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Notes on Hebrews 202 1 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable DATE The writer said that he and those to whom he wrote had come to faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of others who had heard Jesus (2:3-4). Apparently those preachers had since died (13:7). The original readers had been Christians over an extended period of time (5:12). So probably the earliest possible date of composition was about A.D. 60. Some scholars believe that the book must have been written before A.D. 70, since the writer spoke of the mentioned sacrifices as being offered at the time of writing (7:27-28; 8:3-5; 9:7-8, 25; 10:1-3, 8; 13:10-11). However, the writer showed no interest in the temple, but described the sacrifices like those the Israelites offered when the tabernacle stood. He evidently used the present tense to give these references a timeless quality, rather than indicating that temple worship was still in practice. Nevertheless a date of composition before A.D. 70 seems probable.1 "The best argument for the supersession of the old covenant would have been the destruction of the Temple."2 The reference to Timothy's release from imprisonment (13:23) appears to date the book later in the life of that outstanding man. Almost all scholars believe that the Timothy referred to in Hebrews is the same one named elsewhere in the New Testament. No other New Testament writer mentioned Timothy's imprisonment. The imprisonment of Christians seems to have been a well-known fact of life (10:34; 13:3). This was true after 1William L. Lane, Hebrews 1—8, pp. lxii-lxvi; Andrew H. Trotter Jr., Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 27-38; Philip E. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 30-31. 2H. W. Montefiore, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 3. Copyright Ó 2021 by Thomas L. Constable www.soniclight.com 2 Dr. Constable's Notes on Hebrews 2021 Edition Nero launched an empire-wide persecution in A.D. 64. All of these factors, when taken together, seem to point to a writing date near A.D. 68-69.1 WRITER As to authorship, most students of this subject are not dogmatic or even certain, for good reason.2 As early as Origen, the Alexandrian church father who died about A.D. 255, no one knew who the writer was for sure. After careful study of the authorship of Hebrews, Origen wrote, "But who it was that really wrote the epistle, God only knows."3 "The language of the Epistle is both in vocabulary and style purer and more vigorous than that of any other book of the New Testament. "… The vocabulary is singularly copious. It includes a large number of words which are not found elsewhere in the apostolic writings, very many of which occur in this book only among the Greek Scriptures …"4 "All that can be said with certainty is that Hebrews was composed by a creative theologian who was well trained in the exposition of the Greek Scriptures. … He was surely a hellenistic Jewish-Christian."5 1See Richard C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James, p. 22; Robert G. Gromacki, Stand Bold in Grace, p. 16; J. Paul Tanner, "The Epistle to the Hebrews," in The Grace New Testament Commentary, 2:1032. 2See Hughes, pp. 19-30; Trotter, pp. 39-57; or Donald A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 600-4; for good discussions. 3Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, p. 247. 4Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. xliv. See Trotter, pp. 117-43. 5Lane, p. xlix. 2021 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Hebrews 3 Commentators have made cases for the writer being Paul,1 Apollos,2 Barnabas,3 Luke,4 Peter, Jude, Stephen, Silvanus (Silas), Epaphras (Epaphroditus), Philip the Evangelist, Priscilla,5 Mary the mother of Jesus, Clement of Rome, Aristion, and others. However, the masculine participle diegoumenon ("to tell"), which refers to the writer in 11:32, would seem to rule out a female writer. Ancient testimony mentioned only four possibilities: Paul, Luke, Barnabas, and Clement.6 None of these suggestions has found enthusiastic general reception for various reasons. Probably we should be content to share Origen's agnosticism on this question—and look forward to getting the answer in heaven.7 "The absence both of solid testimony, internal or external, and of any firm traditions means that, as things are, the riddle of the authorship of Hebrews is incapable of solution."8 The early Christians originally accepted all the New Testament books as inspired by God because they each contained teaching from an official apostle. For this reason, the writer was probably either an apostle or a close associate of at least one of the apostles (cf. 13:23). 1Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1929; W. J. Conybeare, in The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, pp. 788-790; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Practical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, pp. 1393-95; J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, 5:269; G. Campbell Morgan, An Exposition of the Whole Bible, p. 518; Adolph Saphir, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 1:19, footnote 10; Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible, 4:1:230-32; William R. Newell, Hebrews Verse by Verse, p. 493; Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, pp. 18-21; J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, 6:275; Ray C. Stedman, What More Can God Say? p. 3; J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, 5:503. 2Lenski, pp. 21-22; A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 5:329. 3Tertullian, cited by Jamieson, et al., p. 1393. 4G. Campbell Morgan, The Unfolding Message of the Bible, p. 359; David L. Allen, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews. 5Adolph Harnack, "Probabilia über die Adresse und den Verfasser des Hebräerbriefs," Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, I (1900):16-41. 6See Gregory Goswell, "Finding a Home for the Letter to the Hebrews," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 59:4 (2016):747-60 for discussion of the placement of Hebrews in various ancient editions of the New Testament. 7See Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text, pp. 3-21. 8Hughes, p. 19. 4 Dr. Constable's Notes on Hebrews 2021 Edition RECIPIENTS The original recipients of the epistle are also unknown. The title "The Epistle to the Hebrews" implies that they were Jewish Christians. This title is ancient and is probably a safe guide to the identity of the first readers. References in the epistle also suggest that the original readers were mainly Jewish. The writer assumed, as we can infer from his material, that they were very familiar with the institutions of Judaism. The warnings against turning away from Jesus Christ back to the Old Covenant also imply this identity. Other indications of a Jewish target audience are: the emphasis on the superior priesthood of Jesus, and the many appeals to the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures. However, the brand of Judaism in view seems to have been Hellenistic rather than Palestinian (Hebraic). While conceding that it is now impossible to identify the original recipients exactly, some respected scholars favor the theory that they were probably former Jewish priests, probably of the Essene variety.1 The reference to the generosity of the readers and their helping other believers (6:10) suggests that the original audience did not live in Palestine. The Palestinian churches had a reputation for needing material assistance, rather than for giving it to other Christians (cf. Rom. 15:25-31; 1 Cor. 16:3). Probably, therefore, they were Jews of the Diaspora. This conclusion has support in the writer's consistent use of the Septuagint Old Testament version. All the quotations from the Old Testament, except two (10:30; 13:5), are taken from the Septuagint (LXX).2 Hellenistic Jews used this translation widely, but Palestinian Jews did not use it as much. Arguments for the recipients being Palestinian Jews include: their intimate knowledge of temple rituals, and their opportunity to escape suffering by conveniently returning to the observance of Jewish practices and feasts.3 I think the arguments for their living outside Palestine are stronger. In most of the New Testament churches, there was a mixture of Jewish and Gentile believers. The appeal of this epistle would certainly have been as great to Gentiles, tempted to return to paganism, as it would have been to Jews facing temptation to return to Judaism. However, the writer's primary 1See ibid., pp. 10-15. 2Jamieson, et al., p. 1393. 3See Pink, p. 11; J. Dwight Pentecost, A Faith That Endures, pp. 12-13; and Hughes, pp. 15-19. 2021 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Hebrews 5 concern appears to have been, that, his Jewish readers were failing to appreciate that Christianity is the divinely revealed successor to Judaism. He did not want them to abandon Christianity and return to Judaism. Probably the letter originally went to a house-church, outside of Palestine, that had a strong Hellenistic Jewish population. This church may have been in or near Galatia, in view of conditions that existed there that the Epistle to the Galatians reflects. However, they may very well have lived in another area. Many scholars believe that the letter went first to a church in or near Rome.1 Evidently, knowledge of where the original recipients lived disappeared about the same time as knowledge of who the writer was.2 Robert Gormacki summarized the internal evidence of the audience's identity well: First, they were believers.
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