HEBREWS · ON THE MAP · WHO AND WHERE · OPEN QUESTIONS · THE CANON

Its readers, and how it was read

Where the first readers may have lived, who is named, and how the church received the letter.

ON THE MAP

Where the first readers may have lived

Five places proposed for the first readers. Click a pin to see who proposed it.

Five places proposed for the letter's first readers. None is named in the letter; each pin shows a view and who held it, not a conclusion. Others thought of a Jewish community elsewhere in the East, of Gentile Christians, or of no single church at all. Hebrews 13:24 [10][2][7][13][14]

WHO AND WHERE

People and places in Hebrews

Everyone and everywhere the letter names.

PEOPLE NAMED · 26

  • Jesus Named in these verses; also called Christ (for example 3:6; 9:11, 24, 28). Hebrews 2:9 Hebrews 3:1 Hebrews 4:14 +9 more
  • Moses Hebrews 3:2–3 Hebrews 3:5 Hebrews 3:16 +6 more
  • Abraham Hebrews 2:16 Hebrews 6:13 Hebrews 7:1–2 +4 more
  • Melchizedek Spelled "Melchisedec" in the KJV. King of Salem and priest of the most high God (Gen 14:18). Hebrews 5:6 Hebrews 5:10 Hebrews 6:20 +5 more
  • Aaron Hebrews 5:4 Hebrews 7:11 Hebrews 9:4
  • Levi The priestly tribe, said to have paid tithes through Abraham. Hebrews 7:5 Hebrews 7:9
  • Judah The tribe Jesus came from, which had no priests. "Juda" in 7:14. Hebrews 7:14 Hebrews 8:8
  • Joshua The KJV has "Jesus" here, the Greek form of the name Joshua. Hebrews 4:8
  • David Hebrews 4:7 Hebrews 11:32
  • Abel Hebrews 11:4 Hebrews 12:24
  • Cain Hebrews 11:4
  • Enoch Hebrews 11:5
  • Noah Hebrews 11:7
  • Sarah "Sara" in the KJV. Hebrews 11:11
  • Isaac Hebrews 11:9 Hebrews 11:17–18 Hebrews 11:20
  • Jacob Hebrews 11:9 Hebrews 11:20–21
  • Esau Hebrews 11:20 Hebrews 12:16
  • Joseph Hebrews 11:21–22
  • Pharaoh's daughter Hebrews 11:24
  • Rahab Hebrews 11:31
  • Gideon "Gedeon" in the KJV. Hebrews 11:32
  • Barak Hebrews 11:32
  • Samson Hebrews 11:32
  • Jephthah "Jephthae" in the KJV. Hebrews 11:32
  • Samuel Hebrews 11:32
  • Timothy "Our brother Timothy is set at liberty." Hebrews 13:23

PLACES NAMED · 8

  • Egypt Hebrews 3:16 Hebrews 8:9 Hebrews 11:26–27
  • Salem Melchizedek's city; Hebrews reads the name as "peace". Hebrews 7:1–2
  • Red Sea Hebrews 11:29
  • Jericho Hebrews 11:30
  • Mount Sinai (implied) Not named: "the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire". Hebrews 12:18–21
  • Mount Zion "Mount Sion" in the KJV, set against Sinai. Hebrews 12:22
  • Jerusalem "The heavenly Jerusalem", the city of the living God. Hebrews 12:22
  • Italy "They of Italy salute you." Hebrews 13:24

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

5 questions about this letter. Each answer is shown with the people who held it; this page does not choose between them.

Paul

Pantaenus and Clement of Alexandria (late 2nd century); the Eastern churches; Athanasius (367); later the Latin West through Jerome and Augustine and the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (419); in modern times Ebrard, Hofmann, Biesenthal, Kay and Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897).

For: Timothy is mentioned (13:23), and Origen judged the thoughts to be the apostle's. Pantaenus explained the missing name: Paul, sent to the Gentiles, would not call himself apostle to the Hebrews. Clement added that Paul did not want to put off readers who distrusted him. The KJV's "me in my bonds" (10:34) seemed to point to Paul the prisoner, though Westcott's Greek text reads "the prisoners". Against: Paul says he received his gospel from no man, but this writer learned it from others (2:3), a point Westcott calls grave, even fatal. Origen found the Greek purer than Paul's, the writer always quotes the Greek Old Testament, and the church at Rome long disputed the claim. Hebrews 13:23 Hebrews 10:34 Hebrews 2:3 Galatians 1:11–12 [19][17][22][1][9][13][15][12]

Barnabas

Tertullian (about AD 220); revived by Cameron in the 17th century; later Ritschl, Weiss, Renan, Salmon, Grau and Zahn (as listed by Dods and Westcott).

For: it is the only named tradition besides Paul. Barnabas was a Levite, which would suit a writer so absorbed in priesthood. His nickname, "son of consolation", uses the same Greek word as the writer's "word of exhortation" (13:22). He was a Greek-speaking Cypriot in Paul's circle. Against: the tradition is found only in North Africa, and Origen does not know it. Dods and Rees treat the word match as coincidence. Davidson thinks his early story hardly fits 2:3. Acts 4:36 Hebrews 13:22 Hebrews 2:3 [20][23][9][7][13][1]

Luke

Clement of Alexandria (as translator of a letter Paul wrote in Hebrew); reported by Origen; Calvin (Luke or Clement); Delitzsch.

For: ancient readers noticed that the style is like that of Acts, a likeness Westcott calls remarkable. Against: it may only mean the writer knew Luke's work or circle. If the letter was never translated from Hebrew, the main reason for naming Luke largely falls away. The Alexandrian cast of the letter's thought is not found in Luke.[19][1][13][12]

Clement of Rome

Reported by Origen; Eusebius (as the likelier translator); mentioned by Calvin.

For: Clement's letter to Corinth (about AD 96) borrows heavily from Hebrews; its chapter 36 reworks Heb 1:3–4 and the psalms of 1:5–13. Jerome also noticed the likeness. Against: Westcott reads the parallels as Clement using Hebrews, just as he uses Paul's letters. Clement combines but does not create, and the depth of thought is far apart. Hebrews 1:3–4 Hebrews 1:5–13 [19][17][21][1][9][12]

Apollos

First suggested by Martin Luther (as reported by Westcott and Dods); then Bleek, Tholuck, Hilgenfeld, Lünemann, Reuss, Pfleiderer, Alford, Farrar, Plumptre and Kurtz; Bartlet in the 1911 Britannica, writing to Asia.

For: Acts describes him as an Alexandrian Jew, "an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures", who showed from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. He belonged to Paul's circle. Davidson felt no better words could describe the writer of Hebrews. Against: no ancient writer suggests him. Westcott notes there is no evidence that Apollos wrote anything, and sees the guess as a reluctance to admit we do not know. Acts 18:24–28 1 Corinthians 3:6 1 Corinthians 16:12 Titus 3:13 [1][9][7][13][14]

Priscilla (and Aquila)

Adolf Harnack (1900, as reported by Dods and Rees); Bleek had almost argued for Aquila; Rendel Harris was sympathetic.

For: the couple taught Apollos, worked with Paul, knew Timothy and hosted a church in their home at Rome. Harnack read the change between "I" and "we" as a sign of two writers, and argued that the name was dropped because of prejudice against a woman teaching. Against: the writer speaks of himself as one man (11:32; 13:19, 22–23) and seems to be one of the leaders, as Dods points out; Rees answers Harnack that Paul too moves between "I" and "we", in Romans for one, where no one suggests two writers. Acts 18:26 Romans 16:3–5 2 Timothy 4:19 Hebrews 11:32 Hebrews 13:19 [9][13]

Silas (Silvanus)

Named as possible by Westcott; listed by Easton and in the ISBE.

For: Silas belonged to Paul's circle, and 1 Peter was written "by Silvanus". Against: Westcott says only that the idea is consistent with what we know of him. Acts 15:22 1 Peter 5:12 [1][15][13]

Others

Mark (E. S. Lowndes, as reported by Westcott); Philip the deacon and Aristion (listed in the ISBE).

Mostly guesswork. Rees calls these names little more than names to us. Jesus' own disciples are ruled out, because the writer heard the gospel second-hand (2:3). Hebrews 2:3 [1][13]

Unknown

Origen; Dods (1910), who thought it best to confess our ignorance; Rees in the ISBE (1915).

Origen said that only God knows who wrote the letter. Dods preferred to admit ignorance, though he thought Aquila fitted a Roman destination as well as anyone. Rees leaned toward someone like Apollos but left the answer with God.[19][10][13]

THE CANON

How it was received

Witness by witness, when each letter was quoted, used and accepted.

WHERE THIS PAGE COMES FROM

  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Introduction, "History and Authorship", pp. lxxiv–lxxix.
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Introduction §§IV–VII (language, destination, date, place of writing), pp. xxxiv–xliv.
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Introduction §IX "The Plan", pp. xlviii–li.
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Additional note on 7:1, "The significance of Melchizedek", pp. 199–202.
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Notes on 11:32–40, pp. 376–382.
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), "On the use of the Old Testament in the Epistle", pp. 469–473.
  • A. B. Davidson, The Epistle to the Hebrews, with Introduction and Notes (1882), Introduction, chs. I–III and introductory note, pp. 9–37.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: history, pp. 221–224.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: authorship, pp. 224–229.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: destination, pp. 230–234.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: aim, argument and date, pp. 235–243.
  • John Calvin, tr. John Owen, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews (1549 (tr. 1853)), "The Argument".
  • Thomas Rees, "Hebrews, Epistle to the", in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (1915), Sections I–VI.
  • James Vernon Bartlet, "Hebrews, Epistle to the", in Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 13 (1911).
  • M. G. Easton, "Hebrews, Epistle to", in Illustrated Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.) (1897).
  • William Smith (ed.), "Hebrews, Epistle to the", in Smith's Bible Dictionary (abridged) (1863 (abridged edition)).
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book III (1890), 3.3.5; 3.38.1–3.
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book V (1890), 5.26.
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History, Book VI (1890), 6.14.2–4; 6.20.3; 6.25.11–14.
  • Tertullian, tr. S. Thelwall, On Modesty (De Pudicitia) (1885), ch. 20.
  • Clement of Rome, tr. John Keith, First Epistle to the Corinthians (1896), ch. 36.
  • Athanasius, tr. R. Payne-Smith, Festal Letter 39 (1892), §5.
  • Jerome, tr. E. C. Richardson, Lives of Illustrious Men (De Viris Illustribus) (1892), chs. 5–6.

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