The Unsigned Letter

Who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews?

It may be the oldest unsolved question in the New Testament. The letter to the Hebrews opens with no author's name, in Greek more polished than anything Paul ever wrote, yet its theology sounds like Paul on every page. For seventeen centuries, believers and scholars alike have asked who composed it, and never reached agreement.

In The Unsigned Letter, Kevin B. Potter makes a careful, accessible case for an answer the earliest church already sensed: that Hebrews is the work of Paul and Luke together, the apostle's mind and the physician's hand. Paul supplied the theology; Luke composed the Greek.

This is not a verse-by-verse commentary, and it is not a technical monograph written for specialists. It is an investigation for the curious, serious reader, the believer who has ever looked at this letter and wondered why it alone refuses to sign itself.

Inside, you will explore:

• Why the theology of Hebrews points unmistakably toward Paul

• Why its language and style point just as clearly toward Luke

• How the letter's use of the Greek Old Testament fits the thesis

• When and where Hebrews was written, and why it matters

• The revealing way the letter ends, where the pen seems to change hands

• The strongest objections to the case, fairly weighed

• What the ancient witnesses actually said, in their own words

Potter writes as a believer for believers, but he never asks you to take his conclusions on faith. Every step of the argument is laid out so that you can examine it, challenge it, and reach your own verdict.

Generous to opposing views, honest about uncertainty, and grounded throughout in the text itself, The Unsigned Letter is an invitation to read Scripture the way the earliest church did, and to discover a collaboration that has been hiding in plain sight.

In the "Two Witnesses, One Truth" series, author Kevin B. Potter offers extended biblical studies exploring how the Masoretic Text and Septuagint illuminate Scripture together. Begin with Discovering The Septuagint to just dip your toe in, grab The Septuagint: An Introductory Analysis for the full foundation, or start here and dive straight into this fascinating exploration of who wrote the Book of Hebrews, and why, and when, and how Paul and Luke working together is the best answer.