The Book of Hebrews
Home > New Testament > The Book of Hebrews The Book of Hebrews At a Glance Letter Genre: (3/5) *** Reliability of Dating: (4/5) **** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: English Estimated Range of Dating: 50-95 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text American Standard Version King James Version World English Bible Resources e-Catena: References to the New Testament in the Church Fathers Patristic References to Hebrews, Chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Edgar Goodspeed: The Epistle to the Hebrews Catholic Encyclopedia: Epistle To the Hebrews Hebrews 10:1-18: Jesus Christ, the Final Sacrifice Offsite Links Perseus NT (English/Greek/Latin) How Can I Get to Heaven?
: An EasyEnglish Commentary NAB Introduction Daniel Wallace's Introduction NT Gateway: Hebrews An Introduction to the New Testament: The Epistle to the Hebrews "Without Beginning of Days or End of Life" (Heb 7:3): Topos for a True Deity Are The Persons Described in Hebrews 6:4-6 Christians? Jesus as Royal Priest: Reflections on the Interpretation of the Melchizedek Tradition in Heb 7 Books Barnabas Lindars, The Theology of the Letter to the Hebrews (Cambridge Univ Pr 1991) Burton L. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament? : The Making of the Christian Myth (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 188-193. Raymond Edward Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp.
683-704. Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 365-382. Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on Hebrews A text from the Talmud sets the latest possible date for Hebrews. R. Ishmael died c. 135 CE; if these are his words, the composition of Hebrews (to which Ishmael refers) must have taken place before his death. R. Zechariah said, in the name of R. Ishmael, The Holy One - blessed be He - sought to cause the priesthood to go forth from Shem. For it is said: And he was a priest of God Most High. [Gen 14:18] As soon as he put the blessing of Abraham before the blessing of God, he caused it to go forth from Abraham, as it is said, And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High.
[v.19] Abraham said to him: Do they put the blessing of the servant before the blessing of his owner? Immediately it was given to Abraham, as it is said: The Lord says to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies a footstool for thy feet. [Ps. 110:1] And further down it is written, The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchesidek, [v.4] according to the saying of Melchesidek. And this is what is written. And he was priest of God Most High. [Gen 14:18] He was priest; his seed were not priests. Babylon Talmud, Nedar. 32b, quoted in Travers R. Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, 1903, I, b, iv; pg 338, item 139. Hebrews was clearly known to the author of 1 Clement (17:1, 36:2-5).
This sets the terminus ad quem for the book of Hebrews. However, dating 1 Clement is difficult, with commentators ranging from 95 CE to 120 CE or even as late as 140 CE. Attridge states on the dating of Hebrews (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 3, p. 97): Within the broad range of the years 60-95 C.E., various conjectures have been made about a more precise dating. References to the Jewish sacrificial cult in the present tense (9:6-10; 10:1-4), along with the lack of any mention of the destruction of the temple, have been taken as evidence of a date prior to 70 C.E., when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed. This argument, however, is inconclusive, since our author is not at all concerned with the Herodian temple.