The Book of HebrewsSample

When Was Hebrews Written? Hebrews 13:23

Although the exact date for Hebrews remains uncertain, the earliest and latest dates for this book can be established rather firmly. We’ll look first at the earliest possible date for the book, or terminus a quo, and then at the latest possible date, or terminus ad quem. Both of these dates can be determined with some degree of confidence using scriptural and historical evidence.

On the one side, Hebrews 13:23 helps confirm the earliest possible date for the book. In this verse the author wrote:

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

Here we see that “Timothy [had] been released” recently from prison. We don’t hear of Timothy’s imprisonment anywhere else in the New Testament. In fact, in the book of 2 Timothy, Paul’s last letter written shortly before his death, Timothy was free to travel and bring Paul supplies. Yet, this verse tells us that by the time Hebrews was written Timothy had been imprisoned and released. For this reason, the book of Hebrews must have been written after Paul’s death, which took place sometime around A.D. 65. 

On the other side, the latest likely date for the book would be around A.D. 95 shortly before Clement of Rome referred to the book of Hebrews in his letter, 1 Clement. 

In addition, many commentators have observed that, in passages like Hebrews 5:1-3, the author used the present tense to describe the sacrificial duties of the high priest. This is important because in the rest of his book the author consistently used the Greek past tense when referring to past events. So, it’s likely that these priestly activities were still going on when Hebrews was written. 

Also, in 8:13 the author encouraged his audience not to turn back to the “obsolete” sacrificial practices established by God’s covenant with Moses. He explained that in light of the new covenant, these practices would “soon disappear.” We know that the high priest’s activities, and the Levitical sacrificial system as a whole, came to an end in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple. So, these evidences suggest a date for Hebrews sometime after Paul’s death around A.D. 65 and before the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.