Letter To The Hebrews Pdf

[Agnella Datson]

Thetext does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and some of the Old Latin manuscripts have the epistle to the Hebrews among Paul's letters.[5] However, doubt on Pauline authorship in the Roman Church is reported by Eusebius.[6] Modern biblical scholarship considers its authorship unknown, [7] with Pauline authorship mostly rejected. A minority view Hebrews as written in deliberate imitation of the style of Paul,[8][9] with some contending that it was authored by Priscilla and Aquila.[10][11]

Scholars of Greek consider its writing to be more polished and eloquent than any other book of the New Testament, and "the very carefully composed and studied Greek of Hebrews is not Paul's spontaneous, volatile contextual Greek."[12] It has been described as an intricate New Testament book.[13] Some scholars believe it was written for Jewish Christians who lived in Jerusalem.[14] Its essential purpose was to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. At this time, certain believers were considering turning back to Judaism and to the Jewish system of law to escape being persecuted for believing Christ to be the Messiah. The theme of the epistle is the teaching of the person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity.

By the end of the first century there was no consensus on the author's identity. Over the ensuing centuries, scholars have suggested Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Paul the Apostle, Luke the Evangelist, Silas, Apollos, and Priscilla and Aquila as possible authors.[26][27]

In the epistle entitled To The Hebrews the diction does not exhibit the characteristic roughness of speech or phraseology admitted by the Apostle [Paul] himself, the construction of the sentences is closer to the Greek usage, as anyone capable of recognising differences of style would agree. On the other hand the matter of the epistle is wonderful, and quite equal to the Apostle's acknowledged writings: the truth of this would be admitted by anyone who has read the Apostle carefully... If I were asked my personal opinion, I would say that the matter is the Apostle's but the phraseology and construction are those of someone who remembered the Apostle's teaching and wrote his own interpretation of what his master had said. So if any church regards this epistle as Paul's, it should be commended for so doing, for the primitive Church had every justification for handing it down as his. Who wrote the epistle is known to God alone: the accounts that have reached us suggest that it was either Clement, who became Bishop of Rome, or Luke, who wrote the gospel and the Acts.

Matthew J. Thomas argues that Origen was not denying Paul's authorship of Hebrews in that quote, but that he was only meaning that Paul would have employed an amanuensis to compose the letter. He points out that in other writings and quotations of Hebrews, Origen describes Paul as the author of the letter.[29]

In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship: the Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as the fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation. Scholars argued that 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. The writer also states that he wrote the letter from "Italy", which also at the time fits Paul.[30] The difference in style is explained as simply an adjustment to a distinct audience, to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted and pressured to go back to traditional Judaism.[31]

Many scholars now believe that the author was one of Paul's pupils or associates, citing stylistic differences between Hebrews and the other Pauline epistles.[32] Recent scholarship has favored the idea that the author was probably a leader of a predominantly Jewish congregation to whom they were writing.[33]

The original King James Version of the Bible titled the work "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews". However, the KJV's attribution to Paul was only a guess, and is currently disputed by recent research.[14] Its vastly different style, different theological focus, different spiritual experience and different Greek vocabulary are all believed to make Paul's authorship of Hebrews increasingly indefensible. At present, modern scholarship does not ascribe Hebrews to Paul.[35][36][37]

Also convinced that Priscilla was the author of Hebrews, Gilbert Bilezikian, professor of biblical studies at Wheaton College, remarks on "the conspiracy of anonymity in the ancient church," and reasons: "The lack of any firm data concerning the identity of the author in the extant writings of the church suggests a deliberate blackout more than a case of collective loss of memory."[43]

The use of tabernacle terminology in Hebrews has been used to date the epistle before the destruction of the temple, the idea being that knowing about the destruction of both Jerusalem and the temple would have influenced the development of the author's overall argument. Therefore, the most probable date for its composition is the second half of the year 63 or the beginning of 64, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.[32]

The text itself, for example, makes a contrast between the resurrected Christ "in heaven" "who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord" and the version on earth, where "there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven." (NIV version)

German scholar Adolf Jlicher rejected the traditional view that the epistle was directed to a Hebrew congregation in Israel, concluding instead that the "only supposition that is really encouraged by the Epistle itself... is that Hebrews was addressed to the place where it first made its appearance, i.e. to Rome."[46]

Scholars[who?] have suggested that Hebrews is part of an internal New Testament debate between the extreme Judaizers (who argued that non-Jews must convert to Judaism before they can receive the Holy Spirit of Jesus' New Covenant) versus the extreme antinomians (who argued that Jews must reject God's commandments and that Jewish law was no longer in effect). James and Paul represent the moderates of each faction, respectively, and Peter may have served as moderator.[47]

Due to the importance of Hebrews for the formation of future Christian attitudes toward Jews and Judaism, a distinction must be made between the author's intent and the way in which the text was interpreted by future generations.[54] The impact of the deployment and implementation of supersession theology is difficult to convey and grasp. The implementation of this theological claim eventually led to the negation and disenfranchisement of Judaizing followers of Jesus, and later, of all non-Christian Jews.[55]

Those to whom Hebrews is written seem to have begun to doubt whether Jesus could really be the Messiah for whom they were waiting, because they believed the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures was to come as a militant king and destroy the enemies of his people. In contrast, Jesus came as a man of no social standing who was slandered, arrested and condemned by the Jewish leaders and who suffered and was crucified by the Romans. Although he was seen resurrected, he still left the earth and his people, who now faced persecution rather than victory. The Book of Hebrews argues that the Hebrew Scriptures also foretold that the Messiah would be a priest (although of a different sort than the traditional Levitical priests) and Jesus came to fulfill this role, as a sacrificial offering to God, to atone for sins. His role of a king is yet to come, and so those who follow him should be patient and not be surprised that they suffer for now.[56]

Some scholars today believe the document was written to prevent apostasy.[57] Some have interpreted apostasy to mean a number of different things, such as a group of Christians in one sect leaving for another more conservative sect, one of which the author disapproves. Some have interpreted apostasy to mean a number of different things, such as a group of Christians in one sect leaving for another more conservative sect, one of which the author disapproves. Some have seen apostasy as a move from the Christian assembly to pagan ritual. In light of a possibly Jewish-Christian audience, the apostasy in this sense may be in regard to Jewish Christians leaving the Christian assembly to return to the Jewish synagogue. The focus on "purifying" the "conscience/consciousness" (9:9; 9:14; 10:2; 10:22) has also been viewed as key for the writing of Hebrews.[58] The author writes, "Let us hold fast to our confession".[59] The epistle has been viewed as a long, rhetorical argument for having confidence in the new way to God revealed in Jesus Christ.[60]

The book could be argued to affirm special creation. It says that God by his Son, Jesus Christ, made the worlds. "God [...] hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son [...] by whom also he made the worlds".[61] The epistle also emphasizes the importance of faith. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear".[62]

...the Epistle opens with the solemn announcement of the superiority of the New Testament Revelation by the Son over Old Testament Revelation by the prophets.[65] It then proves and explains from the Scriptures the superiority of this New Covenant over the Old by the comparison of the Son with the angels as mediators of the Old Covenant,[66] with Moses and Joshua as the founders of the Old Covenant,[67] and finally, by opposing the high-priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchisedech to the Levitical priesthood after the order of Aaron.[68]

Hebrews is a very consciously "literary" document. The purity of its Greek was noted by Clement of Alexandria, according to Eusebius,[69] and Origen of Alexandria asserted that every competent judge must recognize a great difference between this epistle and those of Paul.[70]

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