Book of Hebrews
Summary of the Book of Hebrews
This summary of the book of Hebrews provides
information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme,
theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Hebrews.
The writer of this letter does not identify
himself, but he was obviously well known to the original recipients. Though for
some 1,200 years (from c. a.d. 400 to 1600) the book was commonly called
"The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews," there was no agreement in the
earliest centuries regarding its authorship. Since the Reformation it has been
widely recognized that Paul could not have been the writer. There is no
disharmony between the teaching of Hebrews and that of Paul's letters, but the
specific emphases and writing styles are markedly different. Contrary to Paul's
usual practice, the author of Hebrews nowhere identifies himself in the letter
-- except to indicate that he was a man (see note on 11:32). Moreover, the statement "This salvation, which was first
announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (2:3), indicates that the author had neither been with Jesus during
his earthly ministry nor received special revelation directly from the risen
Lord, as had Paul (Gal 1:11-12).
The earliest suggestion of authorship is found
in Tertullian's De Pudicitia, 20 (c. 200), in which he quotes
from "an epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas." From the
letter itself it is clear that the writer must have had authority in the
apostolic church and was an intellectual Hebrew Christian well versed in the
OT. Barnabas meets these requirements. He was a Jew of the priestly tribe of
Levi (Ac 4:36) who became a close friend of Paul after the
latter's conversion. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church at
Antioch commissioned Barnabas and Paul for the work of evangelism and sent them
off on the first missionary journey (Ac 13:1-4).
The other leading candidate for authorship is
Apollos, whose name was first suggested by Martin Luther and who is favored by
many interpreters today. Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, was also a Jewish
Christian with notable intellectual and oratorical abilities. Luke tells us
that "he was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the
Scriptures" (Ac 18:24). We also know that Apollos was associated with Paul in the
early years of the church in Corinth (1Co 1:12; 3:4-6,22).
One thing is evident: The author was a master
of the Greek language of his day, and he was thoroughly acquainted with the
pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint), which he regularly
quotes.
Hebrews must have been written before the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in a.d. 70 because: (1) If it had been
written after this date, the author surely would have mentioned the temple's
destruction and the end of the Jewish sacrificial system; and (2) the author
consistently uses the Greek present tense when speaking of the temple and the
priestly activities connected with it (see 5:1-3; 7:23,27; 8:3-5;9:6-9,13,25; 10:1,3-4,8,11; 13:10-11).
The letter was addressed primarily to Jewish
converts who were familiar with the OT and who were being tempted to revert to
Judaism or to Judaize the gospel (cf.Gal 2:14). Some have suggested that these
professing Jewish Christians were thinking of merging with a Jewish sect, such
as the one at Qumran near the Dead Sea. It has also been suggested that the
recipients were from the "large number of priests who became obedient to
the faith" (Ac 6:7).
The theme of Hebrews is the absolute supremacy
and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and as mediator of God's grace. The
prologue (1:1-4) presents Christ as God's full and final
revelation, far surpassing the revelation given in the OT. The prophecies and
promises of the OT are fulfilled in the "new covenant" (or "new testament"),
of which Christ is the mediator. From the OT itself, Christ is shown to be
superior to the ancient prophets, to angels, to Moses (the mediator of the
former covenant) and to Aaron and the priestly succession descended from him.
Hebrews could be called "the book of better things" since the two
Greek words for "better" and "superior" occur 15 times in
the letter. A striking feature of this presentation of the gospel is the unique
manner in which the author employs expositions of eight specific passages of
the OT Scriptures:
Practical applications of this theme are given
throughout the book. The readers are told that there can be no turning back to
or continuation in the old Jewish system, which has been superseded by the
unique priesthood of Christ. God's people must now look only to him, whose
atoning death, resurrection and ascension have opened the way into the true,
heavenly sanctuary of God's presence. To "ignore such a great
salvation" (2:3) or to give up the pursuit of holiness (12:10,14) is to face the anger of the "living God" (10:31). Five times the author weaves into his presentation of the
gospel stern warnings (see note on 2:1-4) and reminds his readers of the divine
judgment that came on the rebellious generation of Israelites in the desert.
Hebrews is commonly referred to as a letter,
though it does not have the typical form of a letter. It ends like a letter (13:22-25) but begins more like an essay or sermon (1:1-4). The author does not identify himself or
those addressed, which letter writers normally did. And he offers no manner of
greeting, such as is usually found at the beginning of ancient letters. Rather,
he begins with a magnificent statement about Jesus Christ. He calls his work a
"word of exhortation" (13:22), the conventional designation given a sermon in a synagogue
service (see Ac 13:15, where "message of encouragement" translates the same
Greek words as "word of exhortation"). Like a sermon, Hebrews is full
of encouragement, exhortations and stern warnings. It is likely that the author
used sermonic materials and sent them out in a modified letter form.
5.
Christ's superior
priestly order (ch. 7)
A.
A New Sanctuary and a
New Covenant (ch. 8)
2.
Faith and its many
outstanding examples (ch. 11)
V.
Conclusion (ch. 13)
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