General Epistles · New Testament
Hebrews
c. AD 60–70
- Section
- General Epistles · New Testament
- Events span
- c. AD 60–70
- Written
- c. AD 65 critical view: c. AD 60–90
- Author
- Unknown (traditionally Paul; also suggested: Barnabas or Apollos) critical view: Anonymous
Hebrews shows the supremacy of Christ over everything in the old covenant — angels, Moses, the priesthood, and the sacrificial system. Christ is the better high priest of a better covenant, whose once-for-all sacrifice opens the way to God. It urges weary believers to persevere in faith.
Key themes
- The supremacy of Christ
- Christ our high priest
- The new and better covenant
- Faith and perseverance
- Once-for-all sacrifice
The letter's argument
- Christ, God's Son, is superior to the angels and to Moses
- Christ is our great high priest, able to sympathize with our weaknesses
- A warning against falling away, urging the readers on to maturity and endurance
- Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, mediates a better covenant
- Christ's once-for-all sacrifice replaces the endlessly repeated animal sacrifices
- The great "hall of faith" — those who lived and endured by faith
- "Run with patience the race," looking to Jesus; God disciplines those he loves
- Final exhortations to brotherly love, hospitality, and offering God pleasing worship
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”