Who wrote the book of Hebrews?

The book of Hebrews does not identify who the author is, but most people say that Hebrews was written by Paul. I would have to disagree.

There are many clues that one can make an educated guess off of, but there are just as many clues that cause reasonable doubt that Paul is not the author of Hebrews.

To understand who the author of Hebrews is, one must understand who the audience of Hebrews is; the book of Hebrews is simply addressed to Hebrew Jews and possibly some Jewish Christians as well; they were not a Gentile group.

A key clue is that Paul was not the apostle to the circumcision, but rather to the uncircumcision. This is just a way of saying that the scope of Paul’s God-ordained ministry did not involve Jewish outreach.

Romans 11:13
13I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry

Galatians 2:7
7On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

Paul was also not one to build on another’s foundation.

Romans 15:20
20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

Hebrews was either written by Peter or someone else who’s ministry involved non-Gentile outreach.

2 Timothy 3:16
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

The important thing is that Hebrews was inspired by God and addressed to you and me.

That’s true, there are many good things in Hebrews for Gentile and non-Gentiles alike. I find that knowing who the audiences are and who the (most likely) authors are provide a more comprehensive understanding of the books in the Bible.

The longer I read the Bible the more relevant I see it is that every single last word counts for something. The authors had motives and intentions in the approaches they took to ministry. Understanding how they interacted with people is very helpful for me and I think it can help anyone.

Jesus had His style utilizing parables. Paul’s approach was to become all things to all people in order to more effectively reach them. Peter had compelling and effective sermons directed toward Jews. There is something to say about everyone in the Bible.

While everything in the Bible is for you and I, the original intent was sometimes meant to be a persuasive speech for specific groups. Many parts of Hebrews are perfect for explaining why temple worship and animal sacrifices are inferior to Christ to people who didn’t already know.

Interesting question. The traditional authorship is either Paul or Luke, or some say Clement, per the Church Fathers, though others say it is unknown. The style of the Greek is Perfect and extraordinary, and doesn't fit Paul or Luke. I once saw an article, on Conservapedia, claiming Jesus Christ Himself wrote the Book of Hebrews, or that it contains some of His explicit sermons, after His Resurrection, and that this was the reason it remained anonymous. At first I thought it was unlikely, but on further consideration, it seemed to fit some of the evidence, although being a new theory. Posting an excerpt below.

"
Mystery: Did Jesus Write the Epistle to the Hebrews?

The Epistle to the Hebrews is perfectly written at the highest intellectual level, and yet its authorship is a complete mystery. Not even modern, sophisticated analysis of authorship can suggest a plausible writer for this great work. Whoever wrote this apparently wrote virtually nothing else. Scholars agree that Paul certainly did not write this.
It was written after the Passion of Christ, as made clear by its references in the past tense to Jesus's work, yet before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
In contrast with all other epistles and letters in the New Testament, it is a misnomer to call this the "Epistle" to the Hebrews. It is not a letter; there is no introduction, and it reads like a sermon. Nor was it formally addressed to the "Hebrews"; its teachings are for all. This epistle begins with an unusually detailed discussion of angels, apparently picking up on the very same topic of discussion as on the road to Emmaus described at Luke 24:23.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Evidence that Jesus wrote it
• 2 Counter Arguments that Christ Didn't Author Hebrews
• 3 Other Objections -- and Rebuttals to the Objections
• 4 Rebuttals in detail
• 5 Historical considerations: Critical analysis
• 6 Links
• 7 References

Evidence that Jesus wrote it[edit]
Reasons to conclude that Jesus wrote this book are:

• the author quotes Jesus in the first person: "Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”[1]
• the first chapter compares the role of Jesus to that of angels, which only He would know about and emphasize.
• the author explains Jesus's mental state, which only Jesus would know, as in "That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers."[2]
• the author makes additional observations about Jesus that only Jesus himself could make, and does so in the present perfect progressive tense to convey his ongoing presence at the time, such as "in every respect [Jesus] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."[3]
• this book has the largest number of unique words not used anywhere else in the New Testament: 154.[4] This suggests its authorship was unique also, neither relying on nor writing anything else.

..."

Read more in the link: https://www.conservapedia.com/Mystery:Did_Jesus_Write_the_Epistle_to_the_Hebrews?

Wow very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I’m definitely going to explore those possibilities.

Totally in agreement. There seems to be a large number of folks who think parts of the Word are for thes and parts are for those. The Word is the Truth for all, but it must be understood as being so in order to understand dthe sum toatal. Too bad some wish to hack it up.

No one knows. But one day... we'll know as we are known.

There have been a few who think that Hebrews could be written by Barnabas. I lean that way for no reason other than the fact that I really like Barnabas.

Actually, Paul did write a letter to the Hebrew exiles that Peter wrote to:

Peter wrote: "...just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him" (2 Peter 3:15)

Just because Paul's missionary duty was to the Gentiles in the main, doesn't mean he never wrote faith-encouraging letters that carefully spelled out matters of faith to the Hebrews that he so dearly loved.

Then you would be disagreeing with (a) God, (b) Paul, and (c) the majority of Christians.

Although originally attributed to the Apostle Paul, a good number of historians believed otherwise
and have proposed different authors, such as Clement of Rome, Silas, Barnabas, Luke, Apollos, or Priscilla.

Taylor Holmes states, “It is Paul’s theology—and continues his logic. But it definitely isn’t in Paul’s voice nor does it follow many of his standard writing quirks. The author of Hebrews also quotes widely from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) whereas Paul always quoted directly from the Hebrew . . . [And] it was Paul’s style to continually refer to himself with the use of personal pronouns like I, me, my, and mine. The author of the Book of Hebrews refers to themselves only seven times in the entire book.”

Several modern scholars are leaning toward Priscilla as the author. She was the teacher of Apollos and was married to Aquila and traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples (see Luke 10:1), and also thought to have been the first example of a female preacher. The couple lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul (see Romans 16:3). A. J. Gordon, one of the founders of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, ascribed the authorship of Hebrews to Priscilla, and said, “It is evident that the Holy Spirit made this woman Priscilla a teacher of teachers.” source

yes amen it’s for any believer in Jesus.

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10:16‬ ‭

“how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:3, 5-7‬ ‭

God doesn’t say one thing to a Jew and another thing to a gentile he said what he said first to the Jew and then those who believed wotnessed it to gentiles the same doctrine is for any believer whether they were a Jew or a gentile before Christ

Ideas like “ Jesus says one thing to Jews and then another thing to gentiles “ is a rotten foundation that only confuses simple truth

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, ( gentiles ) and to them that were nigh.( Jews) For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore ye ( gentiles ) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:10-20‬ ‭

there is no Jew and gentile anymore

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:27-29‬ ‭KJV‬‬

A rahams seed is people of all nations Jew and gentile made one people with one doctrine the gospel creates Gods children not a Jew or gentile to ya what the law created a division of Jew and gentile

It's an excellent question and the cause of considerable debate. Much of the same language and phraseology is similar to the writings of the Apostle Paul. But the the overall tone seems more erudite and less common. Paul made a point to relate that he did things simply that the results of his ministry reflected the power of God. So my best guess would be someone who spent time with Paul but who was very educated. Appollos is one who fits that particular criteria but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

That’s interesting in that Paul wrote to them, but Hebrews lacks many of Paul’s characteristic writing styles. Plus we don’t even know what Paul wrote to them or why. The letter Peter was referring to is probably a lost letter that we don’t have or wasn’t lucky enough to make into Biblical canon.

Where did God or Paul say that it was Paul who wrote Hebrews?

I understand what you’re saying, but the approach to proselytizing a Jew as opposed to proselytizing a Gentile are two entirely different approaches.

I don’t see that it’s a “rotten foundation,” but I guess you’re entitled to believe that if you wish. What I see is the Biblical authors had different approaches to reaching different kinds of people and it reflect in their books/letters.

Even today, it’s common to take a different angle of approach to effectively witness.

From what I can see, Paul rarely reached out to Jews in letters though there is some proof he did so at least one time. Personally, I think the writing style of Hebrews is unlike Paul’s. There also isn’t an opening greeting or salutation included among many other things.

Someone cited a pretty interesting article as to why it isn’t like Paul’s writings above.

Anyway you’re right it is debatable, but I’m just sharing my beliefs about what I think. I think that’s okay as long as people don’t see it as a hill to die on then there is no debate to be had here.

“I understand what you’re saying, but the approach to proselytizing a Jew as opposed to proselytizing a Gentile are two entirely different approaches.”

it’s not at all dofferent brother everyone who wrote in scripture save possibly Luke was a former Jew who now believed in Jesus Christ as the messiah

it doesn’t matter if you were a Jew or a gentile it’s the exact same for both

but please explain to me how if you used to be Jewish and used to be a gentile what difference is there in converting ?

will this save a Jew or gentile ?

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭16:15-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

if we think you have to preach one thing to a Jew d another thing to a gentile it’s absolutely an erroneous foundation nd the ya really important because when you start out with a faulty founding understanding everything else is going to be off kilter also

there’s absolutely no difference in a Christian who used to be a Jew or used to be a gentile and the exact same message will save either if they accept it

we’re all part of the same group Jew and gentile is Old Testament and has nothing to do in Christ

this will save Jews

“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭1:14-15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

and the same would be witnessed to gentiles

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:14‬ ‭

if any human being believes the gospel and New Testament for what’s ac tally there they will be saved into the eternal chosen family of God and if they used to be a Jew or used to be a gentile never had any impact whatsoever on what they needed to believe or do to be saved

I like your approach. You ask a question then make a case and reply back. Iron sharpens iron.

I believe he is saying certain arguments may need to be made and others not. Look at the differences in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. The first is written to Gentiles and the latter to Jews. The first uses less quotations and speaks in even different geological language. The latter is heavy with OT quotations and you can actually see in the travels of Jesus a parallel to that of the nation of Israel.
Paul himself when addressing a Jewish audience began with a discussion of how the Messiah was to suffer before sharing the gospel of Christ .