I purchased 3 commentaries to aid me in my study: Warren Wiersbe’s “Be Confident” which is a very easy to read overview of the book of Hebrews; The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Hebrews – a commentary of moderate complexity that gives insight into the book as a whole in a somewhat detailed, yet very readable fashion; and Word Biblical Commentary: Hebrews which is so far above my poor little brain that I literally struggle through much of it. Word Biblical Commentary is very indepth and scholarly and I have come across many words that I had never heard of, let alone used. It has been, however, extremely insightful and helpful once I get past the sections that would cause a college English teacher delight!!!
In addition to these commentaries I have used several translations and paraphrases of the Bible such as The MacArthur Study Bible, NIV Version of the Bible, The Message, and The Amplified Bible. Needless to say, I have learned a LOT this summer from my study in the book of Hebrews and I hope I can clearly pass along a few of these insights.
I am calling this series “When Better is Best” because the book of Hebrews is all about things that are BETTER. According to Wiersbe (page 8), the word ‘better’ is used 13 times in this book, while the word ‘perfect’ is used 14 times. In this series we will look at the following BETTER things:
· A Better Covenant that is administered in
· A Better Tabernacle by
· A Better Priest who brings
· A Better Sacrifice
Let me begin by giving you a bit of background on what we know or believe to be true about the book of Hebrews and its writer. The book of Hebrews was written just prior to the destruction of the second temple (Herod’s temple) in Jerusalem. It is estimated to have been written around 68 AD. The second temple was destroyed in 70 AD by General (later Emperor)Titus Vespasian. One of the primary arguments for this particular date of authorship is that the author refers on several occasions in the present tense to the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices going on in the temple. Once the temple was destroyed in 70 AD the sacrifices ended in the temple in Jerusalem and have never resumed.
With regard to authorship of the book of Hebrews, Word Biblical Commentary (hereafter referred to as WBC) says the following (page xlix – introduction) :
“All that can be said with certainty is that Hebrews was composed by a creative theologian who was well trained in the exposition of the Greek Scriptures. He was surely a Hellenistic Jewish Christian.” Hellenists were Greek speaking Jews. Many people believe that the author might have been Paul, however WBC states that the language used by the author is “far superior to the Pauline standard both in vocabulary and sentence building.”
Many names other than Paul have been suggested such as Barnabas, Luke, Clement of Rome, Apollos, Silvanus, the deacon Phillip, Priscilla and Aquila, Jude, Aristion and others. The bottom line is that the identity of the author of this marvelous book will remain undisclosed until we arrive in heaven in all likelihood.
In the coming weeks we will delve more deeply into the book of Hebrews to hear what God has to say about things that are BETTER! I hope you will join me for this journey.
