which I have been able to gather seems most positively, to me at least, to point in this direction.

There can be little doubt that the epistle was sent directly by the Apostle to a given community of Hebrew Christians who needed encouragement. While they were the immediate recipients of the message, God used them to start the epistle on the way to the entire nation of Israel. This was the regular way God started the books of the New Testament on their historic missions. For instance, the Roman letter was written by Paul to the church in the city by that name. By it the epistle was given circulation among all of the churches throughout the world of that day and time. What was true of the Roman epistle is also true of the other epistles and letters of the New Testament. In the same manner we can logically conclude that the Hebrew letter was sent first to this community of Hebrew believers and thus was started on its way to the entire nation and to the church of God.

Let us remember that the gospel was preached first in Jerusalem, next in Judea then in Samaria; and finally it went forth to the four corners of the globe. The apostolic preachers, following the instructions of our Lord, thus went forth and gave the gospel to the world in the first generation of the church, proclaiming it first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles of each community. For proof that it was preached to the entire world, see Romans 10:18 and Colossians 1:6,23.

In Acts 3 the Apostle Peter called upon the nation of Israel to repent of their rejection of Jesus and to accept Him personally in order that God might send the seasons of refreshing from His presence, and that He might send the Messiah to them, even Jesus. But the nation did not heed. In the late sixties of that century, it seems that God gave the final call to the race. It went forth in the form of this epistle (let us in this connection remember the facts that were presented in the former article of this series). The Hebrew believers were in very close and intimate connection with unbelieving Hebrews; thus the message of the epistle would go immediately from the believers to the unbelievers of the given locality to which the epistle was first sent; and from them it would go forth unto the whole Jewish race, as the Hebrew Christians were zealous to make the message known to their unbelieving brethren.

In chapter 1 the Apostle presented the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he urged them to give the more earnest heed to the things which had been heard lest haply they might drift away from them. We should notice the fact that the message had been heard but presumably not heeded, because there was a great possibility of their drifting away, as a ship, that is not anchored.

Further confirmation of this position is seen in the participle of the original text rendered in verse 3 as, “if we neglect so great a salvation.” The verb from which this participle is derived literally means “it is a care.” Later the verb took on a personal character and was used as other verbs in the various persons. This word is here prefixed by the negative and, of course, indicates the opposite from caring for. It therefore came to mean “not caring for; not being interested in; not paying attention to.” In Matthew 22:5 it is rendered “they made light of it.” The guests invited to the marriage feast of the king did not care for the invitation. On the contrary, they made light of it. This very word is used in this passage to indicate such an attitude. In Hebrews 8:9 God said that He regarded Israel not, because she refused to walk in His ways. The word under discussion is in this latter passage rendered “regarded not.” In view of the fact that those to whom the epistle was written had heard but were in danger of drifting away, and in view of the further fact that they were not concerned with the message especially, which they had heard, I come to the conclusion that it was written to the entire Jewish nation, all of which had been evangelized at the time of the writing of the epistle. Only a few had accepted.

In 3:1 the Apostle urged his readers to consider Jesus as Apostle and High Priest of the Jewish faith, “our confession.” The readers had heard the message, had not been interested in it; had neglected considering it. The Apostle therefore urges them to consider Jesus in two aspects: First as Apostle sent from heaven by the Lord to them, and secondly as Jewish High Priest. This language would not have been appropriate if addressed to Hebrew believers, for they could say that they had considered and had accepted Jesus as God's Apostle and their High Priest.