Nobody knows who wrote the to the Hebrews. This is not a gap that scholarship has simply failed to close — the early church itself was already debating the question in the second and third centuries, and the honest answer has not changed since: we do not know, and we may never know.
What the Letter Itself Tells Us
The text of Hebrews offers almost no direct clues about its author. Unlike Paul's letters, which open with his name, Hebrews begins with no greeting, no sender, and no signature. What little it does reveal is suggestive but inconclusive. The author clearly knew Timothy personally — the closing lines mention that Timothy had been released and express hope to travel with him — which connects the letter to the Pauline circle. The recipients appear to be a specific community facing pressure to abandon their faith, likely Jewish Christians somewhere in the Roman world, possibly in Rome itself, given the closing line "Those who come from Italy send you their greetings."
The author writes with extraordinary sophistication. The Greek of Hebrews is widely regarded as the finest in the entire New Testament — more polished than anything Paul wrote, and strikingly different in style from his other letters.
The Main Candidates
Paul has been the traditional answer in many circles, partly because including Hebrews in the Pauline corpus helped secure its place in the canon. But the evidence against Pauline authorship is substantial. The writing style is markedly different, the vocabulary is different, and — crucially — the author seems to place himself among those who received the gospel secondhand: "It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard." Paul, by contrast, consistently insisted that his gospel came by direct revelation, not through human transmission.
Apollos is one of the most compelling suggestions, first proposed by Apostle Martin Luther. Apollos was a Jewish believer from Alexandria, described in Acts as "eloquent" and "mighty in the Scriptures." Alexandria was known for its allegorical interpretive tradition, which surfaces throughout Hebrews in its treatment of the Old Testament priesthood and tabernacle. The fit is plausible, but it remains speculation — no ancient source makes this connection.
Barnabas was suggested by the early church writer Tertullian. Barnabas was a Levite, which would explain the letter's deep engagement with priestly themes. He was also a companion of Paul, which would account for the connections to the Pauline circle. But again, the evidence is circumstantial.
Priscilla has been proposed by some modern scholars, notably Adolf von Harnack. The argument is that the unusual anonymity of the letter — rare for ancient correspondence — might reflect a woman author concealing her identity to ensure the letter would be received. This is creative but speculative; the Greek text uses a masculine participle when the author refers to himself, which most scholars take as evidence against this view.
Why the Early Church Debated This
The question was not merely academic. The Eastern church, centered in Jerusalem and Alexandria, generally accepted Hebrews as Pauline and therefore canonical. The Western church was more skeptical for centuries precisely because they could see the stylistic differences. Origen, the great third-century scholar, put it plainly: "Who wrote the epistle, in truth God knows." He believed the thoughts were Paul's but the writing belonged to someone who recorded and shaped Paul's teaching — a secretary or disciple working from his ideas.
Does the Author's Identity Matter?
The canonicity of Hebrews does not rest on Pauline authorship. The church ultimately received it as Scripture based on its content — its theological depth, its consistency with the rest of the biblical witness, and its evident usefulness for the community of faith across centuries. Many books of the Bible are formally anonymous. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John carry titles added by tradition, not by the authors themselves.
What the letter says matters far more than who said it. Hebrews offers some of the most sustained and penetrating theological reflection in the entire Scriptures on the priestly work of Jesus — his superiority to angels, to Moses, to the Levitical priesthood, and to the old covenant itself. Whatever hand held the pen, the argument is coherent, the theology is profound, and the exhortation is urgent.
Origen's answer is still the honest one. God knows. And the letter is worth reading regardless.