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View Full Version : Who do you think wrote Hebrews?


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ANewCreature
February 17th, 2008, 08:22 PM
Mods, move this if you think it belongs in with polls...but it's not trivia, even though there's not a lot of evidence either way. As one of the ancient Church fathers wrote, only God truly knows, though a few of them did have their ideas, or thought they heard who wrote it.

There are a number of viable possibilities. We know it's Scripture, but who did God use, do you think?

Paul: As a young Christian I presumedit was him, because it was at the end of all the other epistles of his, a bridge between his and the others. I picked up a couple other things that made it seem that way - his final salutation is like his other epistles, "grace be with you," and he speaks of Timothy. Hebrews 2:3 is one of the sticklers for a lot of people - but Paul can certainly write in different styles, he could mean that what the Lord spoke to him on the road to Damascus was confirmed by others (like Ananias), or "us" could refer to Christians as a whole or to those who were Hebrews like him.

Others I have heard it could be:

Paul in Hebrew, translated into Greek by Luke, Explains some of the style differences.

Luke: I heard this theory first only a couple years ago or so, based on what I'm not sure, some style similarities with Acts and Luke, I guess, plus his attention to precision and detail in discussing the sacrifices int he temple, the priesthood, etc., the good doctor was quite detail oriesnted at times..

Barnabas: We don't know all that the "son of consolation" did after separating from Paul, so going to the Hebrews is possible.

Silas: Paul's 2nd missionary partner, it fits with him being in Italy and with Timothy in ministry; but, just because he says those of Italy salute you, is he necessarily in Italy at the time?

Apollos: From the end of Acts 18, we know he was very strong in the Scriptures even when he only knew the baptism of John. Helped Paul at Corinth, but there were plenty of Jews there, too, not just Gentiles, and we don't know much of what he did later.

Or, may there's someone else you think of. Who knows, it might be somebody nobody expects. Although, part of me still thinks Paul.

scapegoat
February 17th, 2008, 09:48 PM
Are there any writings by Apollos, Silas, or Barnabas available one could compare to Hebrews?

Biblenuggetlady
February 17th, 2008, 10:24 PM
I always thought, or assumed it was Paul, but checking my Study Bible it says:

The author of Hebrews is not known. Martin Luther suggested that Apollos was the author. This is based on Act 18:24-28, where Apollos is referred to as a well-read, Hellenistic Jew from Alexandria in Egypt. Tertullian (writing in AD 150-230) said that Hebrews was a letter of Barnabas. Adolf Harnack and J. Rendel Harris speculated that it was written by Priscilla (or Prisca). William Ramsey suggested that it was done by Phillip. However, the traditional position is that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews. From the very beginning, the eastern church attributed the letter to him, but the western church did not accept this until the frouth century. Eusebius (AD 263-339) believed that Paul wrote it, but Origen was not positive of a Pauline authorship. About the end of the 2nd centruy, Clement of Alexandria thought that Paul had originally written the letter in hte Hebrew language and that it was later translated by Luke or someone else into Greek. Notwithstanding, the recipients of the letter knew who the author was and recognized his credibility in writing the work.

There is also uncertainty as to the exact date of the writing of Hebrews. Numerous references to the Temple in Jerusalem seem to place the date of the writing prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

blitzkreig
February 19th, 2008, 11:30 PM
The Holy Spirit. What is more the Holy Spirit didn't have in mind to put the name of the human conduit in this book as He did the others ...

Interestingly enough ...

Robbinson
February 20th, 2008, 05:13 PM
The Holy Spirit. What is more the Holy Spirit didn't have in mind to put the name of the human conduit in this book as He did the others ...

Interestingly enough ...

I was thinking of the same answer as I scrolled down the replies. The Holy Spririt, indeed! :thumb

scapegoat
February 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM
Okay... How about - "Who did the Holy Spirit work through in writing what became known as the Book of Hebrews?" :thinking

Astyrrian
February 21st, 2008, 01:40 AM
I personally don't think it's Paul because the writing style seems different. Also, the opening is very un-Pauline. Paul always has an introduction but this one didn't.
I personally think it's Apollos since this book is basically a huge exposition of key parts of the OT. I think the only person that is skilled enough that is mentioned in the Scriptures besides Paul would be Apollos.
It would be interesting to see who really wrote it when we meet the Lord.

kgreen20
February 21st, 2008, 10:04 AM
It could have been Apollos; it could have been Barnabas. I don't know. I do agree, however, that it wasn't Paul, because as you said, he always introduced himself at the beginning of his letters. He never tried to hide behind anonymity; this author did. Also, the writing style was different, as you say.

proverbs31woman
February 21st, 2008, 11:57 AM
I've heard some theories that Hebrews was written by a woman. :idunno

scapegoat
February 21st, 2008, 06:19 PM
I personally don't think it's Paul because the writing style seems different. Also, the opening is very un-Pauline. Paul always has an introduction but this one didn't.
I personally think it's Apollos since this book is basically a huge exposition of key parts of the OT. I think the only person that is skilled enough that is mentioned in the Scriptures besides Paul would be Apollos.
It would be interesting to see who really wrote it when we meet the Lord.

Have you read anything by Apollos that you could compare Hebrews to?