Do We Actually Know Who Wrote Hebrews?

In short, we don't know who exactly who authored Hebrews, though we can present a few possible authors that scholars have suggested throughout all of church history. 

The first, and one many seem to attribute the authorship of Hebrews to, is Paul. Church history until the past few centuries had attributed the authorship to him as well.

After all, many of the examples Paul uses, such as running the race of faith (Hebrews 12:1, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27), and a great deal of the language appears to reflect the style of Paul. However, the book also seems to miss some of the hallmarks of this author that we see in other books.

For instance, it misses the salutation we often see in Paul’s writings (1 Corinthians 1:1-2), and the book uses the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament instead of the Masoretic, which Paul often used. Although perhaps Paul had written the book, perhaps someone who had followed him closely in ministry, and heard his sermons and the examples he used compiled this book.

Second, that leaves us with a close companion of Paul who accompanied him on his journeys, Luke. Got Questions explains that Luke, given his Greek and Gentile background, may have favored the Septuagint translation over the Masoretic translation and compiled the book, after having heard Paul’s preaching and examples he used in sermons. 

Third, some scholars, like Mimi Haddad at CBE International, have suggested that Priscilla wrote the book of Hebrews. If this is the case, she would be the only female author to contribute to Scripture. After all, the Hall of Faith featured in Hebrews 11 features three women, something a male writer may overlook. Priscilla also did spend a great deal of time with Paul and his companions on their missionary journeys. 

Others have suggested a number of Paul’s companions such as Barnabas (Acts 4:36) or Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:4), among others.

In short, the author of Hebrews most likely had some connection with Paul, whether it was Paul himself or one of his friends who had heard a number of his sermons and read his writings. But ultimately, we do not have a conclusive answer to who wrote this book.

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Hebrews, as one may guess from the title, is a letter, known as an Epistle, written to the Hebrews, particularly Jewish people who had converted to Christianity during the first century, prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Because the Jewish audience would have had a rich understanding of Old Testament history, the main purpose of Hebrews is to show how Christ fulfilled prophecies set forth in the Old Testament and to prove the sufficiency of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Why would the audience need this proof, using several comparisons of Scripture like Hebrews 2:5-9 compared with Psalm 8:4-6? (Check out more comparisons on Bible Study Tools here.)

There are a few reasons why the author may have written to a Jewish audience in these terms. During the start of the early church, a number of the Jewish converts tried to convince the Gentile converts of Christianity that they needed to be circumcised (Ephesians 2:11). Circumcision, a stumbling block for many converts, had been a Jewish practice when a child was weaned, or when a man converted to the Jewish faith. 

So, when Jews converted to Christianity, they still had ideas ingrained into their minds from the Old Covenant, such as circumcisions.

Hebrews seeks to show them how Christ fulfilled the law, and that under the New Covenant they would no longer need to practice circumcision or sacrifices.

Second, the author knows that by using examples from the Old Testament, they can better appeal to the audience. For instance, when Paul talks to a Greek audience, he quotes their philosophers back to them (Acts 17:22-28). And when Stephen talks to a Jewish audience, he uses examples from the Old Testament (Acts 7). 

In the same way, the author tries to use concrete comparisons from the text they would’ve known best, the Old Testament. 

Hebrews was likely written prior to 70 AD, when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and laid waste to their sacrificial systems. Therefore, as this article from Got Questions conjectures, we can hazard that the author wrote the book in the 60s AD.

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This brings us to our next question: If we do not know the author, how can we trust the text? After all, a number of the apocryphal books and pseudepigraphal books (books written under a false name) did not make the cut for the New Testament canon. These were decided When the Council of Nicea decided in 325 AD which books belonged in the New Testament.

So how can we trust they made the right decision to put Hebrews, a book with an unknown author, in the Bible?

Although entire books have been written on the subject, this article will briefly touch on some of the criteria they used to determine if Hebrews fit, as well as how other books such as the Shepherd of Hermas did not make the cut.

First, although we do not have the list of criteria used at the Council of Nicea, there would have been works that the early church would have deemed “apostolic” or having the authority of an Apostle. Apollos, Paul, Priscilla, Luke, Barnanabas, and anyone else to whom scholars attribute authorship of this book would have been apostles. That meant they had a certain authority to write the book. 

The book survived the test of time because the apostles, who had not perished or been martyred yet, approved of its authority and made copies to send throughout the churches. Although we may not know who wrote the book, those who received it would have. 

The reason why the Council of Nicea had to be called in the first place was because false authors had written under pseudonyms to try and seep ideas of something known as gnosticism in the church. They would have known what books essentially were canon and what were not, but the Council decided to set the record straight and exile the books that did not belong or contained erroneous teachings.

Second, the Holy Spirit would not have sat back and watched the Council without playing an active role. He helped them to separate the “wheat from the chaff” and determine which books belonged in Scripture.

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Some popular verses from this book include:

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

See more popular verses here. 

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Finally, does the book speak the truth? This article from Biblical Training digs into this question. One can read apocryphal or pseudepigraphal books and see where the book fails to match the truths found in other books of the Bible (other books of the Bible that have been affirmed to be the word of God by apostles, prophets, or Christ himself). Hebrews not only quotes extensively from Scripture, but it speaks truth throughout its entirety. 

Although we may not know who wrote the Book of Hebrews, we do know that it belongs in the Scriptural canon. Its audience members would have known the original author, a companion of Paul or Paul, and they would have found hope in its truthful words, numerous examples from the Old Testament, and list of heroes of the faith.

No matter who wrote it, God helped those on the Council of Nicea to decide to include the book in the Scriptural canon. Today, we can still find hope in these verses written two thousand years ago.

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