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The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbreviated '''Heb.''' for Citation s) is a very consciously "literary" document in the New Testament . The purity of its Greek was noted by Clement Of Alexandria , according to Eusebius (''Historia Eccl.'', VI, xiv), and Origen asserted that that every competent judge must recognize a great difference between this epistle and Paul's (Eusebius, VI, xxv). The letter has carried its traditional title since Tertullian described it as ''Barnabae titulus ad Hebraeos'' in ''De Pudicitia'' chapter 20. This letter consists of two strands: ::An expositional or doctrinal strand (1:1-14, 2:5-18, 5:1-14, 6:13-9:28, 13:18-25) ::A hortatory or ethical strand which punctuates the exposition parenthetically at key points as warnings to the readers (2:1-4, 3:1-4:16, 6:1-12, 10:1-13:17) Hebrews contains many references to the Old Testament —specifically to its Septuagint text—and references to all but two of the canonical letters of Paul. It has been regarded as a treatise supplementary to the Romans and Galatians , and as a kind of commentary on the book of Leviticus and Temple worship in general. AUTHORSHIP A number of candidates for the authorship of Hebrews have been advanced from earliest times, most famously, the Apostle Paul. However, the epistle makes no internal claim of authorship, which is inconsistent with the rest of Paul's epistles. Also, while many of the letter's ideas are Pauline, the writing style is substantially different from that of Paul's epistles. For example, the ''Epistle'' does not open with the preamble typical of Paul. In particular, Hebrews claims to have been written by a person who received the Christian message from others (see Hebrews 2:3-4). But Paul in his letter to the Galatians forcefully defends his claim that he received his gospel directly from Jesus. Other candidates for the authorship of Hebrews include Paul's companion . AUDIENCE Hebrews was written to a specific audience facing very specific circumstances. We can discern various facts about the recipients of Hebrews through a careful mirror reading of the letter:
However, the preceding description of the audience as Jewish Christians is not unanimously received. While this interpretation has been held from as early as the end of the second century to the present (hence its title, "The Epistle to the Hebrews"), Liberal American theologian Edgar Goodspeed was not of this view; he wrote, "But the writer's Judaism is not actual and objective, but literary and academic, manifestly gained from the reading of the Septuagint Greek version of the Jewish scriptures, and his polished Greek style would be a strange vehicle for a message to Aramaic-speaking Jews or Christians of Jewish blood..." Hebrews is often erroneously named as one of the General or Catholic epistles. But since it was written to a specific group of Jewish-Christians, it is not technically a general epistle. DATE Although the author is unknown, Hebrews has been dated to shortly after the Pauline Epistle s were collected and began to circulate, circa AD 95. This date is dependent on a traditional date for I Clement of 96 CE. Harold W. Attridge claims only a general dating is possible and places the letter as being written between 60 - 100 CE. Hebrews' numerous references to Temple worship in the present tense have been used to date the epistle before the destruction of the Temple (AD 70 ), but the evidence is not conclusive. PURPOSE FOR WRITING Most scholars today believe the document was written to prevent apostasy. Apostasy is the abandonment of a political or religious belief. Some have interpreted apostasy to mean a number of different things, such as a group of Christians in one sect leaving for another more conservative sect, one in which the author disapproves. Some have seen apostasy as a move from the Christian assembly to pagan ritual. In light of a probably Jewish-Christian audience, it is most likely that apostasy in this sense was in regard to Jewish-Christians leaving the Christian assembly to return to the synagogue. Therefore the author writes, "Let us hold fast to our confession..." (Hebrews 4:14) Another possible reason for writing Hebrews, was to demonstrate a new interpretation of the true end and meaning of Mosaic law and assert its symbolical and transient character. He declares that the Levitical priesthood was a foreshadowing of the mission of Jesus , and that the legal sacrifices prefigured the Crucifixion . Therefore the gospel was designed not to modify the law of Moses, but to supersede and abolish it. This was written partly to counter the Ebionite s, Jewish Christians who continued Jewish practices while accepting Christ. The emphatic text of the epistle reiterates the view of Pauline Christianity that the new covenant has ''superseded'' the old. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS Online translations of the Epistle to the Hebrews: Related articles:
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