As regards the date of this Letter, the only sure
conclusion appears to be that it was before 70 A.D. The book
itself claims to have been written at the end of the Jewish Age
(1:2; 9:26), whilst the earthly temple was still in existence
(9:8), and it is inconceivable that such an overwhelming comment
upon the writer's whole position as that afforded by the
destruction of Jerusalem would have been overlooked, had it been
available. Hence 67-68 A.D. may with probability be alleged as
the time of composition. The only fact clear as to the author is
that he was not the Apostle Paul. The early Fathers did not
attribute the book to Paul, nor was it until the seventh century
that the tendency to do this, derived from Jerome, swelled into
an ecclesiastical practice. From the book itself we see that the
author must have been a Jew and a Hellenist, familiar with Philo
as well as with the Old Testament, a friend of Timothy and
well-known to many of those whom he addressed, and not an Apostle
but decidedly acquainted with Apostolic thoughts; and that he not
only wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem but apparently
himself was never in Palestine. The name of Barnabas, and also
that of Priscilla, has been suggested, but in reality all these
distinctive marks appear to be found only in Apollos. So that
with Luther, and not a few modern scholars, we must either
attribute it to him or give up the quest.
There has never been any question as to the canonicity of
this Letter, nor can there be any doubt as to its perennial value
to the Church of Christ. Where it was written cannot be decided.
"The brethren from Italy" (13:24) proves nothing. Nor is it
possible to decide to whom it was sent. "The Hebrews," to whom it
was addressed, may have been resident in Jerusalem, Alexandria,
Ephesus, or Rome. The most remarkable feature of the Letter is
manifestly its references to the old Covenant. Here there is a
mingling of reverence and iconoclasm. The unquestionably divine
origin of the Jewish dispensation is made use of for laying
emphasis upon the infinitely superior glory of the Christian
order. Thus an _a fortiori_ argument pervades the whole --if the
shadow was divine, how much more must the substance be! "The
language of the Epistle, both in vocabulary and style, is purer
and more vigorous than that of any other book of the New
Testament" (Westcott).