Concluding Thoughts On The Letter To The Hebrews

I mean to conclude my comments on the Letter to the Hebrews with this post. As I do so, I can't help notice that the writer seems to be rubbing his chin in thought as he asks himself, "Now what did I forget to say? And what must I emphasize again before I'm done?" With that it mind, he looks at his notes and begins to write on the final pages.

Now whether that went through his mind I do not know. It just seems that way to me as he says

• Show hospitality to strangers
• Hold marriage in honor
• Avoid the love of money
• Remember your spiritual leaders
• Watch out for strange teachings
• Patiently put up with reproach as Christ our Lord did
• Remember, we seek a city that is to come
• And please do pray for us

He writes, apparently assuming his original readers know perfectly well who he is as he says, 

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. - Hebrews 13:18-19 ESV

Restored to you? I'm quite at a loss to tell you what he means. Many, as earlier noted, assume this is the Apostle Paul writing and that he, Hebrew of the Hebrews that he was, looks forward to being among his readers soon. Perhaps he was in prison. We cannot say.

And then he mentions Timothy, our brother. Surely this is the great Paul. Who else would so write?  Draw your own conclusions. Could these words have been later inserted by some unknown scribe?

The canonicity of the book is not questioned by either the Eastern or the Western branches of the church. Early traditions did indeed suggest Paul as the author. Some even suggested Priscilla, a learned woman described in Acts 18:1-4; 1 Cor. 16:19 and 2 Tim. 4:19. However, the writer seems clearly to be a man. The participle for "tell" in Hebrews 11:32 is masculine. 

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- - Hebrews 11:32 ESV

Note also that the Greek in which this letter was written is of a higher quality than that normally used by the Apostle Paul.

All in all, I must conclude—along with many others—that the authorship remains a mystery.  That said, I commend these fine words to you from his concluding remarks:

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. - Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV