The Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews
Over the centuries, there have been many attempts to identify the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The nominations that seem to have more data to back them are the Apostle Paul, Barnabas the Levite, Apollos, the husband/wife team of Priscilla and Aquila, and Luke. Although little evidence exists to promote the following nominees, a simple list will be informative. It is not enough to know the major candidates for authorship. Evidence may surface that promotes or even proves that one of the following people have actually written the Epistle to the Hebrews: Clement of Rome, Peter, Epaphras, the deacon Philip or Mary the mother of Jesus. These people are all nominees for the authorship of this epistle.
Who, then, wrote the Letter to the Hebrews? The internal evidence within the letter holds some clues. The author's theology and familiarity with Timothy (13:23) suggest the author was associated with Paul's close friends and fellow workers. The characteristics of the letter indicate its author was a Jewish Christian who was knowledgeable in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. He was well versed in the Old Testament religion of the Jews and their forms of worship. He was also capable of writing the most polished literary style of Greek of any book in the New Testament. William Lane says of the authorship dilemma, "the divergence underscores the impossibility of establishing the authors identity. All that can be said with certainty is that Hebrews was composed by a creative theologian who was well trained in exposition of the Greek scriptures" (1). The best that one can do is examine the possible authors.
This essay will only e ...