Features
- Christ as high priest, an image unique to the book of Hebrews
- Lots of compare/contrast
- Temple worship highlighted
- Lots of emphasis on speech and communication – it is God’s nature to communicate, reveal, disclose
- Exhortation to maturity
- Close relationship of suffering to perfection
Author
Authorship of this book is highly contested and often debated.
Eusebius in the second century attributed it to Paul. The earliest codex (a manuscript in book format) from around 200AD placed it right after Romans, implying Pauline authorship. In the early 200s, Origin taught that the Greek in this book was a different style than Paul’s, and he attributed it to a later follower of Paul. Tertullian around 200 attributed it to Barnabas. Augustine and Jermoe, both in the 400s, both attributed it to Paul although Jermoe was less sure. In the 1500s, Luther preferred Apollos, mentioned in the book of Acts, but very few modern scholars agree. A 20th-century Lutheran scholar, Adolf von Harnack, favored Priscilla, a woman mentioned in Acts and Romans. Again, few modern scholars agree.
The majority of modern scholars believe this book was not written by Paul, but is, rather, anonymous and deeply influenced by Paul’s thought and teachings.
Date
This book is very hard to date since it has no references to external events or situations. There is no clear consensus, but most scholars date it around 70-90 AD.
Audience
The majority view is that it was written for the Jewish-Christian community in Jerusalem who would have had a strong connection to Temple worship.
Genre
This book doesn’t fit easily into a genre. It is definitely not a letter. It’s more like someone transcribed a really good sermon. The material fits the form of oral rhetoric.
Structure
- Jesus is superior over the angels and even Moses chps 1-3
- Jesus’ priesthood is superior to human priesthood chps 4-7
- Jesus’ sacrifice and ministry in heaven are superior to the human system of sacrifice and temple ministry chps 8-10
- Putting it all into practice chps 10-13
In Year B we cover the first three bullets while Year C covers the practical part of the book.
One theme that governs this book is the Exodus story. The audience is a group that should be mature but have stagnated. They are just like the chosen ones who should have been in the promised land but were stagnated and had to wander around in the desert. A further extension is that we are living in that in-between time between Christ’s resurrection and the second coming. Part of the message of Hebrews is to say “don’t stagnate in this in-between time!”