Nothing is clearer than Paul's independent apostleship received from the risen Christ

separately from the Twelve, but here the writer states that he was indebted to those who

heard the Lord, namely the Twelve. There are several points which must be considered

before we can come to a satisfactory conclusion. The `us' can be regarded as the

editorial `we', the first person plural of exhortation being used right throughout this

epistle. Note in the immediate context "we ought to give the more earnest heed to the

things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip . . . . . how shall we

escape if we neglect so great salvation". In such a context "Confirmed unto us" is

perfectly natural, whereas `confirmed unto you' would not have been. It is possible that

these Hebrew Christians were not the Apostle's converts. They easily could have come

to a knowledge of Christ from saved Jews at Pentecost who were afterwards scattered

through persecution (Acts 8: 1, 4; 11: 19). The latter could have come directly under

the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus, and thus be truthfully described as `those who

heard Him'. In the antithesis between the word of the law, spoken at Sinai through

angels, and the special aspect of salvation which is characteristic of this letter, that of the

salvation of the soul (10: 32-39) first spoken of by the Lord (Matt. 16: 24-28 which Paul

never could have heard), and confirmed "unto us", that is Hebrew Christians generally,

by those that heard Him. It is significant that one of these, the Apostle Peter, develops

this in his first epistle (I Pet. 1: 6-9), linking it with the goal of the tested believer's faith,

not his initial salvation from sin. The author of Hebrews had in view not so much

himself, as his readers. It is because the word salvation here has been construed as the

salvation of the sinner rather than the perfecting of the believer, that the problem has

risen. Most certainly Paul received the Gospel of grace to the sinner apart from any

human instrumentality (Gal. 1: 11-12), but salvation in this sense is not found in Hebrews.

It should be remembered that the typical teaching in this epistle does not start with the

bondage in Egypt and deliverance through the blood of the Passover lamb (which it

would have done had the salvation of the sinner been in view), but with the account of a

redeemed people journeying through the wilderness with its tests and difficulties, to

Canaan, the land of promise. Hence the particular suitability of that aspect of salvation,

that of the soul, which so intimately pertains to be saved, having reward in view at the

judgment seat of Christ.

From time to time various others, beside Paul, have been put forward as the writer of

the epistle to the Hebrews. Tertullian was the first who suggested Barnabas. As a

Cypriot and a Levite, he was evidently a man of standing at Jerusalem and would have

had an insight into the ritual of the Tabernacle and Temple. He was named by the

Apostles as the `son of consolation' in Acts 4: 36, and the word `consolation' is the

same as `exhortation' in Heb. 13: 22.  We have no other early evidence beside

Tertullian, nor do we know anything of the capability of Barnabas as a writer. The

apocryphal Epistle attributed to him does not help as there are too many divergencies

between it and the Hebrew epistle. Luther advocated Apollos as author and has been

followed by others including Kurtz, Farrar, Alford, and today T. W. Manson,

W. F. Howard and 100: Spicq.  That Apollos was an eloquent man and mighty in the

Scriptures, we are assured by the N.T., but again we have no writing of his to compare

with, so this is really nothing more than clever guess-work. Harnack maintained that

Aquila and Priscilla wrote the epistle, with Priscilla as the main partner, but against this