Subject: Who wrote the letter to the Hebrews? |
Bible Note: Greetings Tim! The authorship of Hebrews is very interesting.. Apollos is a candidate that I had not heard a strong persuasion for until I read the commentary of authorship in Zondervan's NASB Study Bible, which reads concerning Apollos, "The other leading candidate for authorship is Apollos, whose name was first suggested by Martin Luther and who is favored by many scholars today. Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, was also a Jewish Christian with notable intellectual and oratorical abilities. Luke tells us that Apollos was "an eloquent man ... and he was mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24). We also know that Apollos was associated with Paul in the early years of the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4-6,22)." Another leading candidate could be Barnabas, which is my favorite. :) Concerning Barnabas, Zondervan's NIV Study Bible (same notes as the NASB, I just wanted to have some variety in this post.. :) ) states, "The earliest suggestion of authorship is found in Terullian's De Pudicitia, 20 (c. 200), in which he quotes from 'an epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas.' From the letter itself it is clear that the writer must have had authority in the apostolic church and was an intellectual Hebrew Christian well versed in the OT. Barnabas meets these requirements. He was a Jew of the priestly tribe of Levi (Acts 4:36) who became a close friend of Paul after the latter's conversion. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church at Antioch commissioned Barnabas and Paul for the work of evangelism and sent them off on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-4)." So either way, both Apollos and Barnabas have strong 'support' for the authorship of Hebrews. As you have said before "only God knows in this case", but one thing that we can be sure of: the Holy Spirit has His fingerprints all over it! :) Blessings, Nolan! |