La respuesta breve
- What it is: A lost gospel associated with early Jewish Christianity, known through ancient Christian writers.
- Date: Generally placed in the second century.
- What survives: Short quotations and references, including material about the Holy Spirit and an appearance of the risen Jesus to James.
- Status: No complete manuscript is known, and the work is outside the New Testament canon of every major Christian tradition.
The Gospel of the Hebrews is a lost Jewish-Christian gospel preserved only through quotations and references in ancient Christian writings, not through a surviving complete manuscript. Generally dated to the second century, it contains material about Jesus, the Holy Spirit and James. Its relationship to other Jewish-Christian gospels remains disputed because ancient writers used titles inconsistently, and the surviving evidence cannot establish the full contents or shape of the original work.
This guide covers the gospel's identity, uncertain origins and surviving contents, followed by its status outside the New Testament and the writers who preserve its traces. It then points to related guides and addresses common questions about its users and its relationship to Matthew and other Jewish-Christian gospels.
What is the Gospel of the Hebrews?
The Gospel of the Hebrews belongs to the surviving evidence for gospel traditions associated with early Jewish Christianity. Its ancient title does not identify it with the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews. Scholars study its fragments as evidence of diversity among early Christian accounts of Jesus, rather than as a complete statement of what all early Jewish followers of Jesus believed.
Modern scholarship commonly separates this work from The Gospel of the Ebionites and the Gospel of the Nazarenes. The former is a conventional designation for passages preserved by Epiphanius that combine material resembling Matthew, Mark and Luke. The latter designates material often associated with a Semitic form of Matthew. This threefold classification remains debated because ancient writers did not consistently use the distinct titles adopted by modern scholars.
When, where and by whom was it written?
The gospel is generally dated to the second century, but its original author is unknown. Clement of Alexandria supplies evidence that a gospel bearing this title was known by around the end of that century. That testimony supports an approximate historical setting; it does not establish an exact date of composition or identify the person responsible for the work itself.
The original place of composition cannot be established securely, and the language remains disputed. The title alone does not prove that the gospel was written in Hebrew. Jerome reports that a gospel he associated with the Hebrews was used by Nazarenes, but that report does not settle where it originated. Evidence about people using a work is not, by itself, evidence identifying its author or birthplace.
What do the surviving fragments contain?
The surviving material contains sayings attributed to Jesus and accounts of events involving him, but it cannot supply a continuous narrative of his life. The original length and organization are unknown. Clement cites a saying concerned with wonder, reigning and rest. Jerome also attributes a baptism account to the gospel, involving the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus and an address to him.
Origen explicitly names the gospel when discussing a passage that presents the Holy Spirit in a maternal relationship to Jesus and describes his transport to Mount Tabor. The feminine grammatical gender of the word for spirit in Hebrew and Aramaic provides relevant background for this imagery. That grammatical context does not settle the gospel's original language, and the maternal description alone cannot establish a complete doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
Jerome preserves a resurrection account involving James, generally identified as Jesus' brother. Its elements include James's vow concerning bread and a meal in which the risen Jesus gives him bread. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians independently mentions an appearance to James, but not this meal narrative. The two witnesses therefore share a reference to an appearance without preserving the same account of its circumstances.
Why is it not in most Bibles?
The Gospel of the Hebrews is not part of the New Testament canon of any major Christian tradition. Eusebius discusses it outside the category of universally acknowledged Christian scriptures.
Being cited by an ancient Christian writer does not, on its own, establish universal scriptural recognition. The evidence for this gospel consists of writers referring to it for their own theological arguments and literary purposes. Its use in those settings and its canonical status are different questions: the former shows that the work was known, while Eusebius's classification places it outside universally acknowledged scripture.
How does it survive, and how is it reconstructed?
No complete manuscript of the gospel is known to survive. Its textual evidence is embedded in other works, especially the quotations and references preserved by Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Jerome. The surviving record is therefore not a recovered continuous copy. It consists of material selected by ancient writers whose interests shaped which parts they preserved and the contexts in which those parts appear.
The number of fragments assigned to the gospel varies with scholarly classification of that testimony. Jerome's descriptions of the work and its relationship to Matthew are not consistently reconcilable, making attribution uncertain in some cases. A reconstruction must therefore address both what an ancient writer reports and which lost gospel that report concerns. The resulting collection remains fragmentary rather than a restoration of the original narrative.
Where to go next
The related guide to the lost books of the Bible provides a route into the broader topic of lost biblical books. Another related guide addresses the Gospel of Peter. The edition on this site is titled The Gospel of the Hebrews and presents the surviving fragments rather than a complete recovered gospel.
Keep exploring
Escúchalo antes de decidir
Every book’s page plays the opening of its audiobook. Open The Gospel of the Hebrews below and press play.
The Gospel of the HebrewsAttributed to early Jewish-Christian authorsHear a sample
The Gospel of the EbionitesAttributed to early Jewish-Christian sectsHear a sample
The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian BibleHear a sample
Questions about the Gospel of the Hebrews
What is the Gospel of the Hebrews?
It is a lost gospel associated with early Jewish Christianity, generally dated to the second century. Ancient Christian writers preserve short quotations and references to it. These provide glimpses of sayings and accounts involving Jesus, but they do not reveal the full narrative, its original length or its organization.
Does the Gospel of the Hebrews still exist?
It survives indirectly in fragments and references, not as a known complete manuscript. Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Jerome are among the writers who preserve evidence for it. Scholars differ over which passages belong to this gospel, so the number of fragments varies between classifications of the surviving testimony.
Who used the Gospel of the Hebrews?
Jerome reports that a gospel he associated with the Hebrews was used by Nazarenes. Clement and Origen also knew material attributed to a gospel with this title. The testimony does not establish every community that used it, and its fragments cannot represent the beliefs of all early Jewish followers of Jesus.
How is the Gospel of the Hebrews different from the Gospel of Matthew?
It is treated as a lost gospel rather than simply identified with Matthew, although their relationship remains uncertain. Jerome's descriptions are not consistently reconcilable. Material often associated with a Semitic form of Matthew is conventionally assigned to the Gospel of the Nazarenes, but the boundaries between these reconstructed Jewish-Christian works remain debated.
What is the difference between the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel of the Ebionites?
Scholars commonly treat them as separate works with different bodies of surviving testimony. The Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name for passages preserved by Epiphanius that combine material resembling Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Gospel of the Hebrews is known through other ancient references, although the classification of Jewish-Christian gospel material remains disputed.
