1. The historical background of the book of Hebrews
An understanding of the book of Hebrews is better achieved when one knowledgeable about its origin and the historical setting from which it was written. As many biblical scholars pointed out, there is a difficulty in interpreting the book of Hebrews because of the missing pieces that are necessary for its precise interpretation. Other than the uncertainty of its authorship, scholars were also uncertain about the intended recipient of the letter, though a closer examination would show that the author has a very close relationship with the recipient and shared a mutual friendship with Timothy.
Some scholars claimed that it was addressed to the Jewish Christians, and this assumption is founded on the premise of Church tradition. Nevertheless, it was also pointed out that “nothing in the work requires that the original readers were Hebrews” (Hagner, 23). What most scholars would agree about the book is that it was written to address to communities for the reason that they were not able to attain the level of Christian maturity. While they were expected to be able to reach out and teach others, it was found that they too were also in need of further instruction.
The particular time period when the book was written is not also clear from the writings. There was a particular reference to persecution that occurred in the ‘earlier days’, but Biblical scholars were not able to establish the reference of this period. What was clear from the writings is that the persecution involved abuse, public insult and the loss of personal property (Hagner, 25). A further understanding of the book of Hebrews is possible when the readers know about the purpose for which it was written, and much of this can be associated with the original intended readers. As clearly pointed by those who examined the Bible, the main, if not the only purpose of the letter was to warn and extort the readers. The warning came because of the readers’ exposure to danger, specifically from the potential of giving up on Christianity in favor of other beliefs such as paganism. The readers were asked not to neglect the sacrifice made by Christ to save them.
Despite the ambiguity in terms of authorship, time period and the intended readers, the letter is clear about its intention to convey a message about the “incomparable superiority, and hence finality, of God’s work in Jesus Christ” (Hagner, 25). It talked about the power of one God, and the author wanted to show the uniqueness of Jesus Christ being the son of God, citing how His death served as a sacrifice towards the atonement of sins of all mankind.
2. What is the purpose of Hebrews?
The book of Hebrews is generally understood to have an exhortation and exposition purpose. In its exposition purpose, there is the comparison of Christianity with that of Judaism, for which the superiority of the Christianity is emphasized (Marohl, 38). There writer was apprehensive about the fact that many of the intended readers have turned their back from Christianity, in favor of Judaism, thus, the reiteration of the Christian supremacy. It was through the author’s forceful presentation that the word of God through the Old Testament served as his authoritative word, that largely form part of the Christian teaching. The emphasis on the word of God is demonstrated in several messages from the prophets worded as ‘Thus says the Lord’(Smith, 10). This means that the exposition about the word of God was not based on the prophet’s opinion, but based on the revelation of God to them.
The exposition was also made through a text that was intended to address the problems associated with the Biblical doctrines. In the case of Hebrews, it is necessary to consider the context by which the author’s message was conveyed. As discussed earlier, the historical context of the book of Hebrew was a bit devoid of certainty in several aspects, such as the certainty of authorship. The history of the Son of God is assumed in the book of Hebrews, and the letter was not intended to defend the truthfulness of the existence of Christ. Rather, it was the purpose of the author to explore the significance of the existence of Christ in theological perspective. The intended reader or community for which the letter was addressed was familiar with the life and the purpose of Christ. The author wrote the letter knowing that the intended community were facing opposition and persecution because of their faith, and there was a fear that the addressees might ‘fall away’. So he expressed about the how God has spoken to the ancestors in different ways through the prophets, “but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (qtd in Griffifths, 1). The faith crisis that was experienced by the intended reader was the main reason why the author was compelled to write a letter. He made his appeal by using the word of God, thus challenging the readers to submit.
A noted theological scholar, Thomas Hewiit argued that the purpose of the writer was impacted largely by the existing circumstances and spiritual settings of the time. He claimed that the identity and the social environment of the recipients greatly influenced the author’s purposes. Hewitt expressed his assumption that the addressees were composed of Jewish Christians, and they considered to be inexperienced and young in terms of their need to be exposed to the Christian teaching. That is, there was the possibility that the readers “had a low mental and spiritual grasp of the Christian faith” (Marohl, 39), and this which blinded them as to the true Christian values as they suffered and become absorbed with their miseries.
In addition to that, Hewitt also expressed the possibility that the Jewish nation turned antagonistic to the Christians faithfuls. This situation made it almost impossible for the latter to worship and demonstrate their devotion within the temples. Consequently, the marginalisation of the Christians, such as the exclusion from the protection of the law and temple appeared to be detrimental to the readers and was considered as one among the factors that caused their discouragement. In order to exhort the readers from the situation, the author deemed it appropriate to put emphasis on the certainty of the Christian faith and its supremacy over other faiths. The author believed that in order to achieve his goal, there was a need to compare the two religions. There was an emphasis over the superiority of Christianity through comparison, and this leads to the understanding that the purpose of the book of Hebrew was that of comparison between Christianity and Judaism, emphasizing the superiority of the former.
3. State your opinion about the authorship of Hebrews.
There has been a considerable debate about the authorship of the book of Hebrews, the majority of scholastic positions about its authorship focused on the possible identity of the writer, as well as the features found in the book. In examining the author’s identity, theological scholars were perplexed because the author never identified himself in the writings. There were those who claimed that it was the Apostle Paul, yet there are also those who suggested that the writer can be anyone from Barnabas, Luke, Apollos and Clement (Third Millennium, n.p).
While the majority of earlier scholars pointed the authorship of the Hebrew to Paul, a lot of indication shows that he did not write the letter. For one, a closer examination of his other works clearly demonstrates that Paul did not write the book of Hebrew because of the stark difference by how the book was written, when compared to that of the works of Paul. For example, Paul often identified himself when writing, in addition to specifically addressing the recipients of the letter. For instance, in Chapter 1 verse 1 of the epistle to the Philippians, he wrote, “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Phillippi”. Paul’s form of writing was never manifested in the book of Hebrews, thus making it unlikely that Paul was the author.
Further, there is reason to believe that Paul was not the writer of the Hebrew based on the fact that the author of this book claimed about knowing about the Christ through the influence of others. This was in contrast to Paul’s experiences, where he cited that his Christian faith was inspired by a personal meeting with Jesus Christ. In addition to that, there are many features of the Hebrews that were never manifested in Paul’s works, such the Hebrew author’s heavy emphasis about the Old Testament.
In fact, many theological scholars pointed to the different ways by which the Hebrew author handled the Old Testament (Guthrie, n.p). The possibility that Paul wrote the Hebrew is contrasted by the large number of Old Testament interpretation in the book, an indication that was not shared by the letters written by Paul. In addition to the extended reference to the Old Testament, there was also a considerable discussion about the priesthood of Jesus (Docherty, 52), which was nil, if ever present in Paul’s writings. It is to be noted that Hebrews included many references to the Old Testament while asserting about Jesus Christ. Moreover, the logical development of the book did not manifest the Paul’s character, who focused largely on instructing, encouraging and correcting the addressees who were already Christians. The author of the book of Hebrews, on the other hand, tended to be addressing people about making a choice between Christianity and other religions.
Further, in determining the profile of the author based on the existing context within the Hebrews, it appears that the writer has a very prominent Henellistic background. This assumption is based, not only on the prominence of the Old Testament in his work, but also because of his sophisticated mastery of the Hellenic language.
Based on scholarly analysis, there is no particular way to determine the accuracy of Hebrew authorship. What is clear based on the study is that the author is deeply concerned about the recipients of the letter. He was apprehensive about the possibility that the people who were expected to uphold the Christian faith will go astray. He demonstrated a profound belief over the superiority of Christianity, and he can be described as an outstanding religious leader and teacher of the scripture. It is really perplexing, how an individual who showed such deep concern to the people, and demonstrating a considerable knowledge about the scripture failed to identify himself in his letter.
Works Cited
Cooper, David. "A Study in the Book of Hebrews." Expounding the Word. Biblical Research Monthly, 1942. Web. <http://www.ariel.org/dlc/dlc-exw-heb01.htm>.
Docherty, Susan. The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews: A Case Study in Early Jewish Bible Interpretation. Mohr Siebeck, 2009. Print.
Griffiths, Jonathan. Hebrews and Divine Speech. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. Print.
Guthrie, George. "Hebrew's Use of the Old Testament: Recent Trends in Research." Currents in Biblical Research 1.2 (2003): n. pag. Web.
Hagner, Donald. Encountering the Book of Hebrews: An Exposition. Baker Academic, 2002. Print.
Marohl, Mathew. Faithfulness and the Purpose of Hebrews. Casemate Publishers, 2010. Print.
Smith, James. The Hebrew-Christian Epistles. Lulu.com, 2011. Print.
Third Millennium Ministries. "The Background and Purpose of Hebrews." N.p., Web. <hirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vs/HEB/ln/1>.
