Hebrews: It's Not How You Start--It's How You Finish

About The Author of Hebrews

Welcome to a study on what I believe to be one of the greatest, most inspiring books in not only the New Testament, but the entire Bible itself. For those of you who struggle as I do with faith in the midst of trials, it is my sincere hope that before this study is concluded, you will come to fully realize that blessed assurance and eternal hope that because Jesus faithfully finished His work, we can make it! We can press onward and finish our race with endurance and confidence because of the promised joy and eternal rest that is set before us.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, let’s pause to briefly examine ocne of the most intriguing questions pertaining to this particular epistle---namely, who wrote it? The question of authorship has led to much scholarly speculation for centuries. Just like the ancestral background of Melchizedek (whom we’ll study in more detail later), it is unknown, and at times in the early centuries of the church, the epistle’s unknown authorship posed a potential threat to its inclusion in the New Testament canon.
Despite the book’s lack of a familiar traditional greeting that one expects from a New Testament epistle, it is obvious from the way the book closes in Hebrews 13:18-25 that the book was meant to be an epistle to its original recipients. The writer was obviously not anonymous to them. For whatever reason, the author himself either wished to conceal his identity to future recipients or the original recipients chose not to share this information when they began circulating copies of the original manuscript. Tchus, early church tradition seems to be divided into two camps as to proposed authorship---supporters of Paul, or supporters of one of his close associates.

Supporters of Pauline authorship point out the reference to Timothy in 13:23. They also point out the similarity in language and phrases expressed in Hebrews as compared to Paul’s other known epistles. As examples, look at the Scripture passages below from Paul’s letters and compare them to corresponding similar analogies in Hebrews. What subjects do these passages have in common?
I Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:12-13 _________________________
I Corinthians 9:24; II Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 12:1 _______________
Nevertheless, significant differences have led many Biblical scholars to reject Pauline authorship. Although it is difficult to see and understand because of our English translations, the Greek style of Hebrews is more refined (or to use a common
phrase from Hebrews “better than”) the style typically used by Paul in his epistles. With regard to the reference to Timothy in Heb. 13:23, it seems clear from the context that Timothy has been released from prison. In II Timothy, however (the letter which is generally regarded as Paul’s last written epistle composed just before his expected death), Timothy had not yet suffered for the gospel’s sake to the point of being imprisoned as other Christian martyrs had. Therefore, his imprisonment and his release from prison alluded to in Hebrews 13:23 must have occurred after Paul’s death.
In addition, the lack of Paul’s customary salutation to his readers which always included his name is noticeably missing from the beginning of the book. While Paul used both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament which originated from Alexandria, Egypt during the time before Christ) to quote passages from the Old Testament; the writer of Hebrews, primarily quotes exclusively from the Septuagint. As a final argument, it seems
inconceivable to me and others that the Apostle Paul would ever have written Hebrews 2:3 since he consistently asserted that his apostleship and calling came directly from the risen Christ Himself! He constantly asserted that he was called to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, and every serious attempt he made to try to reach out to the Jewish community
seemed to always be met with failure and rejection. The author of Hebrews, however, seems to have developed a good enough relationship with his obviously Jewish group of recipients that he believes they will ultimately listen and heed the strong truths which he imparts to them in his “word of exhortation” (13:22).
Now let’s briefly look at two of my favorite potential candidates for authorship of the book of Hebrews:
1) Barnabas
The church father Tertullian referred to Barnabas as the writer of Hebrews.
We first hear of Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37. Please turn to that passage now and answer the following questions:
a) What tribe of Israel did Barnabas belong? ______________________
b) Where was Barnabas from? _________________________________
c) What does his name mean? __________________________________
As we study this marvelous and fascinating New Testament work, we will see that
a central theme of the book involves Jesus’ present ministry as our Great High Priest and His supremacy over the old Levitical priesthood. By coming from the isle of Cyprus, Barnabas may have had some Greek as well as Jewish ancestors in his genealogy, and he could have had some exposure to the Septuagint. Also, his name “Son of

Encouragement” would make him a very apt candidate since Hebrews is a book of encouragement.
B. Apollos
Apollos became a favorite candidate of Martin Luther during the Reformation. Apollos is mentioned in Acts 18:24-28. Please turn to this passage and answer the following questions:
a) Where was Apollos from? __________________________________
b) How is he described in verse 24? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c) What did he do verse 28? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apollos, an “eloquent Jew”, was from Alexandria, Egypt, the birthplace of
the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. He is also mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians 1:12 and 3:4-6 (in the same epistle and chapter in which Paul refers to the Corinthians as “babes” and needing “milk to drink, not solid food” (3:1-2). Thus, Apollos would have been familiar with this famous Pauline phrase. He is referred to an eloquent man, “mighty in the Scriptures” who was able to use the Scriptures to refute Jewish claims that Jesus was not the Messiah. This description could certainly apply to the writer of Hebrews.
In addition to these two men, some other potential candidates mentioned have been Luke, Silas (or Silvanus), Philip the Evangelist of Acts 8, Priscilla and Aquila, and even Priscilla by herself (My! That’s an interesting thought.). While such speculation can be fun, in the end we’ll simply have to agree with Origen, a third century theologian, who summed it all up with these words: “But as to who wrote the epistle, God knows the truth of the matter.”

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