1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe.
2Beware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers; beware of the false circumcision. 3For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; 4though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: 5circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.
7However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ. 8Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death, 11if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
13Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. 16Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let’s walk by the same rule. Let’s be of the same mind.
17Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. 18For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, 19whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. 20For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
Hebrews stands as one of the most theologically profound books of the New Testament, masterfully bridging the Old and New Covenants. It presents Christ as both High Priest and God, fulfilling and surpassing the Levitical system. Its literary sophistication and doctrinal depth make it a cornerstone of Christian theology.
The authorship of Hebrews has been debated since antiquity. Tertullian attributed it to Barnabas, while other early scholars proposed Paul, Apollos, or Luke. The epistle’s refined Greek style rivals that of Luke’s Gospel and Acts, leading some to speculate that Hebrews may reflect Paul’s theology but was penned by Luke as his scribe—perhaps during Paul’s Roman imprisonment around AD 59, when Luke was with him completing the book of Acts.
Paul’s self-identification as a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) is notable given the linguistic pattern of the New Testament, which refers to the people of Judea overwhelmingly as “Jews” (190 times) or “Israel” (68 times). The term “Hebrews” appears only three times (Acts 6:1; 2 Cor 11:22; Phil 3:5)—two of which are in Paul’s writings. This suggests that if Paul wrote Hebrews, he may have intentionally chosen the rare term “Hebrews” to address his Jewish audience in a distinct way.
Given its themes of endurance under persecution and the superiority of Christ over the Mosaic Law, Hebrews aligns well with Paul’s concerns. If he were the author, it would be his fourteenth New Testament letter. Three of his epistles—his first and third letters to Corinth and one to Laodicea—are lost. However, since the author of Hebrews does not name himself, its authorship remains uncertain.
Hebrews provides a key historical reference, mentioning Timothy’s release (Hebrews 13:23), suggesting Timothy was either imprisoned and then freed or “released” on a specific mission, probably by Paul. Hebrews states in four places that the Levitical priesthood was still active at the time of writing (Hebrews 7:8; 8:3-5; 9:6-9; 10:1-3), affirming that the book was written before AD 70 when the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
If the Temple had already been destroyed, the author could have made a compelling argument against reverting to Judaism—namely, that the entire sacrificial system had ceased to exist. Instead, the warnings against returning to the old covenant system imply that it was still an active and available option. This strongly suggests Hebrews was written before the fall of Jerusalem on 10 Av, August 3, AD 70 (Josephus, The War of the Jews, 6:4:5).