Where it fits

Hebrews is the nineteenth book of the New Testament, with 13 chapters. It names neither its author nor its readers. The old title “to the Hebrews” suggests Jewish-background Christians, and the letter's heavy use of the Old Testament fits that. Suggested authors have included Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, and Priscilla, and the early scholar Origen is quoted as saying that only God knows who wrote it. Most readers date it before AD 70, partly because it speaks of the temple sacrifices as ongoing. Read straight through, it takes about 35 minutes.

Who, to whom, and why

The readers had been through hard times. They had been publicly insulted and had lost property, and some had been imprisoned (10:32–34). Now they were tired and tempted to drift away or return to something safer (2:1; 3:12–14; 10:35–39). The author calls the letter a “word of exhortation” (13:22), and it reads more like a sermon than a letter.

The argument is that Jesus is better. He is greater than the angels (chapters 1–2) and greater than Moses (3). He is a greater high priest than Aaron's line, in the order of the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek (4–7). He is the mediator of the new covenant promised by Jeremiah (8), and his one sacrifice does what the endless sacrifices of the temple could not (9–10). Between the sections come warnings and encouragements. Chapter 11 recalls the heroes of faith, chapter 12 calls readers to run the race with endurance, and chapter 13 ends with practical instructions about love, hospitality, leaders, and prayer.

Three ideas to hold on to

1. Jesus is better than everything that came before. God spoke through the prophets in many ways and has now spoken through his Son (1:1–2). Everything the old covenant pointed to finds its meaning in him.
2. Jesus understands. He shared in human flesh and was tested in every way, so he is a high priest who sympathizes with our weakness, and believers can approach “the throne of grace” with confidence (4:14–16).
3. Keep going. The readers are called to hold on to their confidence, to encourage one another daily, and to run with endurance, fixing their eyes on Jesus (3:13–14; 12:1–2).

Passages people ask about

• Hebrews 1:1–4. One of the great openings in the Bible: God has spoken through his Son, who reflects God's glory and bears the stamp of his being.
• Hebrews 6:4–8 and 10:26–31. Severe warnings about turning away after receiving the truth. Christians disagree about what they describe, whether the loss of salvation or the danger of only seeming to believe. Most agree the aim is to wake the drifting, since the author says he expects better things from his readers (6:9).
• Hebrews 11. The faith chapter, from Abel to the prophets. Its heroes include flawed people like Rahab and Samson, and it ends by saying that they did not yet receive everything promised (11:39–40).
• Hebrews 12:1–3. A crowd of witnesses, a race to run, and Jesus at the center, who endured the cross.
• Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

How it points to Jesus

Everything in Hebrews points to Jesus. He is the Son through whom the world was made, the high priest who offers himself, the sacrifice, and the guarantee of a better covenant. The Old Testament is read as pointing ahead to him: the tabernacle was a copy of heavenly things (8:5), the sacrifices foreshadowed his offering once for all (10:10–14), and Melchizedek, who appears briefly in Genesis 14, is a picture of an eternal priest (7:1–3).

A common misunderstanding

Hebrews is sometimes read as saying that the Old Testament was a mistake that God replaced. The author does the opposite. He quotes Scripture on nearly every page and treats it as God's own voice (1:1; 3:7). His point is that the old covenant was a shadow, a promise waiting to be fulfilled. A shadow isn't wrong. It points to the thing casting it.