Read this if you…
- want the most theologically sophisticated book in the New Testament — basically a sermon, written by someone (definitely not Paul) at the peak of Greek rhetorical skill
- like the 'hall of faith' chapter — a rapid-fire greatest-hits of Old Testament heroes, Hebrews 11
- care about the argument that Christ is the eternal high priest, offering himself as the final sacrifice — the verse-by-verse case that Christianity supersedes Judaism
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
The lineage through Hebrews
- The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Hebrews shaped it. - One image from this letter became the most famous allegory in English — 'strangers and pilgrims on the earth,' seeking 'a city which hath foundations' - Bunyan took that line literally: his Christian and Faithful call themselves pilgrims and strangers bound for the heavenly Jerusalem - The whole pilgrimage conceit is built here, and Bunyan even hangs Hebrews 13:14's 'city to come' over the door as his epigraph
Depicted in Art
Paul sits in a darkened cell, pen and codex on his lap, a sword leaning beside him — caught mid-composition by a shaft of light from a small window.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1627
An elderly, anguished Moses lifts the two stone tablets high above his head, his face caught between fury and devotion.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1659
An angel grips Abraham's wrist as he holds the knife over Isaac's screaming face; the ram waits in the right corner.
Caravaggio, 1603
Abraham in armor, leading his soldiers, leans forward to receive loaves of bread from the priest-king Melchizedek in flowing vestments; the two lock eyes over the offering of bread and wine.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1625
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- John Calvin, Reformer & theologian, 1509–1564: "There is no book in the Holy Scriptures which speaks so clearly of the priesthood of Christ."
- Martin Luther, Reformer, 1483–1546: "It is a marvelously fine epistle. It discusses Christ's priesthood masterfully and thoroughly, out of the Scriptures."
- Origen of Alexandria, Early Christian theologian & biblical scholar, c. 184–253: "The thoughts are those of the apostle … but who wrote the epistle, in truth, God knows."
- John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople & Church Father, c. 347–407: Marveling at the epistle's wisdom, he wrote the church's earliest full commentary on it — thirty-four homilies.
- James Fenimore Cooper, novelist, 1789–1851: "This book is much superior to most of the writings attributed to St. Paul."
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