Ancient tradition in the Eastern church notwithstanding, the general consensus since the sixteenth century has been that Hebrews is a non-Pauline work. During the sixteenth century, a critical reassessment began among scholars studying the ancient traditions of the church; the conflicting views of the Eastern and Western sectors of the church were seriously studied, and other alternatives regarding the authorship of Hebrews were set forth and debated.21 Major Greek scholars of that period expressed doubt that Paul wrote Hebrews, partly due to the recognizable differences between the Greek of his acknowledged writings and that found in Hebrews, and partly because of the restriction voiced in Hebrews 6:4–6 about non-forgiveness from God for apostates. Martin Luther (1483–1546) at first followed common custom in associating Hebrews with Paul, as his lectures on Hebrews during 1517–18 show. His view changed across the next decade, and his final consideration about who wrote the epistle is documented in a sermon he preached in 1537 on 1 Corinthians 3:4–5, a text in which Apollos is named: Luther commented about Apollos as “a highly intelligent man; the epistle of the Hebrews is certainly his.”22
The case against Paul’s being the author of Hebrews is stronger than the case for his being its writer, although William Leonard wrote a strong defense in his favor.23 Hebrews is pure Greek, and the writer’s style is more florid than Paul, even considering the fact that Paul often used a secretary. Hebrews is filled with sentences with symmetry, euphony, and grand cadences (i.e., 1:1–4; 7:1–3), and effective word-groupings and sonorous compounds abound.24 The way Hebrews quotes from the Old Testament is different from Paul’s typical manner and even the version of the Old Testament differs from the version Paul used.25 Then too, the writer’s self-confession at Hebrews 2:3 that he was a second generation believer rules Paul out as the author.
Classical scholar William M. Ramsey (1851–1939) suggested in a 1908 study that Philip the Evangelist wrote Hebrews and that Paul endorsed the writing by adding the last verses.26 Ramsey dated Hebrews between ad 55–57, written while Paul was imprisoned in Herod’s palace in Caesarea (Acts 23:35). Philip the Evangelist had settled at Caesarea near the port (Acts 21:8), and he had continued a ministry there along with his four daughters.27 Ramsey further suggested that Hebrews was initially sent to the church in Jerusalem, the purpose being to reconcile parties there who held contending views about the meaning, merits, and promise of Judaism.
A few years earlier, in 1900, Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930) published a journal article in which he proposed that Priscilla wrote Hebrews, aided perhaps by her husband Aquila.28 This, he suggested, would explain why there is no name attached to the letter as its author and why there is no opening paragraph of greeting, the fear being that prejudice against herself as a woman leader might hinder some within the Pauline churches from accepting her message. As for her leadership role, Harnack called attention to the fact that Priscilla (or Prisca, as Romans 16:2 names her, using the diminutive) is always named first when listed with her husband in New Testament records. She and her husband also knew Timothy, to whom reference is made in 13:23, the three having been intimates with Paul. Harnack also suggested that the pilgrimage motif in Hebrews might have been influenced by the travel associated with their work and that their craft as tentmakers was a natural backdrop for being sensitive to the tabernacle theme. Harnack’s theorizing is problematic at more than one point, but especially at the point of the Greek wording at 11:32. There the writer asks rhetorically, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of....” Although the personal pronoun me in that second sentence (11:32b) could be either masculine or feminine, the verb used there, “tell,” (diegoumenon, “to narrate with fullness”) is a distinctly masculine participle in form. Harnack viewed this as a neutral use, but the masculine form argues against feminine authorship of Hebrews, unless Aquila played the dominant role in writing it.29
Charles P. Anderson has suggested more recently that Epaphras, a close companion of Paul, wrote Hebrews.30 Epaphras was mentioned by Paul in Colossians (1:7; 4:12–13) as the chief worker in the Lycus Valley, where congregations had been established in Laodicea and Heirapolis. The suggestion also labels Hebrews as the letter “from Laodicea” to which Paul referred in Colossians 4:16, and the similarity of concern for Christian maturity in both Colossians (4:12) and Hebrews (5:14; 6:1; 9:9; 10:1, 14; 11:40; 12:2) is viewed as connectional. Robert Jewett, in his Letter to Pilgrims, a commentary on Hebrews, has agreed with Anderson, writing:
Hebrews was written by Epaphras to the Lycus Valley situation at approximately the same time as Colossians was sent, which would be the winter of ad 55–56, according to my chronology of Paul’s life.31
The “situation” referred to is explained as an incipient Jewish Christian gnosticism that threatened the apostolic message about the superiority of Jesus Christ over all angelic figures.
The name of Silas has been put forward as author of Hebrews, and so has that of Timothy.32 The case for Silas as author has received strong support. According to Acts 15:22, Silas was one of the “leading men among the brethren” in the early church, and, like Paul, he was both a Hellenist and a Roman citizen, as Acts 16:37 tells us. Silas was a chief missioner with Paul during the apostle’s second missionary journey; he was well-known among the Pauline churches and an able co-partner within the Pauline circle. Silas was secretary (and perhaps joint-author) with Paul in writing to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1), and according to 1 Peter 5:12 (where his name is given as Silvanus, the Latin form of Hebrew Silas), he served as Peter’s secretary in writing 1 Peter. But an even stronger case can be made for Silas as writer of Hebrews when the following factors are considered: Hebrews and 1 Peter have many strategic words in common and their doctrinal emphases agree in pointed detail; both letters reflect the same church problems; a setting of persecution is common to both works; the two writings give Old Testament passages the same focused treatment; and both Hebrews and 1 Peter were known at Rome at an early date.33
From among the many names put forward across the centuries as a suggested solution to the problem of who authored Hebrews, the greatest weight of “evidence” is on the side of Silas or Apollos, with a stronger probability that Apollos wrote the work.34 Both Apollos and Silas were sometime members of the Pauline circle; both were Hellenized Jews and quite fluent in the Greek language.35 According to Acts 18:24–28, Apollos was a second-generation Christian—as was the author of Hebrews (2:3), but there is some question whether Silas was such. In 1 Thessalonians 2:7, Paul refers to himself and Silas (and Timothy?) as “apostles of Christ,” a statement which might be viewed in a rather inclusive way since Silas was a sharer in apostolic mission, but it is possible that Silas was an apostle in his own right.36 If this was so about Silas, or if he had himself heard Jesus during his earthy ministry, then Hebrews 2:3 would rule him out as writer of Hebrews.
Although no final word can be given yet about who wrote Hebrews, some factual statements can be made about its author:
1. The writer was a Hellenist by background and experience.
2. The writer was quite adept in the midrashic style.37
3. The writer was a master of rhetoric, with thought patterns marked by pointed imagery, wordplay, and dramatic vibrancy.
4. The writer was an experienced exegete and sermonizer.
5. The writer was familiar with Alexandrian thought and terminology, although it is not clear to what extent Platonic or Philonic views were purposely used in the general argument of Hebrews.38
6. The writer was more familiar with the Septuagint (LXX) text of the Old Testament than with the Hebrew text; the Greek alone was used.
7. The writer seems acquainted with Pauline thought but handled the kerygma with some independence,
8. The writer was a second-generation Christian (2:3).
9. The writer knew the people being addressed (5:11–12; 6:9–10; 10:32; 13:7, 19, 23).
10. The writer knew Timothy (13:23).
11. The writer completed and sent the letter before the destruction of