The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul

By David Alan Black

Is it possible for a serious New Testament scholar to accept the apostle Paul as the author of the book of Hebrews?

Over the last few centuries the authorship of the book of Hebrews has been a contentious topic, but lately a strong scholarly consensus has emerged that Paul was not the author. There is no similar consensus about who did author the book; the consensus is entirely negative. Nonetheless, it takes some courage for a scholar to risk his reputation by challenging a so thoroughly assured conclusion of so many scholars.

Yet this is precisely what Dr. David Alan Black has done. In this book he adapts some of his previous scholarly work for a broader audience, demonstrating both how one goes about determining the authorship of an ancient work, and also how one challenges a scholarly consensus.

That is why we have chosen this volume as the inaugural volume of our Topic Line Drives series. Millions of churchgoers look to the introductions to various books in their study Bibles to answer questions of date, authorship, and background. But only those who read more than one introduction will be fully aware of the disagreements among scholars about those conclusions. How is it that scholars make a determination about authorship?

Dr. Black has paid his dues in the practice of scholarship, and here he demonstrates how one challenges such a consensus. At the same time he will guide the reader through the various factors that influence a decision about the authorship of a book. We hope this book will give new life to your Bible study and will challenge you to study further, not just about this subject, but about many others.

This book is for those who want to dig deeper than the notes in a study Bible and who want to understand what stands behind those conclusions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Sep 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781938434860

David Alan Black

David Alan Black (ThD, University of Basel) is Professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. His recent publications include Perspectives on the Ending of Mark, Why Four Gospels?, and The Jesus Paradigm. He and his wife live on a 123-acre working farm in southern Virginia and are self-supporting missionaries to Ethiopia.

Book preview

9781938434730f.png

The Authorship of Hebrews

The Case for Paul

David Alan Black

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, FL

2013

Copyright © 2013, David Alan Black

Unless otherwise noted, scripture translations are by the author.

Electronic ISBN: 978-1-938434-86-0

This electronic edition has been modified by removal of Greek fonts to facilitate reading on electronic devices. All Greek characters have been transliterated.

Print edition ISBNs:

ISBN10: 1-938434-73-0

ISBN13: 978-1-938434-73-0

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, FL 32560

energionpubs.com

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

PREFACE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

PART 1: THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE 3

Overlooked Affinities between Hebrews and Paul 3

The Style of Hebrews and the Question of Authorship 14

PART 2: THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE 21

CONCLUSION 28

Appendix: Origen on the Authorship of Hebrews 31

PREFACE

This book is a popularization of several essays of mine published in academic journals. Here I have tried to avoid over-technical language that academic scholars might deem essential, and I have transliterated all Greek terms to meet the needs of ordinary educated people. I am grateful to Mr. Henry Neufeld of Energion Publications for accepting this work into his series Topical Line Drives. I am also grateful to my personal assistant, Mr. Jacob Cerone, for his editorial assistance.

Many scholars have insisted that Paul could not have authored Hebrews. I hope my brief treatise will show that they are quite possibly wrong. At the very least, my prayer is that this book will help jumpstart the conversation. I dedicate it with love to all my Hebrews students, past, present, and future.

INTRODUCTION

The question Who wrote the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews? is, as Ray Stedman and others have quipped, akin to asking Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? The traditional author, as reflected in the letter’s superscription in the Authorized Version,¹ is of course the apostle Paul, but hardly any scholar of late would agree with this traditional assessment. Indeed, that Hebrews is non-Pauline is now considered one of the assured results of scholarly research.² During my seminary days and well into my graduate studies I adhered to this consensus view. However, Pauline authorship was defended by William Leonard in The Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews published in 1939,³ since which time it cannot so easily be brushed aside. Indeed, a recent study by Andrew W. Pitts and Joshua F. Walker has challenged the consensus opinio by reexamining the raw data, drawing heavily from my previously published work on the subject. Their essay is entitled The Authorship of Hebrews: A Further Development in the Luke-Paul Relationship.⁴ In it they conclude that Hebrews is Pauline in a very real sense, in that Luke took a discourse given by Paul in a diaspora synagogue and subsequently published it as a written text. They write, Although Hebrews has been handed down to us without an author, we have argued that both external and internal considerations suggest that Hebrews constitutes Pauline speech material, recorded and later published by Luke, Paul’s traveling companion.⁵ In my view, this essay marks a milestone in contemporary Hebrews research. Few have attempted this kind of close scrutiny of the text because it necessitates a highly critical stance toward recent tradition, in this case at least a century of tradition that has rejected the Paulinity of Hebrews. I am grateful for essays like this one. They ask us to revision the text in ways that are perhaps more faithful to the evidence, both external and internal. Revisioning is a difficult process. It is difficult because it is hard for us to look past our own traditional blinders in the light of serious exegesis. It can create dissonance between ourselves and our theological heritage. It is fraught with problems and challenges. Yet the rewards can be remarkably satisfying.⁶

In Part 1 of this work we will reexamine the internal evidence for Pauline authorship, concentrating on the letter’s language and style, while in a Part 2 we will analyze the statements of the earliest Christian fathers concerning the authorship of Hebrews. Our contention is that there is strong (though not probative) internal evidence and solid

Reviews for The Authorship of Hebrews

[Robert Lillo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Persuasive as far as Black goes, especially with regard to similar Pauline vocabulary and style. His early church attestation is a also impressive. I was surprised, however, that he did not deal with two internal arguements against Pauline authorship: (1) the apparent distancing of the author from what was spoken "by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (2:3), and (2) the comment in 13:23 that Timothy had been imprisoned apart from Paul, if indeed that Paul was the writer! How is it that Paul, if he is the writer, is waiting for Timothy to be released?! A few paragraphs on these inconsistencies, often covered in the standard commentaries, would have supported an otherwise strong arguement for Paul. R. Lillo