The Epistle to the Hebrews of the Christian Bible is one of the New Testament books whose canonicity was disputed. Traditionally, Paul the Apostle was thought to be the author. However, since the third century this has been questioned, and the consensus among most modern scholars is that the author is unknown. [1] [2]
The Epistle to the Hebrews was included in the collected writings of Paul from a very early date. For example, the late second-century or early third-century codex 𝔓46, a volume of Paul's general epistles, includes Hebrews immediately after Romans. [3]
While the assumption of Pauline authorship readily allowed its acceptance in the Eastern Church, doubts persisted in the West. [4]
Eusebius does not list Epistle to the Hebrews among the antilegomena or disputed books (though he included the unrelated Gospel of the Hebrews). [5] He does record, however, that "some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it is disputed by the church of Rome, on the ground that it was not written by Paul." [6] In response, he endorses the view of Clement of Alexandria: that the epistle was written by Paul in Hebrew (unsigned through modesty), and "translated carefully" into Greek by Luke, [7] a thing demonstrated by its stylistic similarity with Luke's Acts.
Doubts about Pauline authorship were raised around the end of the second century, predominantly in the West. Tertullian attributed the epistle to Barnabas. [8] Both Gaius of Rome [9] and Hippolytus [10] excluded Hebrews from the works of Paul, the latter attributing it to Clement of Rome. [11] Origen noted that others had claimed Clement or Luke as the writer, but he tentatively accepted Pauline origin of the thought in the text and the explanation of Clement of Alexandria, saying that "the thoughts are those of the apostle, but the diction and phraseology are those of some one who remembered the apostolic teachings, and wrote down at his leisure what had been said by his teacher", as quoted by Eusebius. [12]
Jerome, aware of such lingering doubts, [13] included the epistle in his Vulgate but moved it to the end of Paul's writings. Augustine affirmed Paul's authorship and vigorously defended the epistle. By then its acceptance in the New Testament canon was well settled.
In general, the evidence against Pauline authorship is considered too solid for scholarly dispute. Donald Guthrie, in his New Testament Introduction (1976), commented that "most modern writers find more difficulty in imagining how this Epistle was ever attributed to Paul than in disposing of the theory." [14] Harold Attridge tells us that "it is certainly not a work of the apostle". [15] Daniel B. Wallace, who holds to the traditional authorship of the other epistles, states that "the arguments against Pauline authorship, however, are conclusive." [16] As a result, although a few people today believe Paul wrote Hebrews, such as theologian R. C. Sproul, [17] contemporary scholars generally reject Pauline authorship. [18] As Richard Heard notes, in his Introduction to the New Testament, "modern critics have confirmed that the epistle cannot be attributed to Paul and have for the most part agreed with Origen's judgement, 'But as to who wrote the epistle, only God knows the truth.'" [19]
Attridge argues that similarities with Paul's work are simply a product of a shared usage of traditional concepts and language. Others, however, have suggested that they are not accidental, and that the work is a deliberate forgery attempting to pass itself off as a work of Paul. [20] [21]
The text as it has been passed down to the present time is internally anonymous, though some older title headings attribute it to the Apostle Paul.
In Hebrews 2:3, the author states that this "great salvation" was "declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard". This is usually taken to indicate the author was a second-generation Christian. [22]
The style is notably different from the rest of Paul's epistles, a characteristic noted by Clement of Alexandria (c. 210), who argued, according to Eusebius, that the original letter had a Hebrew audience and so was written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek, "some say [by] the evangelist Luke, others... [by] Clement [of Rome]... The second suggestion is more convincing, in view of the similarity of phraseology shown throughout by the Epistle of Clement and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in absence of any great difference between the two works in the underlying thought." He concluded that "as a result of this translation, the same complexion of style is found in this Epistle and in the Acts: but that the [words] 'Paul an apostle' were naturally not prefixed. For, he says, 'in writing to Hebrews who had conceived a prejudice against him and were suspicious of him, he very wisely did not repel them at the beginning by putting his name.'" [23]
This stylistic difference has led Martin Luther and Lutheran churches to refer to Hebrews as one of the antilegomena, [24] one of the books whose authenticity and usefulness was questioned. As a result, it is placed with James, Jude, and Revelation, at the end of Luther's canon.
Some theologians and groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, who continue to maintain Pauline authorship, repeat the opinion of Eusebius that Paul omitted his name because he, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was writing to the Jews. [25] They conjecture that Jews would have likely dismissed the letter if they had known Paul to be the source. They theorize that the stylistic differences from Paul's other letters are attributed to his writing in Hebrew to the Hebrews, and that the letter was translated into Greek by Luke. [25]
Paul is also the only Biblical author, or Jewish author of the same period, to use the analogy of "spiritual milk" negatively contrasted with "solid food" (Hebrews 5:12ff cf. 1 Corinthians 3:2ff). No other author treats spiritual milk negatively, with Old Testament witnesses always speaking milk in a positive sense of nourishment, while Peter employs the term "spiritual milk" as something Christians should "yearn for" in 1 Peter 2:2. The analogy of Christian maturity as moving from milk to meat is unique to Paul’s writing.[ additional citation(s) needed ]
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. Also, the writer states that he wrote the letter from "Italy", which also at the time fits Paul. [26] The difference in style is explained as simply an adjustment to a more specific audience, to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted and pressured to go back to old Judaism. [25] [27] [28]
The epistle contains Paul's classic closing greeting, "Grace… be with you…" as he stated explicitly in 2 Thessalonians 3:17–18 and as implied in 1 Corinthians 16:21–24 and Colossians 4:18. This closing greeting is included at the end of each of Paul's letters:
| Book | Verse | Greek Text (Uncial Letters) [29] |
|---|---|---|
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΗΜⲰΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ Η ΑΓΑΠΗ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΚΑΙ Η ΚΟΙΝⲰΝΙΑ | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΗΜⲰΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟϹ ΥΜⲰΝ ... | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΤΑ ΠΑΝΤⲰΝ ΤⲰΝ ΑΓΑΠⲰΝΤⲰΝ ΤΟΝ ΚΥΡΙΟΝ ... | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟϹ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΗΜⲰΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΗΜⲰΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑ ΠΑΝΤⲰΝ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΘ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΤΑ ΠΑΝΤⲰΝ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟϹ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
Η ΧΑΡΙϹ ΜΕΤΑ ΠΑΝΤⲰΝ ΥΜⲰΝ. | ||
- | - | |
ΑϹΠΑϹΑϹΘΕ ΑΛΛΗΛΟΥϹ ΕΝ ΦΙΛΗΜΑΤΙ ΑΓΑΠΗϹ ... | ||
ΑΥΤⲰ Η ΔΟΞΑ ΚΑΙ ΝΥΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΙϹ ΗΜΕΡΑΝ ΑΙⲰΝΟϹ. | ||
ΤΕΚΝΙΑ, ΦΥΛΑΞΑΤΕ ΕΑΥΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΤⲰΝ ΕΙΔⲰΛⲰΝ. | ||
ΑϹΠΑΖΕΤΑΙ ϹΕ ΤΑ ΤΕΚΝΑ ΤΗϹ ΑΔΕΛΦΗϹ ϹΟΥ ΤΗϹ ΕΚΛΕΚΤΗϹ. | ||
ΕΙΡΗΝΗ ϹΟΙ. ΑϹΠΑΖΟΝΤΑΙ ϹΕ ΟΙ ΦΙΛΟΙ. ΑϹΠΑΖΟΥ ΤΟΥϹ ΦΙΛΟΥϹ ΚΑΤ ΟΝΟΜΑ. | ||
ΤⲰ ΔΕ ΔΥΝΑΜΕΝⲰ ΦΥΛΑΞΑΙ ΥΜΑϹ ΑΠΤΑΙϹΤΟΥϹ ΚΑΙ ϹΤΗϹΑΙ ΚΑΤΕΝⲰΠΙΟΝ ... | ||
Although the writing style varies from Paul in a number of ways, some similarities in wordings to some of the Pauline epistles have been noted. In antiquity, some began to ascribe it to Paul in an attempt to provide the anonymous work an explicit apostolic pedigree. [30]
In more recent times, some scholars have advanced a case for Priscilla having been the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. This suggestion came from Adolf von Harnack in 1900. Harnack claimed that the Epistle was "written to Rome—not to the church, but to the inner circle"; that the earliest tradition 'blotted out' the name of the author; that "we must look for a person who was intimately associated with Paul and Timothy, as the author" and that Priscilla matched this description. [31]
Ruth Hoppin provides considerable support for her conviction that Priscilla had written the Epistle to the Hebrews. [32] She maintains that Priscilla "meets every qualification, matches every clue, and looms ubiquitous in every line of investigation". She suggests that the masculine participle may have been altered by a scribe, or that the author was deliberately using a neutral participle "as a kind of abstraction". [33]
Tertullian (On Modesty 20) suggested Barnabas as the author: "For there is extant withal an Epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas—a man sufficiently accredited by God, as being one whom Paul has stationed next to himself…". Internal considerations suggest the author was male, was an acquaintance of Timothy, and was located in Italy. Barnabas, to whom some noncanonical works have been attributed (such as Epistle of Barnabas), was close to Paul in his ministry.
Other possible authors were suggested as early as the third century CE. Origen of Alexandria (c. 240) suggested either Luke the Evangelist or Clement of Rome. [34] Martin Luther proposed Apollos, described as an Alexandrian and "a learned man", popular in Corinth, and adept at using the scriptures and arguing for Christianity while "refuting the Jews". [35] [36] [37]
Barnabas, born Joseph (Ἰωσήφ) or Joses (Ἰωσής), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Named an apostle in Acts 14:14, he and Paul the Apostle undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the Judaizers. They traveled together making more converts, and participated in the Council of Jerusalem. Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized among the "God-fearing" Gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia.
The Epistle of James is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek.
The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament as well as the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Jude, brother of James the Just, and thus possibly a brother of Jesus as well.
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. According to its text, the letter was written by Paul the Apostle, an attribution that Christians traditionally accepted. However, starting in 1792, some scholars have claimed the letter is actually Deutero-Pauline, meaning that it is pseudepigrapha written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by Paul's thought. According to one scholarly source, the letter was probably written "by a loyal disciple to sum up Paul's teaching and to apply it to a new situation fifteen to twenty-five years after the Apostle's death".
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books of the New Testament.
The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately 100 miles (160 km) from Ephesus in Asia Minor.
The Epistle to Titus is one of the three pastoral epistles in the New Testament, historically attributed to Paul the Apostle. It is addressed to Saint Titus and describes the requirements and duties of presbyters/bishops.
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events relating to first-century Christianity. The New Testament's background, the first division of the Christian Bible, is called the Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible; together they are regarded as Sacred Scripture by Christians.
The Second Epistle of Peter is an epistle of the New Testament, and it identifies the author as "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ". The epistle is traditionally attributed to Peter the Apostle, but most scholars consider the epistle pseudepigraphical Scholars estimate the date of authorship anywhere from 60 to 150 AD. The original text was written in Koine Greek.
An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians are usually referred to as epistles. Those traditionally attributed to Paul are known as Pauline epistles and the others as catholic epistles.
The Epistle of Barnabas is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus, where it appears immediately after the New Testament and before the Shepherd of Hermas. For several centuries it was one of the "antilegomena" ("disputed") writings that some Christians looked on as sacred scripture, while others excluded them. Eusebius of Caesarea classified it with excluded texts. It is mentioned in a perhaps third-century list in the sixth-century Codex Claromontanus and in the later Stichometry of Nicephorus appended to the ninth-century Chronography of Nikephoros I of Constantinople. Some early Fathers of the Church ascribed it to the Barnabas who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but it is now generally attributed to an otherwise unknown early Christian teacher, although some scholars do defend the traditional attribution. It is distinct from the Gospel of Barnabas.
The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extant Christian documents. They provide an insight into the beliefs and controversies of early Christianity. As part of the canon of the New Testament, they are foundational texts for both Christian theology and ethics.
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the work is falsely attributed is often prefixed with the particle "pseudo-", such as for example "pseudo-Aristotle" or "pseudo-Dionysius": these terms refer to the anonymous authors of works falsely attributed to Aristotle and Dionysius the Areopagite, respectively.
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though widely circulated in early Christianity, were not included in the canon of the New Testament. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature which came to be part of the New Testament.
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches generally do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.
The Pauline epistles are the thirteen books in the New Testament traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle.
The First Epistle to Timothy is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the pastoral epistles, along with Second Timothy and Titus. The letter, traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul, consists mainly of counsels to his younger colleague and delegate Timothy regarding his ministry in Ephesus (1:3). These counsels include instructions on the organization of the Church and the responsibilities resting on certain groups of leaders therein as well as exhortations to faithfulness in maintaining the truth amid surrounding errors.
Antilegomena are written texts whose authenticity or value is disputed. Eusebius in his Church History used the term for those Christian scriptures that were "disputed", literally "spoken against", in Early Christianity before the closure of the New Testament canon.
The authorship of the Petrine epistles is a question in biblical criticism, parallel to that of the authorship of the Pauline epistles, in which scholars have sought to determine the exact authors of the New Testament letters. The vast majority of biblical scholars think the two epistles do not share the same author, due to wide differences in Greek style and views between the two letters. Most scholars today conclude that Peter the Apostle was the author of neither of the two epistles that are attributed to him.
The canon of the New Testament is the set of books many modern Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible. For historical Christians, canonicalization was based on whether the material was written by the apostles or their close associates, rather than claims of divine inspiration. However, some biblical scholars with diverse disciplines now reject the claim that any texts of the Bible were written by the earliest apostles.
6. Throughout the Middle Ages there was no doubt as to the divine character of any book of the NT. Luther again pointed to the distinction between homologoumena and antilegomena* (followed by M. Chemnitz* and M. Flacius*). The later dogmaticians let this distinction recede into the background. Instead of antilegomena they use the term deuterocanonical. Rationalists use the word canon in the sense of list. Lutherans in America followed Luther and held that the distinction between homologoumena and antilegomena must not be suppressed. But caution must be exercised not to exaggerate the distinction.
