My next devotional series tackles the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews. This will be an interesting challenge, as many commentators compare this to Romans as among the best epistles in the New Testament for helping the believer understand Christ and His sacrifice. Just as a reminder to our readers: I am not a trained Bible scholar nor have I gone to divinity school. I am doing these devotionals as a way to really dig into scripture and not just touch the surface of His words through rote repetition in a “Bible in One Year” methodology. Writing means reading means learning, in my honest opinion. Thanks for subscribing!
Here is R.C. Sproul, quoted in Precept Austin about the book of Hebrews:
“If I were cast into prison and allowed but one book, it would be the Bible. If I were allowed only one book of the Bible, it would be the Epistle to the Hebrews… because it contains our most comprehensive discussion of the redemption wrought for us in the sacrifice of Jesus.”
“There is no portion of Scripture whose authorship is more disputed,
nor any of which the inspiration is more indisputable.”
To do this series I will rely on various scholars and commentators, include Precept Austin, Enduring Word, the Blue Letter Bible, Gotquestions.org and maybe a few new sources, depending on my research. Precept Austin has several different groups of commentary on Hebrews, including another set of expository writings by Charles Spurgeon!
The authorship of Hebrews has long been a subject of debate. From a timeline perspective, here is the set of events in the first century and when Hebrews fits into that timeline (from Precept Austin and the Ryrie Study Bible):
Hebrews was likely written in the 64-68 AD timeframe, according to this study bible.
From Precept Austin, the late John MacArthur is quoted about the authorship of Hebrews:
The author of Hebrews is unknown. Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Apollos, Luke, Philip, Priscilla, Aquila, and Clement of Rome have been suggested by different scholars, but the epistle’s vocabulary, style, and various literary characteristics do not clearly support any particular claim. It is significant that the writer includes himself among those people who had received confirmation of Christ’s message from others (Heb 2:3). That would seem to rule out someone like Paul who claimed that he had received such confirmation directly from God and not from men (Gal. 1:12). Whoever the author was, he preferred citing OT references from the Greek OT (LXX) rather than from the Hebrew text. Even the early church expressed various opinions on authorship, and current scholarship admits the puzzle still has no solution. Therefore, it seems best to accept the epistle’s anonymity. Ultimately, of course, the author was the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). (Introduction)
Of course Gotquestions.org has an intriguing answer to the question of authorship:
If Paul didn’t write the letter, who did? The most plausible suggestion is that this was actually a sermon Paul gave and it was transcribed later by Luke, a person who would have had the command of the Greek language that the writer shows. Barnabas is another likely prospect, since he was a Levite and would have been speaking on a subject that he knew much about. Martin Luther suggested Apollos, since he would have had the education the writer of this letter must have had. Priscilla and Clement of Rome have been suggested by other scholars.
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), indicating that 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.
And from Enduring Word, here is what David Guzik says about the origin of Hebrews:
The earliest statement on the authorship of Hebrews is from Clement of Alexandria, who said that Paul wrote it in Hebrew and Luke translated into Greek (Eusebius, History 6.14.2). Perhaps the majority of Bible teachers and commentators believe the Apostle Paul wrote the Hebrews without attaching his name to it, though his original readers knew him (indicated by passages such as Hebrews 13:18-19 and 13:23-24).
However, many other commentators believe it is unlikely that Paul wrote this book. Dods quotes Farrar: “The writer cites differently from St. Paul; he writes differently; he argues differently; he declaims differently; he constructs and connects his sentences differently; he builds up his paragraphs on a wholly different model… His style is the style of a man who thinks as well as writes in Greek; whereas St. Paul wrote in Greek but thought in Syriac.”
F.F. Bruce quoted Calvin on this point: “The manner of teaching and the style sufficiently show that Paul was not the author, and the writer himself confesses in the second chapter (Hebrews 2:3) that he was one of the disciples of the apostles, which is wholly different from the way in which Paul spoke of himself.”
The early commentator Tertullian (who wrote in the early 200s) said Barnabas wrote Hebrews, but he offered no support for this statement other than that Barnabas was a Levite (Acts 4:36) and a man of encouragement (Acts 4:36).
Martin Luther believed that Apollos wrote the book of Hebrews, because Acts tells us Apollos was eloquent and had a strong command of the Old Testament (Acts 18:24).
Adolf Harnack thought Priscilla (with her husband Aquilla) wrote Hebrews, and it remained anonymous to hide its controversial female authorship. But when the writer to the Hebrews writes of himself in Hebrews 11:32, the masculine grammar of the passage argues against the idea that a woman wrote the letter.
No matter who the human author of Hebrews was, there are indications that it was written fairly early in the New Testament period, probably somewhere around AD 67 to 69. The reference to Timothy (Hebrews 13:23) places it fairly early. The present lack of physical persecution (Hebrews 12:4) puts it fairly early. Finally, the lack of any reference to the destruction of the temple probably puts it before AD 70, when Jerusalem and the second temple were destroyed. Since the writer to the Hebrews was so concerned with the passing of the Old Covenant, it seems unlikely that he would ignore the destruction of the temple if it had already happened before he wrote.
Finally, the inimitable Charles Spurgeon has this to say about Hebrews:
We have now reached that wonderful part of Holy Scripture which is found in the epistle to the Hebrews. Fully to understand it we ought to study closely the Book of Leviticus. Diamonds only will cut diamonds; the Word of God is its own expositor; the New Testament is the key of the old. The epistle opens with the declaration that whatsoever was communicated by the prophets was spoken by God. He spoke whatsoever was uttered by his prophets. The Scriptures are very jealous on this subject; how different from the language of many who seem desirous to exclude God from being the author of his own word!
Regardless of the identity of the human who put quill to parchment to write Hebrews, it is a gift from God and it has a key part of the statements of faith in the New Testament.
My next devotional will start with the first two verses of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:1-2) - God spoke to us through His prophets and His Son.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please lead me through the Epistle to the Hebrews, like you guided the anonymous author of this epistle. Help me to continue to see the texts and my writings and guide me through the likelihood of eye surgery later this fall. Amen.
Precept Austin was accessed on 09/27/2025 to review commentary and timelines for the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission (minor formatting changes have been made to improve readability).
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 09/27/2025 to answer the question, Who wrote Hebrews? © COPYRIGHT 2002-2025 GOT QUESTIONS MINISTRIES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.