about Silas, or if he had himself heard Jesus during his earthy ministry, then Hebrews 2:3 would rule him out as writer of Hebrews.
Although no final word can be given yet about who wrote Hebrews, some factual statements can be made about its author:
1. The writer was a Hellenist by background and experience.
2. The writer was quite adept in the midrashic style.37
3. The writer was a master of rhetoric, with thought patterns marked by pointed imagery, wordplay, and dramatic vibrancy.
4. The writer was an experienced exegete and sermonizer.
5. The writer was familiar with Alexandrian thought and terminology, although it is not clear to what extent Platonic or Philonic views were purposely used in the general argument of Hebrews.38
6. The writer was more familiar with the Septuagint (LXX) text of the Old Testament than with the Hebrew text; the Greek alone was used.
7. The writer seems acquainted with Pauline thought but handled the kerygma with some independence,
8. The writer was a second-generation Christian (2:3).
9. The writer knew the people being addressed (5:11–12; 6:9–10; 10:32; 13:7, 19, 23).
10. The writer knew Timothy (13:23).
11. The writer completed and sent the letter before the destruction of Jerusalem.39
According to the New Testament description of Apollos, his personal traits and background match most, if not all, of the factors enumerated above. The Acts 18:24–28 passage introduces him as “a Jew” bearing the Latin name Apollonius (= Apollos), a “native of Alexandria,” and “an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures,” with a passion for “showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” Interestingly, the Alexandrian church preserved no known account of any association between Apollos and the Letter to the Hebrews, but neither did that church preserve any mention of his connection with Paul. First Clement, written in Rome, mentions him, however, citing Apollos as “a man approved [andri dedokimasmeo] by apostles.40 Perhaps Priscilla and Aquila, his Christian tutors, had Apollos come to Rome and minister after they returned there following their years abroad as exiles due to the edict Emperor Claudius issued in ad 49–50 expelling all Jews from the capital city (see Acts 18:1–3).41 By approximately ad 57, Priscilla and Aquila were back in Rome, leaders of a house-church assembly (Rom 16:3–5a), and, given their history of ministry together with Apollos in Corinth and elsewhere, they could well have introduced not only his name but even Apollos himself to believers there in Rome.
Mentioning the possibility that Apollos and the Christians in Rome knew each other is admittedly tenuous, since there is no clear evidence that they did, but mentioning that possibility is also necessary because the Hebrews letter reflects the author’s knowledge of (or about) the godly leaders (apostolic figures?) who had nurtured their faith (2:3–4; 13:7), a knowledge of their background learning as Hebrews (6:1–2), an awareness that they were a closely knit fellowship (6:10; 10:24–25), and knowledge that some of them had suffered persecution and losses because they were ardent Christians (10:32–34).
The mention of Rome is also necessary, because of all the places suggested as the destination of the letter (Jerusalem, Corinth, Alexandria, Colossae, Ephesus, et al.), Rome best suits what seems indicated in the letter as the locale of its intended recipients.42 The reference in 10:32 to the group’s “hard struggle with suffering” could suggest either the time when Claudius exiled Jews from Rome (ad 49–50, several years after the Christian faith had taken root there) or the period of severity under Nero during the mid- to late-60s. Given the circumstance that further problems were anticipated (12:3–4, 7, 12–13), the author wrote to remind the believers about the meaning and guaranteed future of a maintained faith in Jesus (10:15–19; 13:6, 20–21).
Timothy, whom Paul had introduced to the church at Rome (Rom 16:21), had just been “set free” (Heb 13:23), presumably from imprisonment in or near the place of writing. The author shared this news, aware that those acquainted with Timothy would appreciate it. The author also shared greetings from those with him who were “from Italy” (Heb 13:24b), knowing that many would be encouraged by word from them. “Those from Italy” is usually taken as an indication that he was writing to Rome or to some place in Italy.43 And since the author made no mention of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem—an event that would have strengthened his argument—the Letter to the Hebrews should be dated probably after ad 64 but certainly before ad 70.44
Rome, the center of the empire, was the city of cities, even for a man like Paul whose Jewish heritage made Jerusalem, the Holy City, a treasured place in his heart. A great populace was active there. The metropolitan area was vast, the population was polyglot, and different ethnic and cultural groups existed side by side in diversity, social distance, and in spiritual need. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (54 bc–ad 39) in one of his Moral Essays wrote revealingly about how Rome’s vast populace had changed the face of the city, lamenting, “Here reside more foreigners than natives.”45 “Have all of them summoned by name and ask of each: ‘Whence do you hail?’ You will find that there are more than half who have left their homes and come to this city, which is truly a very great and a very beautiful one, but not their own.”46
Some of those foreigners were Jewish, but so were some of the natives. Aquila and Priscilla were known to have lived in Rome (Acts 18:2), part of a Jewish community that was there as early as 139 bc.47 The Jews in Rome enjoyed a constituted freedom there. Helped by the influence of Herod the Great (47–4 bc), whom Caesar favored, Jews throughout the Diaspora organized their own community life, enjoyed religious freedom, and were exempt from military service.48 Julius Caesar even permitted the Jews in Rome to send money back to Jerusalem to support the temple system. But there were times when Jews in Rome suffered from repressive measures, as in ad 19, and Suetonius reported about how Claudius expelled Jews from Rome in ad 49–50 (which Acts 18:2 reflects).49
Rome was home to many Jews, and the social differences their religious beliefs demanded was not usually a problem for the authorities. It is believed that Claudius rescinded religious toleration regarding Jews when social strain developed within Rome’s Jewish community after Christian Jews began aggressively evangelizing about Jesus as the Christ. As Suetonius reported it, “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome.” When Claudius died in ad 54, Jewish exiles returned to the city, but conflict between church and synagogue doubtless continued, and, in time, conflict between church and state. Historian E. Mary Smallwood has written:
The recognition of Christianity as a religion distinct from and hostile to its parent Judaism seems to have been made in Rome by the 60s, but precisely when and how the Roman authorities made the distinction is not known.50
Whenever that distinction was made, the Christian Jews felt the brunt of its consequences, and the writer of Hebrews sent his letter to address the believers who were experiencing strain (10:32–39; 12:3–13, 28–29) and the temptation to return to radical Judaism so as to avoid economic pressures and property loss, since Mosaic Jews normally enjoyed legal standing.51 The reference in Hebrews 10:32–34 states that some Christian Jews had experienced imprisonment. This letter anticipated further troubles, so it must have been written far enough after ad 49 for that earlier time of trouble under Claudius to be referred to as “those earlier days.”
The title “To Hebrews” appears in all manuscripts of that letter, both papyrus and vellum, from at least the third century. Whether that title is original or was added by scribes to indicate the contents and presumed audience of the letter is not known, but no manuscripts of Hebrews have an alternative title.
Given the title of the letter, it is necessary to state that the particular Hebrews being addressed in this letter were Jews who had
