The Book of Hebrews is a fascinating book. Its author is unknown, its date is unknown, and its audience is unknown. There are various theories on each one of these unknowns, but the message of the book is clear: Christ is better. Christ is better than the angels; He is better than Moses; and His sacrifice on the cross was a once for all atonement for sins. He is the great high priest who atones for the sins of the world. He is better than the Jewish high priest who went into the Holy of Holies once a year to offer a sacrifice for the people of Israel. Though that high priest also had to make atonement for his own sins Christ did not. He was holy and blameless, and He is the perfect sacrifice, thus making Him greater than the Jewish high priest. He is Lord of all, and He is worthy of praise. Christ is better.

Just as the authorship of the book is questioned, the recipients of the book is also an issue. There are various theories, all of which have good arguments in their favor, but the best theory is that the book was intended primarily for Jewish Christians. But this book could also have been addressed, in addition to the Jewish believers, to unbelievers who were quite possibly a part of this Jewish community. These folks, if they were a part of this community, apparently never had the opportunity to meet Jesus, and all they knew of him was secondhand (Hebrews 2:3-4).

In defense of a Jewish Christian audience one only need to take a close look at the text itself. It seems to give a clear indication of who that audience is. First, in 1:1 the writer says that in the past God spoke through prophets to our forefathers. This first verse gives the distinct impression that the author, whomever that may be, is a Jew and is speaking to fellow Jews. "Our forefathers" would not only indicate that the author is Jewish but his audience as well. The prophets, by and large, spoke only to Israel and Judah with the sole exception of the prophet Jonah who prophesied to Nineveh.

Second, chapter one quotes extensively from the Old Testament. Who but Jews would understand what the writer is talking about by quoting such a vast array of OT Scripture? The Jews viewed their writings as sacred and from God Himself. Since the author bases so much of his case about Christ on the Old Testament it would be safe to assume his audience held the Old Testament is high regard – and the only ones, by and large, who held that view were Jews. In addition to this the writer uses interrogative statements throughout the epistle that seem to imply that the audience knows the answer solely through their knowledge of Old Testament events.

Third, in 2:16 the writer addresses the audience as "Abraham’s descendants," but he does so in a not-so-direct way. Descendants of Abraham were, and still are, Jews. True, the writer could have just said "you, Abraham’s descendants" and made the whole issue clear-cut, but this statement can certainly qualify as evidence that the audience being spoken to are indeed Abraham’s descendants. This statement could be taken in the exact opposite way making the audience Gentile, but the clearest indication here is that the writer is referring to his Jewish audience. Furthermore, in chapter 3 the writer addresses his audience as "holy brothers." This could be clear-cut evidence that the audience was not only Jewish but also Christian as well.

Fourth, there is the issue of the high priest in the book of Hebrews. Who but to the Jews would the author liken the high priest to Jesus? This was the writer’s way of showing the Jews, by way of example, who Jesus was and what His task was – to redeem fallen man. For it was the Jewish high priest who went forth once a year to offer the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. The Jews were familiar with this practice so it required no further explanation. If the audience were Gentile then an exposition might well have been in order due to their ignorance.

Fifth, in chapters 3, 4, 5, and 7 the author speaks of Moses (3:16), Joshua (4:8), Aaron (5:4), and Judah (7:14) without any explanation as to who they were. These examples of Jewish men are what the writer uses to make his point. If the audience was not Jewish why would he use only Jewish examples? This would not have been wise if writing to Gentiles who may or may not have known who Moses was, what he did, and what he wrote. However, it could be argued that every Jew knew who Moses was. And if one knew who Moses was then it follows that they had to know who Aaron was as well. Of course Joshua finished what Moses started, but these men and their lives were most likely known in this context only by Jews. Here the author speaks of Moses and his life and his successor with no qualifier, giving further proof that the audience was of Semitic decent. As for Aaron, the whole issue of the high priest revolves around him. The connection between Aaron’s office and the office that Jesus now holds as high priest is also given very little exposition – giving further credence to the fact that the audience is Jewish and does not need an exposition of who these men are from the past.

In chapter five the writer berates his audience for being immature spiritually. He would like to explain further the issue of Christ being the high priest in the order of Melchizedek, but he knows his audience needs to be taught the elementary truths of God’s word "all over again." Now if they must be taught God’s word (Old Testament) all over again, then they must be Jews because they would have been the only ones who studied God’s word to begin with. This should not conflict with their knowledge of who Moses was because they could know him, or know of him, and still not understand much about what he did two thousand years prior to that. This truth is evident in speaking of the Old Testament because everything the author has said up to this point reflects Old Testament saints and teaching (i.e. Moses, Melchizedek, Aaron, Joshua). Some would say that what follows in 6:1 would certainly show that the teachings being spoken of are the "teachings about Christ." True, the teachings are about Christ, but they are related to what the Old Testament said about Christ as evidenced by the passages the author quotes extensively up to this point.

Finally, as evidence for the fact that this audience is not only Jewish but Christian as well chapter ten gives great insight. In verse 32 the author addresses them as people who had "received the light." He goes on to bring back to their memory the sufferings which they had endured up to that point because of their faith in Christ. The readers had a definite history and the writer referred to their "earlier days" (Hebrews 10:32-34); he knew about their past and present generosity to other Christians (6:10); and he was able to be specific about their current spiritual condition (5:11-14). Moreover, the author had definite links with them and expressed his intention to visit them – and he requested their prayers. This must mean that, generally speaking, the audience is Christian.

Because the author refers to experiences in the lives of his readers it is safe to assume he has a specific group in mind as he writes. It appears evident that the recipients of this work were believers (3:1) – Jewish believers. These believers had come to faith in Christ through the testimony of those who had first hand knowledge of Jesus (2:3). Though they had endured hardships on account of the gospel (10:32-34) they were drifting away slowly but surely. The fact that they were Jewish may give some indication as to why the author was concerned, namely that they might fall back into Judaism. The whole argument of the epistle would have great relevance to Jewish Christians., with its stress on the necessity for Messiah’s sufferings, the reasons forth suppression of the levitical priesthood, the notion of spiritual instead of a material sanctuary and the fulfillment of the promise of a new covenant in Christ.

Gundry, D., 1990. An Introduction to the New Testament. Intervarsity Press: Downers

Hodges, Z., 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Victor Books: USA, Canada,

MacArthur, 1983. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews. Moody Press:

Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Charts, 1993 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., pp. 445-47.

New International Version Bible.