The Letter to the Hebrews As regards the date of this Letter, the only sure conclusion appears to be that it was before 70 A.D. The book itself claims to have been written at the end of the Jewish Age (1:2; 9:26), whilst the earthly temple was still in existence (9:8), and it is inconceivable that such an overwhelming comment upon the writer's whole position as that afforded by the destruction of Jerusalem would have been overlooked, had it been available. Hence 67-68 A.D. may with probability be alleged as the time of composition. The only fact clear as to the author is that he was not the Apostle Paul. The early Fathers did not attribute the book to Paul, nor was it until the seventh century that the tendency to do this, derived from Jerome, swelled into an ecclesiastical practice. From the book itself we see that the author must have been a Jew and a Hellenist, familiar with Philo as well as with the Old Testament, a friend of Timothy and well-known to many of those whom he addressed, and not an Apostle but decidedly acquainted with Apostolic thoughts; and that he not only wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem but apparently himself was never in Palestine. The name of Barnabas, and also that of Priscilla, has been suggested, but in reality all these distinctive marks appear to be found only in Apollos. So that with Luther, and not a few modern scholars, we must either attribute it to him or give up the quest. There has never been any question as to the canonicity of this Letter, nor can there be any doubt as to its perennial value to the Church of Christ. Where it was written cannot be decided. "The brethren from Italy" (13:24) proves nothing. Nor is it possible to decide to whom it was sent. "The Hebrews," to whom it was addressed, may have been resident in Jerusalem, Alexandria, Ephesus, or Rome. The most remarkable feature of the Letter is manifestly its references to the old Covenant. Here there is a mingling of reverence and iconoclasm. The unquestionably divine origin of the Jewish dispensation is made use of for laying emphasis upon the infinitely superior glory of the Christian order. Thus an _a fortiori_ argument pervades the whole --if the shadow was divine, how much more must the substance be! "The language of the Epistle, both in vocabulary and style, is purer and more vigorous than that of any other book of the New Testament" (Westcott).