to conceive Jesus similarly as a priest making atonement and eternal intercession in the heavenly sanctuary". Although the author of Hebrews was not directly influenced by Qumran's "Messiah of Aaron", these and other conceptions did provide "a precedent. In both Hebrews and Qumran a priestly figure is discussed in the context of a Davidic figure in both cases a divine decree appoints the priests to their eschatological duty both priestly figures offer an eschatological sacrifice of atonement. New Testament and Second Temple Judaism scholar Eric Mason argues that the conceptual background of the priestly Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews closely parallels presentations of the messianic priest and Melchizedek in the Qumran scrolls. Hebrews uses Old Testament quotations interpreted in light of first-century rabbinical Judaism. The epistle casts Jesus as both exalted Son and High Priest, a unique dual Christology. The epistle presents Jesus with the titles "pioneer" or "forerunner", "Son" and " Son of God", "priest" and " high priest". The epistle opens with an exaltation of Jesus as "the radiance of God's glory, the express image of his being, and upholding all things by his powerful word".
In tone, and detail, Hebrews goes beyond Paul and attempts a more complex, nuanced, and openly adversarial definition of the relationship. However, a growing number of scholars note that the terms Gentile, Christian and Christianity are not present in the text and posit that Hebrews was written for a Jewish audience, and is best seen as a debate between Jewish followers of Jesus and mainstream Judaism. The theme of the epistle is the doctrine of the person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity.Īccording to traditional scholarship, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, following in the footsteps of Paul, argued that Jewish Law, the cornerstone of the beliefs and traditions of the descendants of the founding fathers, had played a legitimate role in the past but was superseded by a New Covenant for the Gentiles (cf. At this time, certain believers were considering turning back to Judaism (the Jewish system of law) to escape being persecuted for accepting Christ as their saviour, now following this system of grace (saved by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross). Its essential purpose was to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. Some scholars believe it was written for Jewish Christians who lived in Jerusalem.
It has also been described as an intricate New Testament book. The book has earned the reputation of being a masterpiece. Scholars of Greek consider its writing to be more polished and eloquent than any other book of the New Testament, and "the very carefully composed and studied Greek of Hebrews is not Paul's spontaneous, volatile contextual Greek". Modern biblical scholarship considers its authorship unknown, perhaps written in deliberate imitation of the style of Paul. However, doubt on Pauline authorship in the Roman Church is reported by Eusebius. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. The Epistle to the Hebrews, or Letter to the Hebrews, or in the Greek manuscripts, simply To the Hebrews (Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious) is one of the books of the New Testament.
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