This piece of work is quite confusing. It is included as an Epistle of Paul- but it reads more like a sermon- and the opening words are not typical Pauline openings for letters! The first several chapters (10) are quite difficult as they deal with lots of Jewish heritage (Hebrew); the last several are the ones that we are more familiar with!
The letter is anonymously written; although attributed to Paul, it doesn't sound like his theology or his writing style (it is too polished; Paul tends to be more rough and unfinished in his writing)! Not knowing authorship also makes it difficult to date-- likely between 50 and 90 (probably not before 70, however, use of tabernacle references may argue that). Its intended audience is Jews (possibly living in Jerusalem) and/or Gentile Christians. We don't even know what city they were living in!
With all the confusion- the one certainty is that the letter discusses the superiority of Christ as the divine Son of God and the superiority if the Christian faith over all other religions- especially Judaism. We know the intended audience are probably second-generation Christians (they heard the message of salvation from people who heard it directly from Jesus), they are likely educated in both Jewish scripture and Hellenistic (Greek) reasoning, they have been persecuted for their faith, they are good people doing good works, they re falling in to renouncing their faith and moving away from Christ.
This book was one of the most difficult to included on our canon, primarily because of the difficulty of the scripture and the anonymous writing; it has, however, resulted in us knowing and understanding the identity of Christ as the Messiah and the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection better than any other letter in the Bible.
Let's see what we can gain from this letter! I look forward to journeying with you!
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