Who wrote the Book of Hebrews? Who was the author of Hebrews?
… The letter closes with the words “Grace be with you all” (Hebrews 13:25), which is the same closing found in each of Paul’s known letters (see Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 6:18; Ephesians 6:24; Philippians 4:23; Colossians 4:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:18; 1 Timothy 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:22; Titus 3:15; and Philemon 25). However, it should be noted that Peter (1 Peter 5:14; 2 Peter 3:18) used similar—though not identical—closings. It is also possible that it was simply customary to close letters like this with the words “Grace be with you all” during this time period.
Church tradition teaches that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, and until the 1800s, that issue was closed. However, though a vast majority of Christians—both and scholars and the laity—still believe Paul wrote the book, there are some tempting reasons to think otherwise.
[…]
However, there is still much evidence that Paul wrote the letter. The most compelling comes from Scripture itself. Remember that Peter wrote to the Hebrews (that is, the Jews; see Galatians 2:7, 9 and 1 Peter 1:1). Peter wrote: “…just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him” (2 Peter 3:15). In that last verse, Peter is confirming that Paul had also written a letter to the Hebrews!
The theology presented in Hebrews is consistent with Paul’s. Paul was a proponent of salvation by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8, 9), and that message is strongly communicated in this epistle (Hebrews 4:2, 6:12, 10:19-22, 10:37-39, and 11:1-40). [That Hebrews teaches ‘faith alone’ is false. See 4:1, 11; 5:9; 10:26-39; and 12:14-17, which is why Luther rejected the book as being sub-biblical. Significant is that Luther’s favorite phrase, “the just shall live by faith” is both in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10: 38 — and in Hebrews, the surrounding verses 26-39 clearly show that obedience is essential. Compare the Greek of Romans 1:17 ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται to Hebrews 10:38 ὁ δὲ δίκαιός μου ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται – ed.] Either Paul wrote the epistle, or the writer was trained by Paul. Although it is a small detail, this epistle makes mention of Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), and Paul is the only apostle known to have ever done that in any letter.
Leave a Reply