It is one of the most serious books of the New Testament, not inferior in importance to any of the other letters of Saint Paul. A work of apologetic character, it systematically demonstrates the insurmountable superiority of Christianity and the New Testament over the Israelite religion and the Old Testament. Having made manifest the insufficiency of the Levitical Priesthood and the sacrifices offered in the Temple of Jerusalem, he exalts the eternal and unsuccessful Priesthood of Christ, who as the great and eternal High Priest, having offered once for all his own blood for the sins of his people, entered into the true Holy of Holies, Heaven, having become our forerunner and having freely opened the entrance for them and for us, thus becoming the ambassador of eternal salvation.

Intuitively, the Epistle to the Hebrews, in terms of the ideas and teachings developed in it, appears related to the other epistles of Paul, and we feel the spirit of these main lines of Paul's teaching emanating from its pages. However, it also shows differences from the other epistles, some of which are also in style. Hence, although its apostolicity and divine inspiration were not disputed, from ancient times the opinion circulated that "the main meanings are those of the Apostle, but the phraseology and composition" of another of his followers (Luke or Apollos or Clement of Rome), who memorized the apostolic teachings and freely, but also faithfully formulated them. Hence it was accepted even by Origen that "no ancient men, like Paul, taught this tradition."

The letter was written to Jewish Christians, undergoing trials and being shaken, most likely from Rome and shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, around 70 AD.