: it quotes Heb 11:16, "they desire a better country." Hebrews uses Old Testament quotations interpreted in light of first-century rabbinical Judaism. 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. these and other conceptions did provide "a precedent... to conceive Jesus similarly as a priest making atonement and eternal intercession in the heavenly sanctuary". In the 3rd century,
Origen wrote of the letter: Matthew J. Thomas argues that Origen was not denying Paul's authorship of Hebrews in that quote, but that he was only meaning that Paul would have employed an
amanuensis to compose the letter. He points out that in other writings and quotations of Hebrews, Origen describes Paul as the author of the letter. 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. Scholars argued that in the 13th chapter of Hebrews,
Timothy is referred to as a companion. Timothy was Paul's missionary companion in the same way Jesus sent
disciples out in pairs. The writer also states that he wrote the letter from "Italy", which also at the time fits Paul. 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. 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. Recent scholarship has favored the idea that the author was probably a leader of a predominantly Jewish congregation to whom they were writing. Because of its anonymity, it had some trouble being accepted as
part of the Christian canon, being classed with the
Antilegomena. Eventually it was accepted as Scripture because of its sound theology, eloquent presentation, and other intrinsic factors. The original
King James Version of the Bible titled the work "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews". However, the KJV's attribution to Paul was only a guess, and is currently disputed by recent research. cemetery, ; "After death, judgment."
A.J. 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". Later proposed by
Adolf von Harnack in 1900, Harnack's reasoning won the support of prominent Bible scholars of the early-20th century. Harnack believes the letter was written in Rome – not to the Church, but to the inner circle. In setting forth his evidence for Priscillan authorship, he finds it amazing that the name of the author was blotted out by the earliest tradition. Citing Hebrews 13, he says it was written by a person of "high standing and apostolic teacher of equal rank with Timothy". If Luke, Clement, Barnabas, or Apollos had written it, Harnack believes their names would not have been obliterated.
Donald Guthrie's commentary
The Letter to the Hebrews (1983) mentions Priscilla by name as a suggested author. Believing the author to have been Priscilla, Ruth Hoppin posits that the name was omitted either to suppress its female authorship, or to protect the letter itself from suppression. 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."
Date The use of
tabernacle terminology in Hebrews has been used to date the epistle before the
destruction of the temple, the idea being that knowing about the destruction of both Jerusalem and the temple would have influenced the development of the author's overall argument. Therefore, the most probable date for its composition is the second half of the year 63 or the beginning of 64, according to the
Catholic Encyclopedia. ==Audience==