Throughout my Christian life, whenever I’ve heard scholars, preachers, laity, speak to the authorship of the book of Hebrews, it’s almost always said that nobody (here on earth) really knows who wrote it. Invariably though, that statement is followed with “But more than likely it was the apostle Paul.”

Noticeably, “more than likely” is almost always delivered in a tone that comes across sounding more like a certainty. I guess that’s due to centuries of church tradition that leans toward Paul being the writer.

I don’t know. The writer may have been Paul. Certainly the book’s theology is consistent with Paul’s other writings. But, here are at least three other things to consider:

• In all other letters credited to Paul, there is some kind of personal salutation. Paul makes it clear that he is doing the writing or someone else on his behalf. Hebrews doesn’t have a salutation and the writer is anonymous.
• I’m told that Paul, in other letters, either quotes or paraphrases the Old Testament from the Masoretic Text, which is the original Hebrew. However, all of the quotes in the book of Hebrews come from the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint.
• In two Scripture passages, 1 Corinthians 11: 23 and Galatians 1: 12, Paul stated that his revelations came directly from the Lord. Contrastingly, the writer of Hebrews says his learning came by way of people (Hebrews 2: 3).

The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter who is the earthly penman. The book of Hebrews is important and vital because of its divine inspiration that came from the ultimate author of all Scripture— the Holy Spirit.