We can open three lines of inquiry to advance our understanding of the Biblical book of Hebrews. Those inquiries involve…
- The identity of the recipients.
- The author of this letter.
- Why it was written.
Our first task in addressing these questions concerns the original recipients of this letter. Unlike some other New Testament letters (such as Romans, Colossians, and Philippians, for example), the target audience for this epistle is never clearly defined. However, there is a great deal of circumstantial evidence that can help us familiarize ourselves with those who received this letter…
- As we’ll see beginning in chapter one, the book of Hebrews contains many quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures. The author also assumes that the original recipients of this letter are well-acquainted with the Old Testament system of sacrificial offerings. These cultural identifiers point to a Jewish audience.
- The author’s readers had been introduced to the gospel through Jesus’ followers and not directly from Jesus Himself (2:3). Thus, they were likely second-generation Christians.
- The recipients of this letter had been followers of Christ for quite some time. However, at least some of them were spiritually immature (5:11-14).
- They viewed their ministry to others as a labor of love (6:10).
- Nevertheless, they had suffered and endured confiscation of their goods (10:33-34).
- The author found it necessary to remind them to attend church regularly (10:25).
- The members of the original audience of this letter were facing a great deal of spiritual discouragement (12:1-13).
- They were acquainted with Timothy, a person who appears frequently in several other New Testament epistles (13:12).
Finally, the author closes this letter with the following salutation: “Those from Italy greet you” (Hebrews 13:24). While commentators differ in their interpretation of that verse, it seems reasonable to say that those who received this letter must have lived somewhere other than the country of Italy. Of course, this might also imply that the author was in Italy at the time of this letter, but we’ll get to that portion of our discussion shortly.
For now, it is perhaps safest to say, “The traditional, and commonly accepted, view is that it was addressed to the Jewish Christians of Palestine, specially those in Jerusalem.” (1) So, while these pieces of information do not give us the exact location or identity of this audience, they do tell us quite a bit about them. This epistle thus offers meaningful counsel to anyone who may also be experiencing some of the same challenges faced by the original recipients of this letter.
(1) Henry H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, Copyright © 2000, 2007 by Halley’s Bible Handbook, Inc. [pg. 646]