Dear Sirs, When was the book Hebrews (As part of the New Testament) written? Thank you for your co operation. Sincerely yours, Limor
Assigning a date to the writing of the Book of Hebrews depends on whether one supposes that it was written before or after the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and whether one supposes that the apostle Paul is the author of it versus someone else. Since the Book of Hebrews does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem, it is supposed to have been written some time before or a considerable time after that notable event. If the Book of Hebrews is attributed to the pen of the apostle Paul, obviously it must have been written before his death in about A.D. 68.
Nothing is mentioned concerning the conflict, the Temple, or the destruction of Jerusalem. Because of this silence, the letter is considered to have been written before 68 or after 80. The earlier dating is preferable… (“Hebrews,” The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)
Barnes’ Notes (Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) lists several arguments supporting the Book of Hebrews being written in A.D. 63 by the apostle Paul following his release from his first Roman imprisonment and before his second Roman imprisonment and subsequent death. Likewise, Adam Clarke’s Commentary (Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft) enumerates several arguments favoring the apostle Paul as the author and a date of writing either during his first Roman imprisonment (A.D. 61) or upon his release from that detention (A.D. 63).
The Book of Hebrews is a general epistle written primarily to Jews and Jewish Christians in Palestine. It was apparently written while the animal sacrifices in the Temple were still ongoing. The fact that Paul’s name, if he was the human penman, is not attached to the volume may be to avoid prejudicing the epistle before it had a hearing. Yet, one could hardly imagine anyone else among the early disciples who was better equipped (aside from inspiration, which the apostles and others enjoyed) to detail the intricacies of Judaism and its fulfillment in Christ to a Jewish audience than the apostle Paul.
Though it cannot be stated definitively that Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews or that it was written in a specific year, this can be said: The Book of Hebrews bears the internal marks of a genuinely inspired epistle. Further, it is plausible that the apostle Paul penned the epistle of Hebrews during or immediately after release from his first Roman imprisonment (A.D. 61-63).
